耶鲁大学心理学导论（第六课）.doc

心理学导论第六课今天我们要讲的是语言This class today is about language.很大程度上来说 语言就是行为And language is, to a large extent, where the action is.人类语言的研究The study of human language是各种人性理论的重要领域has been the battleground over different theories of human nature.因此 无论是哲学家 心理学家So, every philosopher or psychologist人类学家 还是神经系统学家or humanist or neuroscientist只要他们曾经研究过人类who has ever thought about people便会就语言的特性及其功能提出某些理论has had to make some claim about the nature of language and how it works.我所说的这些学者包括了Im including here people like亚里士多德 柏拉图 休莫Aristotle and Plato, Hume,洛克 弗洛依德以及斯金纳Locke, Freud and Skinner.而这些理论则包括了Im also including modern-day approaches 计算理论 认知神经科学 进化论to computational theory, cognitive neuroscience, evolutionary theory 以及文化心理学的诸多当代理论and cultural psychology.如果你想要理解关于人类本质If you hope to make it with theory of what people are及其行为模式的理论and how people work,就必须得探讨并解释语言you have to explain and talk about language.事实上 语言是非常有意思的In fact, language is sufficiently interesting that,与本门课上探讨的其他主题不同unlike most other things Ill talk about in this class,对它的研究形成了一个完整的专业there is an entier field devoted to this study即语言学专业the field of linguistics这个专业致力于研究各种语言的that is entirely devoted to studying细微差异及其结构the nuances and structures of different languages.在详细讨论之前 我想首先下一个定义Now, Ill first, before getting into details, make a definitional point.当我谈到语言时When Im talking about language我指的是诸如英语 荷兰语Im meaning systems like English and Dutch沃皮利语 意大利语 土耳其语and Warlpiri and Italian and Turkish乌尔都语这样的语言系统and Urdu以及我们在正式上课之前的课堂演示中and what weve seen and heard right now in class in the demonstration所看到和听到的语言系统that preceded the formal lecture.现在 你可以应用另一种意义上的语言Now, you could use language in a different sense.在此意义上 语言可以被用来描述You could use the term Language to describe狗儿在干什么what dogs do,黑猩猩在干什么or what chimpanzees do,或是鸟儿在干什么or birds.也可用来描述音乐You could use language to describe music,即音乐语言talk about the-a musical language或是去描述艺术or art,或任何的交流系统or any communicative system,都是没问题的and theres actually nothing wrong with that.因为并没有什么Theres no rule关于应当如何运用语言一词的规定about how youre supposed to use the word Language.但问题是But the problem is如果你无限宽泛地使用语言一词if you use the word Language impossibly, incredibly broadly,那么从科学的角度来看then from a scientific point of view探究语言就变得毫无意义了it becomes useless to ask interesting questions about it.如果语言能够表示一切If language can refer to just about everything从英语到交通信号from English to traffic signals,那我们就无法得出各种有趣的概论then were not going to be able to find interesting generalizations或是无法对语言进行科学的研究or do good science about it.因此 我想做的是So, what I want to do is,我想来谈谈语言的科学定义I want to discuss the scientific notion of language,首先我会将自己限定在at first restricting myself诸如英语 荷兰语 美国手语to systems like English and Dutch and American sign language 或迪瓦霍语等语言系统之下and Navajo and so on.一旦我们在狭义上Once weve made some generalizations得出了某些关于语言的概论about language in this narrow sense,那我们就可以发问we could then ask, and we will ask,诸如动物交流系统之类的其他系统to what extent会在多大程度上do other systems such as animal communication systems符合这个狭隘的定义呢relate to this narrower definition.我们可以发问So we could ask,从狭义上说 语言拥有何种特性in this narrow sense, what properties do languages have然后我们可以接着发问and then go on to ask,从广义上说in a broader sense,哪些其他的交流系统也同样拥有那些特性what other communicative systems also possess those properties.有些关于语言的知识非常明显Well, some things are obvious about language这是我们将会提到的的一些问题so here are some; here are the questions we will ask.我们今天就主要来讨论这些问题This will frame our discussion today.