美国著名的语言学家索给尔(F·saussure1859—1913)曾经把语言学研究划分为两种,一种是研究语言体系自身规律性的学问,他称之为“内部的语言学”。另一种是研究语言符号与语言外部条件之间的联系的学问,他称之为“外部的语言学”。索绪尔所说的“外部的语言学”非常类似于我们今天所说的“社会语言学”。但是,索绪尔当时特别强调,语言学的任务主要是研究语言体系自身的规律性。所以,多少年以来,语言学家的注意 The famous American linguist Saussure (1859-1913) once classified linguistic studies into two kinds. One is the study of the regularity of the linguistic system, which he calls “internal linguistics.” The other is the study of the connection between linguistic signs and the external conditions of language, which he calls “external linguistics.” Saussure’s “external linguistics” is very similar to what we call today “sociolinguistics.” However, Saussure was particularly stressed at that time, the task of linguistics is to study the regularity of the language system itself. So, for many years, the attention of linguists