A Study On Chinese Codability

Codability is a term with that tests the linguistic relativity, this paper expands it into a theory pattern that is used to semantic contrast between languages. Theory of codability has the merits of the structural semantics and cognitive semantics, it be good for opening out the difference of semantic system between languages. We can use it to study the following questions: the relation of language and thought, the relation of language and culture, the relation between degree of lexicalization and codability, the relation between saturation of motivation and codability. With it, we can study the following questions: second language teaching, bilingual dictionary compilation, translation. This paper contrasts the following semantic fields: kinship, colour, onomatopoeia, clothes, taste and cooking between English and Chinese; colour, horse, sacrifice and washing between classical Chinese and mandarin; colour, bamboo shoot and daytime between Chinese dialects. The differences of semantic fields between languages represent in two aspects: the vertical aspects and the across aspect. In the vertical aspects, firstly, semantic fields are carved up different levels between languages; secondly, level semantic fields are not parallel; and there is glosseme gap or semantic fields gap. In across aspect, firstly, semantic fields are carved up differently between language, there is intercross in some semantic fields between language; secondly, the number of glosseme is different in lower level semantic fields between languages, there is glossemes gap in level of the semantic fields between languages. The relation of glossemes in the semantic fields between languages : completely correspondent, or partly correspondent, or noncorrespondent. We think that motivation is correlative with codability, so we bring forward the notion saturation of motivation in semantic field, and bring forward two relative theorem, and think there is the direct proportion between codability and saturation of motivation in semantic field. The paper researches the relation between codability and thought from the linguistic relativity, cognitive hypothesis and linguistic universals. The paper refutes the theory of lexical scanty in Chinese in rich datum. Degree of lexicalization is correlative with codability between languages, there is the direct proportion between codability and degree of lexicalization in semantic field, and bring forward the method in that contrast the degree of lexicalization between languages. This paper bring forward a phenomenon: phrasalization in the diachronic evolution of Chinese codability, and show a way in that research phrasalization.