登陆注册
4704900000019

第19章

In the later analysis of language, we trace the opposite and contrasted elements of the individual and nation, of the past and present, of the inward and outward, of the subject and object, of the notional and relational, of the root or unchanging part of the word and of the changing inflexion, if such a distinction be admitted, of the vowel and the consonant, of quantity and accent, of speech and writing, of poetry and prose. We observe also the reciprocal influence of sounds and conceptions on each other, like the connexion of body and mind; and further remark that although the names of objects were originally proper names, as the grammarian or logician might call them, yet at a later stage they become universal notions, which combine into particulars and individuals, and are taken out of the first rude agglomeration of sounds that they may be replaced in a higher and more logical order. We see that in the simplest sentences are contained grammar and logic--the parts of speech, the Eleatic philosophy and the Kantian categories. So complex is language, and so expressive not only of the meanest wants of man, but of his highest thoughts; so various are the aspects in which it is regarded by us. Then again, when we follow the history of languages, we observe that they are always slowly moving, half dead, half alive, half solid, half fluid; the breath of a moment, yet like the air, continuous in all ages and countries,--like the glacier, too, containing within them a trickling stream which deposits debris of the rocks over which it passes. There were happy moments, as we may conjecture, in the lives of nations, at which they came to the birth--as in the golden age of literature, the man and the time seem to conspire; the eloquence of the bard or chief, as in later times the creations of the great writer who is the expression of his age, became impressed on the minds of their countrymen, perhaps in the hour of some crisis of national development--a migration, a conquest, or the like. The picture of the word which was beginning to be lost, is now revived; the sound again echoes to the sense; men find themselves capable not only of expressing more feelings, and describing more objects, but of expressing and describing them better. The world before the flood, that is to say, the world of ten, twenty, a hundred thousand years ago, has passed away and left no sign. But the best conception that we can form of it, though imperfect and uncertain, is gained from the analogy of causes still in action, some powerful and sudden, others working slowly in the course of infinite ages. Something too may be allowed to 'the persistency of the strongest,' to 'the survival of the fittest,' in this as in the other realms of nature.

These are some of the reflections which the modern philosophy of language suggests to us about the powers of the human mind and the forces and influences by which the efforts of men to utter articulate sounds were inspired. Yet in making these and similar generalizations we may note also dangers to which we are exposed. (1) There is the confusion of ideas with facts--of mere possibilities, and generalities, and modes of conception with actual and definite knowledge. The words 'evolution,' 'birth,' 'law,' development,' 'instinct,' 'implicit,' 'explicit,' and the like, have a false clearness or comprehensiveness, which adds nothing to our knowledge.

The metaphor of a flower or a tree, or some other work of nature or art, is often in like manner only a pleasing picture. (2) There is the fallacy of resolving the languages which we know into their parts, and then imagining that we can discover the nature of language by reconstructing them. (3)

There is the danger of identifying language, not with thoughts but with ideas. (4) There is the error of supposing that the analysis of grammar and logic has always existed, or that their distinctions were familiar to Socrates and Plato. (5) There is the fallacy of exaggerating, and also of diminishing the interval which separates articulate from inarticulate language--the cries of animals from the speech of man--the instincts of animals from the reason of man. (6) There is the danger which besets all enquiries into the early history of man--of interpreting the past by the present, and of substituting the definite and intelligible for the true but dim outline which is the horizon of human knowledge.

