英语。：英语精读讲义

Hey, Vsauce

嘿，这里是 Vsauce。

Michael here and today

我是 Michael，今天

we're going to talk about this.

我们来聊聊这个。

What's happening right now,

此时此刻正在发生的事：

the English language.

英语。

A language spoken by more than a billion people with many,

一种有十亿多人使用、带有许多、

many different accents

许多不同口音的语言；

and according to last year's Harvard Google study,

而根据去年 Harvard 与 Google 的研究，

a language with more than a million words

这种语言拥有超过一百万个单词，

growing at a rate of 8500 new words every single year. 短語搭配

并且每年还会新增 8500 个单词。

But we're getting ahead of ourselves. 習語

不过，我们有点说远了。

Where did English begin?

英语起源于哪里？

Well, for that answer,

要回答这个问题，

we're going to have to go all the way back to the year 400

我们得一路追溯到公元 400 年，

and even earlier to this little Germanic peninsula

甚至更早，回到这座日耳曼小半岛，

jutting off at an angle 習語

它斜斜地向外伸出，

inhabited by people who appropriately were called Angles.

那里住着一群人，恰如其名地被称为 Angles（盎格鲁人）。

Now these Angles began immigrating to an island named Britain.

后来，这些盎格鲁人开始移居到一座名为不列颠的岛上。

In fact, there were so many Angles there,

事实上，那里的盎格鲁人多到

you may as well have called it Angle land. 語法

你简直可以把它叫作“盎格鲁人的土地”。

Angle land England.

Angle land，England。

Before they had Latin characters,

在他们使用拉丁字母以前，

they wrote their language not in letters, 語法

他们书写自己的语言时，用的不是字母，

but in what are known as runes. 語法

而是所谓的如尼文。

And everything was fine and dandy until 1066 習語

一切都顺风顺水，直到 1066 年，

when the Normans invaded and won.

诺曼人入侵并取得胜利。

One of the neatest changes that still affects us today

当时发生的一个最有意思、至今仍影响着我们的变化，

is the fact that this new Norman ruling class 文化背景

就是新的诺曼统治阶层

would refer to the meat they were served using their own words

会用自己的词来称呼端上桌的肉，

like beef or pork.

比如 beef（牛肉）或 pork（猪肉）。

But the poor old Anglo-Saxons who had to tend to the animals 用詞

但那些得照料牲畜的可怜老盎格鲁-撒克逊人

still used their early Old English words,

仍然使用早期古英语里的词，

for instance, cow and pig.

比如 cow（牛）和 pig（猪）。

And to this day, 短語搭配

直到今天，

That is why English is one of the very few languages on Earth

这也正是为什么英语是世界上极少数

that has a different name for the meat of an animal

会用一个词称呼动物的肉，

than the name of the animal it came from.

却用另一个词称呼这种动物的语言之一。

English did this a lot.

英语经常这么干：

Borrow words from other languages and other people

从其他语言、其他民族那里借词，

and just plop it right down into the English vocabulary. 短語動詞

然后直接把它们丢进英语词汇库。

So, see,

所以，你看，

English is really fun.

英语真的很“fun”。

Or should I say fun is really English. 語氣意圖

或者我该说，“fun”这个词真的很英语。

That's right.

没错。

Unlike all of these borrowed words,

不同于刚才那些借来的词，

the word fun can be traced all the way back to the Angles 短語搭配

“fun”这个词可以一路追溯到盎格鲁人，

and the Proto-Germanic word phono,

以及原始日耳曼语中的“phono”，

which referred to a piece of cloth or a rag.

意思是一块布或一块破布。

It eventually came to mean a piece of fabric, 短語搭配

后来，它逐渐变成“一块织物”的意思，

say a hoisted flag that flew in the breeze.

比如一面升起来、在微风中飘扬的旗帜。

And then it came to just mean anything that was high-flying or buoyant,

再后来，它又泛指任何高高飞扬或能够漂浮的东西，

you know, like fun stuff.

你知道的，就像好玩的东西那样。

Singling out which words in English were borrowed 短語動詞

把英语中哪些词是借来的，

and which ones were originally Germanic

哪些词原本来自日耳曼语区分出来，

could be a pretty fun exercise.

