心理学导论 中英字幕 [第6课]我们如何交流？思想，语言和手语

今天我们要讲的是语言
This class today is about language.
很大程度上来说  语言就是行为
And language is, to a large extent, where the action is.
人类语言的研究
The study of human language
是各种人性理论的重要领域
has been the battleground over different theories of human nature.
因此  无论是哲学家  心理学家
So, every philosopher or psychologist
人类学家  还是神经系统学家
or humanist or neuroscientist
只要他们曾经研究过人类
who has ever thought about people
便会就语言的特性及其功能提出某些理论
has had to make some claim about the nature of language and how it works.
我所说的这些学者包括了
I'm including here people like
亚里士多德  柏拉图  休莫
Aristotle and Plato, Hume,
洛克  弗洛依德以及斯金纳
Locke, Freud and Skinner.
而这些理论则包括了
I'm also including modern-day approaches
计算理论  认知神经科学  进化论
to computational theory, cognitive neuroscience, evolutionary theory
以及文化心理学的诸多当代理论
and cultural psychology.
如果你想要理解关于人类本质
If you hope to make it with theory of what people are
及其行为模式的理论
and how people work,
就必须得探讨并解释语言
you have to explain and talk about language.
事实上  语言是非常有意思的
In fact, language is sufficiently interesting that,
与本门课上探讨的其他主题不同
unlike most other things I'll talk about in this class,
对它的研究形成了一个完整的专业
there is an entier field devoted to this study
即语言学专业
the field of linguistics
这个专业致力于研究各种语言的
that is entirely devoted to studying
细微差异及其结构
the nuances and structures of different languages.
在详细讨论之前  我想首先下一个定义
Now, I'll first, before getting into details, make a definitional point.
当我谈到语言时
When I'm talking about language
我指的是诸如英语  荷兰语
I'm meaning systems like English and Dutch
沃皮利语  意大利语  土耳其语
and Warlpiri and Italian and Turkish
乌尔都语这样的语言系统
and Urdu
以及我们在正式上课之前的课堂演示中
and what we've seen and heard right now in class in the demonstration
所看到和听到的语言系统
that preceded the formal lecture.
现在  你可以应用另一种意义上的语言
Now, you could use language in a different sense.
在此意义上  "语言"可以被用来描述
You could use the term "Language" to describe
狗儿在干什么
what dogs do,
黑猩猩在干什么
or what chimpanzees do,
或是鸟儿在干什么
or birds.
也可用来描述音乐
You could use language to describe music,
即音乐语言
talk about the--a musical language
或是去描述艺术
or art,
或任何的交流系统
or any communicative system,
都是没问题的
and there's actually nothing wrong with that.
因为并没有什么
There's no rule
关于应当如何运用"语言"一词的规定
about how you're supposed to use the word "Language."
但问题是
But the problem is
如果你无限宽泛地使用"语言"一词
if you use the word "Language" impossibly, incredibly broadly,
那么从科学的角度来看
then from a scientific point of view
探究语言就变得毫无意义了
it becomes useless to ask interesting questions about it.
如果语言能够表示一切
If language can refer to just about everything
从英语到交通信号
from English to traffic signals,
那我们就无法得出各种有趣的概论
then we're not going to be able to find interesting generalizations
或是无法对语言进行科学的研究
or do good science about it.
因此  我想做的是
So, what I want to do is,
我想来谈谈语言的科学定义
I want to discuss the scientific notion of language,
首先我会将自己限定在
at first restricting myself
诸如英语  荷兰语  美国手语
to systems like English and Dutch and American sign language
或迪瓦霍语等语言系统之下
and Navajo and so on.
一旦我们在狭义上
Once we've made some generalizations
得出了某些关于语言的概论
about language in this narrow sense,
那我们就可以发问
we could then ask, and we will ask,
诸如动物交流系统之类的其他系统
to what extent
会在多大程度上
do other systems such as animal communication systems
符合这个狭隘的定义呢
relate to this narrower definition.
我们可以发问
So we could ask,
从狭义上说  语言拥有何种特性
in this narrow sense, what properties do languages have
然后我们可以接着发问
and then go on to ask,
从广义上说
in a broader sense,
哪些其他的交流系统也同样拥有那些特性
what other communicative systems also possess those properties.
有些关于语言的知识非常明显
Well, some things are obvious about language
这是我们将会提到的的一些问题
so here are some; here are the questions we will ask.
我们今天就主要来讨论这些问题
This will frame our discussion today.
我们将首先温习一些语言的基本事实
We'll first go over some basic facts about language.
我们将会谈及各种语言的共性
We'll talk about what languages share,
谈及语言的发展
we'll talk about how language develops,
以及非人类的语言交流
and we'll talk about language and communication in nonhumans.
我用一段演示来开始今天的课
I began this class with a demonstration of
这段演示阐述了语言非常重要的两个事实
--that illustrates two very important facts about language.
其一是  所有语言都共享
One is that languages all share
一些深层且复杂的共性
some deep and intricate universals.
尤其是所有的语言都至少
In particular, all languages, at minimum,
能够有效地表达抽象概念
are powerful enough to convey an abstract notion like this;
在某种意义上来说
abstract in the sense
抽象概念能够表达思想
that it talks about thoughts
能够表述物体的位置与空间关系
and it talks about a proposition and spatial relations in objects.
世界上并不存在
There's no language in the world
无法谈论抽象概念的语言
that you just cannot talk about abstract things with.
所有语言都可以
Every language can do this.
但这个演示也阐明了语言的另一个事实
But the demonstration also illustrated another fact about language,
即语言如何不同
which is how different languages are.
两个事实听上去是不同的
They sound different.
如果你掌握了一种语言
If you know one language,
你就不需要再去掌握其他的语言了
you don't necessarily know another.
不仅是因为你不能理解另外一种语言
It's not merely that you can't understand it.
比如说手语看上去会很奇怪或是异常
It could sound strange or look unusual in the case of a sign language.
因此  任何完善的语言理论
And so, any adequate theory of language
都必须谈及不同语言间的共性和差异
has to allow for both the commonalities and the differences across languages.
这也是心理学和语言认知学
And this is the puzzle faced by
所面临的难题
the psychology and cognitive science of language.
我以达尔文提出的
Well, let's start with an interesting claim
一个有趣的语言观点来作为开始
about language made by Charles Darwin.
查尔斯·达尔文写到
So, Darwin writes,
"人类拥有说话的本能倾向
"Man has an instinctive tendency to speak,
我们会看到幼儿含糊吐字
as we see in the babble of our young children,
然而儿童却并不具有烘焙
while no child has an instinctive tendency
酿酒或是写作的本能倾向"
to bake, brew or write."
达尔文在此所表达的观点
And what Darwin is claiming here,
极具争议而又非常有趣
and it's a controversial and interesting claim,
这个观点认为  语言之所以特殊
is that language is special
是因为总有某些倾向  能力或本能
in that there's some sort of propensity or capacity or instinct
使得语言与他所举的其他例子有所不同
for language unlike the other examples he gives.
我们的一切并非都是天生的
Not everything comes natural to us
但达尔文却认为  语言是与生俱来的
but Darwin suggests that language does.
我们为什么要相信他的观点呢
Well, why should we believe this?
达尔文的观点得到了一些基本事实的支持
Well, there are some basic facts that support Darwin's claim.
举例来说  所有人类社会都拥有语言
For one thing, every normal... every human society has language.
在旅行过程中  文化与文化相互碰撞
In the course of traveling, cultures encounter other culture
而人们通常则会遇到
and they often encounter cultures
与其自身所处文化截然不同的另一些文化
that are very different from their own.
但在人类历史的进程中
But through the course of human history,
还没有人曾经遇到过
nobody has ever encountered another group of humans
没有语言的人类族群
that did not have a language.
这是否表明语言就是天生的呢
Does this show that it's built in?
未必  可能只是文化创新而已
Well, not necessarily. It could be a cultural innovation.
比如说  可能只是因为
It could be, for instance,
语言是一个非常棒的创新
that language is such a good idea
所有文化都接受了它  并且发展了它
that every culture comes across it and develops it.
几乎所有的文化都会使用某些餐具
Just about every culture uses some sort of utensils to eat food with,
刀叉  筷子  勺子
a knife and a fork, chopsticks, a spoon.
之所以都用餐具
This probably is not because
并不是因为使用餐具是人类本性
use of eating utensils is human nature,
而是因为  所有文化都不断发现
but rather, it's because it's just a very useful thing
餐具非常的实用
that cultures discover over and over again.
我们知道  语言可能并不是这个情况
Well, we know that this probably is not true with regard to language.
我们之所以这样认为
And one reason we know this
是因为有许多的个案研究
is because of the demonstrated case studies
都证明了一代人之内是可以创造出语言的
where a language is created within a single generation.
这些个案研究曾在历史上得到多次验证
And these case studies have happened over history.
典型案例就是奴隶交易中的人们
The standard example is people involved in the slave trade.
为了获得烟草  棉花
The slave trade revolving around tobacco or cotton
咖啡  或糖块的奴隶交易
or coffee or sugar
会将来自不同语言背景的奴隶
would tend to mix slaves and laborers
和劳动者们混在一起
from different language backgrounds,
这也在某种程度上
in part deliberately,
谨慎地避免了可能的造反
so as to avoid the possibility of revolt.
