首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
A、Because they imperfectly learn the speech of their parents. B、Because they prefer to learn the language of their friends at sc
A、Because they imperfectly learn the speech of their parents. B、Because they prefer to learn the language of their friends at sc
admin
2022-01-23
84
问题
I: Good morning, listeners. Today, we are very happy to have Doctor Michael Williams to discuss evolution of language. Well, Michael.
M: Thank you. Very pleased to meet you all here.
I: Michael, there have been many theories about why languages change. Can you give us some examples, please?
M: Of course. The first established theory of language change is one of decay and decadence proposed in the 18th century view. Their reasoning is that the old Indo-European languages like Sanskrit, Greek and Latin all have complex declension and conjugation schemes. Overtime the number of cases dropped, and the modern Indo-European languages have far fewer cases for declension and conjugation. It is said that people get increasingly careless about their speech, so they are "decadent" and have allowed the once complex language to decay into such a "simple" language.
I: Sounds interesting.
M: But this "decadence" argument has one major flaw. Even though the number of declensions and conjugations has dwindled, other parts of speech such as particles and auxiliary verbs have evolved to take their place. Anything that can be expressed in the ancient tongue can still be expressed today. Ultimately, this theory is highly subjective, as it relies on personal opinions, not scientific facts, of what is "highly evolved" and what is "decadent". So, strictly speaking, this cannot be called scientific explanation.
I: Right. Is there any other theory?
M: The next theory, proposed by the Neogrammarians, is one of natural process. They stated that changes are automatic and mechanical, and therefore cannot be observed or controlled by the speakers of the language. They found that what to a human ear a single "sound" is actually a collection of very similar sounds. They call it "low-level deviation" from an "idealized form". They argue that language change is simply a slow shift of the "idealized form" by small deviations.
I: Are there any problems concerned with this theory, too?
M: Of course. The obvious problem here is that without some kind of reinforcement, the deviation might go back and forth and cancel out any change. Then the Neogrammarians patched this theory by adding reasons for reinforcing the deviation such as simplification of sounds, or children imperfectly learning the speech of their parents.
I: Simplification of sounds? Can you explain it a little further?
M: Sure. The simplification of sounds basically states that certain sounds are easier to pronounce than others, so the natural tendency of the speakers is to modify the hard-to-say sounds to easier ones. An example would be the English word "nuclear", which many people pronounce as "nucular".
I: But who knows which one is more difficult to pronounce, "nuclear" or "nucular"?
M: Exactly. Different people may give different answers. Simplification no doubt exists, but using it as a reason of language change is too subjective to be scientific. There is another problem with children incorrectly learning the language of their parents. Let’s take an extreme case in the form of immigrants. What is observed is that children of immigrants almost always learn the language of their friends at school regardless of the parents’ dialect or original language. Children of British immigrants in the United States, for example, nearly always speak with one of the many regional American accents. So in this case, the parents’ linguistic contribution becomes less important than the social group the child is in.
I: I agree. Any other theories?
1. Which one is NOT old Indo-European language?
2. What is the main problem with the theory of decay and decadence?
3. Which statement is WRONG according to decay and decadence theory of language?
4. Which can be the best example of simplification of sounds?
5. According to Michael, why do children of immigrants have problems in learning their mother tongue?
选项
A、Because they imperfectly learn the speech of their parents.
B、Because they prefer to learn the language of their friends at school.
C、Because they are confused with different languages.
D、Because there are no teachers who teach them mother tongue.
答案
B
解析
推理题。关于移民子女学不好母语的原因,受访者提到:What is observed is that children of immigrants almost always learn the language of their friends at school regardless of the parents’ dialect or original language.Children of British immigrants in the United States,for example,nearly always speak with one of the many regional American accents.So in this case,the parents ’linguistic contribution becomes less important than the social group the child is in.表明移民子女更倾向于学习同学说的当地语言,对母语不感兴趣,因此答案是选项B。
转载请注明原文地址:https://www.kaotiyun.com/show/2KIK777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
A、Speakingasfluentlyasanativespeaker.B、Gainingproficiencyinaforeignlanguage.C、Learningalanguagewellwithinamon
A、Becausesomepeopledon’tthinktheyneedthesuntogetvitaminD.B、Becauseit’sanexampleofanevolutionarycompromise.C
PASSAGETWOWhatdoesBernardShawmeanbysaying"EnglandandAmericaaretwocountriesseparatedbythesamelanguage"inPar
A、Becauseshecouldn’tadjustit.B、BecauseMr.Simpsonforgottoremindher.C、Becausetherewasnoenoughseatbelt.D、Because
A、Doafinancialcheckup.B、Readself-helpbooks.C、Doonlinebanking.D、Organizetheirdailyschedule.A录音中主持人说首先要谈一些关于财务检查(fin
(1)Underthe1996constitution,all11ofSouthAfrica’sofficiallanguages"mustenjoyequalityofesteemandbetreatedequita
Psychologistshavemanytheoriestoexplainhowwerememberinformation.Themostinfluentialtheoryisthatmemoryworksasak
Psychologistshavemanytheoriestoexplainhowwerememberinformation.Themostinfluentialtheoryisthatmemoryworksasak
随机试题
一台气动薄膜调节阀,若阀杆在全行程的50%位置,则流过阀的流量也在最大量程的50%。
Drawingapictureisthesimplestwayofputtinganideadownonpaper.Thatis【C1】______menfirstbegantowritesixthousandy
小儿腹泻出现代谢性酸中毒的表现可有
腹部局限性臌隆见于下列哪种疾病
A.咳声嘶哑B.犬吠样咳嗽C.无声咳嗽D.鸡鸣样咳嗽E.金属调咳嗽百日咳的咳嗽声的特点为
具有特定情形的下列哪些证据不能作为定案的根据?(2011年卷二66题,多选)
基本完成长江中下游干流、武汉等重点防洪城市以及洞庭湖、鄱阳湖、重要支流的Ⅰ、Ⅱ级堤防的加高加固、堤身和基础防渗、填塘固基、隐患处理,并实施干流河势控制等工程建设,使长江重点()达到流域规划标准。
下列关于持续督导说法正确的有()。Ⅰ.保荐人应当自持续督导工作结束后10个工作日内向证券交易所报送保荐总结报告书Ⅱ.中小板发行新股、可转换公司债券的,持续督导的期间为股票或者可转换公司债券上市当年剩余时间及其后一个完整会计年度Ⅲ.创业板的恢复上
认知是指一个人对某一事件的认识和看法,包括对过去事件的评价,对当前事件的解释,或对未来可能发生的事件所作出的预期。所以认知是与情感、意志、动机和行为相联系的一种()。
Theprinterapologizedfor______twonamesontheprogram.
最新回复
(
0
)