Unit 2 - passage A: World English: A Blessing or a Curse?翻譯研究生英語讀寫教程（提高階）周紅紅第二單元A篇逐句翻譯

U2-A： World English： A Blessing or a Curse？

U2-A：世界英語：是福是禍？

1

In the year 2000， the language scholar Glanville Price， a Welshman， made the following assertion as editor of the book Languages in Britain and Ireland：

2000 年，語言學家、威爾士人格蘭維爾 · 普萊斯，在他編輯的《英國與愛爾蘭的語言》中發表瞭如下的觀點：

For English is a killer。

因為英語是一個殺手。

It is English that has killed off Cumbric， Cornish， Norn and Manx。

正是英語，導致坎伯蘭語、康沃爾語、諾恩語和馬恩語滅亡。

There are still parts of these islands where sizeable communities speak languages that were there before English。

在那些島嶼的部分地區，還有較大規模的群體講比英語更古老的當地語言。

Yet English is everywhere in everyday use and understood by all or virtually all， constituting such a threat to the three remaining Celtic languages， Irish， Scottish Gaelic， and Welsh。。。 that their long-term future must be considered。。。 very greatly at risk。（p。 141）

但是，現在日常生活中，英語無處不在，人人——或者說——幾乎人人都懂英語。英語威脅到那三種遺留的凱爾特語：愛爾蘭語、蘇格蘭蓋爾語和威爾士語，…… 所以必須意識到，從長遠來看，這三種語言的未來……十分危險。。（第141頁）

Some years earlier， in 1992， Robert Phillipson， an English academic who currently works in Denmark， published with Oxford a book entitled Linguistic Imperialism。

在此幾年前，1992 年，英國學者羅伯特 · 菲利普森（他如今在丹麥工作）在牛津大學出版了一本書，名為《語言領域的帝國主義》。。

In it， he argued that the major English-speaking countries， the worldwide English-language teaching industry， and notably the British Council pursue policies of linguistic aggrandisement。

在書中，他指出，主要的英語國家、世界範圍內英語教學產業，尤其是英國文化委員會，實施的是語言擴張政策。

He also associated such policies with a prejudice which he calls linguicism （a condition parallel to racism and sexism）。

他還把這種政策和他所稱的“語言歧視”（這個情況類似於“種族歧視”“性別歧視”）聯絡在一起。

As Phillipson sees it， leading institutions and individuals within the predominantly “white” English-speaking world， have （by design or default ） encouraged or at least tolerated — and certainly have not opposed — the hegemonic spread of English， a spread which began some three centuries ago as economic and colonial expansion。

在菲利普森看來，在以“白人”為主的英語世界中，起主導作用的機構和個人，或故意或無意，鼓勵或者至少容忍英語大肆擴張，他們當然不反對英語的擴張。英語的擴張開始於大約三個世紀以前，最初的表現形式是經濟與殖民擴張。

2

Phillipson himself worked for some years for the British Council， and he is not alone among Anglophone academics who have sought to point up the dangers of English as a world language。

菲利普森本人為英國文化委員會工作過幾年。和他一樣，還有一些母語為英語的學者，也試圖強調英語作為世界語言的危險。

The internationalization of English has in the last few decades been widely discussed in terms of three groups： first， the ENL countries， where English is a native language （this group also being known as the “inner circle”）； second， the ESL countries， where English is a second language （the “outer circle”）； and third， the EFL countries， where English is a foreign language （the “expanding circle”）。

在過去幾十年裡，人們從三個群體的角度，就英語的國際化進行了廣泛的討論。第一個群體是 ENL 國家，英語是母語（這個群體也叫“內部圈”）；第二個群體是 ESL 國家，英語是第二語言（“外部圈”）；第三個群體是 EFL 國家，英語是外語（“擴充套件圈”）。

Since the 1980s， when such terms became common， this third circle has in fact expanded to take in the entire planet。

二十世紀八十年代，這些詞語開始流行。從那時起，這第三圈實際上已擴充套件到全球範圍。

3

For good or for ill ， there has never been a language quite like English。

不管是好是壞，從來沒有一種語言像英語一樣。

There have been many “world languages”， such as Arabic， Chinese， Greek， Latin， and Sanskrit。

有許多“世界語言”，如阿拉伯語、漢語、希臘語、拉丁語和梵語。

By and large ， we now view them as more or less benign， and often talk with admiration and appreciation about the cultures associated with them and what they have given to the world。

總的來說，我們現在認為這些語言比較好，經常以讚美、感激的語氣談論與它們相關的文化以及它們給世界帶來的變化。

And it is fairly safe to do this， because none of them now poses much of a threat。

