BBC Learning English 英語教學

    The future of English 未來的英語語言變化

    The future of English 未來的英語語言變化

    你覺得500年后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 后綴,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. 閱讀課文并回答問題。

    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. 閱讀課文并回答問題。

    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.

    關注和訂閱

    人氣排行
    熱搜詞
     
    精華欄目
     
    Copyright ©
    亚洲av午夜国产精品无码中文字| 欧美日韩中文国产va另类电影| 一本大道香蕉中文日本不卡高清二区 | 久久精品中文闷骚内射| 制服丝袜中文字幕在线| 亚洲中文字幕日本无线码| 天码av无码一区二区三区四区| 国产a v无码专区亚洲av| 国产又爽又黄无码无遮挡在线观看| 中中文字幕亚洲无线码| 日韩精品人妻系列无码专区| 国产精品无码a∨精品| 亚洲 欧美 国产 日韩 中文字幕| 无码精品黑人一区二区三区| 高清无码中文字幕在线观看视频| 午夜福利无码不卡在线观看| 99热门精品一区二区三区无码| 国产丝袜无码一区二区三区视频 | 久久久久亚洲AV无码观看 | 中文精品人人永久免费| 亚洲精品无码AV人在线播放| a级毛片无码兔费真人久久| 亚洲精品无码AV人在线播放 | 伊人久久无码中文字幕| 亚洲Aⅴ无码一区二区二三区软件| 无码精品人妻一区二区三区漫画| 一本加勒比HEZYO无码资源网| 亚洲av午夜国产精品无码中文字| 天堂网在线最新版www中文网| 中文字幕色AV一区二区三区| 亚洲一区二区无码偷拍| 亚洲熟妇无码乱子AV电影| 直接看的成人无码视频网站| 中文字幕av一区| 国产精品亚洲专区无码WEB| 中文午夜乱理片无码| 中文字幕aⅴ人妻一区二区| 日韩中文字幕精品免费一区| 亚洲av午夜国产精品无码中文字| 中文字幕无码无码专区| 久久久久久久久久久久中文字幕|