会是一项相当有趣的练习。

For instance,

比如，

supervise is derived from Latin, 短語搭配

supervise 源自拉丁语，

but oversee,

但 oversee

that's straight up Germanic. 用詞

可是彻头彻尾的日耳曼语词。

Well, what would English sound like

那么，英语听起来会是什么样，

if we just got rid of all these words that didn't originally come from the Angles? 短語動詞

如果我们把所有并非源自盎格鲁人的词都删掉？

Well, what you would have is what is known as Anglish. 文化背景

你会得到一种所谓的“Anglish（盎格鲁式英语）”。

Anglish is really fun to read because it's not really a real language.

Anglish 读起来很有意思，因为它其实不是真正的语言。

It's just an exercise that we can do nowadays.

它只是我们如今可以做的一种练习。

My favorite is this passage explaining atomic theory.

我最喜欢的是这段讲解原子理论的文字。

Of course,

当然，

you can't call it atomic theory because,

你不能把它叫作“原子理论”，因为

for instance, the word atom is Greek

比如说，“atom”一词来自希腊语，

meaning something that cannot be divided any further.

意思是“不能再进一步分割的东西”。

So, instead of using the word atom, 語法

所以，作者不用 atom，

writers will use words like uncleft.

而会改用 uncleft（未分割之物）之类的词。

And instead of using a word like theory,

他们也不会用 theory 这样的词，

they'll use a word like beholding.

而会改用 beholding（观察）这样的词。

There's a link in the description to read all of uncleft beholding. 文化背景

简介里有链接，可以阅读全文《Uncleft Beholding》。

But now let's talk about accents.

现在，我们来聊聊口音。

We don't all speak English the same way

我们说英语的方式并不都一样，

and as a confession,

而且说实话，

I'm going to say I'm terrible

我得承认自己非常不擅长

at impressions, accents, dialects.

模仿别人、口音和方言。

I pretty much only ever talk like this.

我基本上只会用这种方式说话。

Luckily, I read the science

幸运的是，我看过相关科学研究，

and young children are the best at picking up new accents. 短語動詞

小孩子最擅长学会新的口音。

So, I brought along my friend Todd.

所以，我把朋友 Todd 请来了。

Nicely done.

干得漂亮。

Thank you.

谢谢。

That's a classic Vsauce move.

这是 Vsauce 的经典招式。

Now, Todd is from Barely Political in the Key of Awesome

Todd 来自 Barely Political 的《Key of Awesome》，

and he is fantastic at accents.

他特别擅长模仿口音。

Oh, grazie,

哦，grazie，

Michael. Grazie.

Michael。Grazie。

I'm impressed every day.

你每天都让我刮目相看。

But here's a challenge for you.

但我有个挑战要给你。

Are you ready?

准备好了吗？

Challenge.

挑战。

I want you to do an impression 短語搭配

我想请你模仿一下，

of exactly how you think George Washington spoke.

完全按照你的想象，演出 George Washington 说话的样子。

Um,

呃，

let me just picture him. 用詞

让我先想象一下他的样子。

I've seen him on the quarter before. 文化背景

我以前在 25 美分硬币上见过他。

I think he probably sounded like this.

我觉得他说话大概是这样的。

What's up, players?

最近咋样，各位老铁？

Y'all gonna vote for me? 用詞

你们都打算投我一票吧？

I'm gonna take two terms,

我要连干两届，

Just give me one,

就给我一次，

one shot and um

一次机会，然后，呃，

one and done, baby. 習語

一次就搞定，宝贝。

You know what I'm saying? 語氣意圖

懂我意思吧？

No,

不，

seriously, father,

说真的，爸爸，

I did not chop down that there tree. 講解

那边那棵树真不是我砍的。

All right?

行了吧？

I like that.

我喜欢。

But you know what?

但你知道吗？

There's no way to be wrong.

你怎么演都不会错。

Well, I mean, 語氣意圖

呃，我是说，

there are ways to be wrong,

还是有可能演错的，

but we don't know the real answer

只不过我们不知道真正的答案，

because back at the time that America first became a country,

因为早在美国刚成为一个国家时，

the classic British accent didn't even exist yet.

那种经典的英国口音甚至还不存在。

In fact,

事实上，

I quite like the Queen's English. 文化背景

我还挺喜欢女王英语的。

Yeah,

对，

that would be completely foreign to them. 用詞

但对当时的人来说，那听起来会完全陌生。

But here's what's really mind-blowing 用詞

不过，真正让人大跌眼镜的是

about what the British gave to America,

英国人带给美国的这个东西：

Southern drawl. 用詞

南方拖腔。

That's right.

