历史语言学的五项基本

Aspects of Historical Linguistics

本文讨论历史语言学中的五个基本观念:基本假设、基本目标、基本方法、基本材料、基本定位。历史语言学中的最基本的假设就是'齐一性'原理。最基本的目标则是理解语言变化。基本方法正在不断发展。基本材料以活语言材料为第一,文献记载为辅,后者尚需得到现代科学的解释。基本定位是从史学过渡到科学。

This paper discusses five fundamental concepts in historical linguistics:its initial hypothesis,the ultimate goal,crucial methods,data sources,and the nature of its research.The initial hypothesis in historical linguistics is the principle of uniformitarianism,-without which reconstruction is impossible.The ultimate goal of historical linguistics is to understand how and why languages change,from which the reconstructed ancient forms are a by-product.The paper also evaluates some new approaches introduced into historical linguistics.The most important materials employed for reconstruction are contemporary spoken languages.Historical records documented with Chinese characters are not direct evidence.As part of the study of language evolution,historical phonology is making steady progress towards an empirical scientific study.