概說

經傳釋詞初刊於嘉慶三年，有王引之自序。嘉慶二十四年再版，阮元又序，稱「高郵王氏喬梓，貫通經訓，兼及詞氣。昔聆其『終風』諸說，每為解頤」。胡培翬撰《書後》云：「是書專釋語詞虛字，闢前古未有之途經，薈萃眾解，津逮後人，足補《爾雅》之闕」。

經傳釋詞主要因聲求義，不限形體。其研究方法包括古注推衍、互文同訓、異文互證、同文比例等。本書尤其注重對虛詞的解釋。

本書有兩個問題。其一為缺漏甚多，其二是有時會錯誤解釋古書。

Background

Modern Chinese and Classical Chinese are distinctly different. Even though some of the writing may be the same, grammar, sentence structure and meanings of words in their cultural context changed over time and may make Chinese classics difficult if not impossible to understand. The Book of Expletives serves as an interpretation of classical Chinese texts in modern terms.