音义象似性:英汉语的命名基础研究

On Phonosemantic Iconicity as the Foundation of Naming in English and Chinese

  • 摘要: 音义象似性指的是语言音与义之间的自然关联,然而,持语言符号任意观的学者往往质疑乃至否认音义象似性的存在。本研究以英汉语“光”这一概念的表征为例,探索音义象似性在英汉语命名过程中的作用。研究发现:1)英汉语都存在比词素单位小且具有音义象似性的语音形式。例如,“光”及其引申概念与英语“联觉音组”/gl/和汉语“昜声符”之间存在象似性。2)借助其发音部位和发音方法与各种声学特征综合产生的心理感知效果,语音可传达意义,该意义是与词源密切相关的事物特征义。3)英汉语的原生和派生造词一定程度上都受到音义象似性的影响。在原生阶段,先民“象斯意制斯音”“以唇舌口气象之”,从而使得原始造词具有一定的象似性;在派生阶段,通过隐喻和转喻等手段,相似或相关的概念可借助同一或相似的语音来表征,由此英汉语词汇系统均呈现出一定的“义通音近”规则性。

     

    Abstract: Phonosemantic iconicity, the inherent association between sound and meaning in language, has been subject to criticism or even denial among linguists who adhere to the arbitrariness of linguistic signs. Taking the concept of ‘LIGHT’ as an example, this study investigates the role of phonosemantic iconicity in concept naming in English and Chinese. Results show that: 1) in both English and Chinese, there exist phonetic forms smaller than morphemes that exhibit phonosemantic iconicity. For instance, the ‘LIGHT’ concept, together with its extended concepts, is iconically associated with the phonestheme /gl/ in English words and the phonetic radical “昜/yang” in Chinese characters. 2) Based on the psychological perception effect generated through the combination of their places of articulation, manners of articulation, and various acoustic features, sounds can convey meanings, and these meanings highlight some particular features that closely relate to the etymology of words. 3) Phonosemantic iconicity, to some extent, contributes to both the initial word creation and derived word formation processes in English and Chinese. In the initial stage, ancient people create words by imitating sounds through movements of lips, tongue, and breath, thereby illustrating a certain degree of iconicity. In the derived stage, similar or related concepts may be represented by identical or similar sounds through metaphor and metonymy, which results in a relatively systematic relationship between meaning and sound in the lexicons of both English and Chinese.

     

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