这些来自不同文化的被奴役的个体
What would happen is these people who were enslaved from different cultures
会创造出一种临时的交流系统
would develop a makeshift communication system
以便他们之间能够互相交流
so they could talk to one another.
这就是所谓的"混杂语言"
And this is called a "Pidgin," P-I-d-g-I-n, a pidgin.
他们会使用这种混杂语言来进行交流
And this pidgin was how they would talk.
而实际上混杂语言并不是一种语言
And this pidgin was not a language.
它只不过是从身边的不同语言当中
It was strings of words borrowed
借用了一些单词串
from the different languages around them
以随意的方式将它们放在一起
and put together in sort of haphazard ways.
问题是在这种社会中长大的儿童
The question is what happens to the children
究竟会怎样
who are raised in this society.
你可能会以为他们也将学会这种混杂语言
And you might expect it that they would come to speak a pidgin,
但事实并非如此
but they don't.
实际情况是  在一代人的时间里
What happens is, in the course of a single generation,
他们创造出了属于自己的语言
they develop their own language.
他们用丰富的语法  语态和语音
They create a language
创造出一种语言
with rich syntax and morphology and phonology,
我们马上会来讲这些术语的
terms that we'll understand in a few minutes.
他们创造的这种语言被称为克利奥尔语
And this language that they create is called a "Creole."
而这些叫做克利奥尔语的语言
And languages that we know now as creoles,
再次说明了它们的历史
the word refers back to their history.
就是说  它们是由混杂语言发展而来的
That means that they were developed from pidgins.
这一点很有意思  因为这表明
And this is interesting because this suggests
从某种程度上来说
that to some extent
语言的使用  理解以及学习能力
the ability to use and understand and learn language
是人类本性的一部分
is part of human nature.
它无需深远的文化史
It doesn't require an extensive cultural history.
甚至  任何一个普通的小孩
Rather, just about any normal child,
即使并未接触过成熟的语言环境
even when not exposed to a full-fledged language,
也可以创造语言
can create a language.
而近期更有些关于儿童学习手语的
And more recently, there's been case studies of children
个案研究
who acquire sign language.
研究者在尼加拉瓜曾做过
There's a wonderful case
一个精彩的手语个案研究
in Nicaragua in sign language
儿童们从本身并不熟悉手语的成年人那里
where they acquire sign language from adults
习得手语
who themselves are not versed in sign language.
他们艰难的学习着第二语言
They're sort of second-language learners struggling along.
你可能会认为儿童会使用
What you might have expected would be
成人所使用的语言系统
the children would then use whatever system their adults use,
但事实并非如此
but they don't.
他们将语言克利奥尔化
They "Creolized" it.
他们继承了成人发展出来的临时交流系统
They take this makeshift communication system developed by adults
将这个临时交流系统
and, again, they turn it
再次发展成一种成熟的语言
into a full-blown language,
这表明从某种程度上来说
suggesting that to some extent
创造语言是我们人类本性的一部分
it's part of our human nature to create languages.
每个正常的人类也都拥有语言
Also, every normal human has language.
在座各位并不都会骑自行车
Not everybody in this room can ride a bicycle.
在座各位并不都会下国际象棋
Not everybody in this room can play chess.
但每个人都至少掌握了一种语言
But everybody possesses at least one language.
每个人从儿童时代开始
And everybody started to possess
便至少掌握了一种语言
at least one language when they were a child.
也有些例外
There are exceptions,
但只是由于某些脑损伤
but the exceptions come about
这些例外才得以出现
due to some sort of brain damage.
任何神经上正常的人类
Any neurologically normal human
都能够掌握一种语言
will come to possess a language.
我们还知道些什么呢
What else do we know?
语言是人类本性的一部分的这个观点
Well, the claim that language is part of human nature
得到了神经研究的支持
is supported by neurological studies,
在之前大家阅读的关于大脑的章节中
some of which were referred to in the chapters on the brain
对专门负责语言功能脑区的探讨
that you read earlier that talk about dedicated parts of the brain
就描述了其中的一些研究
that work for language.
如果这些脑区
And if parts of these brains--if parts
如果这些脑区受到损伤
--if these parts of the brain are damaged
那就会患上各种语言障碍或失语症
you get language deficits or aphasias
就是说可能会失去理解或创造语言的能力
where you might lose the ability to understand or create language.
更具体的来说
More speculatively, there has been some fairly recent work
一些最新的语言遗传基础研究
studying the genetic basis of language,
探查了直接影响语言学习
looking at the genes that are directly responsible
及使用能力的基因
for the capacity to learn and use language.
证明这些基因起作用的一些证据
And one bit of evidence that these genes are implicated
是这些基因会在某些不幸的人身上
is that some unfortunate people
00:10:26,490 --> 00:10:28,930
发生点突变
have point mutations in these genes.
这些人无法学习和使用语言
And such people are unable to learn and use language.
总的来说
So, in general,
语言在某种意义上
there is some support,
是人类本性一部分的这个观点
at least at a very broad level,
至少在一般性水平上
for the claim that language is in some sense
得到了一些支持
part of human nature.
那么  我们所说的语言到底是什么意思
Well, what do we mean by language?
当我们讨论语言时
What are we talking about
我们到底在讲些什么
when we talk about language?
比如  我们并不想把自己
We don't want to restrict ourselves,
只局限于英语或法语
for instance, to English or French.
所有语言都拥有什么共性呢
What do all languages share?
所有语言都是具有创造性的
Well, all languages are creative
这表达了几层含义
and this means a couple of things.
其中一层便是勒奈·笛卡尔所强调的含义
One meaning is the meaning emphasized by Rene Descartes.
勒奈·笛卡尔提出人类不只是机器的时候
When Rene Descartes argued that we are more than merely machines,
他最有力的证据便是人类的语言能力
his best piece of evidence for him was the human capacity for language.
机器并不具备语言能力
No machine could do this
因为我们的语言能力
because our capacity for language
是不受控制的  是自由的
is unbounded and free.
我们可以说任何想说的话
We could say anything we choose to say.
我们拥有自由意志
We have free will.
事实上  语言使得我们能够
And in fact, language allows us
创造出近乎无限的句子
to produce a virtual infinity of sentences.
因此  我们能够创造和理解
So, we could create and understand sentences
那些我们未曾听过的句子
that we never heard before.
这样的句子非常的多
And there are a lot of sentences.
如果你想估计一下
So, if you want to estimate
用二十个英文单词
how many grammatical sentences
可以组成多少个符合语法的句子
under twenty words in English,
答案会是  "很多"
the answer is, "A lot."
这也就意味着
And what this means is
任何语言使用和语言理解的理论
that any theory of language use and language comprehension
都无法列出一份句子的清单
cannot simply appeal to a list.
当你在理解我所说的一句话时
When you understand a sentence I said
你必须要拥有理解这句话的能力
you have to have the capacity to understand a sentence
即使你在之前从未听到过这句话
even if you've never heard it before.
这是因为我们可以毫不费力地创造和理解
And this is because we could effortlessly produce and understand sentences
那些世上从未有人说过的句子
that no human has ever said before on earth.
有没有人自愿说个句子
Would anybody volunteer to say a sentence,
不能是下流的  不敬的
non obscene, non derogatory,
得是世上从未有人说过的句子
that has never been spoken before on earth, ever?
我先来说一个吧
Here. I'll start.
"如果你不是很在意质量的话
"It's surprisingly easy to get a purple tie on eBay
那么在易趣买条紫色领带是非常容易的"
if you don't care much about quality."
我可以想象此前世上并无他人说过这话
I could imagine no one else in the world has said this before.
无法从iTunes上
"I am upset
轻松下载《吸血猎人巴菲》
that one cannot easily download
让我感到很失望
'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' through iTunes."
有可能某人曾说过这两句话
Now it's possible somebody said both these sentences before,
可你们却并没听到过
but you probably have not heard them.
但是你们马上就理解了句子的意思
But you understand them immediately.
你是怎么做到的呢
So, how do you do it?
在你的头脑中有许多的规则
Well, you have rules in your head.
虽然你已经知道了这些单词的意思
You've learnt what the words mean,
但却是你所拥有的抽象且无意识的规则
but you have abstract and unconscious rules
让你认清单词  确认语序
that take these words, figure out the order,
然后在一瞬间让你理解整个句子
and in a fraction of a second, give rise to understanding.
这就是语言学家们所研究的内容
And that's the sort of thing linguists study.
举一些英语语言学研究的典型案例
So, take some standard examples from the linguistic study of English.
记住  我们在这里所讨论的规则
And bear in mind the rules we're talking about here
你无法明确地意识到
are not rules you explicity know.
这些自动的规则
They're automatic rules of the same sort
和我们将要讨论的视觉感知是类似的
we're going to talk about in the context of visual perception
因为它们都是内隐的  无意识的
in that they're implicit and unconscious
也是无法清晰了解的
and not accessible to explicit understanding.
例如  你快速的阅读了"猪想吃东西"
So for instance, immediately you read "The pig is eager to eat"
和"猪肉容易吃"这两句话
versus "The pig is easy to eat"
你在一瞬间就会懂得
and in a fraction of a second you know
这两句话之间是有很大区别的
there's an important difference.
"猪想吃东西"
"The pig is eager to eat"
意思是我们在说猪吃东西
means the state of affairs that we're talking about
这个事件的状态
is when the pig does the eating.
"猪肉容易吃"则是在说猪被吃的时候
"The pig is easy to eat" Is when the pig is being eaten.
