2LanguageUnit2LanguageUnitTextALanguageandSociety

Neutraltopic(weather)1.WhatwilltwoEnglishmenstarttotalkaboutinarailwaycompartment?(Para.1)

A

neutraltopic

?

Wecouldtalkaboutpolitics,butwemighthavedifferentviewsandstartarguing.Wecouldtalkaboutfootball,butwemightsupportdifferentteamsandstartfighting!Britishpeoplegenerallydon'tliketooffendorupsetotherpeople-soit'salwaysbettertochooseasafetopiclikeweathertotalkabout.TheWeather“WhentwoEnglishmenmeet,theirfirsttalkisofweather”–Dr.JohnsonThiscommentisaccuratenowaswellas200yearsago.TheEnglishhaveakeenpathologicalinterestinweather.TheEnglishareobsessedwiththeweather.Why?Theweatherisa

greatconversationstarter.Britishpeoplewilltalkaboutweatherwith

friends,

family

ora

strangeratthebusstop.

Oneexplanation:Itispossibletostrikeuparelationship

withsomeonewithoutactuallyhavingtosaymuch.2.WhydoEnglishmenstarttalkingabouttheweather?(Para.1)咱也沒啥侃的，要不，侃侃天氣？有這么一個(gè)關(guān)于英國人談?wù)撎鞖獾男」适?，蕭伯納（GeorgeBernardShaw）有一次在散步時(shí)遇到個(gè)老先生，老先生跟他打招呼說：Goodafternoon,Mr.Shaw!It’ssuchalovelyday,isn'tit?蕭伯納回答到：Oh,yes．Buttwentypeoplehavetoldmeaboutitinpasttwohours.Thankyou.BritonsSpendSixMonthsoftheirLivesDiscussingWeather

Weather-obsessedBritishpeoplespendonaveragesixmonthsoftheirlivestalkingaboutwhetherit'sgoingtorainorshine,accordingtoasurveypublishedrecently.Britonstalkabouttheweatherforabout2days[49hours]everyyearandthesubjectcomesupmoreoftenthanwork,whatisontelevision,sportorgossip.19%ofover65squestionedalsobelievetheycanpredicttheweatheraswellasaprofessionalweatherman.

WhydotheEnglishalwaystalkabouttheweather?

TheweatherchangesallthetimeintheUK.Itcanbewarmandsunnyinthemorning,butcoldandwindyintheafternoon.Anotherreasonpeopletalkabouttheweatherisbecauseit'sa

safe(neutral)topic

totalkabout.

Languageisnotsimplyameansofcommunicatinginformation.Itisalsoaveryimportantmeansofestablishingandmaintainingrelationshipwithotherpeople.3.Whatrolesdoesalanguageplay?(Para.1)Inthecompanyof:Penwassarcasticanddandifiedwhenhehadbeeninthecompanyofgreatlords.Hemadehimselfjuvenileandhilariousinthecompanyoftheyoungmen.Strikeuparelationship.HowtotalkaboutweatherTypicalBritishconversationona

rainyday:John:

Niceweatherforducks.Steve:

Itcouldberainingforweeks.I'msickofit.John:

Metoo.Ihopeitclearsupsoon.Ineedtocutthegrass.Steve:

Atleastit'snottoowindy.That'ssomething.John:

Fancya

pintlater?atleastthepubisdry.Steve:

Greatidea.TypicalBritishconversationona

sunnyday:Steve:

Turnedoutniceagain.John:

It'slovely.Ithinkwemighthaveabarbecuethisweekend.Steve:

That'sagreatidea.

John:

LasttimeIhadabarbecueitrainedallnight.Steve:

Typical.John:

I'llkeepmy

fingerscrossedforthisweekend.--Niceday,isn’tit?--Ooh,isn’titcold?--Stillraining,eh?

ThefirstEnglishmanwouldliketogettoknowcertainthingsaboutthesecond.Q4:Whatisthesecondexplanationfortalkingaboutweather?(Para.2)

No,atleastnotatthisstageoftherelationship.Q5:Canheaskdirectquestionsabouthissocialbackground?(Para.2)

Fromhowhesaysit,because:Wheneverwespeakwecannotavoidgivingourlistenerscluesaboutouroriginsandthesortofpersonweare.Q6:Whatcanthetopic(weather)helptolearnabouttheotherman’ssocialbackground?(Para.2)Wehadacoupleofsuspiciouscharactersbuttheiralibisarewatertight.Thesystemis,ofcourse,notwatertight.Theflaskiscompletelywatertight,evenwhenlaidonitsside.