我们将首先温习一些语言的基本事实Well first go over some basic facts about language.我们将会谈及各种语言的共性Well talk about what languages share,谈及语言的发展well talk about how language develops,以及非人类的语言交流and well talk about language and communication in nonhumans.我用一段演示来开始今天的课I began this class with a demonstration of这段演示阐述了语言非常重要的两个事实-that illustrates two very important facts about language.其一是 所有语言都共享One is that languages all share一些深层且复杂的共性some deep and intricate universals.尤其是所有的语言都至少In particular, all languages, at minimum,能够有效地表达抽象概念are powerful enough to convey an abstract notion like this;在某种意义上来说abstract in the sense抽象概念能够表达思想that it talks about thoughts能够表述物体的位置与空间关系and it talks about a proposition and spatial relations in objects.世界上并不存在Theres no language in the world无法谈论抽象概念的语言that you just cannot talk about abstract things with.所有语言都可以Every language can do this.但这个演示也阐明了语言的另一个事实But the demonstration also illustrated another fact about language,即语言如何不同which is how different languages are.两个事实听上去是不同的They sound different.如果你掌握了一种语言If you know one language,你就不需要再去掌握其他的语言了you dont necessarily know another.不仅是因为你不能理解另外一种语言Its not merely that you cant understand it.比如说手语看上去会很奇怪或是异常It could sound strange or look unusual in the case of a sign language.因此 任何完善的语言理论And so, any adequate theory of language都必须谈及不同语言间的共性和差异has to allow for both the commonalities and the differences across languages.这也是心理学和语言认知学And this is the puzzle faced by所面临的难题the psychology and cognitive science of language.我以达尔文提出的Well, lets start with an interesting claim一个有趣的语言观点来作为开始about language made by Charles Darwin.查尔斯达尔文写到So, Darwin writes,人类拥有说话的本能倾向Man has an instinctive tendency to speak,我们会看到幼儿含糊吐字as we see in the babble of our young children,然而儿童却并不具有烘焙while no child has an instinctive tendency酿酒或是写作的本能倾向to bake, brew or write.达尔文在此所表达的观点And what Darwin is claiming here,极具争议而又非常有趣and its a controversial and interesting claim,这个观点认为 语言之所以特殊is that language is special是因为总有某些倾向 能力或本能in that theres some sort of propensity or capacity or instinct使得语言与他所举的其他例子有所不同for language unlike the other examples he gives.我们的一切并非都是天生的Not everything comes natural to us但达尔文却认为 语言是与生俱来的but Darwin suggests that language does.我们为什么要相信他的观点呢Well, why should we believe this?达尔文的观点得到了一些基本事实的支持Well, there are some basic facts that support Darwins claim.举例来说 所有人类社会都拥有语言For one thing, every normal. every human society has language.在旅行过程中 文化与文化相互碰撞In the course of traveling, cultures encounter other culture而人们通常则会遇到and they often encounter cultures与其自身所处文化截然不同的另一些文化that are very different from their own.但在人类历史的进程中But through the course of human history,还没有人曾经遇到过nobody has ever encountered another group of humans没有语言的人类族群that did not have a language.这是否表明语言就是天生的呢Does this show that its built in?未必 可能只是文化创新而已Well, not necessarily. It could be a cultural innovation.比如说 可能只是因为It could be, for instance,语言是一个非常棒的创新that language is such a good idea所有文化都接受了它 并且发展了它that every culture comes across it and develops it.几乎所有的文化都会使用某些餐具Just about every culture uses some sort of utensils to eat food with,刀叉 筷子 勺子a knife and a fork, chopsticks, a spoon.之所以都用餐具This probably is not because并不是因为使用餐具是人类本性use of eating utensils is human nature,而是因为 所有文化都不断发现but rather, its because its just a very useful thing餐具非常的实用that cultures discover over and over again.我们知道 语言可能并不是这个情况Well, we know that this probably is not true with regard to language.