你会看类似这样的句子
You would see a sentence like
"比尔知道约翰喜欢他"
"Bill knew that John liked him"
你都不知道你是如何理解这句话的
and you know, without even knowing how you know,
但你却知道这句话是在说
that this could mean that
比尔知道约翰喜欢比尔
Bill knew that John liked Bill
或是在说比尔知道约翰喜欢弗雷德
or it could mean that Bill knew that John liked Fred.
但它的意思不会是比尔知道约翰喜欢约翰
But it can't mean that Bill knew that John liked John.
实际上  正常的解释就是
The natural interpretation, in fact, is that
比尔知道约翰喜欢比尔
Bill knew that John liked Bill.
这两个词互相指代
The two words co-refer.
而"比尔知道约翰喜欢他自己"这句话
Contrast that with "Bill knew that John liked himself,"
就只是意味着"比尔知道约翰喜欢约翰"
which only has the meaning Bill knew that John liked John.
这就是语言学家们研究的问题
And this is what linguists do for a living
如果你听了我的讲解然后说
so if you hear me talking about this and say,
"我想用我的余生来研究这些东西"
"I want to spend the next forty years of my life studying that,"
那你该去做一个语言学家
you should become a linguist.
而那些
But that's the sort of--
而那些现象则正是我们所关心的
those are the sort of phenomena that we're interested in.
现在  问题变得更加复杂了
Now, it gets more complicated.
这些例子都是从语法上来说的
Those are examples from syntax,
但语言却是有很多结构的
but language has many structures.
语言拥有自下而上的结构
Language has structures going from the bottom to the top.
所有人类语言都拥有语音
All languages--All human languages have phonology,
语音是声音或符号系统
which is the system of sounds or signs;
语态  也就是词或语素的系统
morphology, which is the system of words or morphemes,
是意义的基本单位
basic units of meaning
以及语法  是指将词和短语
and syntax, which refer to rules and principles
组成有意义表达的规则和原则
that put together words and phrases into meaningful utterances.
在探讨一些其他问题之前
And I want to talk briefly about each of these three parts of language
我想简单的讲一下语言的这三个成分
before looking at some other issues.
非常感谢史蒂芬·平克写了这本精彩的
I'm indebted here to Steven Pinker's excellent book
《语言本能》一书
The Language Instinct
我认为该书对这些现象进行了极好的讨论
which provides, I think, a superb discussion of these phenomena.
我将会从平克那里借用一些例子
And I'm going to steal some of my examples from Pinker.
00:15:53,250 --> 00:15:54,710
先说语音
So, phonology.
语音是语言的声音系统
Phonology is the system of sounds that languages have.
它拥有一个子集
There's a subset.
语言使用的可能声音列表是有限的
There's a list, a finite list, of possible sounds that language can use.
我想暂时把手语
I'm going to put aside for the moment
及其如何作用的问题先放到一边
the question of sign languages and how they work.
我会简单的讲下它们
I'm going to talk about them in a little bit.
英语拥有大约四十个音位
The idea is that English has about forty of these phonemes.
如果你是英语母语的单语说话者
So, if you're a native monolingual speaker of English
你听到一段演讲
you hear speech
你所听到的每个声音
and each sound you hear is categorized as
都被归类为这四十个音位中的一个
falling into one of those forty morphemes--sorry, phonemes.
例如  英语有"Lu"
So, for example, English has a phoneme of "Lu,"
"L" 和"R"的音位
"L," and a phoneme of "R."
所以  英语说话者可以听出
And so, an English speaker can hear the difference
"Lip"和"Rip"之间的差别
between "Lip" and "Rip"
而这两种声音在英语中对应了不同的单词
and that corresponds to two different words in English.
其他语言并没有这样的差别
Other languages don't have that distinction
所以非英语母语的说话者
and so those distinctions are very difficult
很难发现这些差别
for non-native English speakers to learn.
因此你在学习语言时要做的一件事情便是
So, part of what goes on when you learn,
你必须学习你所学语言的各种音位
is you have to learn the language --the phonemes that your language has.
学习语言的另一个问题是
Another part of the problem of learning language is
你必须得确定单词之间的界线是什么
you have to figure out what the boundaries are between the words.
你必须要用声音信号
You have to use sound signals
来确定单词之间的界线
to figure out the boundaries between the words.
如果你只接触过英语
Now that--If the only language you've ever heard is English,
那么刚才的问题就看上去非常奇怪了
that's going to seem like a really weird example of a problem
因为你在听我讲话
because you're listening to me speak
而你会在我所说的单词之间听到一个停顿
and in between each of my words you're hearing a pause.
你并不需要非常聪明才能够确定
You don't have to be very smart to figure out
哪里是单词的开始和结束
where one word begins and one word ends.
但停顿只是一种心理错觉而已
But the pause is a psychological illusion.
如果你对着
If you were to just talk into an oscilloscope
测量声震的示波器讲话
that measured your sound vibrations,
你会发现在单词间并没有停顿
there are no pauses between the words.
相反  停顿只是由你的心理活动插入的
Rather, the pauses are inserted by your mind
因为你已经知道了一个单词的开始
as you already know where one word begins
与另一个单词的结束在什么地方
and another one ends.
然后你在这个点上插入停顿
And you insert a pause at that point.
当你听到一种你从未听过的语言时
You could see this
你便会理解这个现象
when you hear a language you don't already know.
因此  对于那些从未听过法语的人来说
So, for those of you who have never heard French before,
当你听到有人说  "我不知道"
when you hear somebody say, "Je ne sais pas"
你可能会说  "太神奇了
you could say, "Remarkable!
法语在单词之间居然没有停顿
French has no pauses between words."
当然  讲法语的人听到"我不知道"时
And you-- And now a French speaker, of course,
是会感觉到停顿的
hears "Je ne sais pas."
我知道一句希伯来语
For Hebrew, I know one sentence in Hebrew:
"请问  卫生间在哪里"
"Sleecha, eypho ha-sheeruteem"
我猜这话的意思是想去卫生间了
which I think is a request for the bathroom.
但如果你不会希伯来语
But if you don't know Hebrew
你就会觉得没有停顿
there's no pauses.
事实上  当你们听到例句的时候
And the truth is, when you each gave your demonstrations,
没有人能正确地说出例句
nobody spoke properly
因为本来就没人会说
because nobody spoke
比如这个句子
-Here's the sentence:
"快醒醒  疯狂  自满  拥抱"
"Glorp fendel smug wuggle."
相反  你们都觉得这句话听起来像
Rather, you all sounded like,
"啦啦啦"  并未感觉得到任何的停顿
"Blublublublublub" without any pauses
因为我并不懂你的语言
because I don't know your languages.
儿童出生时并不知道任何特定的语言
Children come into the world without knowing any specific language
因此他们需要学会停顿
and so they have to learn pauses.
他们必须学会通过上下文来判断声音
They have to learn to interpret sounds in context
有时他们会出现错误的情况
and sometimes they make mistakes.
他们会犯些分割句子的问题
They get problems of segmentation.
这里有几个例子
And there are some illustrations.
如果他们试图重复
You could see their mistakes
被社会所熟知的某些东西
if they're trying to repeat back something
那你就可以看到他们的错误了
that's already known within a society.
歌曲是个不错的例子
So, songs are a good example.
这些歌词节选自儿童
These are excerpts from children.
"我永远都不是你的披萨燃烧"
"I'll never be your pizza burnin."
谁知道这改编自哪首歌的歌词
Anybody know--figure out what that corresponds to?
驮畜  [滚石乐队经典歌曲]
Beast of burden?
"驮畜"  很好
"Beast of burden." Very good.
"一个患结肠炎的女孩从身边走过"
"A girl with colitis goes by."
有人知道吗
Somebody?
"双眼如万花筒般绚烂的女孩"
"A girl with kaleidoscope eyes."
"蚂蚁是我的朋友  它们在随风飘荡"
"The ants are my friends; they're blowin' in the wind."
还有一句宗教的
And this is a religious one.
"我们在天上的父和巴特
"Our father with Bart in heaven;
哈罗德是他们的名字吗
Harold be they name?
不让我们去佩恩车站"
Lead us not into Penn Station?"
语音理解实际上说明了
Now, phonological understanding illustrates all sorts of aspects
语言加工和意识的各个方面
of language processing and, in fact, of consciousness.
你们记得我之前说过
Because remember I said that,
通常来说  当你听到一个句子时
typically, when you hear a sentence
你会通过心理活动
you make --you manufacture in your mind
在词与词之间创造出间隔
gaps between the words.
通常当你听到某些不清楚的单词时
Typically, when there's something which is unclear
你会填入间隔  并确认那个词是什么
you'll fill in the gap and figure out what the word is.
你就是以这种方式倾听句子的
And you will hear it that way.
最好的例子还是出错的时候
So, the few examples--The best examples, again, are for when it goes wrong.
经典的例子
So, a classic example
是瑞克·詹姆斯的"超级怪胎"这首歌
is from the song "Super Freak" By Rick James.
我上过一次关于版权法的课程
I got a big lecture about copyright laws
不过这就要违反大多数的版权法了
and this is going to violate most of them.
等瑞克·詹姆斯两年后上网
Rick James is going to be sitting on the--at--staring
看到这个视频  会说
at the web two years from now saying,
"嘿  这是我的歌"
"Hey. That's my thing."
好了  我希望你们来听听这句歌词
Okay. So, I want you to listen to this line.
