| Abstract: | 將語言和文字視為符號是一個新而有效的、探討語言和文字創始問題的出發觀點。筆者首先討論語言廣義、次廣義及直接的意義，指出語言與文字應視為位階平行之符號系統。接著筆者討論廿世紀以前及以來的各種有關語言起始之學說，且指出從動物語言轉化至人類語言之關鍵所在即為隱喻轉移─將聲音符號化。符號的種類，其內在關係結構，及其互動變化，以及人類概念世界中的基本單元為第四章討論之主題。在第五章之中筆者從文字與語言系統之交會鎖定關係，並依據三種人類最早原創性的文字，即埃程。在結語中，作者將全文的主要點作了一個扼要的敘述。
To see language and writing as symbols is a new and effective approach to investing their origin. In this thesis, the author first reviews Secondly, the author discusses various theories on the origin of language Postulated by scholars before and during the twentieth century, and points out that the key to turning animal language into human language is in the act of metaphorical transference, i. e., turning sound into symbol. The typology, the internal structures, and the related changes in symbols, and the basic units in the human conceptual world are examined thereafter. In the final chapter, the author discusses the process and the principles of the invention of writing on the basis of three indigenous systems, i.e., Chinese, Egyptian and Mesopotamian. The author also concludes with a summary of his theory on the genesis of language and writing. |
