A Gathering of Talks on Words

Name: A Gathering of Talks on Words
ISBN: 9787100219273

Clive Staples Lewis / 丁骏The Commercial Press · ChinaAug 2024

4.2

Word count: 197K words
Chapters: 109
ISBN: 9787100219273

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Summary

Language—its communicative and playful functions, its literary forms, and the shifts in its meanings—is an endlessly fascinating subject. Studies in Words is an exploration of that fascination. The book grew out of a series of lectures C. S. Lewis delivered at Cambridge University and was published by Cambridge University Press in 1960. In it, Lewis examines the history of a number of words used in English, the considerable changes they have undergone over the centuries, and the meanings they carried in earlier stages of the language. Drawing widely on sources and authorities, Lewis traces the sense of words, recovers their lost meanings, and analyzes their functions. The book also touches on the pleasures and problems of verbal communication, and is engaging and full of interest throughout. The issues it raises matter to everyone who reads and communicates with care—and its author is a master scholar of English.

Editor's review

Studies in Words is an incisive and highly original work of linguistics and intellectual history by C. S. Lewis, far more than a simple collection of word studies. It focuses on the semantic shifts of several key abstract words in English (such as "nature," "sad," and "life") over the course of history, revealing how changes in word meaning have profoundly shaped and reflected shifts in Western modes of thought and structures of feeling. With his deep classical learning and literary sensitivity, Lewis fuses etymology, literary analysis, and philosophical reflection into one, leading readers on an "archaeology of meaning" across several centuries. Reading this book, one not only appreciates the subtlety and historical depth of language itself, but also comes to understand that many ideas and modes of emotional expression we take for granted today in fact have complex and contingent historical origins. For readers who wish to step outside the confines of present-day language and examine more clearly the sources of their own thought and expression, this book offers rare intellectual tools and perspective.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers with a strong interest in language, intellectual history, and the evolution of Western culture
Students and enthusiasts in the fields of literature, philosophy, or history
Readers who appreciate C. S. Lewis's profound, lucid, and insightful writing style
Thinkers who wish to improve their understanding and analysis of abstract concepts

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting C. S. Lewis's fantasy or apologetic works
Casual readers seeking light entertainment or fictional plots

Reading tips

Some background knowledge of Western history and culture is recommended; the reading experience will be the richer for it.
The chapters are relatively self-contained and can be read according to interest, but reading straight through better reveals the thread of thought.
Reading alongside corresponding concepts in one's native language may yield additional insights.

About the publisher

The Commercial Press China · Founded in 1897

The Commercial Press is a publisher known for classic works and academic publishing, with titles spanning Eastern philosophy, foreign literature, world history, social culture, and applied psychology. Its list includes classical commentaries such as Zhu Xi's Collected Commentaries on the Analects and Wang Bi's Commentary on the Zhouyi, as well as modern annotated translations like Zhuangzi with Modern Notes and Translation. In foreign literature it offers War and Peace and Crime and Punishment, while in world history it carries Braudel's The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II. Applied psychology is represented by Irvin D. Yalom's Existential Psychotherapy, and ethical texts include a Greek-Chinese-English edition of the Nicomachean Ethics. Its authors and translators include Zhu Xi, Wang Bi, Yalom, Braudel, and translators such as Huang Zheng, Zhang Yiling, Shen Dongyu, and Tang Jialong, balancing the editing of original texts with academic translation.

