全新主题大学英语读写译教程4-4

1UnitFourOfLanguageSectionAPre-readingQuestions:1.Whichlanguageisthemostpopularintheworldtoday?Whydoyouthinkso?2.WhatdoyouknowaboutthehistoryofEnglish?3.WhichdoyouthinkismorelikelyforthefutureofEnglish,continuetobetheworldlanguageorfallintodecay?Bynowyou’veprobablygonethroughmanytestswhichweredesignedtoseehowmuchEnglishyouknow.Nowit’stimetocheckhowmuchyouknowaboutEnglish.EnglishPresentandFuture1Itwasobservedbythatremarkabletwelfth-centurychroniclerHenryofHuntingdonthataninterestinthepastwasoneofthedistinguishingcharacteristicsofhumansascomparedwiththeotheranimals.Themediumbywhichspeakersofalanguagecommunicatetheirthoughtsandfeelingstoothers,thetoolwithwhichtheyconducttheirbusinessorthegovernmentofmillionsofpeople,thevehiclebywhichhasbeentransmittedthescience,thephilosophy,thepoetryofthecultureissurelyworthyofstudy.Itisnottobeexpectedthateveryoneshouldbeaphilologistorshouldmasterthetechnicalitiesoflinguisticscience.Butitisreasonabletoassumethataliberallyeducatedpersonshouldknow2somethingofthestructureofhisorherlanguage,itspositionintheworldanditsrelationtoothertongues,thewealthofitsvocabularytogetherwiththesourcesfromwhichthatvocabularyhasbeenandisbeingenriched,andthecomplexrelationshipsamongthemanydifferentvarietiesofspeechthataregatheredunderthesinglenameoftheEnglishlanguage.2InfluencesatWorkonLanguage3ThediversityofculturesthatfindexpressioninitisareminderthatthehistoryofEnglishisastoryofculturesincontactduringthepast1,500years.Itunderstatesmatterstosaythatpolitical,economic,andsocialforcesinfluencealanguage.Theseforcesshapethelanguageineveryaspect,mostobviouslyinthenumberandspreadofitsspeakers,andinwhatiscalled“thesociologyoflanguage”,butalsointhemeaningsofwords,intheaccentsofthespokenlanguage,andeveninthestructuresofthegrammar.Thehistoryofalanguageisintimatelyboundupwiththehistoryofthepeopleswhospeakit.4TheEnglishlanguageoftodayreflectsmanycenturiesofdevelopment.ThepoliticalandsocialeventsthathaveinthecourseofEnglishhistorysoprofoundlyaffectedtheEnglishpeopleintheirnationallifehavegenerallyhadarecognizableeffectontheirlanguage.TheRomanChristianizingofBritainin597broughtEnglandintocontactwithLatincivilizationandmadesignificantadditionstoourvocabulary.TheScandinavianinvasionsresultedinaconsiderablemixtureofthetwopeoplesandtheirlanguages.TheNormanConquestmadeEnglishfortwocenturiesthelanguagemainlyofthelowerclasseswhilethenoblesandthoseassociatedwiththemusedFrenchonalmostalloccasions.And3whenEnglishoncemoreregainedsupremacyasthelanguageofallelementsofthepopulation,itwasanEnglishgreatlychangedinbothformandvocabularyfromwhatithadbeenin1066.InasimilarwaytheHundredYears’War,theriseofanimportantmiddleclass,theRenaissance,thedevelopmentofEnglandasamaritimepower,theexpansionoftheBritishEmpire,andthegrowthofcommerceandindustry,ofscienceandliterature,have,eachintheirway,contributedtothedevelopmentofthelanguage.5GrowthandDecay6Moreover,English,likeallotherlanguages,issubjecttothatconstantgrowthanddecaythatcharacterizeallformsoflife.Itisaconvenientfigureofspeechtospeakoflanguagesaslivingandasdead.Althoughwerarelythinkoflanguageassomethingthatpossesseslifeapartfromthepeoplewhospeakit,aswecanthinkofplantsorofanimals,wecanobserveinspeechsomethingliketheprocessofchangethatcharacterizesthelifeoflivingthings.Whenalanguageceasestochange,wecallitadeadlanguage.ClassicalLatinisadeadlanguagebecauseithasnotchangedfornearly2,000years.Thechangethatisconstantlygoingoninalivinglanguagecanbemosteasilyseeninthevocabulary.Oldwordsdieout,newwordsareadded,andexistingwordschangetheirmeaning.MuchofthevocabularyofOldEnglishhasbeenlost,andthedevelopmentofnewwordstomeetnewconditionsisoneofthemostfamiliarphenomenaofourlanguage.ChangeofmeaningcanbeillustratedfromanypageofShakespeare.NiceinShakespeare’sdaymeantfoolish.Thusitwillbepartofourtasktotracetheinfluencesthat4areconstantlyatwork,tendingtoalteralanguagefromagetoageasspokenandwritten,andthathavebroughtaboutsuchanextensivealterationinEnglishastomaketheEnglishlanguageof1000quiteunintelligibletoEnglishspeakersof2000.7TheImportanceofEnglish8Innumbersofspeakersaswellasinitsusesforinternationalcommunicationandinotherlessquantifiablemeasures,Englishisoneofthemostimportantlanguagesoftheworld.Spokenbymorethan380millionpeopleintheUnitedKingdom,theUnitedStates,andtheformerBritishEmpire,itisthelargestoftheWesternlanguages.English,however,isnotthemostwidelyusednativelanguageintheworld.Chinese,initseightspokenvarieties,isknownto1.3billionpeopleinChinaalone.SomeoftheEuropeanlanguagesarecomparabletoEnglishinreflectingtheforcesofhistory,especiallywithregardtoEuropeanexpansionsincethesixteenthcentury.Spanish,nextinsizetoEnglish,isspokenbyabout330millionpeople,Portugueseby180million,Russianby175million,Germanby110million,Frenchby80millionnativespeakers(andalargenumberofsecond-languagespeakers),Italianby65million.9TheFutureoftheEnglishLanguage10TheextentandimportanceoftheEnglishlanguagetodaymakeitreasonabletoaskwhetherwecannotspeculateastotheprobablepositionitwilloccupyinthefuture.Itisadmittedlyhazardoustopred