Thewayinwhichpeoplefromdifferentbackgroundsusedifferent“kindsoflanguage”.Q7:WhatistheEnglishmanmakinguseofinseekingcluesabouthiscompanion?(Para.3)VarietiesoflanguagePeoplewhoclaimtobeusersofthesamelanguagedonotspeakthelanguageinthesamemanner.ForexamplealltheEnglish–speakingpeopledonotspeakthesametypeofEnglish.Andthelanguageusedbythesameindividualvariesascircumstancesvary.

English:Scottish:ItneedswashingItneedswashed

Dialects:方言；[語]語支AregionaldialectAsocialdialectQ8:Whatare“kindsoflanguage”oftenreferredto?(Para.3)寧波老話“六級考”你能達(dá)標(biāo)嗎？1、“繁色西類”的意思是()

A.煩死了 B.很多顏色C.繁雜的東西 D.彩虹的顏色2、“殺割”的意思是()

A.殺 B.割 C.一種動(dòng)作 D.厲害3、“母告事體”的意思是()

A.母親叮囑我 B.母親高興的表情C.母親投訴的事 D.一點(diǎn)事沒有4、問：某寧，哆衣裳收收進(jìn)吶?；卮穑?)

A.有數(shù)類 B.黑眼類C.阿姆類D.飯關(guān)類5、“煩關(guān)類”的意思是()

A.語氣助詞：不好了……B.煩惱的人C.關(guān)上門 D.請關(guān)門Ningbodialect關(guān)于寧波話，網(wǎng)上有這樣一則搞笑段子。大概內(nèi)容如下：有人問我：“寧波話里螃蟹怎么說？”我說：“哈”。她重復(fù)：“你們螃蟹怎么說？”我說：“哈”。她無奈地問：“那魚怎么說？”我：“嗯”。她奇怪地問：“蝦怎么說呢？”我說：“嚯”。她又問：“那鴨怎么說呢？”我說：“啊”！她又重復(fù)：“鴨怎么說？”我說：“啊.....”她很同情地看看我：“多好的一個(gè)孩子，可惜是個(gè)啞巴?！?/p>

Neither.Q9:Doesaregionaldialectorasocialdialectrepresentawatertightconcept?(Para.3)

LinguisticscharacteristicsQ10:Whatcharacteristicsofdialectsmaychangegraduallyfromplacetoplace(e.g.fromNorfolktoSuffolk)?(Para.3)IsShanghaidialectaregionalorsocialdialect?ShanghaidialectisadialectspokeninthecityofShanghaiandthesurroundingregion.

Shanghaidialect

No,itisnotpossibletostateinlinguistictermswherepeoplestopspeakingone(Norfolk)dialectandstartspeakinganother(Suffolk)dialect.Q11:Isthereclearlinguisticbreakbetweendialects?(Para.3)Regionaldialectschangegradually

fromplacetoplaceAregionaldialectisalinguisticvarietyusedbypeoplelivinginthesamegeographicalregion.Regionaldialectboundariesoftencoincidewithgeographicalbarriers(mountains,rivers,swamps,etc)lackofcommunicationintheolddaysloyaltytoone'snativespeechphysicalandpsychologicalresistancetochangeRegionaldialect地區(qū)方言

Socialandpoliticalratherthanlinguisticfactors.Q12:Whatfactorsdeterminethenamesoflanguagesatsomeplaceswheredialectsareextremelysimilar(e.g.Dutch-Germanfrontier)?(Para.4)SocialdialectsalongtheDutch-GermanfrontierAlanguagevarietycausedbydifferentsocialconditions.Itisspokenbyagroupthatsharesocialfeaturessuchasoccupation,age,class,race,etc.Socialdialect(Sociolect)社會(huì)方言WhenwelookatthelanguageusedbytwospeakersAandB,wecanestimateroughlytheirrelativesocialstatus:

SpeakerASpeakerBIdidityesterday.Idoneityesterday.Hehasn’tgotit.Heain’tgotit.ItwasshethatsaiditItwasherwhatsaidit.AmericaCakeicelavatorylookingglasspuddingrichscentsofaspectacleswritingpaperWhat?theStatespastryice-creamtoiletmirrordessertwealthyperfumesetteeglassesNotepaperPardon?upperclassworkingclasssocialclass

Vocabularyandgrammaraswellaspronunciation.Q13:Whatarelinguisticdifferencesbetweenkindsoflanguage?(Para.5)GrammarsandphonologicaldifferencesGrammarscanvaryalotindifferentregionse.g.RegionaldialectsintheUS