我們這樣的態度， 沒有什麼不妥，因為那些語言現在都不構成嚴重威脅。

4

English however is probably too close for us to be able to analyze and judge it as dispassionately as we may now discuss the influence of Classical Chinese on East Asia or of Classical Latin on Western Europe。

我們現在可以冷靜地討論古漢語對東亞或古拉丁語對西歐的影響。但是，我們與英語關係太緊密，無法同樣冷靜地分析、評價英語。

The jury is still out in the trial of the English language， and may take several centuries to produce its verdict ， but even so we can ask， in this European Year of Languages， whether Price and Phillipson are right to warn us all about the language that I am using at this very moment。

在對英語的審判中，陪審團還沒有露面，可能需要好幾個世紀才能做出裁決。但即使如此，值此歐洲語言年，我們可以提出這個問題：普萊斯和菲利普森就我此時使用的語言對我們提出的警告是否有道理。

5

It certainly isn‘t hard to look for situations where people might call English a curse。

當然，不難發現有這種情形：人們也許咒罵英語。

An example is Australia， which is routinely regarded as a straightforward English-speaking country。

澳大利亞就是一個例子。澳大利亞常被看成是不折不扣的英語國家。

The first Europeans who went there often used Latin to describe and discuss the place。

到那裡的第一批歐洲人經常使用拉丁語描述、談論這個地方。

The word Australia itself is Latin； evidently no one at the time thought of simply calling it “Southland” （which is what Australia means）。

“澳大利亞”這個詞就是拉丁語。顯然當時沒有人想到可以簡單地稱它為“南方”（這就是“澳大利亞”的含義）。

In addition， in South Australia there is a wide stretch of land called the Nullarbor Plains， the first word of which sounds Aboriginal ， but nullarbor is Latin and means “no trees”。

此外，在澳大利亞南部，有一大片土地叫“納拉伯平原”。其中，第一個詞聽起來像澳大利亞土著語言，但 nullarbor 是拉丁語，意思是“沒有樹木”。

And most significantly of all， the early settlers called the continent terra nullius。

最重要的是，早期的定居者把這個大陸稱為“terra nullius”。

According to the Encarta World English Dictionary （1999） the Latin phrase terra nullius means：

1999 年的《世界英語電子百科詞典》是這樣解釋“terra nullius”這個拉丁片語的：

。。。the idea and legal concept that when the first Europeans arrived in Australia the land was owned by no one and therefore open to settlement。 It has been judged not to be legally valid。

。。。 指這樣一個想法和法律概念：第一批歐洲人到達澳大利亞時，這片土地不屬於任何人，因此可以隨意定居。這種觀點已被判定是沒有法律效力的。

But that judgment was made only recently。

但是，只是最近才這樣判定的。

When the Europeans arrived， Australia was thinly populated — but populated nonetheless — from coast to coast in every direction。

歐洲人剛來的時候，澳大利亞人口稀少——只不過有人居住而已——無論從哪個海岸到哪個海岸，無論從哪個方向。

There were hundreds of communities and languages。 Many of these languages have died out， many more are in the process of dying out， and these dead and dying languages have been largely replaced by either kinds of pidgin English or general Australian English。

當時部落和語言都有幾百種， 其中許多語言現在已經滅亡了，而正在滅亡的更多。這些死亡的和正在死亡的語言，大都被多種皮欽英語或者通用的澳大利亞英語所取代。

Depending on your point of view， this is either a tragic loss or the price of progress。

這或者是令人哀傷的損失，或者是進步的代價，看你怎麼看了。

6

At the same time， however， can the blame for the extinction of Aboriginal languages be laid specifically at the door of English？

但是，同時有一個問題：土著語言的滅亡能完全歸咎於英語嗎？

The first Europeans to discover Australia were Dutch， and their language might have become the language of colonization and settlement。

最早發現澳大利亞的歐洲人是荷蘭人，他們的語言本可以成為殖民與定居中使用的語言。

Any settler language could have had the same effect。

任何定居者的語言都可能有同樣的作用。

If for example the Mongols had sustained their vast Eurasian empire， Mongolian might have become a world language and gone to Australia。

例如，如果蒙古人能維持他們幅員遼闊的歐亞帝國，蒙古語可能就會成為世界語言，傳播到澳大利亞。

Again， if history had been somewhat different， today’s world language might have been Arabic， a powerful language in West Asia and North Africa that currently affects many smaller languages， including Copticand Berber。

