语言影响思维——外语学习对中国人思维造成的(2)
2016-05-01 01:04
导读：Languageis“theinstitutionwherebyhumanscommunicateandinteractwitheachotherbymeansofhabituallyusedoral-auditoryarbitrarysymbols.”(Hall,1968)[3] “FromnowonIwillconsiderlanguagetobeaset(finiteorinfi
Languageis“theinstitutionwherebyhumanscommunicateandinteractwitheachotherbymeansofhabituallyusedoral-auditoryarbitrarysymbols.”(Hall,1968)[3]
“FromnowonIwillconsiderlanguagetobeaset(finiteorinfinite)ofsentences,eachfiniteinlengthandconstructedoutofafinitesetofelements.”(Chomsky,1957)[4]
Eachofthesedefinitionshasitsownspecialemphasis,andisnotatotallyfreefromlimitations.However,therearesomeimportantcharacteristicsofhumanlanguagelinguistshaveagreedon;themostcommonlyaccepteddefinitionoflanguageis:
“Languageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication”.[5]
Solanguageisaspecialtoolforhumanbeingstocommunicate.Itispossessedbyhumanbeingsandallowspeopletosaythingstooneanotherandtoexpressthoughtsandneeds.Inshort,languageisauniquesystemofcommunicationanditisthecornerstoneofsociety.
2.2Whatisthought?
“Thoughtisafunctionofhumanbrain,andisacognitiveactivityforhumantounderstandtheobjectiveworld.Thoughtisaprocessthatusestheconceptions,judgmentandreasoningtoreflecttheobjectiveworld.Thoughtcanprocessallkindsofinformationthatentersthehuman’sbrain,thereforewecanreflectthenatureofthingsandcansolveproblemswhenwethink.”[6]“Thoughtisapowerorprocessofthinking.”（OxfordAdvancedLearner’sEnglish-ChineseDictionary,2002,P1588）
Thoughtisaprocessthatinformationentersthebrainandisanalyzed,synthesized,judgedandinferredonthebasisofpresentationandconcept.Afterthespokenandwrittenlanguagecomeintobeingtheinformationwhichentersthehuman’sbraincomesmostfromlanguageeitherbyheardorbyseenthuswhatwecouldthinkismostlybasedonthetwostylesoflanguageandsometimesledbywhatwearetold.Thatistosay,withouttheinformationenteringhuman’sbrainthereisnothoughtorthinkingcomesintobeing.
2.3TheRelationshipbetweenLanguageandThought
2.3.1Humboldt’sViews
WhilhelmvonHumblodt,afamousGermandiplomatandscholar,statestherelationshipbetweenlanguageandthoughtasthefollowingviews:
“Thespiritualtraitsandthestructureofthelanguageofapeoplearesointimatelyblendedthat,giveneitherofthetwo,oneshouldbeabletoderivetheotherfromittothefullestextent...Languageistheoutwardmanifestationofthespiritofpeople;theirlanguageistheirspirit,andtheirspiritistheirlanguage;itisdifficulttoimagineanytwothingsmoreidentical”.[7]
您可以访问中国科教评价网（www.NsEac.com）查看更多相关的文章。 “Languagehasthefunctionofformingthought.WVHumboldt,aGermanphilosopherandlinguist,pointedoutthatpeopleusuallyseecommunicationastheprimaryfunctionoflanguage.However,peoplemusthavethecontentforcommunicationbeforetheystarttocommunicate,andtheformationofthiscontentiscloselyassociatedwithlanguage,ortobemorespecific,peopleuselanguagetoexpressthought,yetlanguageis,attheverybeginning,involvedintheformationofthought,justashesaid,‘languageistheformativeorganofthought’.”[8]
“Humboldtsaidthatifthesolefunctionoflanguageistoexpressandconveythoughtsandfeelings,thenlanguagewillnotbeabsolutelynecessaryforhumanbeings,becausetheycanalsouseothersymbolsormeanstoexpressthemselves(thoughnotsoeffectiveaslanguage).”[9]
Fromtheaboveitcanmakeaconclusionthatlanguageisnotonlythefunctionforhumantoexpressandcommunicatebutalsohasthefunctionforhumanstoformthought.Theextentofnearnessbetweenlanguageandthoughtmaybeexaggerated,butitpointsoutrightlythenotionthatthetwointeractwitheachother.Hebelievesthatlanguageincomesfromspiritandthenreactsuponspirit.Moreover,heputthestudiesintothespecificculturalbackgroundandviewsthatnonationcanavoidinjectingtheirsubjectiveconsciousnessintotheirlanguagetoformaspecial"worldview"inthelanguage,whichwouldinturnrestrictpeople’slanguageusage.Thatistosaythelanguagewhatpeoplesayingcontainsthethinkingaction.Followedbythisview,wemaygettheideathatdifferentpeoplespeakdifferentlybecausetheythinkdifferently,andtheythinkdifferentlybecausetheirlanguagesofferthemdifferentwaystoexpressthesurroundingworld.Themostimportantpartisthelanguagecanprovidesortsofthinkingwaysinthispaper.
