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。