Whatever uncertainties the US and Britain face, their language still rules the world.
無(wú)論美國和英國面對怎樣的不確定性，它們使用的語(yǔ)言仍主宰著(zhù)這個(gè)世界。
No scientist can flourish without publishing in English. When Germans trade with Brazilians, or Frenchmen with Angolans, they probably do so in English.
任何一位科學(xué)家都得用英語(yǔ)發(fā)表其研究成果，否則就不可能揚名立萬(wàn)。當德國人與巴西人、或法國人與安哥拉人做生意時(shí)，他們或許還得使用英語(yǔ)。
Goldman Sachs has predicted that China’s economy could overtake America’s by 2027. Yet, far from insisting that the world master their language, the Chinese are busily learning English, adding an estimated 20m speakers a year. Walt Disney, the US media group, has opened a chain of English-language schools for children in China.
高盛(Goldman Sachs)預測中國經(jīng)濟將在2027年前超過(guò)美國。然而，中國人壓根就沒(méi)堅持讓世界掌握自己的語(yǔ)言，而是埋頭苦學(xué)英語(yǔ)，每年新增約2000萬(wàn)會(huì )說(shuō)英語(yǔ)的中國人。美國傳媒集團沃爾特·迪斯尼公司(Walt Disney)在中國開(kāi)設了專(zhuān)門(mén)針對兒童學(xué)習英語(yǔ)的連鎖學(xué)校。
Like empires, however, all lingua francas eventually fade. None has had English’s worldwide currency, but some have been very widespread. Europe’s elite once wrote in Latin. In 100AD, a Greek speaker could travel from Spain to the Hindu Kush, finding people who spoke his language all along the way, Nicholas Ostler writes in The Last Lingua Franca.
然而，與歷史上的那些帝國一樣，所有世界通用語(yǔ)最終都會(huì )沒(méi)落。還沒(méi)有哪種語(yǔ)言達到過(guò)英語(yǔ)這樣的全球流行度，但某些語(yǔ)言也曾廣泛用。歐洲的精英階層曾用拉丁文來(lái)寫(xiě)作。尼古拉斯·奧斯特勒(Nicholas Ostler)在其著(zhù)作《最后的通用語(yǔ)言》(The Last Lingua Franca)中寫(xiě)道：公元100年時(shí)，希臘的演說(shuō)家從西班牙游歷到興都庫什地區(Hindu Kush)，發(fā)現沿途各地使用的都是希臘語(yǔ)。
In this erudite, stimulating book, Ostler traces languages’ rise and fall and asks: what could end English’s rule? Its ascent began with the British empire’s planting of English speakers around the world. The US extended the language’s reach with its economic and military might, its world-ranking universities and its leading position in technology and popular entertainment.
在這本旁征博引、引人入勝的著(zhù)作中，奧斯特勒追根溯源了各種語(yǔ)言的興衰，并提出了這樣的問(wèn)題：誰(shuí)會(huì )終結英語(yǔ)一統天下的局面？英語(yǔ)的崛起，源于大英帝國的臣民在全球各地開(kāi)疆拓土。而后，美國憑借其經(jīng)濟和軍事實(shí)力、國際一流的大學(xué)以及在科技與大眾娛樂(lè )方面獨領(lǐng)風(fēng)騷的地位，進(jìn)一步擴大了英語(yǔ)的影響力。
Can worldwide English survive an eclipse of US economic and military dominance? I suspect English will be the world’s lingua franca for as long as anyone reading these words is still alive, if only because learning a language is so difficult and time-consuming. If English is to have a successor as the world’s language, millions of schoolchildren need to start learning it – and, as we have seen, they are learning English.
隨著(zhù)美國在經(jīng)濟和軍事上的主宰地位逐漸喪失，作為全球語(yǔ)言的英語(yǔ)能否躲過(guò)這一“劫”呢？我覺(jué)得，在我的讀者在世之日，英語(yǔ)仍將是全球通用語(yǔ)言，原因就是學(xué)習語(yǔ)言既耗時(shí)又費力。如果真有另一種語(yǔ)言來(lái)承繼英語(yǔ)作為全球通用語(yǔ)言的衣缽，成千上萬(wàn)的學(xué)子又得開(kāi)始學(xué)習這門(mén)語(yǔ)言——而正如我們所看到的那樣，這些孩子眼下正在學(xué)習英語(yǔ)。
Mr Ostler argues, however, that there are cases of lingua francas disappearing within a few decades. The most striking example is the collapse of German as the world’s leading scientific language. By 1910, more work in the natural sciences was published in German than in English. By the middle of the century, Germany’s position had collapsed. It was not just defeat in two world wars. When the Nazis came to power, they dismissed one- third of Germany’s professors – most of them Jewish. The emigration of many – primarily to the US, the UK and the then-British mandate of Palestine – ensured the primacy of English as the language of science.
但奧斯特勒辯稱(chēng)，有些通用語(yǔ)言在短短幾十年時(shí)間里就沒(méi)落了。其中最突出的例子，就是德語(yǔ)從世界主要科技用語(yǔ)的神壇上跌落下來(lái)。直到 1910年，自然科學(xué)著(zhù)作更多地是用德語(yǔ)、而非英語(yǔ)出版。到了20世紀中葉，德國的地位一落千丈。原因不僅是它在兩次世界大戰中戰敗。也是因為，納粹一上臺，就開(kāi)除了德國三分之一的教授——其中大多數是猶太人。其中許多人移居海外——主要移居到了美國、英國以及當時(shí)英國的托管地巴勒斯坦——這使英語(yǔ)成為了首要的科技用語(yǔ)。
Those were extraordinary circumstances. Latin as a cross-border language lasted far longer: two millennia. It was still being used for civil administration in parts of central and eastern Europe in the 19th century.
