——地点        李兆基人文学苑2号楼B112

——简介    

In this talk, I will start from the recent debate on the relationship between language and thought (Chomsky 2022; Fedorenko et al 2024). I will explain why Chomsky assumes (a) language is not primarily for communication, and (b) ‘language is essentially a system of thought’(Chomsky 2022: 70). While addressing some common/popular misunderstandings and providing evidence to support Chomsky’s views in these two points, I will further argue that we can also go beyond the scope in Chomsky’s original discussion to examine the relationship between language and thought. In particular, I will propose the following points: (a) thought is more than the meaning derived from I-language; (b) language is not just for deriving thought, but also for other thought-related functions, essentially the function of clarifying, refining, and even modifying the original and often vague thought. For example, on the intra-propositional level, the subject-predicate structure of syntax will help humans establish the relationship between concepts and properties (in the sense of Chierchia & Turner 1988); at the inter-propositional level, the nature of recursiveness of UG, as shown in Chomsky et al 2023, might establish recursion among propositions. With these points presented, this talk aims to achieve a new perspective on the relationship between language and thought, grounded on Chomskyan/generative linguistics, but extending the traditional boundaries.