具身认知理论是目前认知科学领域中最新的研究范式和取向,它认为人的认知过程依赖于感知和动作系统,强调身体在认知中发挥重要作用。具身语言理解则认为,身体、动作和知觉系统在语言认知中也起着不可或缺的作用。文章在简要回顾具身语言理解的相关理论如索引假设、浸入式经历者框架、语言神经理论的基础上,重点从语言理解的四个层面的实证研究,即音位、单词、句子、语篇,证实具身语言理解的观点。未来的研究应该着眼于用具身认知观点来解释更高级的抽象语言表征,具身单词、句子、语篇的具体表征形式,并利用具身语言认知的观点进行认知的本土化研究。
Embodied Cognition is the newest research paradigm and approach in the cognitive science. The central tenet of this approach is that sensorimotor systems are automatically engaged during conceptual processing and bodily process constrains how we perceive others. Embodied language comprehension holds that the system of body, motor and perception play a significant role in language cognition. The theories concerning embodied language comprehension, such as Indexical Hypothesis, Immersed Experiencer Frame and Neural Theory of Language, were firstly reviewed. Secondly, empirical evidences supporting embodiment in language comprehension are reviewed from four perspectives, which are phonological perception, lexical processing, sentence and passage comprehension. Future studies should focus on the explanation of advanced and abstract representation, such as the concrete representation form of embodied words, sentences and passages, and extending the views of embodied language cognition into localization cognition research.