Phonologicaldifferencesr-lessdialects:SomedialectsintheUSdelete/r/afteravowel:

Wisconsin

Maine

Carolinacar [khar] [kha:][kha:]farm [farm] [fa:m] [fa:m]

LexicaldifferencesWordsfor汽水:

Wisconsin

Maine

N.Carolina"soda" "pop" "coke"Syntacticdifferencesthe:

USA

Canadaatschool atthe

schoolatthe

hospital athospitalLexicalandsyntacticdifferencesTaiwanvs.MainlandMandarin

Differencesofpronunciation.Q14:Whatisanaccent?(Para.5)Dialectvs.AccentDialectisaregionallyorsociallydistinctivevarietyofalanguage,identifiedbyaparticularsetofwordsandgrammaticalstructures.BrE–AmECantoneseAccentreferstothecharacteristicsofspeechthatconveyinformationaboutthespeaker’sdialect,whichmayrevealinwhatcountryorwhichpartofthecountrythespeakergrowsup.Shanxiaccent–HenanaccentThedifferencebetweenaccentanddialectliesinthefactthattheformerreferstopronunciationonlywhilethelatterreferstogrammarandvocabularyaswell.Englishwithanaccent新加坡英語的典型特征之一表現(xiàn)在對“l(fā)a”的使用上:Noneedtocountla.Thereare30stonesla.

InsofarasitdiffersgrammaticallyandlexicallyfromothervarietiesofEnglish,itislegitimatetoconsideritadialect.Q15:IsstandardEnglishadialect?Why?(Para.5)

No,thedifferencebetweenstandardEnglishandnon-standardhasnothingtodowithdifferencesbetweenformalandcolloquiallanguage.Q16:IsstandardEnglishformallanguageandnon-standardEnglishcolloquialorbadlanguage?(Para.6)

StandardScottishEnglish,standardEnglishEnglishandstandardAmericanEnglish.Q17:HowmanystandardEnglishhavebeenlistedinthetext?(Para.6)

Generallyspeaking,standard

Englishhasawidelyaccepted,codifiedgrammarandvocabulary.Q18:WhatisstandardEnglish?(Para.6)

StandardlanguageThevarietyofalanguagethatisconsideredtobethestandardbecauseit'susedbythegovernmentandthemedia,istaughtinschools,and/oristheonlywrittenlanguage.Othervarietiesarethusoftenconsiderednonstandard.

BritishEnglishaccent,orEnglishEnglishaccent,whichisknownasRP.Q19:WhatistheaccentwhichoccurswithstandardEnglish?(Para.6)ThereareonlytwowidelyunderstoodaccentsofEnglish:1)GeneralAmerican(GA)2)ReceivedPronunciation(RP),spokeninBritainSamplesofSL:InChina,PutonghuaInBritain,theReceivedPronunciation(RP)InUSA,StandardAmericanEnglish(SAE)RP(receivedpronunciation)

標(biāo)準(zhǔn)發(fā)音‘TheQueen’sEnglish’‘OxfordEnglish’‘BBCEnglish’Only3-5%ofpeopleinBritainareRPspeakers.

RPisanon-localizedaccent.Verysmallnumberofspeakerswhouseitdonotidentifythemselves

ascomingfromanyparticulargeographicalregion.Q20:IsRPalocalizedaccent?Whypeopleuseit?(Para.6)

StandardEnglishcanbespokenwithanyregionalaccent.Q21:IsitnecessarytospeakRPtospeakstandardEnglish?(Para.6)CanwespeakstandardChinesewithregionalaccent？Inprinciple:Thepresentworldcrisisshouldinprinciplebeanalyzedfromdifferenttemporalperspectives.ThedecisionhadbeenagreedinprinciplebeforeToday’smeeting,butsomecontroversysurroundedit.Itisuniversallyacknowledgedthat.

Languageiscloselytiedupwiththesocialstructureandvaluesystemsofsociety.Q22:Whyaredifferentdialectsandaccentsevaluatedindifferentways?(Para.7)

TheRPaccenthasveryhighprestige:“correct”,“beautiful”,“nice”,“pure”.Q23:WhatisRPconsideredtobe?(Para.7)InthepastthepossessionofanRPaccentwasextremelyimportantbecauseitservedasahigh-statusmarker,andalsoasaqualificationforhigh-prestige

employmentnomatterwhatotherabilitiestheworkmightrequire.InBritain,accent=markerofstatusRP:

anon-localizedformofpronunciation,referstotheparticularwayofpronouncingstandardEnglish,anindicatorofapublicschooleducationandthusahighsocialstatusonthepartofthespeaker.EE:

EstuaryEnglish,commonlyusedbyeducatedpeopleintheregionaroundLondon.LessrigidthanRPbutmorestandardthanCockney.（河口英語）Cockney:

lowerclassdialectofEastLondon,considerednon-standardbyeducatedpeople.（倫敦東區(qū)土腔）

Itfollowsthatvaluejudgmentsconcerningthecorrectnessandpurityoflinguisticvarietiesaresocialratherthanlinguistic.Q24:WhatmakeStandardEnglishsuperior,socialorlinguisticfactors?(Para.7)武大2002Howdoyoureacttoapersonwhosays“Idon'tgotnone”?Whatisthebasisofyourreaction?Thespeakerisfromlowersocialclassandreceiveslesseducation.Theuseofdoublenegativeconstructionandgotafterdon’taredialectfeatures,notfoundinstandardEnglish.ThisisactuallyBlackNon-standardEnglish.InstandardEnglish,itshouldbe“Idon’tgetany.”Prestige:Prestige,nosmoking.Thecompanywoulddoanythingbutrisktheirprestigeatstake.Hesufferedalossofprestigewhenthescandalwaspublicized.Inherent:Thereisaninherentweaknessinthedesign.Theneedtobelovedisinherentinhumannature.

Forexample,asociety’skinshipsystemisgenerallyreflectedinitskinshipvocabulary.Q25:Cansocialenvironmentbereflectedinlanguage?(Para.8)KinshipTermsConsiderthefollowingChineseterms:

叔叔伯伯舅舅姨夫姑父阿姨姑姑舅母嬸嬸小姨子大嫂小舅子小叔子妹夫婆婆公公岳母岳父表兄弟堂兄弟表姐妹堂姐妹連襟妯娌

ProblemsinInterculturalUnderstandingA.林黛玉的母親是賈寶玉的姑母，賈寶玉的母親是林黛玉的舅母，又是薛寶釵的姨母。B.ThreecousinsoftheFrenchPresidentwerealsotoreceivediamonds.KinshipTerms

InEnglishspeakingcountries,thenamesusedforrelativesdonotdistinguishbetweenpaternalandmaternalrelativesaccordingtobirthorder.Therearenodistinctnames,forexample,forelderbrotheroryoungerbrother.InChina,kinshiptermsarewidelyusedtoaddressknownorunknownpeople.Theappropriateuseofkinshiptermsmayreflectaperson’spoliteness,respectandfriendliness.Forexample,childrenareexpectedtocallanoldlady“奶奶”.

Throughphenomenonknownastaboo.Q26:Howcanthevaluesofasocietyhaveaneffectonitslanguage?(Para.9)LinguistictabooAlinguistictabooreferstoawordorexpressionthatisprohibitedbythe“polite”societyfromgeneraluse.Insociolinguistics,taboo,orratherlinguistictaboo,denotesanyprohibitionontheuseofparticularlexicalitemstorefertoobjectsoracts.Whenanactistaboo,referencetothisactmayalsobecometaboo.Taboowordsandexpressionsreflecttheparticularsocialcustomsandviewsofaparticularculture.HumanExcretiongotothecan/

gototheJohngoandseeone’sauntI’mgoingtopicksomeflowers.CanIaddsomepowder?Iwouldliketopowdermynose.IwonderifIcouldgosomewhere.heed/answerthecallofnatureMayIbeexcused?Naturecallsme.

diseaseAbbreviations:

SARS

(SevereAcuteRespiratorySyndromes)AIDS

(AcquiredImmureDeficiencySyndrome)

V.D(venerealdisease)

性病bigC/longdisease/terminalillness

(cancer)godepartdepartfromthisworldgotoabetterworldgothewaysofallfleshpassawaylateInChinese,wealsocanfindsimilareuphemisms:“去了”,“離開了我們”,“辭世”,“去見馬克思了”,“歸西”,“升天”,“上路”diebodypartspeepee(penis)weewee(urinate)downthere(vagina)TabootopicsofconversationYoumayneedtobecarefulwhenyoutalkaboutsometopics,especiallywithpeoplethatyou'veonlyjustmet.Forexample,becautiousifyoudiscussthesesubjects:Age,e.g."Howoldareyou?”Appearanceorweight,e.g."Youseemtohaveputonsomeweight.”Money,e.g."Howmuchdoyouearn?”Previousorcurrentrelationships,e.g."Doyouhaveagirlfriend?”Politics,e.g."Whodidyouvoteforatthelastelection?”Religio