這些屬于特殊情況。拉丁語(yǔ)被各國廣泛使用持續的時(shí)間要長(cháng)得多：大約2000年。19世紀時(shí)，中東歐地區仍有一些國家在民政管理方面使用拉丁語(yǔ)。
Will English survive as long? Mr Ostler points out that its popularity is skin deep. Of the estimated 1.1bn who speak it, 71 per cent have it as their second language. For all its popularity, English is not acquiring many new native speakers. The decision to learn a lingua franca is pragmatic. If the need changes, so does the language. With the emerging economies increasingly trading with each other, will they eventually ask why they are talking in a language that – with the partial exceptions of India and South Africa – does not belong to them? With China buying so much of the world’s resources, why are their suppliers not negotiating with them in Mandarin? As the old saw has it, you buy in your own language but you sell in your customer’s.
英語(yǔ)也會(huì )與拉丁語(yǔ)一樣經(jīng)久不衰嗎？奧斯特勒指出，英語(yǔ)的流行根基并不牢固。據估計，在全球11億用英語(yǔ)的人之中，大約71%把英語(yǔ)作為第二語(yǔ)言使用。盡管英語(yǔ)廣泛使用，但新增的以英語(yǔ)為母語(yǔ)的人卻不多。學(xué)習通用語(yǔ)純粹是出于實(shí)用目的。一旦需求發(fā)生變化，要學(xué)習的語(yǔ)言也會(huì )隨之改變。隨著(zhù)新興經(jīng)濟體之間的貿易往來(lái)日趨密切，它們最終是否會(huì )詰問(wèn)：為何相互間（印度與南非除外）使用的語(yǔ)言，并不是彼此的母語(yǔ)？中國從世界各地進(jìn)口了這么多的資源，為何供應商不用普通話(huà)與其進(jìn)行談判呢？老話(huà)說(shuō)得好：買(mǎi)東西的時(shí)候用自己的語(yǔ)言，賣(mài)東西的時(shí)候則用顧客的語(yǔ)言。
Mr Ostler writes that while Mandarin could be used more in trade between China and Africa, there is no record of a language becoming a lingua franca without first being that of an empire. Instead, he offers a more radical proposition: English will be the last lingua franca.
奧斯特勒接下來(lái)寫(xiě)道，雖然漢語(yǔ)在中非貿易中可能會(huì )用得越來(lái)越多，但在一個(gè)國家未晉身“帝國”之際，其語(yǔ)言成為全球通用語(yǔ)的情況尚未有所聞。相反，他提出了一個(gè)更為激進(jìn)的觀(guān)點(diǎn)：英語(yǔ)將成為最后的世界通用語(yǔ)。
What precipitated Latin’s decline was a communications revolution. With printing’s rise, newly confident bourgeoisies began to write in their own languages. Mr Ostler says machines may do the same to English. Everyone will speak their own language and their computers will translate it into others’.
通信革命是促成拉丁文衰落的根本原因。隨著(zhù)印刷術(shù)的興起，剛建立起自信心的資產(chǎn)階級開(kāi)始用自己的語(yǔ)言寫(xiě)作。奧斯特勒表示，機器可能會(huì )給英語(yǔ)造成同樣的影響。每人都說(shuō)自己的母語(yǔ)，然后由電腦把它譯成其它語(yǔ)言。
I am sceptical, having long regarded computer translation as one of the most reliable forms of contemporary comedy. Take the English section of this bilingual notice at a Chinese supermarket, featured onengrish.com, purveyor of entertaining English: “In case of dense smoke, use wet towel to cover your mouth and nose, bend over to evacuate.” At least we know what they meant. Ostler argues that machine translation is improving, although it does struggle with nuance and figurative language.
由于長(cháng)期以來(lái)把電腦翻譯視為一種最為穩靠的當代笑料，我本人對它持懷疑態(tài)度。諸位不妨讀一下專(zhuān)門(mén)收集搞笑英語(yǔ)的onengrish.com網(wǎng)站上刊登的一則中國某超市中英文告示上使用的英語(yǔ)：“In case of dense smoke, use wet towel to cover your mouth and nose, bend over to evacuate”。至少我們還能明白它想表達什么意思。奧斯特勒辯稱(chēng)，機器翻譯正在改進(jìn)，不過(guò)在對付細微語(yǔ)義差別和形象語(yǔ)言時(shí)的確還很吃力。
Can we really imagine a world in which people speak into their computers and their opposite numbers puzzle at what comes out the other side? The spoken word also loses something in translation, but, through give and take, we can resolve misunderstandings. Speech is the essence of human interaction and conversation is at the root of business negotiation. We do not know what the next year will bring, but I suspect it will not include much evidence of English’s decline.
我們是否真能想象一下，將來(lái)的世界會(huì )是這番情景：大家都對著(zhù)電腦講話(huà)，而翻譯出來(lái)的東西讓對方一頭霧水？這樣說(shuō)出來(lái)的話(huà)在翻譯中也會(huì )有些“損耗”，但通過(guò)交換意見(jiàn)，雙方能夠消除誤解。語(yǔ)言是人類(lèi)交際的要素，交談則是商業(yè)談判的根本。我們無(wú)法預知明年會(huì )發(fā)生什么，但我猜想，應該不會(huì )出現太多表明英語(yǔ)日漸沒(méi)落的證據。
譯者/常和
