说任意性易、说理据性难的原因分析

任意说和理据说是关于语言符号性质的两种理论。任意说认为能指与所指之间没有必然的联系,不可论证;理据说认为能指与所指之间有某种联系,可以论证。从索绪尔开创现代语言学起,任意说一直占据主导地位而理据说处于被忽略的角落。形成"说任意性易、说理据性难"这一局面的原因,除了索绪尔的巨大影响外,主要还有:任意性与理据性的属性不同;任意性与理据性的理论背景有异;理据考证工作具有相当的艰巨性;现代书籍缺少理据知识的记载;语言研究传统导致了有利于任意说的思维定势。

Why Is the Theory of Language Arbitrariness More Acceptable than That of Linguistic Motivation?

The theory of language arbitrariness and that of linguistic motivation are two views on the nature of linguistic signs.The former has been playing a dominant role whereas the latter has long been ignored since the establishment of modern linguistics.This situation can be summed as"the easier acceptability of the theory of language arbitrariness than that of linguistic motivation",which can be accounted for by the following reasons:distinctive features of arbitrariness and motivation, different theoretical backgrounds of them,the difficulty in the investigation of motivation,the lack of recorded facts of motivation,and the established research paradigm that is more friendly to the theory of language arbitrariness.