基于NSM理论的跨文化语用学研究述评—— 兼评经典语用学理论的局限性

跨文化语用学研究无法回避两个问题,一是交际中跨文化差异的定型现象;二是描写跨文化差异的元语言。前者是所谓的经典语用学理论普遍存在的问题;后者则是自然语义元语言理论始终致力于解决的方法论问题。作为研究人类互动性交际的语用学是语义学的一部分,因此跨文化语用学就是人类交际的语义学研究。自然语义元语言理论的贡献就在于运用普遍的元语言来描写交际中的跨文化差异,避免了盎格鲁中心主义。

Research into NSM based Cross cultural Pragmatics: A Review

Cross cultural pragmatic studies cannot escape the involvement in two problems. One is the unwarranted stereotyping of cross cultural differences in communication, and the other is the metalanguage in which cultural differences are described. The former is the problem universally found present in the so called classic pragmatic theories, while the latter is the methodological problem that the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) theory is dedicated to solving. Pragmatics, the study of linguistic interaction, can only be approached as an exercise in semantics. Therefore, cross cultural pragmatics is the semantic approach to human interaction. The contribution that NSM theory has made so far lies mainly in the use of universal metalanguage to describe cross cultural differences in communication, and the attempt to avoid "Anglo centrism".