作为一种文化现象,语言是人类活动中最能体现人的特点的,它所蕴蓄的文化因素和民族特征正在逐步引起人们的注目,时至今日,语言研究已经步入了一个崭新的阶段。遗憾的是,长期以来语言研究存在着不平衡的倾斜现象。对于那些具有强大社会影响的语种,例如汉语、英语、俄语等,人们较为关切,其研究已经具有相当的广度和深度;对使用人口较少、影响不甚广泛的语种却无暇顾及。比如在我国,专门从事汉语研究的学者就有2,600余人(1989年数字);而语种近百的少数民族语言,其研究队伍不过几百人,悬殊之大,可见一斑。其实,不少最有价值的材料往往是从那些人们知之甚少的语言里找到的,一些有卓识远见的语言学家早就开始了对少数民族语言的调查和研究,并获得了很大的成功。 As a cultural phenomenon, language is the most characteristic of human being in human activities. Its cultural and ethnic characteristics are gradually drawing attention. So far, language research has entered a completely new stage. Unfortunately, there has been an imbalance in linguistic research for a long time. People are more concerned about languages ​​that have a strong social impact, such as Chinese, English and Russian. Their research is already extensive in scope and depth. However, it is too time-consuming to use languages ​​that have a small population and little influence. For example, there are more than 2,600 scholars specializing in Chinese studies in our country (1989 figures). However, there are only a few hundred research teams in ethnic languages ​​with nearly 100 languages. In fact, many of the most valuable materials are often found in languages ​​that people rarely know. Some well-known linguists have long been investigating and studying minority languages ​​and have gained a great deal of success.