筆者自幼罹患先天遺傳性重度聽障，長年接觸聽障社群，能兼口語與手語交際，深知週遭部份聽障者對「瘖啞」詞彙深惡痛絕，引以為恥。然而徵詢聽健社群，卻覺「瘖啞」並非罵詈詞彙，有之甚而認為是敬詞，是正式禮貌之稱呼。兩造各執其是，心存芥蒂已久，不利互動。為解癥結，筆者透過田野調查取得公信數據，繼以文字學、訓詁學、文化差異等不同角度切入研究，終以戰國時期諸子蠭起之「人性論」哲學角度，思考「瘖啞」之「詞彙」究竟指稱「人」或「非人」？肇因詞彙本身毫無溫度，其後容有「良言一句三冬暖」或「惡語傷人六月寒」之效應，全在「人意（說寫者與聽讀者雙方）」流動之良窳，唯有雙方竭誠合作，方能減少勃谿。 I suffered from serious inborn hearing deficiency when I was a child. I have exposed myself to the deaf community and communicated by colloquial and sign language for a long time. Therefore, I am fully aware that the deaf felt great shame about the word,“deaf and dumb.”However, from the viewpoints of some normal people, “deaf and dumb”is not an abusive word as conceived by the deaf. It can be a formal and courteous way of expressing respect towards the underprivileged. In order to solve the problem, I collect legitimate data by the questionnaire and do research from the perspectives of Etymology, Chinese semantics and cultural differences. The purpose of this study is to explore whether the word,“dead and dumb”refers to the human or nonhuman from the philosophical perspective on humanity discussed during the period of the Warring States. While the word itself has no biased views, its impact on the reader or audience varies according to the communication between two sides. As the Chinese saying goes,“Benevolent words melt wintry iciness”or “malicious words freeze sultry air.”Only by bilateral cooperation can we stop quarrels.
