普遍语法

乔姆斯基的普遍语法理论

保定学院刘丽娟

摘要:本文阐述了乔姆斯基的普遍语法理论的产生背景、理论来

源和主要内容，并在此基础上从语言习得的角度着重探讨了普遍

语法理论的核心思想。本文从语言习得的定义,引出三种理论布

龙菲尔德的行为主义理论,乔姆斯基的天赋假说和交互模式.在探

讨过程中，乔姆斯基对其他行为主义的批判.虽然乔姆斯基的天

赋假说一直处于不断的调整和更新中,但始终是一种假设性的理

论,仍无得到很好的验证.

关键词:乔姆斯基,普遍语法,语言习得装置,心理学,语言学,交互

主义，行为主义

Abstract:withabriefintroductionofthetheoreticalbackground

andcontentofChomskyTheoryofUG,thisdisrtationemphatically

examinesthemajorassumptionsofthetheoryconcerninglanguage

acquisition。ThispaperdiscussingfromthedefinitionofLA,leadto

thethreetheoriesabehaviouristview,aninnatistview,an

epoch-makingsignificancethat

Chomsky’scritiqueofotherstimulus-reinforcementtheory

demonstratesabreakthroughagainstthebehavioristdoctrinewhich

hasgovernedAmericanpsychologyfornearlyhalfacentury。Sofar，

however，thetheoryofUGisconsideredwerehypothetic

assumptionsrestingonnoevidenceandexiguouslyactual

speculation，thoughitisstillunderrevisiontoday。

Keywords:Chomsky,universalgrammar，languageacquisition

device，psychology，linguistic，interactionist，behaviourisst.

Introduction：Languageacquisitionisaimportantfield

inlinguistic。Overhalfofthecentury，rearchersintroducedmany

theories,suchas,abehavioristviewoflanguageacquisition

(Skinners),aninnatistviewoflanguageacquisition(Chomsky),an

tisthelanguage

acquisition？Languageacquisitionreferstothechild’sacquisition

ofhismothertongue,childcomestounderstandand

enallovertheworld

learntospeakataboutthesametimeunlesstheyareisolatedduring

thecriticalacquisitionyearsorunlesstheysufferfromextreme

externaldeficiency。Howdochildrenaccomplishthis?Whatenable

childrentolearnwordsandstringthemtogetherintomeaningful

ntences？Whatfacilitiechildrentodevelopthegrammatical

systemoftheirlanguage？Whathelpthemtoachievethe

communicativecompetenceusingthelanguagetoexpresstheir

variousneeds？Allthehavebeenattractingthetimeandefforts

oflinguists,psycholinguists，llyspeaking,there

aremainlythreetheoriesconcerninghowlanguageislearned，

namelythebehaviorist，theinnatist,theinteractionistviews.

Traditionalbehavioristsviewlanguageasbehaviorandbelievethat

languagelearningissimplyamatterofimitationandhabitformation.

ImitationàRecognitionàefexponentofthe

ewwasprevalentbeforethe

1960s,afterthatitwasunderchallengeandcriticismforits

dequacyofbehavioristview

liesinexplaininghowchildrenacquirecomplexlanguagesystem.

Themeritsofitoffersareasonableaccountofhowchildren

InnatistviewoflanguageacquisitionNoamChomskyclaimsthat

humanbeingsarebiologicallyprogrammedforlanguageandthatthe

languagedevelopsinthechildjustasotherbiologicalfunctionssuch

nateabilityiscalledLanguageAcquisitionDevice

(LAD)ractionistviewoflanguage

eractionistviewholdsthatlanguagedevelopsas

aresultofthecomplexinterplaybetweenthehumancharacteristics

ofthechildandtheenvironmentinwhichthechilddevelops.

Integratedwiththeinnatistview,theinteractionistfurtherclaimsthat

themodifiedlanguagewhichissuitableforthechild’scapabilityis

crucialinhislanguageacquisition.(mothere).Insummary,in

behavioristapproach,languageenvironmentplaysamajorrolein

providingbothlanguagemodelstobeimitatedandnecessary

atistviewemphasizesmoreonchildren’sinternal

ironment

functionsasastimulusthattriggersandactivatesthepre-equipped

UGtoprocessthematerialsprovidedbythelinguisticenvironment

eractionistviewcallsforthequalityof

thelanguagesamplesavailableinthelinguisticenvironment,only

whenthelanguageismodifiedandadjustedtothelevelofchildren’

scomprehension,dotheyprocessandinternalizethelanguageitems.

Butinthisdismination，wemainlytalkabouttheinnatistview.

