Unit2Language当今社会,一个人会讲两、三种语言已不再是什么稀奇的事
但你有没有思考过这样一个问题:世界上到底有多少种语言
读完下面的短文,会让你大吃一惊
Whenpeopleareaskedhowmanylanguagestheythinkthereareintheworld,theanswersvaryquiteabit
Onerandom(随意的)samplingofNewYorkers,forinstance,resultedinanswerslike“probablyseveralhundred”.Howeverwechoosetocountthem,though,thisisnotclose
Whenwelookatreferenceworks,wefindestimates(估计)thathaveescalated(上升)overtime
The1911(11th)editionoftheEncyclopediaBritannica(大英百科全书),forexample,impliesafiguresomewherearound1,000,anumberthatclimbssteadilyoverthecourseofthetwentiethcentury
Thatisnotduetoanyincreaseinthenumberoflanguages,butrathertoourincreasedunderstandingofhowmanylanguagesareactuallyspokeninareasthathadpreviouslybeenunderdescribed
Muchpioneeringworkinprovingthelanguagesoftheworldhasbeendonebymissionary(传教的)organization