中西文字在文化传递过程中的作用

Word forms and their roles in cultural transmission

本文根据中西文字的不同特点,论述它们在文化传递过程中的不同作用。西方的拼音文字,由于字随声转,文字的变化迅速,造成了由文字为中介的文化传递的古今巨大落差,构成人们以今释古的历时文化特点。汉字作为表意文字,不随语音的变化而迅速变化,呈文化传统延伸的古今同一化趋势,使得人们逐渐形成一种以古释今的社会心理,构成共时文化特点。

Alphabetic writing systems in European languages undergo fast changes since word forms alterwith sound changes; as a result, the tranimission of culture, whose carrier is language, often leavesgreat gaps. The study of western culture tends to follow a diachronic approach. The Chineselanguage, being an ideagraph, does not alter its characters along with sound changes and thereforeits character forms remain fairly steady. The study of Chinese culture tends to follow a synchronicapproach, treating the cultural tradition as extending from ancient times to the present.