본고는 論語⋅述而의 “子所雅言, 詩書執禮, 皆雅言也。”라는 구절에서 제시된 雅言이라는 표현과 역대 문헌에 기재된 通語(凡語) 및 官話 등의 명칭을 주요 분석 대상으로 삼아, 이러한 명칭의 함의와 기능에 대한 역대 학계의 다양한 견해를 분석하였다. 雅言⋅通語(凡語)⋅官話 등의 명칭을 중심으로, 중국 표준어의 역사와 원류에 대한 역대 문헌의 기재 사항과 학계의 다양한 견해를 분석하여, 각각의 명칭이 명실상부한 표준어, 즉 공통어(공동어)의 명칭으로 간주될 수 있는지에 대하여 검토하는 것이 본고의 주요 목적이다. 기존 학계의 연구 성과 중에서, 雅言을 方言에 상대되는 공통어로 인정하지 않고 諱言에 상대되는 개념으로서 어휘 운용상의 正言이라는 용법으로 간주한 일부 논저의 견해는, 孔子와 수많은 제자 사이에 진행되었던 학술 교류와 전수 과정, 그리고 孔子를 비롯한 先秦 시기의 諸子百家⋅百花齊放⋅百家爭鳴 등 學者들과 思想家들 각지의 諸侯와 政客들의 周遊⋅遊說 등 당시 사회상에 근거한 언어생활의 개연성을 고려할 때, 마땅히 재고되어야 할 것으로 사료된다. 본고의 분석 결과, 공통어 존재의 역사성과 필요성⋅당위성을 반영하는 先秦 시기의 雅言은, 諱言의 상대적인 개념으로 어휘 선택상의 正言 기능에 그치는 것이 아니라, 당시 각 지역의 方言에 상대되는 개념으로 지역성을 초월한 소통 수단으로서의 공통어 기능을 담당하였을 것으로 추론된다.
Chinese linguists have two differing views about Yayan. First, Yayan is a common language in the pre-Qin period. Second, Yayan is not a name of common language, furthermore, there was no common language in the pre-Qin period. This paper analyzes the concept and substance of Yayan in the pre-Qin period, Tongyu in the Han Dynasty and Guanhua in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, based on historical records as well as a variety of research results. The analysis of this paper shows that the Guanhua in the Ming and Qing Dynasties transcended the regional boundaries and class differences, functioning as a common language. This conclusion is not far from the general opinion of academic circles. Especially in the Qing Dynasty, a large number of documents with a title name Zhengyin were compiled. Through the fact that Zhengyin Academy was established in Yongzheng period, we can confirm that Zhengyin, the standardization of Guanhua was samely important. It can be inferred that Guanhua in Ming and Qing Dynasties was a unified common language in all linguistic fields. The research result of Tongyu in this paper may be different from the general opinion of the academic circles. This paper argues that Tongyu in the Han Dynasty is not reasonable to be judged as a common language in phonetics, vocabulary and other fields, which is different from the case of Guanhua in the Ming and Qing. Fangyan show the correlation of voice in some use cases; nevertheless, I pay more attention to the differences of vocabulary than voice with reference to the overall composition, hereby proposing Tongyu for the vocabularies of common language among the related vocabulary with regional differences. Based on this analysis, it is speculated that Tongyu in the Han Dynasty did not take into account the unity of voice, which cannot be regarded as a real common language in the oral language practice, responsible for smooth communication function. The expression of Yayan in “Shuer” section of The Analects has put forward a variety of opinions in the historical documents and the current academic research results. There are two kinds of views in current academic circles. One view is that Yayan is a common language in the pre-Qin period, the other view denies the establishment of the common language in the pre-Qin period. Yayan as a common language is not free from this sense of objective: the history of Chinese common language should be promoted to the pre-Qin period. This view appears to become debatable without putting forward convincing sources and objective and reasonable analyses of explaining the time periods of thousands of years. The view of considering Yayan as a common language represents a challenging and daring stance without including clear and concrete evidence. This paper is far from the purpose consciousness that the history of Chinese lingua franca should be promoted to the pre-Qin period; however, this paper also proposes the existence of common language with following reasons: academic thoughts of various schools including Confucius witnessed their spread and development process. Although there only remain very few documents, Confucius had to rely on a common language considering a series of situations that can only be logically explained. The expression of the “Yayan” in The Analects is considered as a concrete example of Confucius’ language life. The use of common language can be inferred considering the travel and entertainment as well as the communications and exchanges made between the disciples who gathered from various places. According to the analysis and inference of this paper, Yayan is a relative concept for regional dialects in the pre-Qin period, which functioned as a common language of going beyond regional differences.