不入虎穴

1LanguageandCultureHelenaGaoLecture816Nov.,20052Requiredreadings:Wang,W.S-Y.(1989).LanguagePrefabsandHabitualThought.ForumLectures,TESOLSummerInstitute,SanFranciscoStateUniversity.Wierzbicka,A.(1997).Understandingculturesthroughtheirkeywords.OxfordUniversityPress.Introduction.pp.1-17.Recommendedreadings:D'Andrade,R.(1985).Charactertermsandculturalmodels.InJanetW.DDougherty(ed.),Directionsincognitiveanthropology,pp.321-343.UniversityofIllinoisPress.Talmy,L.(2000).TowardaCognitiveSemantics.Cambridge,Mass.:MITPress.Vol.2.Chapter7:TheCognitiveCultureSystem.pp.373-4153TheRelationsbetweenLanguageandCultureBehaviorThelanguageParallax(PaulFriedrich,1986)ItreferstoanAPPARENTchangeinthepositionofanobject,oritsdirectionofmovement,thatisduetoachangeinthepositionoftheobserver.(Wang,1989:398)4EdwardSapir:“Topassfromonelanguagetoanotherispsychologicallyparalleltopassingfromonegeometricsystemofreferencetoanother.Theenvironingworldwhichisreferredtoisthesameforeitherlanguage;theworldofpointsisthesameineitherframeofreference.Buttheformalmethodofapproachtotheexpresseditemofexperience,astothegivenpointinspace,issodifferentthattheresultingfeelingoforientationcanbethesameneitherinthetwolanguagesnorinthetwoframesofreference.Entirelydistinctoratleastmeasurablydistinct,formaladjustmentshavetobemadeandthesedifferenceshavetheirpsychologicalcorrelate.”(1949:153)SelectedwritingsofEdwardSapirinLanguage,Culture,Personality(1949).EditedbyDavidG.Mandelbaum.UniversityofCaliforniaPress.5ParallacticEffectthatlanguagehas(Wang,1989)Ininter-personalrelationse.g.WhilespeakingChinese,asymmetrictermsofaddressinChinesecreateonetypeofmutualperception“Prof.Wang”vs.“ZhangXiaoDong”WhilespeakingEnglish,wecalleachotherbyfirstnames.Theinter-personalrelationhasapparentlychangedwiththechangeinlanguage.Therelationhastomatchthelanguage.6Acontinuumalongwhichutterancesmayberanked(Wang,1989)AtthepropositionalendlargelynovelcombinationofwordsandphraseswithrelativelylittlepredictabilityamongthepartsAttheoppositeendUtteranceswhicharehighlyautomatice.g.,songs,nurseryrimes,linesfromjokes,playsandpoemsInbetweenalongthiscontinuumAwideheterogeneityofprefabs,swirlinginourmentalfilingcabinet,readtobe“reachedfor”E.g.,“howareyoudoing?”,“whatcanIsay?”OhmyGod!”etc.Alsoawholerangeofexpressionsthatwecallclichés,hedges,proverbs,idioms,metaphors,similes,allusions,cursesandswearings,maximsandepigrams,mottos,slogans,aphorisms,quotationsfromwell-knownsources,etc.7Neurolinguisticfindings(VanLanker,1975)ThepropositionalutterancesappeartolateralizemoretothelefthemisphereAutomaticspeechshowsmorelateralizationtotherighthemisphereFindingconsistentwiththebeliefthatthelefthemisphereisespeciallyinvolvedinmakingsequentialdecisionspropositionalutterancesaremadeupoflongersequencesofdecisionunitsthanautomaticutterances.8Neurolinguisticfindings(HughlingsJackson,1932)JacksonmadethedistinctionbetweenautomaticandpropositionalspeechHenotedthatautomaticspeechisingeneralbetterpreservedinpatientswithlefthemispheredamage.Observations:Anaphasicmaynotbeabletoproducespontaneousspeech,buthasnodifficultyinusingcommongreetingsorexclamations.Patientswhosufferinvoluntaryrepetitionofwordsorphrases,asymptomcalledpalilalia,somepartsoftheautomaticspeechmaybeexempted.9Neurolinguisticfindings(GillesdelaTourette,1885)AutomaticspeechThediseasediscoveredbyGillesdelaTourettein1885andnamedafterhim.Thesepatientspreservetheirlanguageabilitybutmanyofthemsufferasyndromecalledcoprolalia,i.e.compulsiveandinvoluntaryswearing.10Prefabs-apowerfulinfluenceonourhabitualthought(Wang,1989)Theseprefabsexertapowerfulinfluenceonourhabitualthoughtandwhatwesay.Theseprefabsareprocesseddifferently.Onemayreachforthemmoreintherighthemispherethanintheleft.11Inventoryofprefabs-considerablevariationfromlanguagetolanguage(Wang,1989)ChinesecolorfulcursestoreleaseemotionsofaggressionandhostilitylinguisticallyRangingfromprivatepartsoftheanatomytothesinsofancestorsgoingmanygenerationsback.Japaneselanguageoffersverylittleinthewayofswearingorcurses.Abouttheworstthingonecanfindinthevocabularyistocallsomeoneafool12Prefabshasdifferentdegreesofuniversality–afertileareaforcrosslinguisticresearchJapanese:KOKETSUNIIRAZUMBAKOJIEZU“withoutenteringthetiger’sden,youcannotcapturethetiger’spup”Chinese不入虎穴，焉得虎子。English:Nothingventured,nothinggained.13孔子:已所不欲勿施于人...Aristotle:“weshouldbehavetoourfriendsaswewouldwishourfriendstobehavetous.”NewTestament:“thereforeallthingswhatsoeveryewouldthatmenshoulddotoyou,doyeevensotothem.”14苏轼《念奴娇·赤壁怀古》：“人生如梦,一尊还酹江月”“Iofferthiswinetotherivermoon”“DasLeben”byGottfriedvonHerder(1744-1803)Eintraum,einTraumistunserLebenAufErden“Adream,adreamisourlifehereonearth”WieSchattenaufdenWogenschwebenUndschwindenwir.“Likeshadowsonthebillowswefloatandvanish”15WilliamBlake’s(1757-1827)“AuguriesofInnocence”Toseetheworldinagrainofsand,Andaheaveninawildflower;Holdtheinfinityinthepalmofyourhand,Andeternityinanhour.宋曾道灿的重阳诗句：“天地一东篱，万古一重九。”16Chinese歇后语“two-partexpression”Offersachannelofcommunic