language determinismWord文件下载.docx
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(August26,2010)
Seventyyearsago,in1940,apopularsciencemagazinepublishedashortarticlethatsetinmotiononeofthetrendiestintellectualfadsofthe20thcentury.Atfirstglance,thereseemedlittleaboutthearticletoauguritssubsequentcelebrity.Neitherthetitle,“ScienceandLinguistics,”northemagazine,M.I.T.’sTechnologyReview,wasmostpeople’sideaofglamour.Andtheauthor,achemicalengineerwhoworkedforaninsurancecompanyandmoonlightedasananthropologylectureratYaleUniversity,wasanunlikelycandidateforinternationalsuperstardom.AndyetBenjaminLeeWhorfletlooseanalluringideaaboutlanguage’spoweroverthemind,andhisstirringproseseducedawholegenerationintobelievingthatourmothertonguerestrictswhatweareabletothink.
Inparticular,Whorfannounced,NativeAmericanlanguagesimposeontheirspeakersapictureofrealitythatistotallydifferentfromours,sotheirspeakerswouldsimplynotbeabletounderstandsomeofourmostbasicconcepts,liketheflowoftimeorthedistinctionbetweenobjects(like“stone”)andactions(like“fall”).Fordecades,Whorf’stheorydazzledbothacademicsandthegeneralpublicalike.Inhisshadow,othersmadeawholerangeofimaginativeclaimsaboutthesupposedpoweroflanguage,fromtheassertionthatNativeAmericanlanguagesinstillintheirspeakersanintuitiveunderstandingofEinstein’sconceptoftimeasafourthdimensiontothetheorythatthenatureoftheJewishreligionwasdeterminedbythetensesystemofancientHebrew.
Eventually,Whorf’stheorycrash-landedonhardfactsandsolidcommonsense,whenittranspiredthattherehadneveractuallybeenanyevidencetosupporthisfantasticclaims.Thereactionwassoseverethatfordecades,anyattemptstoexploretheinfluenceofthemothertongueonourthoughtswererelegatedtotheloonyfringesofdisrepute.But70yearson,itissurelytimetoputthetraumaofWhorfbehindus.Andinthelastfewyears,newresearchhasrevealedthatwhenwelearnourmothertongue,wedoafterallacquirecertainhabitsofthoughtthatshapeourexperienceinsignificantandoftensurprisingways.
Whorf,wenowknow,mademanymistakes.Themostseriousonewastoassumethatourmothertongueconstrainsourmindsandpreventsusfrombeingabletothinkcertainthoughts.Thegeneralstructureofhisargumentswastoclaimthatifalanguagehasnowordforacertainconcept,thenitsspeakerswouldnotbeabletounderstandthisconcept.Ifalanguagehasnofuturetense,forinstance,itsspeakerswouldsimplynotbeabletograspournotionoffuturetime.Itseemsbarelycomprehensiblethatthislineofargumentcouldeverhaveachievedsuchsuccess,giventhatsomuchcontraryevidenceconfrontsyouwhereveryoulook.Whenyouask,inperfectlynormalEnglish,andinthepresenttense,“Areyoucomingtomorrow?
”doyoufeelyourgriponthenotionoffuturityslippingaway?
DoEnglishspeakerswhohaveneverheardtheGermanwordSchadenfreudefinditdifficulttounderstandtheconceptofrelishingsomeoneelse’smisfortune?
Orthinkaboutitthisway:
Iftheinventoryofready-madewordsinyourlanguagedeterminedwhichconceptsyouwereabletounderstand,howwouldyoueverlearnanythingnew?
SINCETHEREISNOEVIDENCEthatanylanguageforbidsitsspeakerstothinkanything,wemustlookinanentirelydifferentdirectiontodiscoverhowourmothertonguereallydoesshapeourexperienceoftheworld.Some50yearsago,therenownedlinguistRomanJakobsonpointedoutacrucialfactaboutdifferencesbetweenlanguagesinapithymaxim:
“Languagesdifferessentiallyinwhattheymustconveyandnotinwhattheymayconvey.”Thismaximoffersusthekeytounlockingtherealforceofthemothertongue:
ifdifferentlanguagesinfluenceourmindsindifferentways,thisisnotbecauseofwhatourlanguageallowsustothinkbutratherbecauseofwhatithabituallyobligesustothinkabout.
Considerthisexample.SupposeIsaytoyouinEnglishthat“Ispentyesterdayeveningwithaneighbor.”Youmaywellwonderwhethermycompanionwasmaleorfemale,butIhavetherighttotellyoupolitelythatit’snoneofyourbusiness.ButifwewerespeakingFrenchorGerman,Iwouldn’thavetheprivilegetoequivocateinthisway,becauseIwouldbeobligedbythegrammaroflanguagetochoosebetweenvoisinorvoisine;
NachbarorNachbarin.TheselanguagescompelmetoinformyouaboutthesexofmycompanionwhetherornotIfeelitisremotelyyourconcern.Thisdoesnotmean,ofcourse,thatEnglishspeakersareunabletounderstandthedifferencesbetweeneveningsspentwithmaleorfemaleneighbors,butitdoesmeanthattheydonothavetoconsiderthesexesofneighbors,friends,teachersandahostofotherpersonseachtimetheycomeupinaconversation,whereasspeakersofsomelanguagesareobligedtodoso.