IntroductionofChomsky

NoamChomskywasbornonDecember7,1928inPhiladelphia,

ergraduateandgraduateyearswerespentat

theUniversityofPennsylvaniawherehereceivedhisPhDin

theyears1951to1955,Chomskywasa

JuniorFellowhecompletedhisdoctoraldisrtationentitled,

"TransformationalAnalysis."Themajortheoreticalviewpointsof

thedisrtationappearedinthemonographSyntacticStructure,

rmedpartofamoreextensive

work,TheLogicalStructureofLinguisticTheory,circulatedin

yjoinedthe

staffoftheMassachuttsInstituteofTechnologyin1955andin

1961wasappointedfullprofessorintheDepartmentofModern

LanguagesandLinguistics(nowtheDepartmentofLinguisticsand

Philosophy.)

1976hewas

appointedInstituteProfessor.

Duringtheyears1958to1959Chomskywasinresidenceatthe

InstituteforAdvancedStudyatPrinceton,pringof1969

hedeliveredtheJohnLockeLecturesatOxford;inJanuary1970he

deliveredtheBertrandRusllMemorialLectureatCambridge

University;in1972,theNehruMemorialLectureinNewDelhi,and

in1977,theHuizingaLectureinLeiden,amongmanyothers.

ProfessorChomskyhasreceivedhonorarydegreesfromUniversity

ofLondon,UniversityofChicago,LoyolaUniversityofChicago,

SwarthmoreCollege,DelhiUniversity,BardCollege,Universityof

Massachutts,UniversityofPennsylvania,GeorgetownUniversity,

AmherstCollege,CambridgeUniversity,UniversityofBuenosAires,

McGillUniversity,UniversitatRoviraIVirgili,Tarragona,Columbia

University,UniversityofConnecticut,ScuolaNormaleSuperiore,

Pisa,UniversityofWesternOntario,UniversityofToronto,Harvard

University,UniversityofCalcutta,andUniversidadNacionalDe

ellowoftheAmericanAcademyofArtsand

tion,heisa

memberofotherprofessionalandlearnedsocietiesintheUnited

Statesandabroad,andisarecipientoftheDistinguishedScientific

ContributionAwardoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,the

KyotoPrizeinBasicSciences,theHelmholtzMedal,theDorothy

EldridgePeacemakerAward,theBenFranklinMedalinComputer

andCognitiveScience,andothers.

Chomskyhaswrittenandlecturedwidelyonlinguistics,philosophy,

intellectualhistory,contemporaryissues,internationalaffairsand

ksinclude:AspectsoftheTheoryof

Syntax;CartesianLinguistics;SoundPatternofEnglish(withMorris

Halle);LanguageandMind;AmericanPowerandtheNew

Mandarins;AtWarwithAsia;ForReasonsofState;Peaceinthe

MiddleEast?;ReflectionsonLanguage;ThePoliticalEconomyof

HumanRights,();Rulesand

Reprentations;LecturesonGovernmentandBinding;Towardsa

NewColdWar;RadicalPriorities;FatefulTriangle;Knowledgeof

Language;TurningtheTide;PiratesandEmperors;OnPowerand

Ideology;LanguageandProblemsofKnowledge;TheCultureof

Terrorism;ManufacturingConnt();Necessary

Illusions;DeterringDemocracy;Year501;RethinkingCamelot:JFK,

theVietnamWarandUSPoliticalCulture;LettersfromLexington;

WorldOrders,OldandNew;TheMinimalistProgram;Powersand

Prospects;TheCommonGood;ProfitOverPeople;TheNew

MilitaryHumanism;NewHorizonsintheStudyofLanguageand

Mind;RogueStates;ANewGenerationDrawstheLine;9-11;and

orworks：SyntacticStructures,

1957，OnCertainFormalPropertiesofGrammars,1959，Onthe

Notion‘RuleofGrammar’,1961，ExplanatoryModelsin

Linguistics,1962，IntroductiontotheFormalAnalysisofNatural

Languages,1963，AspectsoftheTheoryofSyntax,1965，

CartesianLinguistics,1966，LanguageandMind,1968，Deep

Structure,SurfaceStructureandSemanticInterpretation,1970，

ConditionsonTransformation,1971

ThesourceoftheChomsky’stheory

TheideaofauniversalgrammarcanbetracedtoRogerBacon's

obrvationthatalllanguagesarebuiltuponacommongrammar,

substantiallythesameinalllanguages,eventhoughitmayundergo

accidentalvariations,andthe13thcenturyspeculativegrammarians

who,followingBacon,postulateduniversalrulesunderlyingall

ceptofauniversalgrammarorlanguagewasat

thecoreofthe17thcenturyprojectsforphilosophicallanguages.

ThereisaScottishschoolofuniversalgrammariansfromthe18th

century,tobedistinguishedfromthephilosophicallanguageproject,

andincludingauthorssuchasJamesBeattie,HughBlair,James

Burnett,JamesHarris,icleon"Grammar"

inthefirsteditionoftheEncyclop?diaBritannica(1771)containsan

extensivectiontitled"OfUniversalGrammar."Theidearoto

notabilityinmodernlinguisticswiththeoristssuchasNoam

ChomskyandRichardMontague,developedinthe1950sto1970s,

aspartofthe"LinguisticsWars".