版权信息
语言学与诗学译丛编者前言
序
1 导言
I.分支效果
II.语境的隔绝力
III.危险义项
IV.词的意思和言说者的意思
V.战术性定义
VI.方法性习语
VII.身份词的道德化
2 NATURE ［兼谈PHUSIS，KIND，PHYSICAL等］
I.“NATURA”
II.KIND
III.PHUSIS
IV.“NATURE”及其相反之义
V.“NATURAL”与“UNNATURAL”
VI.“NATURAL”以及被干涉的
VII.“NATURAL”作为人的一个特性
VIII.“NATURE”与GRACE（恩典）
IX.NATURE与模仿艺术
X.依凭“NATURE”还是依凭法律
XI.“NATURE”状态与世俗国家
XII.“NATURE”与“SUPERNATURE”（超自然）
XIII.形而下与形而上
XIV.“NATURAL”之情有可原
XV.十八—十九世纪诗歌中的“NATURE”
3 SAD ［兼谈GRAVIS］
I.“GRAVIS”和“GRAVE”
II.“SAD”：“满”之意
III.“沉重”之意
IV.“SAD（D. S.）”（危险义项）
V.波莉是个“SAD”小荡妇
4 WIT ［兼谈INGENIUM］
I.早期历史
II.复数形式WITS
III.“INGENIUM”
IV.“INGENIUM”与WIT
V.“危险义项”的早期历史
VI.“WIT-INGENIUM”的磨难
VII.圆满结局
5 FREE ［兼谈ELEUTHERIOS，LIBERAL，FRANK等］
I.“ELEUTHEROS”
II.“LIBER”
III.“FREE”
IV.“FRANK”和“VILLAIN”
V.已淘汰的分支
VI.作为文化词汇的“LIBERAL”
6 SENSE ［兼谈SENTENCE，SENSIBILITY与SENSIBLE］
I.导言
II.“SENTIRE”
III.“SENTIRE（A）”
IV.“SENTIRE（B）”
V.名词
VI. “SENTENTIA”和“SENTENCE”
VII.“SENSUS”和“SENSE”
VIII.“SENSUS”和“SENSE（A）”
IX.“COMMUNIS SENSUS”和“COMMON SENSE”
X.“SENSUS”和“SENSE（B）”
XI.“SENSE”和“SENS”的晚期用法
XII.“SENSIBLE”和“SENSIBILITY”
XIII.“SENSIBLE（d.s.）”（危险义项）
XIV.“SENSIBLE（d.s.）”（危险义项）的胜利
7 SIMPLE
I.逻辑分支
II.伦理分支
III.流行分支
IV.语义沉积
8 CONSCIENCE与CONSCIOUS
I.绪言
II.弱化分支
III.外部见证
IV.内部见证
V.小结
VI.内在立法者
VII.“CONSCIRING”词义的幸存
VIII.立法者
IX.CONSCIENCES的多样性
X.“立法者”义项的不稳定性
XI.混乱的用法
XII.作为恐惧的CONSCIENCE
XIII.“SYNTERESIS”义项的分支
XIV.回到弱化分支
9 WORLD
I.WORLD A和WORLDB
II.“WORLD A”取“处境”或“时期”之意
III.“WORLD A”取“共同命运”或“世事”之意
IV.《圣经》翻译中的“WORLD”
V.“KOSMOS”与“AION”的混淆
VI.“另一个世界”
VII.“WORLD”和“WORLDLY”（贬义、减损或不洁）
VIII.“WORLD”和“WORLDLY”（中性）
IX.“WORLD B”和“EARTH”
X.“WORLD B”作为价值度量
XI.从属的“WORLDS”
XII.“WORLD”（人们）
9 LIFE
I.“LIFE”（具体的）
II.“LIFE”（时间的）
III.“LIFE”（质的）
IV.“LIFE”（“人的共同命运”）
V. 语义光环
VI.“LIFE”：我所喜欢的
VII.“真正的”LIFE
VIII.“LIFE”（生物性的）
IX.“树”
X.致歉
11 I DARE SAY
12 在语言的边缘

FAQ

Is this book similar in style to C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia or Mere Christianity?

Entirely different. This book is a scholarly work of linguistics and intellectual history, serious and meticulous in style, showing the side of Lewis as an Oxford scholar rather than his literary imagination or popular theological writing.

Does it require a high level of English or linguistics to understand?

The Chinese translation is of high quality and conveys the essence of the original well. Readers need not be proficient in English, but they do need some patience and interest in abstract thinking and discussions of history and culture.

What is the book mainly about?

At its core, the book traces the shifting meanings of a group of key English words to explore the historical transformation of sensibility, values, and thought paradigms in the Western world; it is a classic work of "history of ideas."

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About the author

Clive Staples Lewis Author · British · 1898–1963

C. S. Lewis (Clive Staples Lewis, 1898–1963) was a British writer and scholar. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, he taught for many years at Oxford and Cambridge, where he studied medieval and Renaissance English literature. He is best known for his fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia; this library holds several of its volumes, including The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The Horse and His Boy, and The Last Battle. He also wrote works of apologetics and fantasy such as Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, and the Space Trilogy. His writing spans foreign literature and literary appreciation, and is marked by clarity and imaginative storytelling that explores faith and human nature.

丁骏 Author

Ding Jun is an author about whom limited public information is available. Two works can currently be confirmed under this name, both touching on culture and literary appreciation. Judging from the representative titles Cultural Amnesia: Written at the Edge of Time and A Miscellany of Words, Ding Jun's writing interests centre on cultural memory and on the arrangement of language and literary taste. The subjects suggest an essayistic and critical character, attentive to the connections between everyday words and cultural phenomena. Since information on birth and death dates, nationality, education and professional experience cannot be verified, it would be inappropriate to speculate further about the author's life. On the evidence of the works alone, Ding Jun appears to be an author whose writing begins with reading and reflection, addressing readers interested in cultural topics and literary appreciation, and seeking to preserve, amid the passage of time, words and memories worth returning to. Readers who wish to know the author can only begin with the works themselves.