我相信你们中的大多数之前都听过这首歌
I'm sure most of you have heard this before
但我还是希望你们能仔细的听听
but I want you to listen closely.
最后一句是什么
What was that last line?
"你所读到的女孩"
"The kind of girl you read about--"
结果没人知道究竟在说什么
Well, it turns out that nobody really knows.
很多进行自上而下解释的人  也包括我
And it sounds to many people who do top-down interpretation as
都将它听为
-to me as well,
"她是你在《新闻周刊》杂志上
that "She's the kind of girl you read about
00:21:29,530 --> 00:21:31,100
所读到的女孩"
in Newsweek magazine."
但你听到你不想"带回家给妈妈"的歌词
But that makes no sense at all
你会发现这完全说不通
given that you don't want to "Bring home to Mama."
而实际上
And she's--and it's not the--and in fact,
如果你去看歌曲的附注
if you check the notes on the song,
实际上她是
she's in fact,
"你在《新潮流》杂志中所读到的女孩"
"The kind of girl you read about in new wave magazines."
当你再次听到这句话时
Now, when you listen to it then, again,
你便知道  你是听到的是这个
knowing that, you hear it that way.
这就是"自上而下"的加工
Now, this top-down...this is known as "Top-down" Processing.
举例来说  自上而下加工就是
Top-down processing is an example of
当你知道某句话是什么的时候
when you know what something is
你便会按照这句话去听
you hear it that way.
当需要在声音中填入间隔时
And this is extremely useful
自上而下加工是非常有效的
when it comes to filling in gaps in sounds.
在正常对话中  如果我说"句-句子"
In normal conversation, if I'm to say "S-- entence"
你不会听成"句--子"
you won't hear that as "S-- entence."
相反  你听到的是"句子"
Rather, you hear "Sentence."
你将间隔填补上了
You fill in the gap.
这可能会导致一些问题
This can lead to problems.
我在生活中遇到的问题
The problem it's led to in my life
与"玩旷课乐吧"这首歌有关
revolves around the song "Get Crunk"
因为我听过这首歌
because I've heard "Get Crunk"
我的孩子们问我能不能
And my children asked me
从iTunes上给他们下载这首歌
if I would buy them "Get Crunk" from iTunes.
他们一个8岁  一个10岁
My children are eight and ten.
我之前在听"玩旷课乐吧"时就发现
And now "Get Crunk," as I was aware from having heard it before,
这首歌的副歌部分包含了
involves the consistent refrain of
连续的不和谐歌词
"Get crunk" Extremely bad word, "Get crunk" Extremely bad word,
因此我说"不行"
and so I said "No."
然后  他们说"这首歌有和谐版"
And then they said, "Well, there's a clean version of it."
所以  我下载了和谐版
So, I downloaded the clean version.
很遗憾  在知道了和谐版的歌词之后
Unfortunately, knowing what the clean version--knowing what the word is
我发现和谐版也不怎么和谐
means to me  the clean version is not very clean.
在你们做笔记之前  我要告诉你们
Now, I will add, before people write letters and stuff,
我放的这个是和谐版的"玩旷课乐吧"
this is the clean version.
谢天谢地他们把那些脏话都删掉了
Thank goodness they took away that obscene word.
所以  自上而下加工几乎总是
So, top-down processing affects how we hear things,
会往好的方向影响我们的理解
usually, almost always, for the better.
实际上  我们下节课讲视觉的时候
And in fact, this is a theme we're going to return to next class
还会再来讲讲这个主题
when we talk about vision
因为自上而下加工也会出现在视觉活动中
because the same thing is going to happen there.
我们所看到的世界充满了不解与困惑
How we see the world is often confusing and befuddled
但我们的知识却能帮助我们拨开迷雾
but what we know can clear things up.
对于声音来说也是这样
Same with sound.
更高层次的成分是语态
Morphology is the next level up.
语音是声音  语态则是词
Phonology is sounds. Morphology is words.
人类语言使用这些
And human language uses this amazing trick
被语言学家费迪南德·德·索绪尔
described by Ferdinand de Saussure, the great linguist,
称之为"符号任意性"的神奇把戏
as "The arbitrariness of the sign."
符号任意性是指
And what this means is
我们可以拿来世间任何想法
we can use --take any arbitrary idea in the world,
比如椅子  故事  或是国家
the idea of a chair or a story or a country,
再发明一种声音或符号来与之相联系
and make a sound or a sign to connect to it.
这种联系是任意的
And the link is arbitrary.
你可以用"汪汪"这个词来表示"狗"
You might choose to use a word for "Dog" as "Woof woof"
因为它听起来像只狗
because it sounds like a dog
但你却无法使用一个听起来像国家的词
but you can't use a word for "Country"
来表示"国家"
that sounds like a country.
你可以用看起来像喝这个动作的手语
You could use a sign language thing for "Drink"
来表示"喝"
that looks sort of like the act of drinking
但你无法用看起来像国家的手语
but you can't use a sign language word for "Country"
来表示"国家"
that looks like a country,
或用看起来像想法的手语来表示"想法"
or for "Idea" that looks like an idea.
所以  语言是允许任意命名的
So, the way languages work is it allows for arbitrary naming.
语言允许在符号
It allows for this map between a symbol,
比如说出的一个词
say a spoken word,
与我们想要使用的任何想法之间
and any sort of thought
存在着这种映射关系
we want to use.
当我们掌握了这些任意映射时
And those arbitrary mappings, as we come to learn them,
这些任意映射便组成了某种语言的词汇
make up the vocabulary of a language.
我说的是词
I'm talking about words
但更专业的术语则叫做"语素"
but the more technical term is "Morpheme."
语素是语言中最小的意义单位
And what a morpheme is is the smallest meaningful unit in a language.
通常来说  语素和词是一样的
Now often, this is the same thing as a word.
所以  "狗"是一个词
So, "Dog" is a word.
"狗"也是一个语素
And "Dog" Is also a morpheme,
但词和语素并不总是相同
but not always
因为语素是独立的
because there are single morphemes
但词却可以由很多语素组成
and then there are words that are composed of many morphemes.
因此  "狗狗们"和"抱怨的"
So, "Dogs" and "Complained"
都是由两个语素组成的单一词
are one word, but two morphemes
这也就意味着
and what this means is
你将两个语素组合在一起成为了一个词
that you make the word by putting together two morphemes.
换个说法  为了知道"狗狗们"的意思
To put it differently, in order to know what "Dogs" means,
你不需要去学"狗狗们"这个词
you never had to learn the word "Dogs."
你只需知道"狗"这个词以
All you had to know is the word "Dog"
及复数语素'们'
and the plural morpheme 's'
你可以将它们组合在一起来创造出一个词
and you could put them together to create a word.
讲话者平均知道多少个语素呢
How many morphemes does the average speaker know?
答案相当惊人
The answer is fairly startling.
保守估计
The average speaker knows,
说话者平均知道大约六万个词
as a low-ball estimate, about 60,000 words.
我认为正确的估计约为八万到十万个
I think the proper estimate is closer to 80,000 or 100,000.
如果你将这个数字平均一下  这意味着
What this means, if you average it out,
儿童从一岁左右
is that since children start learning their first words
学习第一个词开始
at about their first year of life,
每天学会九个新词
they learn about nine new words a day.
并不是连续的每天学会九个词
And it's not a continuous nine words every day.
学会的词量随着年龄有所起伏
It goes up and down depending on the age.
但我们所掌握的词量依然令人吃惊
But still, the amount of words we know is staggering.
你们有多少人能熟练掌握不止一门语言
How many of you know more than one language pretty fluently?
你们当中掌握其他语言的人
Those of you who know other languages
可能会在头脑中记住两万到三万个词
might have in your heads 200,000 words or 300,000 words
你们能在瞬间运用它们
and you're accessing them in a fraction of a second.
这可以被合理地看做
It is--could legitimately be seen
是人类所做出的最惊人的事情
as one of the most astonishing things that people do.
最后一个成分是语法
Finally, syntax.
语言拥有声音系统  也就是语音
So, we have the sound system of a language, the phonology.
语言也拥有词  即语态
We have the words of a language, the morphology,
但这些词只能让你知道  "狗"
but all that gives you is "Dog,"
"杯子"  "椅子,"  "房子"
"Cup," "Chair," "House,"
"故事"  "想法"
"Story," "Idea."
我们无法用这些词来进行复杂的思想交流
That won't allow us to communicate complicated ideas.
所以语言的最后一个成分便是语法了
So, the final step in the story is syntax.
语法是指使我们将词组合成短语
And syntax refers to those rules and principles
以及将短语组合成句子的规则和原则
that allow us to combine words into phrases and phrases into sentences.
语法使用了另一种神奇的把戏
And syntax uses another neat trick,
威廉·冯·洪堡
this is defined by Wilhelm von Humboldt
将之定义为"有限域的无限应用"
as the "Infinite use of finite media."
那么  问题就来了
So, here's the question.
你的词汇量是有限的
Your vocabulary is finite.
就只有那么多的词
There are just so many words.
你必须一个个的去学习这些词
You have to learn them one by one,
但你却可以创造出实际上无限的句子
but you could produce a virtual infinity of sentences.
你是如何做到的呢
How can you do that?
你如何使有限的符号
How can you go from a finite list of symbols
变成无限的句子
to an infinite number of sentences?
答案便是  你有一个组合系统
And the answer is you have a combinatorial system.
