“北”作为方位词在人们的心目中从来就不仅仅是空间概念,它与人们的思想观念、风俗习惯、日常生活等息息相关,以至由此出现了方位词的虚指现象。从文化的角度来探究“北”作为方位词的本源,就可以发现其字源本义同引申出的文化蕴涵之间的内在联系。本文笔者试图通过对这个汉语方位词的字源本义及造字时代背景的考察,揭示“北”所具有的文化蕴涵的合理性;同时,也是对语言和文化关系之密的证明。 “North ” as the bearing word in people’s minds has never been more than the concept of space, it is closely related to people’s ideas, customs, daily life and so on, and thus the emergence of the phenomenon of the location of the word. From the perspective of culture, exploring “North” as the origin of oriental words reveals the intrinsic connection between its original meaning of the word source and its implied cultural implication. The author tries to reveal the rationality of cultural connotation of “North ” by examining the origin of the source language of this Chinese locative word and the context of word making. At the same time, it also proves the close relationship between language and culture.