没错。

These people known as the Cavaliers came over to America

一群被称为“骑士党人”的人来到了美国，

before it was an actual independent country

当时美国还不是一个真正独立的国家，

and they brought things like the word y'all,

他们带来了 y’all 之类的词，

snickerdoodle,

还有 snickerdoodle，

varmint,

varmint，

and they brought the word axed instead of ask

他们还用 axed，而不用 ask，

and the word ain't 用詞

也带来了 ain’t，

as well as emphasizing the first syllable

此外，他们还会重读第一个音节，

of words like guitar, July, and police.

比如 guitar、July 和 police 这些词。

Man,

天哪，

I've taken a lot of heat from English people 習語

我没少被英国人挖苦，

for being from Texas and all that.

就因为我来自得州之类的。

And they started it,

可这明明是他们开的头，

didn't they? 語法

对吧？

But listen to this.

但来听听这个。

The Bo language

博语

was a language spoken on an island off the coast of India 短語搭配

曾在印度外海的一座岛上使用，

and then last year this woman died.

可就在去年，这位女士去世了。

She was the final speaker of the language. 文化背景

她是最后一位会说这种语言的人。

All I can think about is that lady trying to connect to people 語法

我满脑子想的都是，这位女士努力想和别人建立联系时，

like, "Oh,

会不会像这样：“哦，

let us share in the cultural joke.

让我们一起分享这个文化笑话吧。

You know,

你知道，

the famous cultural joke of the Bo people."

就是那个博族人尽皆知的文化笑话。”

Yes.

是啊。

Yes.

是啊。

It was probably quite lonely.

她大概非常孤独。

Todd,

Todd，

modern English as we know it didn't really begin that long ago. 短語搭配

我们今天所熟悉的现代英语，其实并没有出现多久。

Think of it this way. 表達脈絡

可以这样想。

There's a time capsule buried here in New York 文化背景

纽约这里埋着一个时间胶囊，

that is not going to be opened until the year 6939.

要到 6939 年才会被打开。

By then, 短語搭配

到那时，

English itself may be completely different or possibly extinct.

英语本身可能已经彻底变样，甚至可能灭绝。

And so,

所以，

they actually included a drawing of the human mouth

他们还特意放入了一张人类口腔图，

where they diagrammed out where you need to put your tongue

在图上标明舌头要放在什么位置，

to say the letters like we say them today.

才能像我们今天这样读出各个字母。

And we only have to wait almost 5000 years?

而我们只需要等将近 5000 年？

What a bargain. 語氣意圖

太划算了。

How convenient for everyone.

对所有人来说都真方便啊。

Yeah,

对，

what are we going to do in the meantime? 短語搭配

那在此期间我们要做什么？

Well,

嗯，

you could head over to my channel for some comedy stuff. 短語動詞

你可以去我的频道看看喜剧内容。

We did an episode of Vsauce

我们做了一期 Vsauce，

called Vsauce Unplugged.

名叫《Vsauce Unplugged》。

There's a lot of neat information over there

那边有很多有意思的信息，

about the brain and language,

内容涉及大脑和语言，

some joking around,

还有一些插科打诨，

and I got to talk to Dale. 用詞

而且我还和 Dale 聊了天。

Dale the mouse.

老鼠 Dale。

Dale the mouse.

老鼠 Dale。

He does not play around. 短語動詞

他可不是闹着玩的。

No.

没错。

Be sure to check out the Cheese Shorts 短語動詞

一定要去看看《Cheese Shorts》，

video over on Todd's channel.

那个视频就在 Todd 的频道上。

It's much more funny than Vsauce. 語法

它比 Vsauce 好笑多了。

But when you're there

不过，等你到了那里就会发现，

and every time I'm there,

我每次去那里时，

I'm just impressed by the characters and the accents.

都会被那些角色和口音惊艳到。

Hey,

嘿，

we got all sorts of stuff.

我们这儿什么都有。

We got behind the scenes Key of Awesome stuff. 習語

有《Key of Awesome》的幕后花絮。

We got stand-up,

有单口喜剧，

me doing stand-up.

我表演单口喜剧。

Got me going to China.

还有我去中国的内容。

We got all sorts of comedy stuff.

各种各样的喜剧内容都有。

Come over for a visit.

过来逛逛吧。

I'll give you a bowl of soup.

我请你喝碗汤。

Come on.

来吧。

Yeah,

对，

come on.

来吧。

I'll see you there

到时候见，

and as always,

还和往常一样，

thanks for watching.

感谢观看。