再例如，如果歷史的車輪發生些許偏轉的話，那麼今天的世界語言有可能是阿拉伯語，一種在西亞和北非的通用語言，如今還影響著許多其他較小的語言，包括科普特語和柏柏爾語。

Spanish has adversely affected indigenous languages in so-called “Latin” America， and Russian has spread from Europe to the Siberian Pacific。

西班牙語對所謂“拉丁”美洲的土著語言產生了消極影響，而俄語從歐洲傳到西伯利亞太平洋地區。

If English is a curse and a killer， it may only be so in the sense that any large language is likely to influence and endanger smaller languages。

如果英語是個禍害，是個殺手，那可能僅僅是因為任何大的語言都可能會影響和威脅到較小的語言。

7

Yet many people see English as a blessing。

但許多人認為英語是有益的。

Let me leave aside here the obvious advantages possessed by any world language， such as a large communicative network， a strong literary and media complex， and a powerful cultural and educational apparatus。

我這裡暫不討論任何世界語言具有的明顯優勢，例如龐大的交流網路、發達的文學與傳媒體系、強大的文化與教育機構。

Let us instead look at something rather different： the issue of politics， justice， and equality。

讓我們看看與此不同的一些問題：政治、司法與平等。

My object lesson this time is South Africa。

這裡我用南非為例來說明。

Ten years ago， South Africa ceased to be governed on principles of racial separateness， a system known in Afrikaans （a language derived from Dutch） as apartheid。

十年前，南非結束了以種族隔離為原則的統治。在南非語（這種語言來源於荷蘭語）中，這種制度叫“種族隔離（apartheid）”。

The system arose because the Afrikaner community — European settlers of mainly Dutch descent — saw themselves as superior to the indigenous people of the land they had colonized。

出現這種制度，是因為歐洲血統的南非人群體——祖先主要是荷蘭人的歐洲定居者——認為自己優於他們建立殖民地的當地人。

English-speaking South Africans of British descent were not particularly strong in opposing the apartheid regime， and the black opposition， whose members had many languages， was at first weak and disorganized。

說英語的、英國裔的南非人不是非常積極地反對種族隔離制度。在黑人的反對力量中，成員使用多種語言，他們起初缺少力量與組織。

However， the language through which this opposition gained strength and organization was English， which became for them the key language of freedom and unity， not of oppression。

但是，使這種反對力量增強、更有組織性的語言是英語。對於他們來說，英語成為自由與團結的主要語言，而不是用來壓迫他們的語言。

There are today eleven official languages in South Africa — English， Afrikaans， and nine vernacular languages that include Zulu， Ndebele， and Setswana。

今天，南非有十一種官方語言——英語、南非語和九種當地語言，包括祖魯、恩德比利語和塞茨瓦納語。

But which of these nine do black South Africans use （or plan to use） as their national lingua franca？

但這九種語言中，南非黑人使用（或準備使用）哪一種作為本國通用語言呢？

Which do they wish their children to speak and write successfully （in addition to their mother tongues）？

除了母語之外，他們希望子女還能熟練講、寫哪種呢？

The answer is none of the above。

答案是，哪一種也不是。

They want English， and in particular they want a suitably Africanized English。

他們所希望的是英語，而且他們特別希望有一種合適的非洲化的英語。

8

So， a curse for the indigenous peoples of Australia and something of a blessing for those in South Africa…

所以，對於澳大利亞土著人來說，英語是個禍害，而對南非的土著人來說，英語卻有一些好處…

9

How then should we think of English in our globalizing world with its endangered diversities？

那麼，在當今全球化而多樣性受到威脅的世界裡，我們應該怎樣看待英語？

The answer， it seems to me， is crystal clear。

在我看來，答案是非常清楚的。

Like many things， English is at times a blessing and at times a curse — for individuals， for communities， for nations， and even for unions of nations。

與很多事物一樣，英語有時是福、有時是禍——對於個人、群 體、國家甚至國家聯盟， 都是如此。

The East Asian symbolism of

yin

and

yang

might serve well here： There is something of

yang

in every

yin

， of

yin

in every

yang

。

東亞“陰”“陽”的象徵意義也許能很好地說明這個問題。陰中有陽，陽中有陰。

Although they are opposites， they belong together： in this instance within the circle of communication。

兩者雖相反，但共存。就我們這裡的問題來說，指的是 在同一交流圈內。

Such symbolism suggests that the users of the world‘s lingua franca should seek to benefit as fully as possible from the blessing and as far as possible avoid invoking the curse。

這種象徵意義說明，使用世界通用語言的人應該努力盡可能用其利而避其弊。