语言并不是在文化或自然中
Now, language is not the only thing in culture or nature
唯一拥有这种组合系统的事物
that has this sort of combinatorial system.
音乐也拥有组合系统
Music also has a combinatorial system.
音符的数量是有限的
There's a finite number of notes
但乐曲的数量却是无限的
but a limitless number of musical compositions.
脱氧核糖核酸也拥有这种组合系统
DNA also has this sort of combinatorial system
你的生物基础或氨基酸数量是有限的
where you have a finite number of,
但却能组合出
I guess, bases or amino acids
几乎无限的脱氧核糖核酸螺旋结构
that could combine to a possible infinity of strings of DNA strings.
这是如何发生的呢
So, how does this happen?
这种无限机制是递归的
Well, the infinity mechanism,
你们许多人会在数学与计算机科学中
and many of you will be familiar with this
熟悉这个词
from mathematics or computer science, is recursion.
要想解释清这一点还是比较费劲的
And there's a lot to be said about this
但要用语言来说明就很简单了
but it could be pretty simply illustrated in language.
这里有个简单的语言例子
So, here's an example of a simple language.
这个例子和语言学家所描述的
It's not--It's actually close to
正常语言非常接近
how linguists describe normal languages,
但却很简单
but it's very simple.
这个例子中有三个名词
It has three nouns,
"弗雷德"  "巴尼"  "威尔玛"
"Fred," "Barney" and "Wilma,"
两个动词  "觉得"和"喜欢"
and two verbs, "Thinks" and "Likes."
简单的语言  只有一条规则
A very simple language. And one rule.
这个规则的内容是
And the way to read this rule
你这样来创造一个句子
is you make a sentence
用一个名词  任何一个名词
by taking a noun, any noun,
在名词后跟一个动词
putting a verb after it,
再在动词后跟上一个名词
and then following that verb with a noun.
你按照规则去做之后
Now, when you do this, how many-- and then so,
比如说  你会得到一个句子
for instance, you get the sentence
"弗雷德喜欢威尔玛"
"Fred likes Wilma."
按照这种规则
When you do this,
能够组成多少个可能的句子
how many possible sentences are there?
给你们点时间
Let me just take a second.
好了  有没有人猜一下
Okay. Any guesses?
十八个
Eighteen.
这些句子是  "弗雷德喜欢弗雷德"
The sentences are "Fred likes Fred,"
"弗雷德喜欢巴尼"
"Fred likes Barney,"
"弗雷德喜欢威尔玛"
"Fred likes Wilma,"
"弗雷德觉得弗雷德"
"Fred thinks Fred,"
"弗雷德觉得巴尼"
"Fred thinks Barney,"
"弗雷德觉得威尔玛"  等等
"Fred thinks Wilma," and so on.
名词后接两个动词中的任何一个
The three nouns followed by any of the two verbs
动词后再接三个名词中的任何一个
followed by any of the three nouns.
这种语言听起来很没劲
That is not a very interesting language.
但现在  我们来说一种更加复杂的语言
But now, take a more complicated language--
同样的词汇  同样的三个名词
same vocabulary, the same three nouns,
同样的两个动词  同样的句子
the same two verbs, the same sentence,
但现在却多了另一个句子
but now one other sentence.
这个句子就扩展成了  一个名词
This sentence expands to a noun
后跟一个动词  再接刚才的句子
followed by a verb followed by a sentence
这样就变成了递归
and there you get recursion.
遵循调用前一个规则的这个规则
You have one rule invoking another rule
这样你就得到了
and then you can get a sentence
像"弗雷德觉得巴尼喜欢威尔玛"
like "Fred thinks
这样的句子
Barney likes Wilma."
这样你就能得到潜在的无限数量的句子
And here you get a potential infinity of sentences.
这只是个小例子
And this is obviously a toy example
但在日常生活和日常用语中
but you could see the use of recursion
递归的应用极为广泛
in everyday life and in everyday use of language.
你可以说  "约翰讨厌乳酪"
You could say, "John hates cheese,"
"我的室友听说约翰讨厌乳酪"
"My roommate heard a rumor that John hates cheese,"
"我告诉玛丽
"It disturbed Mary
我室友听说约翰讨厌乳酪时
when I told her that my roommate heard a rumor
玛丽很困扰"
that John hates cheese,"
"我告诉玛丽
"I was amazed that it disturbed Mary
我室友听说约翰讨厌乳酪时
when I told her that my roommate heard a rumor
玛丽很困扰  这让我很吃惊"
that John hates cheese,"
"布罗姆教授浪费太多时间在他的课上讲
"Professor Bloom had devoted way too much of his lecture talking about
我告诉玛丽
how I was amazed
我室友听说约翰讨厌乳酪时
that it disturbed Mary when I told her that my roommate heard a rumor
玛丽很困扰  让我如何吃惊
that John hates cheese,"
还可以说"这真的让我很烦--"
"It really bothered me that--"
可以无限下去
and there's no limit.
句子可以无限延长
There's no longest sentence.
你可以不断地嵌入新句子直到你死掉
You could keep producing a sentence deeper and deeper embedded until you die.
这就是语言的力量之一
And this is part of the power of language.
语法规则是复杂的
Now, the syntactic rules are complicated.
语法规则的一个谜团或问题是
And one of the puzzles of syntactic rules, or one of the issues of them,
不同规则可以共同作用来产生同一个句子
is that different rules can conspire to create the same sentence.
举例来说
So, you take a sentence like
这是《格劳乔·马克斯》的经典台词
--This is a classic line from Groucho Marx:
"我曾在我的睡衣里射杀了一头大象
"I once shot an elephant in my pajamas.
至于它怎么进来的  我就不知道了"
How it got into my pajamas I'll never know."
像这样的幽默
And the humor, such that it is,
正是利用了创造幽默的规则的模糊性
revolves around the ambiguity of rules that generate it,
像这样而不是那样
like this versus like this.
通常  为了说明模糊性的问题
Often, to illustrate the issues of ambiguity,
人们收集了那些未经深思熟虑的
people have collected poorly thought-out headlines
在无意间造成模糊性的新闻标题
in newspaper reports that play on--that inadvertently have ambiguity.
"对NBA裁判的投诉
"Complaints about NBA referees
越越来越多"  [越来越难听]
growing ugly."
这就是这一结构的巧妙之处
So, that's the beauty of that structure.
"孩子做营养快餐"  [是营养快餐]
"Kids make nutritious snacks."
"镇政府天然气泄漏导致爆炸
"No one was injured in a blast
所幸并无一人受伤"
which was attributed to
[由于镇政府天然气泄漏
the buildup of gas
因而并无人员在爆炸中受伤]
by one town official."
去年夏天我去首尔的韩国大学访问
Last summer I was in Seoul visiting the --visiting Korea University
那里报纸的头版头条是
and the big headline there on the front page
"将军因因调戏士兵而被捕"
was "General arrested
[喜欢士兵要被逮捕]
for fondling privates."
在句子结构和理解中的模糊性
Now, there actually is -The ambiguity is actually quite difficult to avoid
实际上是很难避免的
in the construction and understanding of sentences.
有很多句子通常都很难被表述清楚
It's one of the ways in which it's often difficult to write clearly,
实际上  有一个完整的法律分支
and in fact, there's a whole sub-field of the law
应用语言学理论来消除在宪法
involving the use of linguistic theory to disambiguate sentences
法律以及某些刑事案件中句子的歧义
both in the Constitution, in legislation, as well as in some criminal cases.
多年前的一桩刑事重案
And there was, several years ago, a very serious criminal case
就是依据一句话来定案
that rested on a sentence.
事情是这样的
And here's what happened.
两兄弟  其中一个智力发育迟缓
There were two brothers, one of them retarded,
他们想抢劫
and they get into a robbery.
一名警官发现了他们  并用枪指着他们
And a police officer sees them and points the gun at them.
兄弟中的一个用枪指着警察
And one of the brothers points a gun at the police officer.
警官要求智力正常的兄弟
The police officer shouts for the brother,
把枪放下
the non-retarded brother, to drop the gun.
实际上  他说的是"把枪给我"
Actually, he said, "Give me the gun."
发育迟缓的兄弟大喊
The retarded brother shouted,
"给他一枪"  [把枪给他]
"Let him have it,"
于是他的兄弟开枪射杀了这名警官
whereupon the brother shot and killed the police officer.
开枪的兄弟很明显是个谋杀犯
Now, the brother who did the shooting was plainly a murderer.
那个大喊"给他一枪"的兄弟呢
What about that brother who shouted, "Let him have it"?
这取决与你如何解释那句话
Well, it depends on what he--on how you interpret that sentence
因为那句话模糊的近乎完美
because the sentence is beautifully ambiguous.
可以是说"开枪吧  给他一枪"
It could mean "Shoot him, let him have it,"
也可以是说"给他吧  把枪给他"
or it could mean "Give him the gun, let him have it."
事实上  对此案的审理
And in fact, the trial, which I think somebody could
如果有人知道这个案情
If people out there know about this,
请发电子邮件告诉我
please send me an e-mail.
我猜他是被判有罪了
My understanding was he was found guilty
但这个案件却展现出了句子的模糊性
but a lot to turn on the ambiguity of a sentence.
现在我想来换下一个话题
I want to shift now
说说这些知识都是从哪学到的
and talk about where does all this knowledge come from
不过我要先停下来回答你们
but I'll stop and answer any questions
关于目前内容的问题
about the material so far.