同类推荐
  • 佛说大乘不思议神通境界经

    佛说大乘不思议神通境界经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 太子刷护经

    太子刷护经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 严复集

    严复集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 呵旁观者文

    呵旁观者文

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 测字秘牒

    测字秘牒

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 狂傲经神

    狂傲经神

    这里是经脉大陆,传说,经修可以成神。误解,追杀,成为叛徒的牧心书,靠着一本邪派经修秘籍,如何能在经修大陆崛起?
  • 终极狂神

    终极狂神

    谁无虎落平阳日,待我风云再起时。提刀问天:我是楚河,谁是“当午”。孤苦少年,三魂残缺,无法修炼。当命数终至,三魂皈依,他将手持巨刃,披荆斩棘。收萝莉、灭小人;融武魂、炼魔印。平凡少年将演绎一生不平凡的传奇。
  • 东周列国志上

    东周列国志上

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 月令七十二候集解

    月令七十二候集解

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 一念成尊

    一念成尊

    他本是战场弃婴,因为有人收养,才有幸福可言。然而,一场剧变剥夺了他的幸福。为了报仇,他踏上了强者之路,然而,这一切,似乎不是那么简单……且看亚云如何踏上巅峰,成为一代尊者!
  • 靠山河

    靠山河

    刘浪,生于70年代,中国作家协会会员,黑龙江省作家协会签约作家,鲁迅文学院第十五期高研班学员。若干诗歌、中短篇小说发表于《飞天》《文学界》《山花》《作品》等数十家期刊,多篇小说被《小说选刊》等报刊转载。
  • 楚霸王项羽传

    楚霸王项羽传

    当项羽登上中国历史舞台的时候,他不但立即成为这一出戏的主角,而且还是一个光芒四射的主角。他用自己的真情实意来表演着他自己,他是那样的投入,为了演好他自己,他舍弃了他的家族,他的权力,他的财富,以至于他的帝国。在中国历史上,我们在他以前找不到这么真诚地表现自己的人物,在他以后,也一直没有出现这样的人。
  • 伟大转折:1978年的中国

    伟大转折:1978年的中国

    1978年是共和国历史上实现伟大转折的一个重要年头。在中国共产党近百年的历史上,在新中国70年的历史上,1978年都是一个十分重要的年份。这一年对党和国家未来发展产生了深远影响。这一年发生的一系列重大事件,特别是年底召开的中共十一届三中全会,纠正了此前20年来党在指导思想上的“左”的错误,使中国的社会主义事业,在经历20年曲折探索,尤其是“文化大革命”十年动乱后,走上了健康发展的轨道。一个以中国特色社会主义现代化建设为主要内容的改革开放新时期从此开始了。
  • 全译罗马帝国衰亡史(全12册)

    全译罗马帝国衰亡史(全12册)

    享誉世界200多年,了解罗马帝国不可不读的至高经典。一部畅销200多年,囊括政治、经济、宗教、军事、文化的罗马史必读经典。哲学泰斗休谟、“经济学之父”亚当·斯密、二战时期知名英国首相丘吉尔、科幻经典《银河帝国》的作者阿西莫夫等极力推崇的史学巨著。一部横跨1300年,囊括政治、经济、军事、文化,全方面讲述罗马帝国由盛而衰的恢弘史诗。政治家看到了权力的逻辑,军事家看到了战争的本质,企业家看到了制度的更迭,哲学家看到了思想的演变,文化学者看到了文明的兴衰……18世纪英国史学泰斗吉本20年心血之作。
  • 快来我心里gank

    快来我心里gank

    双向暗恋1v1传说中全kpl职业联赛里最高冷的打野骆予,平时的业余爱好竟然是看直播?粉丝们:什么?我倒要看看是哪个狐狸精在搞事!!于是一大群愤怒的粉丝冲进了某个女主播的直播间……三分钟后,看过直播之后的粉丝:天呐!这操作!这手速!这颜值!粉丝们大惊,像这样有颜值有骚话有技术的女主播不粉简直对不起男神好吗?粉丝们:果然,男神喜欢的人都不是一般人,陛下,我要为你生猴子!突然,这条弹幕飘过之后,屏幕突然转动,画面出现两个人脸,只见某个高冷的男人很严肃:对不起这位粉丝,她只能给我生猴子。屏幕陡然黑掉。直播间粉丝:?????女主播本人:????