我们之所以这样认为And one reason we know this 是因为有许多的个案研究is because of the demonstrated case studies都证明了一代人之内是可以创造出语言的where a language is created within a single generation.这些个案研究曾在历史上得到多次验证And these case studies have happened over history.典型案例就是奴隶交易中的人们The standard example is people involved in the slave trade.为了获得烟草 棉花The slave trade revolving around tobacco or cotton咖啡 或糖块的奴隶交易or coffee or sugar会将来自不同语言背景的奴隶would tend to mix slaves and laborers和劳动者们混在一起from different language backgrounds,这也在某种程度上in part deliberately,谨慎地避免了可能的造反so as to avoid the possibility of revolt.这些来自不同文化的被奴役的个体What would happen is these people who were enslaved from different cultures会创造出一种临时的交流系统would develop a makeshift communication system以便他们之间能够互相交流so they could talk to one another.这就是所谓的混杂语言And this is called a Pidgin, P-I-d-g-I-n, a pidgin.他们会使用这种混杂语言来进行交流And this pidgin was how they would talk.而实际上混杂语言并不是一种语言And this pidgin was not a language.它只不过是从身边的不同语言当中It was strings of words borrowed借用了一些单词串from the different languages around them以随意的方式将它们放在一起and put together in sort of haphazard ways.问题是在这种社会中长大的儿童The question is what happens to the children究竟会怎样who are raised in this society.你可能会以为他们也将学会这种混杂语言And you might expect it that they would come to speak a pidgin,但事实并非如此but they dont.实际情况是 在一代人的时间里What happens is, in the course of a single generation,他们创造出了属于自己的语言they develop their own language.他们用丰富的语法 语态和语音They create a language创造出一种语言with rich syntax and morphology and phonology,我们马上会来讲这些术语的terms that well understand in a few minutes.他们创造的这种语言被称为克利奥尔语And this language that they create is called a Creole.而这些叫做克利奥尔语的语言And languages that we know now as creoles,再次说明了它们的历史the word refers back to their history.就是说 它们是由混杂语言发展而来的That means that they were developed from pidgins.这一点很有意思 因为这表明And this is interesting because this suggests从某种程度上来说that to some extent语言的使用 理解以及学习能力the ability to use and understand and learn language是人类本性的一部分is part of human nature.它无需深远的文化史It doesnt require an extensive cultural history.甚至 任何一个普通的小孩Rather, just about any normal child,即使并未接触过成熟的语言环境even when not exposed to a full-fledged language,也可以创造语言can create a language.而近期更有些关于儿童学习手语的And more recently, theres been case studies of children个案研究who acquire sign language.研究者在尼加拉瓜曾做过Theres a wonderful case一个精彩的手语个案研究in Nicaragua in sign language儿童们从本身并不熟悉手语的成年人那里where they acquire sign language from adults习得手语who themselves are not versed in sign language.他们艰难的学习着第二语言Theyre sort of second-language learners struggling along.你可能会认为儿童会使用What you might have expected would be成人所使用的语言系统the children would then use whatever system their adults use,但事实并非如此but they dont.他们将语言克利奥尔化They Creolized it.他们继承了成人发展出来的临时交流系统They take this makeshift communication system developed by adults将这个临时交流系统and, again, they turn it再次发展成一种成熟的语言into a full-blown language,这表明从某种程度上来说suggesting that to some extent创造语言是我们人类本性的一部分its part of our human nature to create languages.每个正常的人类也都拥有语言Also, every normal human has language.在座各位并不都会骑自行车Not everybody in this room can ride a bicycle.在座各位并不都会下国际象棋Not everybody in this room can play chess.但每个人都至少掌握了一种语言But everybody possesses at least one language.每个人从儿童时代开始And everybody started to possess便至少掌握了一种语言at least one language when they were a child.也有些例外There are exceptions,但只是由于某些脑损伤but the exceptions come about这些例外才得以出现due to some sort of brain damage.任何神经上正常的人类Any neurologically normal human都能够掌握一种语言will come to possess a language.