语言乃是一个复杂适应系统:立场论文

Language is a Complex Adaptive System： Position Paper

社会功能是语言的根本功能之一。人类交往过程与领域一般性认知过程共同塑造了语言结构和语言知识。近年来认知科学的研究表明,使用模式对语言习得、语言使用和语言演变影响巨大。这些过程不是各自独立的,而是同一个复杂适应系统（CAS）的不同方面。作为一个复杂适应系统的语言具有以下重要特征：语言系统包含多个交际主体（即言语社群中的说者）;语言系统具有适应性,即说者现在的言语行为是以其过去的言语交际为基础的,现在和过去的言语交际共同影响将来的言语行为;说者的言语行为是从感知约束到社会动因等诸多因素相互竞争的结果。语言结构是从经验、社交和认知机制的关联模式中涌现出的。CAS路径的研究表明,语言研究诸多领域（如一语/二语习得、历史语言学、心理语言学、语言演化和电脑建模等）都存在相通之处。

Language has a fundamentally social function. Processes of human interaction along with domain-general cognitive processes shape the structure and knowledge of language. Recent research in the cognitive sciences has demonstrated that patterns of use strongly affect how language is acquired,is used,and changes. These processes are not independent of one another but are facets of the same complex adaptive system（ CAS）. Language as a CAS involves the following key features： The system consists of multiple agents（ the speakers in the speech community） interacting with one another. The system is adaptive; that is,speakers＇ behavior is based on their past interactions,and current and past interactions together feed forward into future behavior. A speaker ＇s behavior is the consequence of competing factors ranging from perceptual constraints to social motivations. The structures of language emerge from interrelated patterns of experience,social interaction,and cognitive mechanisms. The CAS approach reveals commonalities in many areas of language research,including first and second language acquisition,historical linguistics,psycholinguistics,language evolution,and computational modeling.