名词和动词

Nouns and Verbs

基于名词和动词这两大词类的一些表现,语言学界先后提出了“名动包含说”和“空/时间性语言说”。两个论说实为一对孪生说,因为二者共享“汉语是以名词为中心的语言”之核心命题。通过梳理名词和动词的普适价值、语法权重、语义属性(指称性和述谓性)和认知属性(空间性和时间性)等,该文指出:(1)从静态的描写语法视角看,名词和动词在句子中肩并肩手牵手,以分工合作的方式为人类传递思想,因而具有同等的语法权重,二者不存在中心与边缘之说;(2)“指称性”是名词性成分专有的语义属性,而“述谓性”是动词、形容词成分专有的语法(或语义)属性,因此,两个论说声称的“谓语也是指称语”是一个十分明显的概念性错误;(3)从语言学的视角看,“空/时间性语言说”是将语用混同语法的结果;从认知科学的视角看,它们又可谓是“选择性感知”导致的错误认识。

Based on some usages of nouns and verbs,two claims,viz.“Chinese as a Language of Nouns Including Verbs”and“Chinese as a Language of Spatiality”,have been made over the past decade.Having delineated the universality of linguistic values,grammatical weight,semantic attributes as well as cognitive properties of nouns and verbs,the author points out in this particle that(i)the two categories have the same grammatical weight in the configuration of a grammatical sentence,and there is thus no such distinction between nucleus and periphery;(ii)referentiality is essentially specific to nouns,whereas predication is particular to verbs and adjectives;it is therefore a false claim that all predicates are also referential expressions;(iii)the two claims,viz.“Chinese as a Language of Spatiality and English as a Language of Temporality”,are the results of mistaking usage for grammar and also the outcomes of selective perception,on the ground that they only select some evidence supporting their claims while neglecting the abundant counterevidence.