Duringtheearly20thcentury,incontrast,languagewasusually

understoodfromabehaviouristperspective,suggestingthat

languagelearning,likeanyotherkindoflearning,couldbe

explainedbyasuccessionoftrials,errors,andrewardsforsuccess.[4]

Inotherwords,childrenlearnedtheirmothertonguebysimple

imitation,listeningtoandrepeatingwhatadultssaid.

TheInnatenesshypothesis

Universalgrammar(UG)isatheoryinlinguistics,usuallycredited

toNoamChomsky,proposingthattheabilitytolearngrammaris

hard-wiredintothebrain.[1]Thetheorysuggeststhatlinguistic

abilitymanifestsitlfwithoutbeingtaught(ePovertyofthe

stimulus),andthattherearepropertiesthatallnaturalhuman

atterofobrvationandexperimentationto

determineprecilywhatabilitiesareinnateandwhatpropertiesare

sharedbyalllanguages.

Thisapproachiscontextual,meaningthat,althoughthereare

believedtobesimilaritiesamongalllanguages,notalllanguages

notattempttodetermine

independentfactsthatholdtrueforeverysinglelanguageonEarth.

Therulesoutlinehowhumanlanguagesdevelopwhenfacedwith

thebasicprinciples,iningtheruleswith

obrvationsaboutalanguage,linguistscanoftendeterminea

language'swordorder,phonemes,andotherfoundationaltraits.

PovertyofStimulus

Oneofthemajorasrtionsthatunderliesthetheoryofuniversal

aim

statesthatchildrenarenotexpodtoenoughstimulus—people

speakingthenativelanguage—tobeabletolearnlanguage

reahugenumberofwaysthatwordscanbeput

together,andnorulefordoingsoisobviouslymorecorrectthanany

tion,thisargumentstates,childrenareusuallygiven

positiveevidenceforhowtospeakcorrectly,butrarelyprovided

withnegativeevidence,orcorrectionwhentheyspeak

ldren,despitearelativelylimitedamountof

input,doreliablylearnthegrammaticalstructuresoftheirlanguage.

This,theargumentasrts,mustmeanthatthereissomeinnate

capacityforthestructuresoflanguage.

Thisargumentisverycontroversial,

arguethattheamountofstimulusthatachildreceivesfromlistening

tootherspeakersisactuallyenoughinformationforhimorherto

learnthelanguage'sbasicgrammar,andthatthebraincanrecognize

patternsinthelanguagetofillinwhat'asrtthat

childrenarecorrectedandaretoldwhenantenceisgrammatically

incorrect,andthefactthattheyarerarely(ornever)expodto

ungrammaticalntencesteachesthemthatthogrammatical

structuresarewrong.

Thedebeats

Chomskyhasbeenknowntovigorouslydefendanddebatehisviews

andopinions,inphilosophy,linguistics(LinguisticsWars),and

adnotabledebateswithJeanPiaget,Michel

Foucault,y,Lakoff,RichardPerle,

HilaryPutnam,WillardQuine,andAlanDershowitz,tonameafew.

TheGuardiansaidofChomsky'sdebatingability:"Hisboldnessand

clarityinfuriatesopponents–academeiscrowdedwithcriticswho

havemadetwerpsofthemlvestakinghimon."Inrespontohis

speakingstylebeingcriticizedasboring,Chomskysaidthat"I'ma

boringspeakerandIlikeitthatway....Idoubtthatpeopleare

attractedtowhateverthepersonais....Peopleareinterestedinthe

issues,andthey'reinterestedintheissuesbecautheyare

important.""Wedon'twanttobeswayedbysuperficialeloquence,

byemotionandsoon.

Contributionstolinguistics

SyntacticStructureswasadistillationofhisbookLogicalStructure

ofLinguisticTheory(1955,75)inwhichheintroduces

orytakesutterances(quences

ofwords)tohaveasyntaxwhichcanbe(largely)characteridbya

formalgrammar;inparticular,aContext-freegrammarextended

enarehypothesidtohavean

innateknowledgeofthebasicgrammaticalstructurecommontoall

humanlanguages(sumethatanylanguagewhichthey

encounterisofacertainrestrictedkind).Thisinnateknowledgeis

guedthatmodelling

knowledgeoflanguageusingaformalgrammaraccountsforthe

"productivity"oflanguage:withalimitedtofgrammarrulesanda

finitetofterms,humansareabletoproduceaninfinitenumberof

ntences,includingntencesnoonehaspreviouslysaid.