你们的问题是什么  请讲
What are your questions? Yes.
这里的语法和平时说的语法有何区别
How does syntax differ from grammar
或者说它们是不是完全一样的
or are they exactly the same?
这个问题是
Syntax--The question is,
"这里的语法和平时说的语法有何区别"
"How is syntax different from grammar?"
它们是完全一样的
They're exactly the same.
这里说的语法是更加专业的术语
Syntax is a more technical term
在意义上和平时说的语法是一样的
but it means the same thing as grammar.
你来
Yes.
你刚才说过  所有正常的人类新生儿
you said that every normal human being that's born
都会在某种程度上使用某种语言
uses at some point or another some kind of language.
存不存在这样一种人
Aren't there people
他们在一种文化下出生和成长
who weren't born within a culture and grew up
但却从未说过一种语言
and who never really spoke a language
尽管他们在生理上是正常的
though they were physically normal?
很好  非常高兴你能问我这个问题
Yes. I'm glad you actually asked me about that
因为我之前说过这话
because, as I said it,
但我认识到这话是不对的
I realized it wasn't quite right.
我这里向表达的关键是
The point that was just raised here
我之前说过所有神经上正常的人
is I had said before that everybody who's neurologically normal
都会掌握和习得一种语言
comes to acquire and learn a language.
但那些神经上正常但却没有语言环境的人
But what about people who are neurologically normal
又会怎样呢
but they don't have language around them?
事实上  历史上曾有过一些这样的例子
And in fact, there have been, historically, some cases of this.
有很多狼或狗抚养儿童的故事
There's been, probably apocryphal, stories
当然这些故事有可能是杜撰的
about children who are raised by wolves or by dogs.
有一些很可怕的故事
There are stories, horrible stories,
其中的一些讲述的是在二十世纪里
some in the twentieth century,
被精神失常或邪恶的父母锁起来的儿童
about children who are locked away by insane or evil parents
他们不曾学会说话
and have never learned to speak.
还有些关于生活在并无手语的
There are stories of deaf people who are within certain societies
特定社会下聋人的故事
where nobody signs to them,
这种情况就是所谓的语言隔离
and so they're what's known as linguistic isolates.
他们也不曾学会说话
And they themselves never learn to speak.
这些例子都是极为特殊的
And those cases are the dramatic exception
但我们却能通过它们了解一些事情
and they do tell you something.
这些故事说明  对于语言而言
They tell you that it's not enough
仅仅拥有大脑是不够的
to have a brain for language.
还必须要和他人交流互动
Somebody does have to use it with you.
739
有意思的是
Interestingly,
这种交流互动并不需要很多人才行
it doesn't have to be that many people.
苏珊·葛丁麦道研究了
So, Susan Goldin-Meadow has studied deaf children
并无手语环境的失聪儿童
that nobody signed to
但她的研究发现
but what she studies is
拥有失聪兄妹的失聪儿童
deaf children with deaf siblings
他们并不会傻坐在那
and these children don't just sit there.
他们会创造属于自己的语言
They create their own language.
这种语言并不像美国手语
It's not a full-blown language like american sign-language
或加拿大魁北克手语那样成熟
or langue des signes quebecoise
尽管如此
but it's a language nonetheless,
这种语言依然拥有词  语法和语音
with words and syntax and phonology.
这是个很有趣的问题
It's an interesting question.
还有别的问题吗
Any other questions?
请讲
Yes.
这个问题很好
It's a good question.
这个问题是
The question is,
"我们创造语法的能力
"Are there inherent limits in our abilities
是否存在天生的局限"
to come up with grammars?"
758
大多数语言学家们都会回答"是的"
And most linguists would argue "Yes,"
语言在很大程度上依赖于语法规则的使用
that languages are highly constrained in how they do things.
举例来说  世界上并没有语言能够通过
So, for instance, one example is there's no language in the world
改变句子中词的顺序
that ever constructs a question
来构成疑问句
by switching the order of words around in a sentence.
世界上并没有语言规定
There's no language in the world that has a rule
说第五个词必须是动词
that says the fifth word has to be a verb.
而语言学家们知道这些条件
And linguists have all of these conditions
他们会说"世界上没有语言会这样表达"
they say, "No language in the world works this way."
这些就是语法的不足
Now this is--;So, these are constraints on grammar
它们很有意思
and they're really interesting
因为它们可以告诉我们
because they tell us
什么是人类的自然语言
what's a humanly natural language
什么不是人类的自然语言
versus what's not a humanly natural language.
但是请注意
But notice,
即使语法有着难以置信的不足
even if there is incredible constraints on grammars,
我们却依然可以创造出无限数量的句子
still--we could still produce an infinite number of sentences.
这就像  如果你把我限制在数字的子集
It's just like if you restrict me to only a subset of numbers,
只是奇数
only the odd numbers,
但奇数的数量却仍然是无限多的
still there's an infinity of odd numbers.
所以  语法是有些局限
So, grammar can be restricted
但仍然能产生无限可能的句子
but still give rise to an infinity of possible sentences.
关于语言的起源
Well, there's a radical claim
语言学家诺姆·乔姆斯基
about the origin of language
提出了一个激进的观点
associated with the guy
我们曾在讲述行为主义时提到过
who we met when we talked about behaviorism
他写过篇叫《<言语行为>述评》的论文
who wrote A Review of Verbal Behavior, the linguist Noam Chomsky.
乔姆斯基提出了这个激进的观点
And Chomsky makes this radical claim.
这就是
And this is
我们完全不应将语言学习视为学习行为
that we shouldn't view language learning as learning at all.
相反  我们应当将语言学习
Instead, we should view it
视为某种类似的发育过程
as something similar to growth.
他认为
So he says,
791
没人会相信人体组织通过学习经验
no one would take seriously the proposal that a human organism
长出了手臂而不是翅膀
learns through experience to have arms rather than wings,
或者特定器官的基本结构
or that the basic structure of particular organs
是偶然经验的结果
results from accidental experience.
语言和这些生理结构一样的
Language proves to be no less marvelous and intricate
不可思议和错综复杂
than these physical structures.
我们为什么不应当
Why, then, should we not study
像研究某些复杂身体器官那样
the acquisition of a cognitive structure
去或多或少地研究
like language more or less
像语言这样的认知结构的习得
as we study some complex bodily organ?
因此  你可能学会打棒球
So, you might learn to play baseball,
学到关于美国内战的知识
you might learn about the American Civil War,
但如果乔姆斯基是对的
but if Chomsky is right
那么说英语并不是习得的
you didn't learn to speak English.
相反  你听到了英语
Rather, what happened is you heard English
你脑中的英语能力得到增长
and--but the capacity grew in your head
这个和手臂  下肢
and something a lot more similar to
或是视觉系统的发育很相似
the development of arms or legs or a visual system.
我们是否应该相信这个观点呢
Well, should we believe this?
我们知道  很明显某些环境作用
We know there has to be some effect of the environment
塑造了语言
shaping language, obviously,
因为要理解英语  你必须听过英语
because in order to know English you have to have heard English,
要理解荷兰语
in order to know Dutch
你必须学过和听过荷兰语
you have had to heard, to--had to have learned and heard Dutch.
事实上  各种语言在我们所讲的
And in fact, languages differ in all the ways
各个方面上都是有所差别的
that we were talking about.
某些语言  如英语
Some languages like English
在"l"和"r"之间是有差别的
has a-- have a distinction between 'l' and 'r.'
其他语言则没有
Other languages do not.
对于像英语这样的语言
For a language like English,
那种生物被表示为语素"狗"
that creature there is referred to with the morpheme "Dog."
这是英语的一个历史偶变
That's a historical accident of English.
法语中用"狗"[法文]来表达
In French it's chien
在希腊语中则用其他词来表达
and in Greek it's something else.
这六千种语言都会不同
And each of those 6,000 languages
在座中懂得其他语言的人会说
and people in the room who know another language would say,
"是的  在越南语中是这样表达的"
"Yeah, in Vietnamese it's this,"
"在乌尔都语中是这样表达的"
"In Urdu it's this,"
"在捷克语中是那样表达的"
"In Czech it's that."
830
最后是语法
Finally, there is syntax.
英语是所谓的主谓宾结构的语言
So, English is what's known as a subject-verb-object language.
也就是说  如果你想表达
That means if you want to convey the idea
比尔打了约翰这个意思
that Bill hit John,
你就要说"比尔打了约翰"
you would say, "Bill hit John."
但并不是所有的语言都这样表达
But not all languages work that way.
事实上  大多数语言  更多的语言
In fact, the majority of languages, more languages,
都是主宾谓结构的语言
are actually subject-object-verb languages.
因此  如果你想表达
So, you would say, if you wanted to convey
比尔打了人  而约翰被打了
that bill was the hitter and John was hit,
就要说"比尔约翰打了"
"Bill John hit."
所有这些都必须通过学习而获得
All of this has to be learned.
而且所有这些都必须通过
And all of this has to be learned
暴露于拥有语言使用者的环境才能习得
through exposure to language users.
另一方面  有大量证据表明
On the other hand, there is considerable evidence
这些语言技能的发展  在某些方面
that the development of these language skills, in some way,
与乔姆斯基所提出的发展方式相类似
is similar to growth in the way that Chomsky suggests.
下面是与语言发展有关的一些基本事实
So, here are some basic facts about language development.
