语言机制对任意性的限制:语言系统运行机理探究

A Limitation Imposed by the Language Mechanism on Arbitrariness: Exploring the Law of the Functioning o

索绪尔 100 年前就提出语言符号具有任意性的观点。100 年来,任意性概念引起广泛的争论并由此产生种种解读。索绪尔还提出从考察对任意性限制的观点研究语言机制的方法论思想。遗憾的是,后者尚未引起广泛关注。时逢索绪尔逝世 100 周年,我们重新解读任意性,追问为什么研究语言机制对任意性限制的问题,这对于深入理解语言符号的性质和语言系统的运行机制具有重要意义。

It is 100 years since Saussure defined the arbitrary nature of linguistic signs. Over the past hundred years, the notion of ar- bitrariness has brought about a wide range of debates and thereby produced various kinds of interpretations. Saussure also pro- posed a methodological idea that the language mechanism should be studied as a way of imposing limitations on what is arbitrary. Unfortunately, the latter idea has not yet attracted a lot of attention. When the year comes that marks the lOOth anniversary of Saussure＇ s death today, we are given an opportunity to re-read Saussure and ask why Saussure proposed such an idea. It will be of great significance to answer this question in order to look deep into the nature of linguistic signs and understand how the lan- guage mechanism functions in the language system.