你覺得500年後英語語言會有變化嗎？我們還會使用今天英語中的詞匯和語法嗎？到那時，英語語言會有哪些變化呢？本期《隨身英語》談語言進化。
課文內容
詞匯: language 語言
You’re learning English, right? You might think you can work out the grammar and have built a vast vocabulary, but then you come across an expression like ‘plos’. According to online urban slang dictionaries, it means ‘parents looking over shoulder’. Teenagers are to blame. They have their own code, including ‘text speak’ when they are on the internet or using their phones.
Text speak has a lot to do with inventing cool new terms – and these change quickly. Maybe you shouldn’t be surprised if an English friend says you sound a bit old-fashioned. The modal verb ‘shall’ is on the way out because ‘will’ sounds more natural these days. Bas Aarts, Professor of English linguistics at University College London says, “If you have two words which more or less express the same meaning, one of the two words will get pushed out of the language.”
People have been shying away from using the modal ‘must’ because it sounds authoritarian and people are choosing to express obligation in different ways. It sounds nicer to soften obligation by saying ‘might’. For example, “You might like to read this article.”
Progressive tenses – formed from the verb ‘be’ and the suffix ‘ing’ – are used for ongoing situations, for example, ‘I’m writing this article for you to read’. But its use has been increasing rapidly. Bas Aarts says that this might have to do with advertising. A fast-food chain uses the expression ‘I’m loving it’ in English-speaking countries. But the verb ‘love’ expresses a state of being – as opposed to doing – and is usually used in the simple form, for example, ‘I love it’. These days, people are using stative verbs in the progressive more and more.
Before you despair and throw your English book in the bin, be assured that some words take a very long time to change. According to Professor Mark Pagel at Reading University in the UK, pronouns like ‘I’, ‘you’ and ‘we’ evolve slowly – a thousand years ago we would be using similar or sometimes identical sounds. Nouns and adjectives, on the other hand, get replaced rapidly – and in 500 years or so we’ll probably be using different words to the ones we have now. But let’s leave the problem for the future generations.
詞匯表
grammar 語法
vocabulary 詞匯
urban slang 現代俚語
code 代碼，語言，代號
cool 酷的，時尚的
term 表達，術語
old-fashioned 過時的，老派的
modal verb 情態動詞
on the way out 即將過時，即將被淘汰
linguistics 語言學
shy away from 回避，躲避
authoritarian 專制的
obligation 義務，職責
progressive tenses 進行時態
suffix 後綴，詞尾
advertising 廣告業
stative verb 靜態動詞
pronoun 代詞
noun 名詞
adjective 形容詞
測驗與練習
1. 閱讀課文並回答問題。
1. Why are teenagers helping to change language?
2. Why might an English-speaking person think a non-native speaker of English sounds old-fashioned?
3. Why is the word ‘might’ often used to replace the word ‘must’?
4. What has been interfering with the way grammar is used?
5. Which word is likely to change faster: ‘likable’ or ‘they’?
2.請你在不參考課文的情況下完成下列練習。選擇一個意思合適的單詞填入句子的空格處。
1. ‘I’m living in Beijing.’ This is an example of _________.
a stative verb a progressive tense an adjective old-fashioned English
2. ‘Ourselves’ is a _________.
adjective noun new word pronoun
3. These cars are mass produced. They are supposed to be _________.
similar identical equal same
4. The current use of the verb ‘like’ is: We _________ it!
are liking likes like will be liking
5. An informal use of language in a context known to a particular group is called _________.
adjective slang old fashioned progressive tense
答案
1. 閱讀課文並回答問題。
1. Why are teenagers helping to change language?
Because they tend to develop their own code to talk to each other (and not be understood by their parents).
2. Why might an English-speaking person think a non-native speaker of English sounds old-fashioned?
Because language has been changing quickly and some words disappear and are replaced by new ones.
3. Why is the word ‘might’ often used to replace the word ‘must’?
The word ‘might’ sounds nicer than the word ‘must’ when you want to express obligation but sound less authoritarian.
4. What has been interfering with the way grammar is used?
Advertising.
5. Which word is likely to change faster: ‘likable’ or ‘they’?
‘Likable’ because it is an adjective while ‘they’ is a pronoun. According to Professor Mark Pagel at Reading University in the UK, adjectives and nouns are likely to be replaced faster.
2. 請你在不參考課文的情況下完成下列練習。選擇一個意思合適的單詞填入句子的空格處。
1. ‘I’m living in Beijing.’ This is an example of a progressive tense.
2. ‘Ourselves’ is a pronoun.
3. These cars are mass produced. They are supposed to be identical.
4. The current use of the verb ‘like’ is: We like it!
5. An informal use of language in a context known to a particular group is called slang.
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