思想的“形状”:关于体验性的实证研究

The “shape” of thought: An empirical study on “embodiment”

“体验性假说”是认知语言学的核心内容之一。该学说认为“人的身体的、认知的及社会的体验是形成概念系统及语言系统的基础”。本实证研究是运用汉语语料对该学说的验证。受试为北京外国语大学英语学院 2 0 0 2级 2 7名研究生。本文以受试撰写的关于“思想”的短文为语料 ,分析了“思想”的各种隐喻模式 ,得出结论 :“思想”是具体的事物 ;“心”和“脑”都是思维器官及“思想”的容器 ,但是“心”更为典型 ;西方文化中的“心智是身体”的隐喻系统也存在于汉语中 ,但它只是“思想是具体的事物”隐喻系统的一种表现。研究结论支持了“体验性假说”。

The Embodiment Hypothesis” has been a central issue in cognitive linguistics in the past twenty years or so. It claims that “human physical, cognitive and social embodiment ground our conceptual and linguistic systems”. This article reports an empirical study on “The Embodiment Hypothesis”. Data was collected from twenty seven postgraduate students from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Each subject wrote an essay describing their THOUGHT on a real event in their experiences. Through a detailed analysis of different metaphorical patterns of THOUGHT, it is concluded that (1) THOUGHT IS CONCRETE OBJECT; “Heart” and “brain” are both organs of thinking as well as “CONTAINERS” for thoughts, but “heart” is more typical in both functions; “THE MIND IS BODY” metaphor is also found in the data, but it can only serve as an example of the “THOUGHT IS CONCRETE OBJECT” metaphor. This study generally supports “The Embodiment Hypothesis”.