乔姆斯基“普遍语法”假说的反证——来自认知心理学的启示

Refuting Chomsky's Universal Grammar: Evidence from Cognitive Psychology

乔姆斯基的普遍语法假说为其整个理论体系的基石。普遍语法认为,人类有一个与生俱来的抽象的、自足的形式系统作为人类语言的组织"原则",具体语言的学习则是代入相应的"参数"。但是过去一二十年来认知心理学所提供的证据显示,乔氏的假说缺乏科学依据,并且在很大程度上扭曲了语言的特性,同时也证明,普遍语法所赖以存在的理由是脆弱的,它并不能支持乔氏理论的成立。

Chomsky proposed the 'universal grammar' hypothesis in 1970s, which is the core of the generative linguistics and has since greatly influenced the development of formal linguistic theories. The universal grammar argues that human beings possess an innate, abstract, autonomous formal system which serves to set up principles for language and the acquisition of individual language is the process of parameter-setting. However, the development of cognitive psychology in the last two decades indicates that the 'universal grammar' hypothesis is groundless and to a great degree distorts the nature of language. Therefore, we propose a new hypothesis about linguistic cognition, with solid evidence from cognitive psychology.