Notes on JRFirth.docx

Notes on JRFirth.docx

《Notes on JRFirth.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《Notes on JRFirth.docx（8页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

NotesonJRFirth

J.R.Firth1

AlthoughJohnRupertFirthhelpedtofoundlinguisticsinGreatBritain,hepublishednomajortheoreticalbook.Despitevacillationsandcontradictions,Firthspositionremainedfairlyconsistent.

InPalmersestimate,FirthalonepioneeredlinguisticsinBritain,developedhisownoriginalbrand.FirthheldthefirstchairingenerallinguisticsinEngland,whichwasestablishedintheUniversityofLondonin1944.HeremainedlargelyunknowntolinguisticsinAmerica,asidefromPike.FirthdidespousesomeideasofBloomfield,butmainlyduetothethenintellectualclimate.SometimesFirthshowedsolidaritywithAmericanlinguists,butothertimesdepictedtheirworkasnarrowormisguided.

Unlikeothertheorists,FirthsalutestheimportanceofreligioninthehistoryofWesternlinguisticsalongsidescience,liketheSummerInstituteofLinguisticsthattrainsmissionaries.Firthalludestoholybooksportrayinglanguageastheinventionofagod.Butherecognizesreligiousandlinguisticexpansionasasupplementtomorematerialinterests.Afterall,worldlanguagesarebuiltonblood,money.

BeinganOrientalist,FirthalsosalutesthedawnoflanguagestudyinIndiaandthediscoveryofSanskrit.Admittedly,theancientHindugrammariansandlatertheArabswerenotinterestedinvernacular.Theirdescendantsallbelieveinarbitrarylinguisticstandardsandpurity,andadoptastatic,mainlyprescriptiveviewwhichsawlinguisticevolutionasdegeneration.Still,Firththinksthegreatlanguagesofoldercivilizationswerewellpreservedbygrammarians.ThetroublearoselaterwhenLatingrammarwasmisappliedtootherlanguagesalongwithGreeklogicandmetaphysics.Today,themoderntechnicianfindstraditionalgrammaticalcategorieslogicallyandphilosophicallypretentious,outdatedandanuisanceinpractice.Traditionallogicshowsnounderstandingoflanguageorrationaluseofwordsandsentencesineverydaylife.

Inmoderntimes,Firthseesanothergraveflawinlanguagestudy.Intraditionalschoolgrammars,therulesarebasedonpuritantaboos.ThePure-Englishcrusadeleadstotheartificialityof“goodEnglish”,preventing“schoolsandcollegesfromturningoutpupilswhocanputtheirideasintowordswithsimplicity”.

ThisgrimsituationprovidesthebackdroptoFirth’sappealformoredisciplinedmodernlinguisticstudies,includinggrammar.Grammarsandlanguagebookswillbe“X-rayed”andtheresultswillbestatedwithaslittlefeelingaspossibletoencourageopenandnaturaluseoflocalspeechandliterature,notjusttheReceivedEnglishoftheelite.

LikeSweetandMalinowski,Firthpreferstheanalysisoflivinglanguages.Heseesthequestfortheoriginsoflanguageaslargelyfutile.Insteadofgettingfurtherawayfromthehabitswecanobserve,weshouldlookfortheoriginsoflanguageinthewaywelearnanduseit.

FirthisshockedtorealizethatweEnglishhaveyettomakeadequateprovisionforthestudyoflinguisticproblems.Byshowingthatlinguisticsisamoreimportantsocialscience,wemaysecureanendowmentforanInstituteofLinguisticResearchtoaddresseducationalandsocialproblems.HeproclaimsthattheuseoftheEnglishlanguagetodayisthegreatestsocialforceinthewholeworld,andweshouldleadthewayintrainingyoungpeopletowardsacriticalunderstandingoflanguagebehaviour.FirthbelievesthatEnglishistheonlypracticableworldlanguageandcanbetaughtinanormalizedformasasecondlanguage,andeasiertolearnthanFrenchorGerman.Todealwiththetheoryoflanguage,theWesternscholarmustde-Europeanizehimself.Firthhailstheenormousscopeintheapplicationofgenerallinguisticsforthedevelopmentofunder-developedcountries.Here,thegenerallinguistmustofferhelpandguidance.FirthlaudstheweightycontributionsofEnglishlinguists,grammarians,rhetoricians,phoneticians,andorthographers.

Firthisuncertainabouthowbroadhisdisciplineshouldbe.Asasocialscience,linguisticsisaheadoftheothersintheoreticalformulationandtechniqueofstatement;itsfindingsarebasicandmustbecarefullystudied.Linguisticsshouldseekalliancewiththebiologicalandsocialsciencesanddevelopproperrelationshipswithallsciences.

FirthisgratifiedthatlinguisticsinEuropehasbecomeanautonomousdisciplineandnolongerplaysecondfiddletoothers.Psychologyemphasizesincommunicableexperience,andlogichasgivenusbadgrammarandtakentheheartoutoflanguage.Logiccannotformanintegralpartoflinguistics.Firthavowsthatlinguisticscannotbeseeninproperperspectivewithoutaphilosophyoflanguage.