其中的一个基本事实我之前提到过
One is something which I had mentioned before.
所有的正常儿童都能习得语言
All normal children learn language.
一些语言的特殊损伤也是存在的
There can be specific impairments of language.
我们再一次在讲述大脑前提到了这些损伤
Now, again, we spoke about them before when talking about the brain.
某些损伤可能是由于外伤而导致的
Some of these impairments could be due to trauma,
比如失语症
the aphasias.
外伤  脑部撞击  中风
Trauma, a blow to the head, a stroke
都可以让你失去语言能力
can rid you of your language.
但被叫做"特殊言语损伤"的遗传障碍
But, also, there are genetic disorders, some falling under the rubric
也能使你失去语言能力
of what's known as "Specific language impairment,"
儿童出生便不具有
where children are born without the same ability
我们其他人所具有的学习说话的能力
as the rest of us to learn to speak.
从很多角度来看  这些都很有意思
And these are interesting in many ways.
它们有意思的一个原因便是
One reason that they're interesting is
它们阐明了人类语言的某些东西
that they illustrate something about human language.
在上这节课前
It is not--It would not be unreasonable for you to think
00:43:07,760 --> 00:43:09,620
你们或许会有以下想法
before listening to his lecture,
"只要你够聪明你就能学习语言"
"Look. All you need to have to learn a language is to be smart"
"只要你想要交流你就能学习语言"
or "All you need to have to learn a language is to want to communicate"
"学习语言需要社会个体有能力
or "All you need to have to learn a language is to be a social person
去理解和应付他人"
wanting to--having the ability to understand others and deal with others."
但是特殊言语损伤的案例表明
But the cases of specific language impairments
以上的所有都是错的
suggest that all of that is wrong,
因为现在在世界上
because there are children in this world right now
会有些足够聪明  想要交流
who are plenty smart, who really want to communicate,
完全社会生物的儿童
and who are entirely social creatures
他们无法学习语言
but they can't learn language.
这表明学习语言和理解语言的能力
And this suggests that the ability to learn language and understand language
在某种程度上是独立于
is to some extent separate
其他方面的心理活动的
from these other aspects of mental life.
关于这个主题
Continuing on this theme,
我们还知道  语言是在没有
we also know that language is learnt
任何反馈或训练的情况下习得的
without any sort of feedback or training.
有很多美国人都认为
There are many Americans who believe that
孩子们的语言需要他们去教授
they need to teach their children language.
设计来教授儿童语言的
And there's a huge industry
DVD和闪存卡以及其他存储
with DVDs and flash cards and all sorts of things
形成了一个庞大的产业
designed to teach your children language.
我相信很多父母认为
And I think many parents believe that
如果他们不坚持使用这些东西
if they didn't persist in using these things
他们的孩子将永远也学不会说话
their children would never learn to speak.
但是我们知道  事实并非如此
But we know that that's not true.
我们知道这种想法是错误的
We know that this isn't true
是因为在很多社会中
because there are communities
家长是不和他们孩子说话的
where they don't speak to their kids.
他们之所以不和孩子们说话
They don't speak to their kids
是因为他们觉得和孩子们说话并不重要
because they don't believe it's important to speak to their kids.
语言学家们会访问
Some linguists would interview --Linguists would interview adults
住在这些社会中的成人  然后问道
in these communities and say,
"你为什么不和你的宝宝说话"
"Why don't you speak to your babies?"
这些成人会回答
And these adults would respond,
"和宝宝说话太可笑了
"It'd be ridiculous to speak to a baby.
宝宝什么都不会说
The baby has nothing to say.
你和在对狗说话一样"
You might as well just speak to your dog."
然后这些美国的语言学家会说
And then the American linguist would say,
"是啊  我们会和我们的狗说话"
"Yeah. We speak to our dogs."
美国人和欧洲人会对所有东西所有人说话
Americans and Europeans speak to everything and everybody.
其他文化则更加挑剔
Other cultures are more picky
直到孩子自己能够开口说话
and they don't talk to their children
他们才会和孩子讲话
until their children themselves are talking.
看起来这对语言学习没什么太大的影响
This doesn't seem to make much of a difference in language learning.
受到乔姆斯基
Some studies have, motivated by Chomsky's work in expressed
《斯金纳<言语行为>述评》的启发
-sorry, motivated by Chomsky's critique of Skinner's Verbal Behavior,
一些研究甚至询问道
have asked even in --
"要是我们只研究美国儿童又会怎样呢"
"What if we just looked at children within the United States?
难道这些儿童们得不到反馈信息吗
Don't these children get feedback?"
对这个问题的回答是  既有又没有
And the answer is yes and no.
受到普通高等教育的西方家长
So your average highly educated Western parent
确实会根据儿童所说的内容
does give their children feedback
而给予他们反馈
--do give their children feedback based on what they say.
但他们通常不会根据儿童所说话语的语法
But they don't typically give feedback
或者是否符合语法  来给予反馈
based on the syntax or grammaticality of what they say.
布朗和汉隆在二十世纪七十年代的
The example given by Brown and Hanlon
一个经典研究中给出了一个例子
in the classic study in the 1970s
他们做了很多这样的研究
is they did all of these studies
探查儿童的话语和父母的反应
looking at what children say and how parents responded,
结果表明父母并不会
and it turns out parents respond not
对语法的正确性给出反应
to the grammatical correctness
而是会对表达的情感  可爱程度
but to the affect or cuteness
或社会性给出反应
or sociability of the utterance.
例如  如果孩子对妈妈说
So for instance, if a child says to his mother,
"我爱你  妈妈"
"I loves you, Mommy,"
很少有家长会说
it's a very unusual parent who would say,
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"不对  动词一致性错了
"Oh, no. The verb agreement is mistaken.
你多加了一个's'  [复数]
You've added a redundant 's.'
这是不对的"
It's not appropriate."
同样  如果孩子说
Similarly, if a child is to say,
"我讨厌你的肠子  妈妈"
"I hate your guts, Mother,"
也不会有家长说
it's an unusual mother,
"太棒了
"That's wonderful.
这是主谓宾结构
There's a subject, verb, object.
句子结构非常完整"
The whole thing's structurally fine."
我们对孩子的反应和对他人的反应一样
We respond to our kids like we respond to each other
都是基于表达的信息内容
based on the message that's conveyed,
而不是表达的语法正确性
not the grammaticality of the utterances.
儿童们总是会犯些语法错误
Children make grammatical mistakes all the time
但随后这些错误无需纠正也都消失了
but then they go away and they go away without correction.
这都是一些基本事实
So those are some basic facts.
对于语言的时间进程  我们知道些什么
What do we know about the time course of language?
儿童在出生早期
Well, early on children start off
00:47:13,820 --> 00:47:17,250
喜欢他们自己语言的旋律
and they prefer the melody of their own language.
这些实验在法国对四天大的婴儿进了研究
These studies were done in France with four-day-old babies.
它们应用了一种吮吸的方法
And what they did was they used a sucking method.
记住  婴儿们能做的事情有限
Remember, there's a limited number of things babies can do.
他们能做的事情之一就是吮吸
One of the things they can do is suck,
这些婴儿听到法语时会去吮吸奶嘴
and these babies would suck on a pacifier to hear French.
他们更喜欢听到法语  而不是俄语
And they would prefer to hear French than to hear Russian.
这些研究者宣称
And these investigators claimed
这是因为他们在出生的头四天里
this is because they had been exposed to French
暴露在了法语环境中
in the first four days of their lives.
大多数法国的评论者们则反对道
Reviewers, mostly from France, objected and said,
"不对  是因为法语更好听
"No. Maybe French just sounds better.
人人都喜欢法语的"
Everybody's going to like French."
所以他们又在俄罗斯做了实验
So, they re-did the study in Russia.
相较于听到法语
Russian kids sucked harder
俄罗斯的儿童则在听到俄语时
to hear Russian
会更加用力的吮吸
than they did to French.
婴儿们所听到的并非是词
And what they're listening to isn't the words.
他们还不理解词
They don't know words yet.
也不懂得语法
They don't know of syntax yet.
这是语言节奏造成的
It's the rhythm of the language.
对你们来说
For you,
法语和俄语听起来是不一样的
French and Russian sound different.
即使你像我一样  完全不懂这两种语言
Even if you're like me and you don't know a word of either language,
它们听起来仍然是不一样的
they still sound different.
婴儿们也会听出它们的不同
They sound different to babies too.
在法国长大的孩子
And a baby being raised in France
或者在俄罗斯长大的孩子
or a baby being raised in Russia
完全能够区分出什么是他的语言
knows enough to tell what's his language
什么不是
and what isn't.
儿童早期对听到的所有音位都非常敏感
Early on, children are sensitive to every phoneme there is.
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比如
So, English-speaking children, for instance,
在美国出生的讲英语的婴儿
can--English-speaking babies, babies who are born in the United States
能够区分出诸如"Lip"和"Rip"这样的
can distinguish between English phonemes
英语音位上的差别
like "Lip" And "Rip".
但他们也能够区分出
But they could also distinguish between phonemic contrasts
无法在英语中举例的音位对比
that are not exemplified in English,
比如在捷克语或是印地语中的音位对比
such as phonemic contrasts in Czech or Hindi.
请讲
Yes.
我想问  根据你刚才所讲的
I'm wondering if you can say the wrong things to them --to infants
是否能够对婴儿说些错误的表达
based on what you were saying before.
