指类句的指称问题研究——一种词汇语用学的视角

A Lexical Pragmatic Approach to Generic Sentences

指类句是指一类事物都具有某种属性,通常被解读为一种规律(如"鸟会飞")。但是,指类句逻辑上不是全称命题,因为它们可以容忍例外事物(如"鸟会飞,但是企鹅不会飞")。从词汇语用学的角度看,指类句"以偏概全"的指称特点涉及语义—语用接口问题。指类句是主题结构,其命题内容是相对于某个主题而言的,因而,主题限定了指类词的指称域。指类句在认知上是一种参照点结构,该结构为语用充实的认知操作提供了基础条件。指类句能够容忍例外,是指类词概念意义的语用充实中的意义收缩的结果。这是因为指类句的理解中,指类词概念意义的语用充实是在最佳关联的原则指导下,需要从指称域中选择合格的对象以获取最佳语境效果。

Generic sentences ascribe certain property to a kind of entities, and thus are understood as rule/regularity-like assertions （e. g. , Birds fly. ）. However, generic sentences are not universal propositions logically, for they tolerate exceptions （ e. g. , Birds fly; but penguins can＇ t. ）. From the lexical pragmatics perspective, this feature involves semantic-pragmatic interface. As a thematic construction, the propositional contents are true of certain themes. That is, the theme defines the reference domain of generic terms. Generic sentences are of reference point structure if considered from the cognitive perspective. On this basis, pragmatic enrichment of the generic terms is performed. The tolerance of exceptions results from pragmatic narrowing of conceptual meaning of the generic terms. The reason is this ： the optimal relevance principle governs the process of pragmatic enrichment, and the cognitive process is to select the entities that embody the property predicated by the generic terms.