This paper systematically reviews the academic achievements, core theories and methodologies of Françoise Bottéro, a French sinologist, in the field of oracle bone inscription studies. In contrast to her widely recognized research on Shuowen Jiezi, Bottéro’s work on oracle bone inscriptions has received relatively insufficient attention. This paper analyzes her research from multiple perspectives, including her research stance, typological construction, studies of graphic variants, and views on the origin of Chinese characters. Bottéro insisted on a linguistically oriented approach, opposing the simplistic classification of oracle bone inscriptions as “pictographic writing” and emphasizing their essential nature as a symbolic system for recording language. Her use of terminology reflects a sophisticated understanding of the multi-dimensionality of writing. Her typological system of oracle bone characters divides graphs into five categories: pictographs, phonetic markers, abstract graphs, compound graphs, and graphic variants, which transcends the traditional Liushu framework. Through an in-depth analysis of “compound graphs”, she reveals the unique coding logic by which oracle bone inscriptions coin verbs and abstract concepts through symbolic combination. Her systematic research on graphic variants in oracle bone inscriptions represents a prominent contribution. She summarizes nine types of synchronic graphic variation and argues that the existence of such variants reflects the lack of standardization in the oracle bone script system. Meanwhile, the increasing use of phonetic components indicates the trend toward phonosemantic compound formation, a key evolutionary direction that would later dominate the development of Chinese characters. In addition, this paper evaluates her reinterpretation of the function and textual nature of oracle bone inscriptions, in which she regards them as complete, readable texts recording spoken language. Nevertheless, this paper also points out the limitations of her research, particularly her discourse on the origin of Chinese characters. Her skepticism toward the Neolithic origin of Chinese characters and her inclination toward the “Western origin theory of Chinese characters” bear the mark of Eurocentrism, failing to fully consider archaeological evidence and the complexity of the independent evolution of civilizations. In summary, this paper holds that Bottéro’s research has provided an important linguistic analytical framework for oracle bone studies. At the same time, it advocates that future research should adopt a critical perspective while absorbing her theoretical achievements, so as to promote an in-depth dialogue between Chinese and Western scholarship on an equal footing.

目 錄
1. 引言：蒲芳莎的學術定位與研究意義
2. 語言學本位的研究立場與術語建構
3. 甲骨文字類型學的系統建構
4. 異體字系統與文字演進規律的揭示
5. 漢字起源觀的爭議與反思
6. 載體、功能與文本性質的重新詮釋
7. 學術貢獻、局限與啟示
8. 結語：走向批判性對話的漢字學研究

• 馮曉瑞(文學博士，鄭州大學國際教育學院講師。研究方向, 西方漢字學、國際中文教育) | Xiaorui FENG
• 麻哲(教育學碩士，鄭州大學國際教育學院院長，副教授。研究方向, 外語教學，國際中文教育) | Zhe MA Corresponding author
• 孫瑜含(鄭州大學文學院在讀碩士研究生。研究方向, 國際中文教育) | Yuhan SUN