因为我曾在法国呆过一个夏天
Because I was in France one summer
我在那里有些邻居
and I had some neighbors there.
我讨厌他们  我认为他们很傻
I hated these neighbors, I thought they were stupid.
并非因为他们是法国人
Not because they were French,
而是因为他们的婴儿
but they had a baby
婴儿会讲些咯咯咕咕的婴儿语
and it would gaggle and coo
而他们会以同样的婴儿语对婴儿进行反应
and they would respond in similar terms.
他们也对他们的婴儿咯咯咕咕的说话
They would gaggle and coo back at the baby.
我讨厌这些的人
And I hate these people.
所以我想知道
So I don't know if it
是不是只要你对婴儿说话就行
-Does it matter what you say to babies
说话的内容并不重要
as long as you say something.
你的问题还挺长
There's a lot going on in your question.
你的问题还真挺长的
Some raising--Well, there's a lot going on in your question.
这个问题是
The answer to the question-- The question was,
"你的婴儿一直咕咕咯咯地说婴儿语
"Your baby's going to coo and 'ga ga, goo goo,'
你也那样回应很重要吗"
does it matter if you coo and 'ga ga, goo goo' back?"
不  不会有什么影响
No, it doesn't make a difference.
你对他的憎恨是没有依据的
Your hatred towards them was unmotivated.
你可以释怀了
You can be relieved of that debt,
我想你也许还会有些许歉疚
or now you know you feel bad now, I guess.
如果你用完美的英语表达和你的孩子说话
If you speak to your children in perfect English,
会是非常奇怪的
it's very strange.
没有人会对婴儿说
Nobody speaks to their babies in,
"你好  儿子
"Hello, Son. It's time--Oh.
现在该换尿布了  给我老实点"
You want to change your diaper right now so stay still."
这不是好抚养方法
That's bad parenting.
听上去有些愚蠢
It sounds kind of silly.
大多数人会说
More--What most people do is,
"哦  你真是个可爱的小宝宝啊"
"Oh. You're such a cute little baby."
进化心理学家们在争论
And it probably--One--There's--Evolutionary psychologists
我们为何要以如此好玩的方式来同婴儿讲话
debate the function of why we talk funny to babies.
一些人认为这样做有助于婴儿的语言学习
And some people have argued that it does help their language learning.
而还一些人则认为这样做能使婴儿冷静
And some people have argued instead that what it does is it calms them.
婴儿们喜欢听到拥有平缓声音的音乐等等
They like to hear the music of a smooth voice and so on.
但不论你是否选择这样做
But whether or not you do so
都不会有什么太大的影响
doesn't seem to make a big difference.
家长跟儿童的说话方式
It is very difficult to find any effect
并未对儿童如何学习语言
of how parents talk to their kids
产生任何影响
on how their kids learn language,
尤其是在对待婴儿的时候
particularly when it comes to babies.
所以  早期的婴儿对于音位非常的敏感
So, early on babies can--are sensitive to all phonemes
之后这种敏感便消失了
and then that goes away.
大约在十二个月大的时候就会消失
Around twelve months of age it goes away.
相比于现在
This is one thing you were much better at
你在婴儿时对语音更加敏感
when you were a baby than you are now.
当你还是婴儿的时候
When you were a baby
你完全不懂多种语言
you were a multilingual fool.
你可以听出世上所有语言之间的声音差异
You could understand the sound differences of every language on earth.
现在  如果你像我一样  只懂英语
Now, if you're like me, you could barely understand English.
你逐渐缩小敏感的范围
You narrow down
直到只对你所使用的语言敏感
until you're sensitive just to the language you hear.
这种敏感范围的缩小
And this narrowing down
大约发生在婴儿十二个月大的时候
is largely in place by about twelve months of age.
婴儿在大约七个月大的时候开始咿呀学语
Around seven months is babbling.
我想在这里停一下
And I want to stop at this point
回到之前的一个问题上
to go back to the issue
我说过我会稍微讲一下手语
--I promised you I would turn a bit to sign language
我现在想要播放一小段电影
and I want to describe now a very elegant --I want to show a little film now
展示一系列精彩的实验
of a very elegant series of experiments
这些实验探究了暴露在手语环境中的婴儿
looking at the question of whether babies
是否会进行咿呀学语的问题
who are exposed to a sign language, babble.
过去的十到二十年间
One of the real surprising findings in my field
在我的研究领域里最令人吃惊的发现之一就是
over the last ten/twenty years has been that
各种手语的获得过程
the acquisition of sign languages
被证明几乎是完全相同的
has turned out to be almost exactly the same;
实际上据我所知
in fact, as far as we know,
和口语语言的获得过程是完全相同的
exactly the same as the acquisition of spoken languages.
其实并不用那样去证明
It didn't have to be that way.
有理由相信
It could have been just as reasonable to expect
口语比手语更加优越
that there'd be an advantage for speech over sign.
手语或许是成熟的语言
That sign languages may be full-blown languages
但它们更难学
but they just take--they're just harder to learn
因为大脑和身体已经适应了口语
because the brain and the body have adapted for speech.
这不光是一个个案
It turns out that this just isn't the case.
手语的发展阶段
It turns out that sign and--the developmental milestones of sign languages
和口语语言的发展阶段是完全相同的
and the developmental milestones of spoken languages are precisely the same.
婴儿们同时开始咿呀学语
They start babbling at the same point.
他们同时使用第一个词
They start using first words,
第一个句子  第一个复杂结构
first sentences, first complicated constructions.
似乎大脑在如何获得和使用口语语言
There seems to be no interesting difference
与如何获得和使用手语之间
between how the brain comes to acquire and use the spoken language
不存在任何的差别
versus a sign language.
儿童在大约十二个月大时
Around twelve months of age,
开始使用他们的第一个词
children start using their first words.
都是些表达客体和动作的词
These are words for objects and actions
例如"狗"  "向上"和"牛奶"
like "Dog" And "Up" And "Milk."
他们开始对词语顺序感到敏感
They start showing some sensitivity to the order of words.
所以他们知道"狗咬猫"
So they know that "Dog bites cat"
和"猫咬狗"是不同的
is different from "Cat bites dog."
在大约十八个月大的时候
Around eighteen months of age,
他们学习单词的速度加快
they start learning words faster.
他们开始创造出短小的句子
They start producing little, miniature sentences
比如"要饼干"或"奶洒了"
like "Want cookie" Or "Milk spill"
而诸如"在内"  "属于"
and the function morphemes, the little words,
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"一个"  "这个"等短词的功能语素
"In," "Of," "A," "The," and so on
也开始逐渐出现
start to gradually appear.
接下来有个坏消息
Then the--Then there's the bad news.
大约七岁的时候开始  一直到青春期
Around seven years of age going up through puberty,
学习语言的能力逐渐减弱
the ability to learn language starts to go away.
在这方面最佳的研究
The best work on this has been done
是由伊莉萨·纽波特
by Elissa Newport and Sam Supalla
和萨姆·苏普拉所进行的
who have studied people
他们研究了在美国生活了
who have been in the United States
三四十年以上的人们
for many, many years like 30, 40 years
探究了这些人们讲英语的流利程度
and seeing how well they have come to speak English.
作为移民
And it turns out the big determinant
你的英语口语究竟有多么流利
of how well you speak English as an immigrant
最大的决定因素并非你有多么聪明
isn't how smart you are.
并非是你此时有多少个家庭成员
It's not how many family members you have when you're here.
也并非是你的动机
It's not your motivation.
最大的决定因素是开始学习语言时的年龄
It's how old you were when you started.
如果你在出生的头几年里开始学习一门语言
It turns out that if you start learning a language,
非常努力地学习了第二门语言
a second language is where most of the work's been done,
那么你一切正常
within the first few years of life you're fine.
你会说的和母语一样好
You'll speak like a native.
但随着年龄的增长  学习能力逐渐减弱
But then it starts getting worse and worse.
一旦你到了青春期
And once you hit puberty,
学习语言的能力会在突然间
suddenly there's huge variation
发生巨大的变化
in the abilities you have to learn language.
比如  在青春期后才学习英语的人
It is very rare, for instance, for somebody
很少有讲英语是没有口音的
who has learned English past puberty to speak without an accent.
口音很难改掉
An accent is very hard to shake
而且问题还不止是口音
and it's not just an accent.
还有些在语音
It's also other aspects of phonology,
语法和语态方面的其他问题
syntax, and morphology.
就好像负责语言学习的大脑区域
It's like the part of the brain that's responsible for language learning
只是在发展的早期比较活跃
is only around early in development
如果你没有在这个时候获得语言
and if you don't get your language by then
那你就没有机会了
it'll just run out.
我想在下节课开始的时候讲讲这个问题
I want to begin next class with this question,
这个关于动物的问题
the question of animals.
而讲完这个问题
And that will shut down
语言学习这部分也就讲完了
the language learning part.
我要给你们在这里播放的
But one thing I'll put up here
是你们的第二次阅读要求
is your second reading response.
我周三的时候还会给大家呈现这个
So, I'll also put this up on Wednesday,
也许到周三的时候
and by Wednesday you might have a bit of a better
你们就能更好地回答这个问题了
--be in a better position to answer this question.
但周三的时候我还是会接着来讲语言
But I'll continue with language on Wednesday
之后我们还会讲到视觉  注意和记忆
and then we'll also talk about vision, attention, and memory.
下次再见
I'll see you then.