The word“pa”, which means“fear”, is used as a high-frequency verb in the modern Chinese language. During the Han Dynasty, it was used both as a high-frequency verb and a function word. Since the ancient times, the semantic meaning of“pa”has been changed all the time. The original literal meaning of the word was“indifferent and tranquil”. Gradually, the Chinese word“bo”, instead of“pa”, was used to indicate the meaning of“indifferent”to fame and wealth. Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, the meaning of“fear”has been affiliated to the word. Other semantic meanings such as“worry”,“doubt”and“assume”appeared as well. The word“pa”has been gradually grammaticalized.% “怕”是现代汉语的高频词，既是一个高频动词，又有虚词的用法。从上古到现代“怕”的词义处于不断演变中，“淡泊宁静”是其本义，后来“泊”代替了“怕”表“淡泊”义。“怕”表“害怕”义出现于东汉时期，后逐渐发展出“担心”“疑虑”和表示推测的含义，“怕”字不断虚化。本文考察了“怕”字的来源，分析了其词义演变的过程和诱发“怕”字语法化的原因
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