我们还知道些什么呢What else do we know?语言是人类本性的一部分的这个观点Well, the claim that language is part of human nature得到了神经研究的支持is supported by neurological studies,在之前大家阅读的关于大脑的章节中some of which were referred to in the chapters on the brain对专门负责语言功能脑区的探讨that you read earlier that talk about dedicated parts of the brain就描述了其中的一些研究that work for language.如果这些脑区And if parts of these brains-if parts如果这些脑区受到损伤-if these parts of the brain are damaged那就会患上各种语言障碍或失语症you get language deficits or aphasias就是说可能会失去理解或创造语言的能力where you might lose the ability to understand or create language.更具体的来说More speculatively, there has been some fairly recent work一些最新的语言遗传基础研究studying the genetic basis of language,探查了直接影响语言学习looking at the genes that are directly responsible及使用能力的基因for the capacity to learn and use language.证明这些基因起作用的一些证据And one bit of evidence that these genes are implicated是这些基因会在某些不幸的人身上is that some unfortunate people发生点突变have point mutations in these genes.这些人无法学习和使用语言And such people are unable to learn and use language.总的来说So, in general,语言在某种意义上there is some support,是人类本性一部分的这个观点at least at a very broad level,至少在一般性水平上for the claim that language is in some sense得到了一些支持part of human nature.那么 我们所说的语言到底是什么意思Well, what do we mean by language?当我们讨论语言时What are we talking about我们到底在讲些什么when we talk about language?比如 我们并不想把自己We dont want to restrict ourselves,只局限于英语或法语for instance, to English or French.所有语言都拥有什么共性呢What do all languages share?所有语言都是具有创造性的Well, all languages are creative这表达了几层含义and this means a couple of things.其中一层便是勒奈笛卡尔所强调的含义One meaning is the meaning emphasized by Rene Descartes.勒奈笛卡尔提出人类不只是机器的时候When Rene Descartes argued that we are more than merely machines,他最有力的证据便是人类的语言能力his best piece of evidence for him was the human capacity for language.机器并不具备语言能力No machine could do this因为我们的语言能力because our capacity for language是不受控制的 是自由的is unbounded and free.我们可以说任何想说的话We could say anything we choose to say.我们拥有自由意志We have free will.事实上 语言使得我们能够And in fact, language allows us创造出近乎无限的句子to produce a virtual infinity of sentences.因此 我们能够创造和理解So, we could create and understand sentences那些我们未曾听过的句子that we never heard before.这样的句子非常的多And there are a lot of sentences.如果你想估计一下So, if you want to estimate用二十个英文单词how many grammatical sentences可以组成多少个符合语法的句子under twenty words in English,答案会是 很多the answer is, A lot.这也就意味着And what this means is任何语言使用和语言理解的理论that any theory of language use and language comprehension都无法列出一份句子的清单cannot simply appeal to a list.当你在理解我所说的一句话时When you understand a sentence I said你必须要拥有理解这句话的能力you have to have the capacity to understand a sentence即使你在之前从未听到过这句话even if youve never heard it before.这是因为我们可以毫不费力地创造和理解And this is because we could effortlessly produce and understand sentences那些世上从未有人说过的句子that no human has ever said before on earth.有没有人自愿说个句子Would anybody volunteer to say a sentence,不能是下流的 不敬的non obscene, non derogatory,得是世上从未有人说过的句子that has never been spoken before on earth, ever?我先来说一个吧Here. Ill start.如果你不是很在意质量的话Its surprisingly easy to get a purple tie on eBay那么在易趣买条紫色领带是非常容易的if you dont care much about quality.我可以想象此前世上并无他人说过这话I could imagine no one else in the world has said this before.无法从iTunes上I am upset 轻松下载吸血猎人巴菲that one cannot easily download让我感到很失望Buffy the Vampire Slayer through iTunes.有可能某人曾说过这两句话Now its possible somebody said both these sentences before,可你们却并没听到过but you probably have not heard them.但是你们马上就理解了句子的意思But you understand them immediately.