Glossematics

语符学

An approach to language developed primarily by Louis Hjelmslev and associates at the Linguistic Circle of Copenhagen in the mid-1930s (the Copenhagen School). The novel name was a reflection of the originality of the school’s intention to develop a theory which could be applicable, not just for language, but for general study of the humanities. Language, in this view, was seen as one kind of symbolic system, whose special features would be clarified only when it compared with other, non-linguistic, symbolic systems. The philosophical and logical basis of glossematic theory, especially as formalized by Hjelmslev in his Prolegomena to A Theory of Language, published in 1943, presenting language as a purely deductive system, is its most distinctive feature.

本世纪30年代中期主要由哥本哈根语言协会的路易斯·叶姆斯列夫及其同行提出的一种语言理论（哥本哈根学派）。这个新创名称反映了这个学派试图发展一种新理论的首创性，这种新理论将不仅适用于语言，还适用于一般的人文科学。按这种观点，语言被视作符号系统的一种，其特点只有通过与其他非语言的符号系统作比较才能澄清。语符学理论的哲学和逻辑基础，特别是叶姆斯列夫在其1943年发表的《语言理论纲要》中作形式化阐述的，是将语言视为一个纯演绎系统，这是这一理论的最具特色之处。