语言非工具论

Language Non-instrumentalism

语言是否具有工具性质,这是一个多年来没有人进行实际探讨的问题。虽然"语言是工具"的观点在很多语言学教材、专论中都有类似的表述,但是关于"语言是工具"的定义目前还没有呈现出明了的趋势。很多学者仅仅在字面上、语言功能或者比喻层次上理解工具,而没有从语言本体、语言理论和实践方面对此进行论述。从语言自身的性质看,可以通过不同的语言事实看到语言的非工具性质,因此通过论证语言的这种本质,人们会对语言产生新的认识。从工具与语言本质的差异、功能对比上,说明语言并非工具而是人类表达的本能,同时讨论语言工具论观点的起源和弊端。

The question that whether language should be regarded as an instrument has not been seriously investigated for years.Though statements about language as instrument can be found in many linguistics course books and monographs,definitions of language as instrument have not yet shown an unequivocal trend.Many people just take the instrumentalism of language literally or as a metaphor,or focus on its functions.As a consequence,language is not properly analyzed theoretically and in practice.As a matter of fact,by examining language itself and different language phenomena,we can realize the non-instrumental nature of language,whose proof will thus help us obtain new understandings of it.This paper tries to illustrate that language is not an instrument through a comparison between properties and functions of instrument and language;rather,it should be regarded as an instinct of human representation.The paper also discusses the origin and consequences of mal-insight of regarding language as an instrument.