论叶圣陶的语言观

On Ye Shengtao's View of Language

叶圣陶是一位伟大的语言学家,他认为思想全都依傍语言,语言是思想的定型,语言和思想是“二而一”的;语言是人们交流思想的工具,绝对不能视为小节,谁都应该花气力认真学好;现代汉语语音、词汇、语法的规范化不仅仅是语言问题,它与每一个人的工作、生活及各行各业乃至整个国家机器的运行都直接相关,必须高度重视,努力实践。叶圣陶对语言的本质、功用和汉语规范化诸方面都有深入的研究和精辟的见解,为推进我国语言的纯洁、健康发展做出了杰出的贡献。

Ye Shengtao is a great linguist. He holds the view that all human thoughts have to rely on language as an expressive means and language is the final form that thoughts would take, and that language and thought are an inseparable unity. He contends that as an expressive means of thoughts language is something everybody should make great effort to learn and grasp rather than something that can be overlooked, and that the standardization of modern Chinese phonetics, vocabulary, and grammar are closely related with the work and life of people from all walks of life and even the operation of governmental agencies, to which great importance should be attached. Ye Shengtao＇ s incisive analysis of and penetrating insight into the nature, the function of language, and the standardization of modern Chinese have contributed greatly to the purification and healthy development of Chinese.