Chomsky'sideashavehadastronginfluenceonrearchers

investigatingtheacquisitionoflanguageinchildren,thoughsome

rearcherswhoworkinthisareatodaydonotsupportChomsky's

theories,oftenadvocatingemergentistorconnectionisttheories

reducinglanguagetoaninstanceofgeneralprocessingmechanisms

inthebrain.

Generativegrammar

TheChomskyanapproachtowardssyntax,oftentermedgenerative

grammar,thoughquitepopular,hasbeenchallengedbymany,

yan

syntacticanalysareoftenhighlyabstract,andarebadheavilyon

carefulinvestigationoftheborderbetweengrammaticaland

ungrammaticalconstructsinalanguage.(Comparethistothe

so-calledpathologicalcasthatplayasimilarlyimportantrolein

mathematics.)Suchgrammaticalityjudgmentscanonlybemade

accuratelybyanativespeaker,however,andthusforpragmatic

reasonssuchlinguistsoftenfocusontheirownnativelanguagesor

languagesinwhichtheyarefluent,usuallyEnglish,French,German,

Dutch,Italian,JapaneoroneoftheChinelanguages.

Sometimesgenerativegrammaranalysbreakdownwhenapplied

tolanguageswhichhavenotpreviouslybeenstudied,andmany

changesingenerativegrammarhaveoccurredduetoanincreain

r,theclaimsmadeabout

linguisticuniversalshavebecomestrongerratherthanweakerover

time;forexample,RichardKayne'ssuggestioninthe1990sthatall

languageshaveanunderlyingSubject-Verb-Objectwordorder

wouldhaveemedimplausibleinthe1960s.

Contributionstopsychology

Chomsky'sworkinlinguisticshashadmajorimplicationsfor

theoryofauniversalgrammarwasenbymanyasadirect

challengetotheestablishedbehavioristtheoriesofthetimeandhad

majorconquencesforunderstandinghowlanguageislearnedby

childrenandwhat,exactly,

ofthemorebasicprinciplesofthistheory(thoughnotnecessarily

thestrongerclaimsmadebytheprinciplesandparametersapproach

describedabove)arenowgenerallyacceptedinsomecircles.

In1959,Chomskypublishedalong-circulatedcritiqueofB.F.

Skinner'sVerbalBehavior,abookinwhichSkinneroffereda

speculativeexplanationoflanguageinbehavioralterms."Verbal

behavior"hedefinedaslearnedbehaviorwhichhasitscharacteristic

conquencesbeingdeliveredthroughthelearnedbehaviorofothers;

thismakesforabroadviewofcommunicativebehaviorsmuch

r'sapproach

differedconsiderablyfrommosttraditionalviewsoflanguageinthat

focudonthecircumstancesinwhichlanguagewasud;The

functionallydifferentkindsofrespons,whichrequiredinturn

parateexplanations,sharplycontrastedwithtraditionalnotionsof

languageandChomsky'spsycholinguisticapproach,whichfocud

onthementalreprentationsofwordsandassumedaword,once

learned,ldbenotedthat

Chomsky's1959reviewhasbeenverelycriticized,themost

famous(butfarfromonly)criticismbeingthatofKenneth

MacCorquodale's1970paperOnChomsky’sReviewofSkinner’s

VerbalBehavior(JournaloftheExperimentalAnalysisofBehavior,

volume13,pages83-99).Thisandsimilarreviewshavenoted

importantfactsnotgenerallyacknowledgedoutsideofbehavioral

psychology,suchasthatChomskydidnotunderstandeither

behavioralpsychologyingeneralorhowSkinner'sradical

behaviorismdifferedfromothervarieties,oftenmaking

eoftheriousproblems,thepaper

failedtoactuallydemonstratewhatithasoftenbeingcitedasdoing.

Assuch,thomostinfluencedbyChomsky'spaperprobablyeither

alreadysubstantiallyagreedwithChomskyorneveractuallyreadit.

IthasbeenallegedthatChomsky'scritiqueofSkinner's

methodologyandbasicassumptionspavedthewayforthe

"cognitiverevolution,"theshiftinAmericanpsychologybetween

the1950sthroughthe1970sfrombeingprimarilybehavioralto

beingprimarilycognitive.

Finally,Chomskymadetheconceptof"modularity"acriticalfeature

ofthemind'discompodofan

arrayofinteracting,specializedsubsystemswithlimitedflowsof

delcontrastssharplywiththeoldidea

thatanypieceofinformationinthemindcouldbeaccesdbyany

othercognitiveprocess.

References:

刘润清，文旭《新编语言学教程》外语教学与研究出版社

戴伟栋，何兆熊《新编简明英语语言学》上海外语教育出版社

NoamChomskySYNTACTICSTRUCTURE中国社会科学出版

社

南京师范大学硕士毕业论文索取号HO一06/B.440