英语语言学概论第九章笔记

Chapter 9 Psycholinguistics 心理语言学1.The biological foundations of language 语言的生理基础a)The case of Phineas Gage 盖奇案例One afternoon in September 1848, a tragedy happed to Gage. A huge metal rod had gone through the front part of Gage’s brain, but his langua ge abilities were unaffected.The point of this amazing case is that, if our language ability is located in the brain, it is clear that it is not situated right at the front.1848年9月的一个下午，有一名叫菲尼亚斯.盖奇的美国人身上发生了一场悲剧。

一根大铁杆穿过了盖奇的大脑的前部，但他的语言能力却未受影响。

这一令人惊异的案例的意义在于，如果我们的语言能力位于大脑中，很显然不在其头部。

b)The human brain 人的大脑The human brain is the most complicated organ of the body. Lying under the skull, the human brain contains an average of ten billion nerve cells called neurons.人的大脑是人体最复杂的器官，它位于头盖骨下，平均包含有一百亿个神经细胞，即神经元。

The most important part of the brain is the outside surface of the brain, called the cerebral cortex. The cortex is the decision-making organ of the body, receiving messages from all the sensory organs and initiating all voluntary action. Many of the cognitive abilities that distinguish humans from other mammals, such as sophisticated reasoning, linguistic skills, and musical ability, are believed to reside in the cortex.大脑最主要的部分是它的外表面，这一外表面称为大脑皮层。

这一皮层是人体中做出各种决定的器官，它从各感受器官接受信息，并启动所有有意的动作。

使人区别于其它哺乳动物的是人有很多认知能力，如复杂的推理、语言技巧和音乐才能，据认为都归因于这一皮层。

The brain is divided into two roughly symmetrical halves, called hemispheres, one on the right and one on the left. These hemispheres are connected like twins right down the middle by a number of interconnecting nerve pathways.大脑可分为大致对称的两半，称为半球，一个在左边，一个在右边。

这两个半球由一些起连接作用的神经路径从正中间像双胞胎一样连接在一起。

In general, the right hemisphere controls voluntary movement of, and responds to signals from, the left side of the body, whereas the left hemisphere controls voluntary movement of, and responds to signals from, the right side of the body.总的来说，右半球控制左侧身体的有意动作，并对左侧身体发出的信号做出反应。

而左半球反过来。

c)Brain lateralization 大脑的侧化The left hemisphere has primary responsibility for language, while the right hemisphere controls and spatial skills as well as the perception of nonlinguistic sounds and musical melodies. The localization of the cognitive and perceptual functions in a particular hemisphere of the brain is called lateralization.人的大脑左半球主要负责语言，而右半球不仅支配着对非语言声音及音乐旋律的感知，而且支配着视觉和空间技能。

认知功能和感知功能位于大脑的某一半球上被称为侧化。

Because each cerebral hemisphere has unique functional superiority, it is more accurate to conceive of the hemispheres as complementarily specialized.由于大脑的每个半球都有独特的功能优势，因而更准确地说，两个半球的专长是互利的。

The process of lateralization is believed to be maturational. That is, brain lateralization is genetically programmed, but takes time to develop.侧化的过程被认为是一种发育成长的过程。

也就是说，大脑侧化在基因中已安排好，但需要时间逐渐实现侧化。

2.Linguistic lateralization 语言侧化a)Left hemispheric dominance for language 左半球的语言优势Linguistic lateralization in terms of left hemispheric dominance for language is found to exist in an overwhelming majority of human beings.大脑侧化的一个显著特征是左半球语言侧化，即大脑左半球有着语言上的优势。

大部分人的大脑左半球具有语言信息处理功能。

Although both right and left hemispheres are lateralized complementarily in many aspects of human cognitive and perceptual activities, language functions are believed to be lateralized primarily in the left hemisphere of the brain. Research has shown that different aspects of language processing appear to be more characteristic of the left hemisphere than the other.虽然在人类认知和感知活动的很多方面，左右半球的侧化互相补充，人们还是认为，语言功能主要侧化于大脑的左半球。

研究表明，语言信息处理的多个方面似乎更多的是左半球的特性，而不是右半球的特性。

b)Dichotic listening research 两耳分听实验Evidence in supporting of lateralization for language in the left hemisphere comes from researches in dichotic listening tasks. Dichotic listening research makes use of the generally established fact that anything experienced on the right-hand side of the body is processed in the left hemisphere of the brain, and vice versa. A basic assumption, thus, would be that a signal coming in the right ear will go to the left hemisphere and a signal coming in the left ear will go to the right hemisphere. By means of dichotic listening task, we can analyze the characteristics of incoming stimuli processed by the individual hemisphere.证明左半球的语言侧化的证据来自于两耳分听研究。

两耳分听研究利用了已得到公认的事实：人体右半身所体验到的任何东西都是由左半球处理的，反之亦然。

这样就有了下面的基本假设：进入右耳的信号将进入左半球，而进入左耳的信号将进入右半球。

通过两耳分听研究，我们可以分析各个半球所处理的外部刺激的特点。

Research shows that the left hemisphere is not superior for processing all sounds, but only for those that are linguistic in nature, thus providing evidence in support of the view that the left side of the brain is specialized for language and that it is where language centers reside.研究表明，左脑并不是在处理所有进入的声音上都有优势，而只是在处理本质上是语言的声音时具有优势，这也为以下观点提供了证据：大脑左侧专司语言，语言中枢就位于这一部分。