Ontheotherhand,Englishdoesobligeyoutospecifycertaintypesofinformationthatcanbelefttothecontextinotherlanguages.IfIwanttotellyouinEnglishaboutadinnerwithmyneighbor,Imaynothavetomentiontheneighbor’ssex,butIdohavetotellyousomethingaboutthetimingoftheevent:
Ihavetodecidewhetherwedined,havebeendining,aredining,willbediningandsoon.Chinese,ontheotherhand,doesnotobligeitsspeakerstospecifytheexacttimeoftheactioninthisway,becausethesameverbformcanbeusedforpast,presentorfutureactions.Again,thisdoesnotmeanthattheChineseareunabletounderstandtheconceptoftime.Butitdoesmeantheyarenotobligedtothinkabouttimingwhenevertheydescribeanaction.
Whenyourlanguageroutinelyobligesyoutospecifycertaintypesofinformation,itforcesyoutobeattentivetocertaindetailsintheworldandtocertainaspectsofexperiencethatspeakersofotherlanguagesmaynotberequiredtothinkaboutallthetime.Andsincesuchhabitsofspeecharecultivatedfromtheearliestage,itisonlynaturalthattheycansettleintohabitsofmindthatgobeyondlanguageitself,affectingyourexperiences,perceptions,associations,feelings,memoriesandorientationintheworld.
BUTISTHEREanyevidenceforthishappeninginpractice?
Let’stakegendersagain.LanguageslikeSpanish,French,GermanandRussiannotonlyobligeyoutothinkaboutthesexoffriendsandneighbors,buttheyalsoassignamaleorfemalegendertoawholerangeofinanimateobjectsquiteatwhim.What,forinstance,isparticularlyfeminineaboutaFrenchman’sbeard(labarbe)?
WhyisRussianwaterashe,andwhydoesshebecomeaheonceyouhavedippedateabagintoher?
MarkTwainfamouslylamentedsucherraticgendersasfemaleturnipsandneutermaidensinhisrant“TheAwfulGermanLanguage.”ButwhereasheclaimedthattherewassomethingparticularlyperverseabouttheGermangendersystem,itisinfactEnglishthatisunusual,atleastamongEuropeanlanguages,innottreatingturnipsandteacupsasmasculineorfeminine.Languagesthattreataninanimateobjectasaheorasheforcetheirspeakerstotalkaboutsuchanobjectasifitwereamanorawoman.Andasanyonewhosemothertonguehasagendersystemwilltellyou,oncethehabithastakenhold,itisallbutimpossibletoshakeoff.WhenIspeakEnglish,Imaysayaboutabedthat“it”istoosoft,butasanativeHebrewspeaker,Iactuallyfeel“she”istoosoft.“She”staysfeminineallthewayfromthelungsuptotheglottisandisneuteredonlywhenshereachesthetipofthetongue.
Inrecentyears,variousexperimentshaveshownthatgrammaticalgenderscanshapethefeelingsandassociationsofspeakerstowardobjectsaroundthem.Inthe1990s,forexample,psychologistscomparedassociationsbetweenspeakersofGermanandSpanish.Therearemanyinanimatenounswhosegendersinthetwolanguagesarereversed.AGermanbridgeisfeminine(dieBrü
cke),forinstance,butelpuenteismasculineinSpanish;
andthesamegoesforclocks,apartments,forks,newspapers,pockets,shoulders,stamps,tickets,violins,thesun,theworldandlove.Ontheotherhand,anappleismasculineforGermansbutfeminineinSpanish,andsoarechairs,brooms,butterflies,keys,mountains,stars,tables,wars,rainandgarbage.Whenspeakerswereaskedtogradevariousobjectsonarangeofcharacteristics,Spanishspeakersdeemedbridges,clocksandviolinstohavemore“manlyproperties”likestrength,butGermanstendedtothinkofthemasmoreslenderorelegant.Withobjectslikemountainsorchairs,whichare“he”inGermanbut“she”inSpanish,theeffectwasreversed.
Inadifferentexperiment,FrenchandSpanishspeakerswereaskedtoassignhumanvoicestovariousobjectsinacartoon.WhenFrenchspeakerssawapictureofafork(lafourchette),mostofthemwantedittospeakinawoman’svoice,butSpanishspeakers,forwhomeltenedorismasculine,preferredagravellymalevoiceforit.Morerecently,psychologistshaveevenshownthat“genderedlanguages”imprintgendertraitsforobjectssostronglyinthemindthattheseassociationsobstructspeakers’abilitytocommitinformationtomemory.
Ofcourse,allthisdoesnotmeanthatspeakersofSpanishorFrenchorGermanfailtounderstandthatinanimateobjectsdonotreallyhavebiologicalsex—aGermanwomanrarelymistakesherhusbandforahat,andSpanishmenarenotknowntoconfuseabedwithwhatmightbelyinginit.Nonetheless,oncegenderconnotationshavebeenimposedonimpressionableyoungminds,theyleadthosewithagenderedmothertonguetoseetheinanimateworldthroughlensestintedwithassociationsandemotionalresponsesthatEnglishspeakers—stuckintheirmonochromedesertof“its”—are