Language Development · 语言发展
| English | 中文 | Pinyin · 拼音 |
|---|---|---|
| Language/ˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ/ | 语言 | yǔ yán |
| arbitrary symbols/ˈɑːbɪtrəri ˈsɪmblz/ | 任意符号 | rèn yì fú hào |
| Phonemes/ˈfəʊniːmz/ | 音位 | yīn wèi |
| morphemes/ˈmɔːfiːmz/ | 语素 | yǔ sù |
| Semantics/səˈmæntɪks/ | 语义 | yǔ yì |
| syntax/ˈsɪntæks/ | 句法 | jù fǎ |
| Cooing/ˈkuːɪŋ/ | 咕咕声 | gū gū shēng |
| babbling/ˈbæblɪŋ/ | 咿呀语 | yī yā yǔ |
| one-word stage/wʌn wɜːd steɪdʒ/ | 单词阶段 | dān cí jiē duàn |
| telegraphic speech/ˌtelɪˈɡræfɪk spiːtʃ/ | 电报式语言 | diàn bào shì yǔ yán |
| Overgeneralisation/ˌəʊvəˌdʒenərəlaɪˈzeɪʃn/ | 过度泛化 | guò dù fàn huà |
A pointed finger is already language
- Before any words, infants point to direct another person's attention.
- That gesture already does what language does: it coordinates two minds on one thing.
- The CED begins language development here, in every culture studied.
一根手指指出去,就已经是语言了
- 在任何词语之前,婴儿就会用手指引导他人的注意。
- 这个动作已经在做语言所做的事:让两个心智对准同一样东西。
- CED 正是从这里开始讲语言发展,而这在所有被研究的文化中都成立。
The CED says people across all cultures use manual gestures such as pointing to communicate. · CED指出，所有文化中的人们都使用手势（如指物）进行交流。
Pointing coordinates two minds on one object — the job language later does with words. · 指物使两人的注意力集中在同一物体上——这是后来语言用词汇完成的任务。
What language is
- Language 语言 is a shared, mutually agreed system of arbitrary symbols 任意符号.
- "Arbitrary" means nothing about the sound of a word resembles its meaning.
- Because the link is agreed rather than natural, a language must be learned socially.
语言是什么
- 语言(language)是一套共享的、彼此约定的任意符号(arbitrary symbols)系统。
- "任意"意味着一个词的读音与其意义之间毫无相似之处。
- 由于这一联系是约定而非自然的,语言必须在社会中习得。
Saying a language's symbols are ____ means nothing about a word resembles its meaning. · 称一种语言的符号为____，意味着词的形式与其意义之间并无自然联系。
Because the link is agreed rather than natural, language must be learned socially. · 由于这种联系是基于约定而非天然存在的，语言必须通过社会化习得。
The levels of a language
- Phonemes 音位 are the smallest sound units; morphemes 语素 are the smallest units carrying meaning.
- Semantics 语义 is meaning; syntax 句法 is the rules for combining units.
- A sentence can be syntactically perfect and semantically empty, which is why the two are named separately.
语言的各个层次
- 音位(phonemes)是最小的语音单位;语素(morphemes)是最小的承载意义的单位。
- 语义(semantics)是意义;句法(syntax)是组合各单位的规则。
- 一个句子可以在句法上完美而在语义上空洞,这正是两者被分开命名的原因。
Which level of language? · 涉及语言的哪个层面？
Sort each term by the level of language it describes. · 按语言描述层面对各术语进行排序。
Match each term to the level it names. · 将各术语与其命名的层面匹配。
Sound, meaning and structure are three separate levels of the same system. · 语音、语义和结构是同一系统的三个独立层面。
Do not treat a child's grammatical mistakes as simply wrong. "Goed" and "foots" are evidence of rule learning — the child produced a form no adult modelled. Reporting them as errors misses the point the CED is making.
不要把孩子的语法错误单纯当作错误。"goed"与"foots"是规则学习的证据——孩子产出了成人从未示范过的形式。把它们仅仅报告为错误,就错过了 CED 要说的要点。
Put the stages of language acquisition in order. · 按顺序排列语言习得的各个阶段。
The order · 级数 is the same across languages; only the timing varies. · 习得阶段的顺序在各语言中是一致的；仅时间有所不同。
The order of acquisition
- Cooing 咕咕声, then babbling 咿呀语, then the one-word stage 单词阶段, then telegraphic speech 电报式语言.
- The order is the same across languages and cultures; the timing varies.
- That regularity is the strongest evidence that acquisition is not simply imitation.
习得的顺序
- 先是咕咕声(cooing),然后是咿呀语(babbling),接着是单词阶段(one-word stage),再到电报式语言(telegraphic speech)。
- 这一顺序在各种语言与文化中都相同;时间则各不相同。
- 这种规律性是习得并非单纯模仿的最有力证据。
A child saying "goed" instead of "went" is evidence that the child... · 孩子说"goed"而不是"went"表明该儿童……
No adult models "goed", so the form must come from a rule · 规则 the child worked out. · 没有成人示范过"goed"，因此这个形式必然来自孩子自己总结出的规则。
Overgeneralisation is evidence, not error
- A child who says "goed" has never heard an adult say it.
- Overgeneralisation 过度泛化 shows the child has extracted a rule and applied it.
- A mistake that could not have been copied is proof that a rule was learned, not a phrase.
过度泛化是证据,不是错误
- 说出"goed"的孩子从未听过成人这样说。
- 过度泛化(overgeneralisation)表明孩子已提取出一条规则并加以应用。
- 一个不可能是模仿来的错误,恰恰证明学到的是规则,而不是短语。
A two-year-old says "Daddy go car". Three words, no articles or inflections, and the meaning is unmistakable — telegraphic speech keeps the content words and drops everything the listener can supply.
一个两岁孩子说"Daddy go car"。三个词,没有冠词或屈折变化,而意思清晰无误——电报式言语保留实词,舍去一切听者能自行补足的成分。
Language is a shared system of arbitrary symbols, built from phonemes and morphemes and governed by semantics and syntax. Acquisition runs cooing → babbling → one-word → telegraphic in the same order everywhere, and overgeneralisation proves a rule was learned rather than copied.
语言是一套由任意符号构成的共享系统,由音位与语素搭建,并受语义与句法支配。习得过程在各处都按咕咕声 → 咿呀学语 → 单词期 → 电报式言语的顺序推进,而过度泛化证明学到的是规则而非模仿。