你是怎么做到的呢So, how do you do it?在你的头脑中有许多的规则Well, you have rules in your head.虽然你已经知道了这些单词的意思Youve learnt what the words mean,但却是你所拥有的抽象且无意识的规则but you have abstract and unconscious rules让你认清单词 确认语序that take these words, figure out the order,然后在一瞬间让你理解整个句子and in a fraction of a second, give rise to understanding.这就是语言学家们所研究的内容And thats the sort of thing linguists study.举一些英语语言学研究的典型案例So, take some standard examples from the linguistic study of English.记住 我们在这里所讨论的规则And bear in mind the rules were talking about here你无法明确地意识到are not rules you explicity know.这些自动的规则Theyre automatic rules of the same sort和我们将要讨论的视觉感知是类似的were going to talk about in the context of visual perception因为它们都是内隐的 无意识的in that theyre implicit and unconscious也是无法清晰了解的and not accessible to explicit understanding.例如 你快速的阅读了猪想吃东西So for instance, immediately you read The pig is eager to eat和猪肉容易吃这两句话versus The pig is easy to eat你在一瞬间就会懂得and in a fraction of a second you know这两句话之间是有很大区别的theres an important difference.猪想吃东西The pig is eager to eat意思是我们在说猪吃东西means the state of affairs that were talking about这个事件的状态is when the pig does the eating.猪肉容易吃则是在说猪被吃的时候The pig is easy to eat Is when the pig is being eaten.你会看类似这样的句子You would see a sentence like比尔知道约翰喜欢他Bill knew that John liked him你都不知道你是如何理解这句话的and you know, without even knowing how you know,但你却知道这句话是在说that this could mean that比尔知道约翰喜欢比尔Bill knew that John liked Bill或是在说比尔知道约翰喜欢弗雷德or it could mean that Bill knew that John liked Fred.但它的意思不会是比尔知道约翰喜欢约翰But it cant mean that Bill knew that John liked John.实际上 正常的解释就是The natural interpretation, in fact, is that比尔知道约翰喜欢比尔Bill knew that John liked Bill.这两个词互相指代The two words co-refer.而比尔知道约翰喜欢他自己这句话Contrast that with Bill knew that John liked himself,就只是意味着比尔知道约翰喜欢约翰which only has the meaning Bill knew that John liked John.这就是语言学家们研究的问题And this is what linguists do for a living如果你听了我的讲解然后说so if you hear me talking about this and say,我想用我的余生来研究这些东西I want to spend the next forty years of my life studying that,那你该去做一个语言学家you should become a linguist.而那些But thats the sort of-而那些现象则正是我们所关心的those are the sort of phenomena that were interested in.现在 问题变得更加复杂了Now, it gets more complicated.这些例子都是从语法上来说的Those are examples from syntax,但语言却是有很多结构的but language has many structures.语言拥有自下而上的结构Language has structures going from the bottom to the top.所有人类语言都拥有语音All languages-All human languages have phonology,语音是声音或符号系统which is the system of sounds or signs;语态 也就是词或语素的系统morphology, which is the system of words or morphemes,是意义的基本单位basic units of meaning以及语法 是指将词和短语and syntax, which refer to rules and principles组成有意义表达的规则和原则that put together words and phrases into meaningful utterances.在探讨一些其他问题之前And I want to talk briefly about each of these three parts of language我想简单的讲一下语言的这三个成分before looking at some other issues.非常感谢史蒂芬平克写了这本精彩的Im indebted here to Steven Pinkers excellent book语言本能一书The Language Instinct我认为该书对这些现象进行了极好的讨论which provides, I think, a superb discussion of these phenomena.我将会从平克那里借用一些例子And Im going to steal some of my examples from Pinker.先说语音So, phonology.语音是语言的声音系统Phonology is the system of sounds that languages have.它拥有一个子集Theres a subset.语言使用的可能声音列表是有限的Theres a list, a finite list, of possible sounds that language can use.我想暂时把手语Im going to put aside for the moment及其如何作用的问题先放到一边the question of sign languages and how they work.我会简单的讲下它们Im going to talk about them in a little bit.英语拥有大约四十个音位The idea is tha