Linguisticshasnotbeendevelopedtodealwithlanguageingeneralterms.Weneedalinguistictheoryapplicabletoparticularproblemsinsteadofatheoryforgeneraldescription.AnotherperilisthedualismbetweenmindandbodydatingfromDescartesandupheldbySwiss.Firthtakesmindandbodytogetherasbeingconstrainedinspecificconditions.Anormallinguisticbehaviourasawholeisameaningfuleffortformaintainingproperpatternsoflife.Ourbodiesaretheprimaryfieldofexperienceandexpression.Speechsituateswithinanetworkofrelationsbetweenpeople,things,andevents.Itisabodilyhabitpointingnotonlytothebrainfunction,butalsotolocalizedspeechcentresplusourbodymovements.Somehopeforapurelymechanicalexplanationofallthoughtintermsofitsmotoraccompaniment.JohnB.Watsonvowedthereisnosuchthingasthinking,only“innerspeech”.

However,Firtharguesthatwhereasinstinctivehabitsrequirenolearning,allhumanhabits,likespeech,involvehabitformattingprocesses.Firthportrayswordsasstimulus-responseacts,andspokensentencesassuccessionsofstimuli.“Ifintelligibilitydependedonanarrowreflexconnectionbetweenspeakingandhearing,weshouldallspeakexactlyalike”.Yetnotwopeoplepronounceexactlyalikeusingthesamestyle;familiarsoundsareconstantlybeingmadeinpartlynewcontexts.Hethereforeadoptedafreshdualism.Weshouldn’tembracematerialismtoavoidfoolishmentalism,asBloomfielddid.EventhoughheapplaudsMalinowski’swarning:

“allmentalstates”are“outsidetherealmofscience”;and“Itisdangeroustoimaginethatlanguage“mirrorsthementalreality”.

Hehatestoseelanguageasaninstrumenttomind.Hewantstoregardlanguageasamodeofaction,awayofdoingthingsandgettingthingsdone,ofsocialinteraction.Speechisapatternofgroupbehaviour,verbalizationsoftheexperientialcontexts.Duetocontextualelimination,whatyousayonlycallsforalimitedrangeofresponses.Conversationisnarrowlyconditionedbycultureandbysmallspeechgroups.Firththusseesthemostuniversalformsoflanguagebehaviourinroutineserviceandsocialritual.Heproposesthetermtactwhichdeterminestheuseoffittingformsoflanguageofasocialsituation;andthetermsetforageneralpatternofbehaviourbelongingtoasocialgrouportype.Thelanguagebehaviourintheactualsituationisamanifestationofthesets,whichtunethemselvesautomaticallytocontextofsituation.

Duetothecloseassociationbetweenpersonalityandsocialstructure,Firthfavourssociologyoverindividualpsychology.Linguisticsismainlyinterestedinpersonsandpersonalitiesasactiveparticipatorsinthemaintenanceofculturalvalues,ratherthanasseparatenaturalentities.Thehumanbeingisthereforetoberegardednotasanindividual,butasapersonactinginhismanysocialroles.Therelevantformsoflanguagefavourssocialresponsibilityandstability.Firthdistinguishedthetermsidiolectfrommonolectwhichislimitedtooneperson.

RejectingSaussure’sdivisionbetween“langue”and“parole”,Firthhopesforasynthesisofcontemporarytheories.Polysystemichypothesesmayrenderthehighlycomplexpatternsoflanguageclearerwithinthepluralityofsystems.Structuralist’sworkformsonlyonepartofstructurallinguisticswhichaimsatemployingalltechnicalresourcessystematicallyformultiplestatementsofmeaning.Incontrast,structuralismemphasizessegmentationandphonemicsandexcludesmeaning.Itseeksalinguisticmathematicswhichwillnotbeworkable.

Structureissyntagmaticandhorizontal,whereassystemisparadigmaticandvertical.Sincesystemsfurnishvaluesforelementsofstructureandacquireorderingfromstructure,theexponentsinsystemsarealwaysconsistent（exponent-theactualshapeofwordsorpartsofwords）.Elementsofstructureshareamutualexpectancyinanorderwhichisnotmerelyasequence.Expectancynotonlyexistsbetweenelementsofdiscourse,butalsobetweenwordsandthesurroundinglivingspace.

Linguisticsisagroupoftechniquesforhandlinglanguage.Forempiricalanalysis,descriptivelinguisticsmustbepractical;itsabstractions,inventionsmustbeabletohandlespeech.Systematicsisschematicconstructsintendedtocoverafieldofphenomena;theyhavenoontologicalexistence;theyarejustlanguageturnedbackonitself.

Sincewealltakepartandrelyonexperiencetomakeabstractions,linguisticsisreflexiveandintrovert.Eachscholarmakeshisownselectionandgroupingoffactsdeterminedbyhisattitudes,theories,andexperienceofreality,andhisstatementsmustbereferredtopersonalandsocialconditions.Firthinsiststhattherearenoscientificfactsuntiltheyarestatedinscientificallywithinasystemofrelatedstatements.“Thehigheststatewouldbethatallfacilityisalreadytheory”.

Firthdistinguishesthreemethodsofstatinglinguisticfacts:

（1）languageunderdescription（exemplifiedbytexts）,

（2）languageofdescription（technicalterms,notation,etc.）,and（3）languageoftranslati