变化中的英语---课程辅导（1）EnglishinaChangingWorldUnitOneandUnitTwoAlllanguages,asweknow,havebeenchangingwiththetime.Andeverylanguagehasitsownhistory.ItisthecaseofEnglishtoo.Intheprocessofusinglanguages,peoplekeepaddingtothemandforgettingsomepartsofthem.Therateofaddingandforgettingissometimesslowandsometimesfast.Atpresent,therearebetween4,000and5,000languagesinuseintheworld.However,nobodycangivetheexactnumberbecauseitdependsonwhatcountsasadialectandwhatcountsasalanguage;besides,somelanguageshavedisappeared,andweknownothingaboutthem.Weareusingmetaphorwhenwespeakoflanguageas"dead"or"alive".But,languageislearnedbyus.Wedonotinherititfromourparents.Aswegrowolder,wemeetdifferentpeopleandhavedifferentexperiences.So,ourlanguagechangesunnoticeablyandtherearedifferencesbetweenthelanguageusedbydifferentgenerations.Astimegoesby,thedifferencesbecomegreaterandgreater.Languagehasregionalvariations.TakeEnglishforexample,therearevariationsofAmericanEnglish,BritishEnglish,AustralianEnglish,AfricanEnglishandSingaporeanEnglish,etc.ItistruethatevenanativespeakerofEnglishfromoneplacemaynotbeabletounderstandthelanguagespokeninanotherEnglishspeakingareaorcountry.However,itisadifferentstoryinthecaseofwrittenEnglish,whichisaboutthesameworldwide.Nomatterwhereyouare,youcanpickupanEnglishbookandunderstanditwithouttrouble.WehaveWrittenEnglish,orStandardEnglishandSpokenEnglish.TherearefarfewerdifferencesinWrittenEnglishthaninSpokenEnglish.PeopledospeakEnglishwithregionalvarietiesbutifwespeaktowell-educatedpeople,wewillfindthattheyuseeitherReceivedPronunciation(RP)orEducatedAmericanEnglish(NetworkEnglish),twomajorvarieties,whicharelearnedbylearnersofEnglishandwidelyacceptedandunderstood.Languageschangevaryingatdifferenttimesandatdifferentplaces.Nonetheless,thechangesarenotevenandsteady.Sometimestheyhappenquickly,andsometimesslowly.Changeinlanguagematchesthatinourlives.Newwordsenterthelanguagetomatchnewsortsofexperiences.YoumayhavenoticedthatthereareEnglishwordsnewlyinventedorborrowedfromotherlanguages.(Forinstance,dimsum,pakchoiawordfromCantonese,hasenteredEnglishalready.)So,payingattentiontowordslikethiswillmakeourvocabularylargerandourlanguagelively.Inshort,BystudyingtextswecanobservechangeinEnglishasithappens.Newwordsareinvented,orborrowedtomatchnewmeanings.Oroldwordsareusedwithnewmeanings.Inthemeantime,wordsaredroppedwhentheyarenolongerneeded.Thereischangeinlanguagebuttherateofthechangeisuneven.Also,peoplelivingatthesametimedon'thaveproblemunderstandingeachother.Nowlet'stakealookatlanguagesanddialectsintheUnitedKingdom(UK).First,wehavetoknowthatUKismadeupofEngland,Scotland,WalesandIreland.ItisasmallcountrycomparedwithChina.ThedistancebetweenLondonandEdinburghisalittlemorethan370miles.Englishistheofficiallanguageofthecountryandmothertongueofmostpeoplethere.Thoughanationallanguage,ithasneverbeentheonlylanguageusedwithinitsboundary.Forexample,WelshisstillusedinWalesandismothertongueforsomeWelshpeople.Itistaughtatschoolstheretoo.ThemajorityofpeoplelivinginEnglanduseEnglishallthetime.ButStandardEnglishisinusethroughoutBritain.SpokenEnglish,however,soundsverydifferentindifferentpartsofthecountry.TherearevarietiesofEnglish,whicharecalleddialects.Whenreferringtodialects,wearetalkingaboutdifferentwaysofspeaking.Usuallythereissomethingincommonbetweenalanguageandadialect.Forinstance,theirgrammaticalstructur...
