试论英汉否定思维与时空性思维的关系——来自英汉否定词“not/no”和“不/没”的证据

The Relationship Between Negation in Thinking and Temporal and Spatial Thinking in English and Chinese: Evidences from English and Chinese Negation Words “Not/No” and “Bu/Mei”

摘要

摘要:语言中的否定表达形式是否定思维的外在表征，浸润着人类最基本的思维方式。本文分别对英汉否定系统中的主要否定词not和"不"，以及no和"没"进行历时追溯对比，发现英汉否定词的初始语义均建基于空间性思维，但在历时发展过程中，英民族的时间性思维逐渐增强，而汉民族的空间性思维却始终保持强势。语言和思维相互作用，共生演变，在否定思维与时空性思维的选择倾向渐趋稳定的过程中，英汉的否定表达形式也逐渐固化。

Abstract:Expressions of negation in a language, as the representations of negation in thinking, are deeply embedded in the basic ways of human thinking.The present paper examines the main negation words not/noin English and bu/meiin Chinese from a diachronic perspective.It is found that the original meanings of these negation words are all rooted in spatial thinking.However, with their evolution, the temporality in thinking has been gradually strengthened in English speakers, while the spatiality in thinking still maintains its superiority in Chinese speakers.Languages and thinking interact with each other, and evolve together by contributing to each other.With the mutual selection between negation in thinking and temporal and spatial thinking getting steady, the expressions of negation in English and Chinese also become entrenched.