英文。：英語精讀講義

Hey, Vsauce

嘿，這裡是 Vsauce。

Michael here and today

我是 Michael，今天

we're going to talk about this.

我們要來聊聊這個。

What's happening right now,

此時此刻正在發生的事：

the English language.

英語。

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

一種有超過十億人使用、帶有許多、

many different accents

許多不同口音的語言；

and according to last year's Harvard Google study,

而根據去年 Harvard 與 Google 的研究，

a language with more than a million words

這種語言擁有超過一百萬個單字，

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

並且每年還會新增 8500 個單字。

But we're getting ahead of ourselves. 慣用語

不過，我們有點扯遠了。

Where did English begin?

英語是從哪裡開始的？

Well, for that answer,

要回答這個問題，

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

我們得一路回溯到西元 400 年，

and even earlier to this little Germanic peninsula

甚至更早，回到這座日耳曼小半島，

jutting off at an angle 慣用語

它斜斜地向外伸出，

inhabited by people who appropriately were called Angles.

那裡住著一群人，恰如其名地被稱為 Angles（盎格魯人）。

Now these Angles began immigrating to an island named Britain.

後來，這些盎格魯人開始移居到一座名叫不列顛的島上。

In fact, there were so many Angles there,

事實上，那裡的盎格魯人多到

you may as well have called it Angle land. 文法

你大可以把它叫作「盎格魯人的土地」。

Angle land England.

Angle land，England。

Before they had Latin characters,

在他們使用拉丁字母以前，

they wrote their language not in letters, 文法

他們書寫自己的語言時，用的不是字母，

but in what are known as runes. 文法

而是所謂的盧恩文字。

And everything was fine and dandy until 1066 慣用語

一切都很順利，直到 1066 年，

when the Normans invaded and won.

諾曼人入侵並取得勝利。

One of the neatest changes that still affects us today

當時發生了一個很有意思、至今仍影響我們的變化，

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

那就是新的諾曼統治階級

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

會用自己的詞來稱呼端上桌的肉，

like beef or pork.

例如 beef（牛肉）或 pork（豬肉）。

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憐老盎格魯－撒克遜人

still used their early Old English words,

仍然使用早期古英語裡的詞，

for instance, cow and pig.

例如 cow（牛）和 pig（豬）。

And to this day, 片語搭配

直到今天，

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

這就是為什麼英語是世界上極少數

that has a different name for the meat of an animal

會用一個詞稱呼動物的肉，

than the name of the animal it came from.

卻用另一個詞稱呼肉所來自的動物的語言之一。

English did this a lot.

英語很常這麼做：

Borrow words from other languages and other people

從其他語言、其他民族那裡借用詞彙，

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

然後直接把它們丟進英語詞庫。

So, see,

所以，你看，

English is really fun.

英語真的很「fun」。

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

或者我該說，「fun」這個詞真的很英語。

That's right.

沒錯。

Unlike all of these borrowed words,

不同於剛才那些借來的詞，

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

「fun」這個詞可以一路追溯到盎格魯人，

and the Proto-Germanic word phono,

以及原始日耳曼語中的「phono」，

which referred to a piece of cloth or a rag.

意思是一塊布或一塊破布。

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

後來，它逐漸變成「一塊織物」的意思，

say a hoisted flag that flew in the breeze.

例如一面升起來、在微風中飄揚的旗幟。

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

再後來，它又泛指任何飛得高高的或能漂浮的東西，

you know, like fun stuff.

你知道的，就像好玩的事物。

Singling out which words in English were borrowed 片語動詞

把英語中哪些詞是借來的，

and which ones were originally Germanic

哪些詞原本來自日耳曼語區分出來，

could be a pretty fun exercise.

會是一項相當有趣的練習。

For instance,

例如，

supervise is derived from Latin, 片語搭配

supervise 源自拉丁語，

but oversee,

但 oversee

that's straight up Germanic. 用詞

可是道地的日耳曼語詞。

Well, what would English sound like

那麼，英語聽起來會是什麼樣子，

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

如果我們乾脆刪掉所有並非源自盎格魯人的詞？

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

你會得到一種所謂的「Anglish（盎格魯式英語）」。

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

Anglish 讀起來很有趣，因為它其實不是真正的語言。

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

它只是我們現在可以做的一種練習。

My favorite is this passage explaining atomic theory.

我最喜歡的是這段解釋原子理論的文字。

Of course,

當然，

you can't call it atomic theory because,

你不能把它叫作「原子理論」，因為

for instance, the word atom is Greek

例如，「atom」這個詞來自希臘語，

meaning something that cannot be divided any further.

意思是「無法再進一步分割的東西」。

So, instead of using the word atom, 文法

所以，作者不用 atom，

writers will use words like uncleft.

而會改用 uncleft（未分割之物）之類的詞。

And instead of using a word like theory,

他們也不會用 theory 這樣的詞，

they'll use a word like beholding.

而會改用 beholding（觀察）這樣的詞。

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

說明欄裡有連結，可以閱讀《Uncleft Beholding》全文。

But now let's talk about accents.

現在，我們來聊聊口音。

We don't all speak English the same way

我們說英語的方式不盡相同，

and as a confession,

而且老實說，

I'm going to say I'm terrible

我得承認自己非常不擅長

at impressions, accents, dialects.

模仿、口音和方言。

I pretty much only ever talk like this.

我幾乎只會用這種方式說話。

Luckily, I read the science

幸好，我看過相關的科學研究，

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

年幼的孩子最擅長掌握新的口音。

So, I brought along my friend Todd.

所以，我把朋友 Todd 帶來了。

Nicely done.

做得漂亮。

Thank you.

謝謝。

That's a classic Vsauce move.

這是 Vsauce 的經典招式。

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

Todd 來自 Barely Political 的《Key of Awesome》，

and he is fantastic at accents.

他非常擅長模仿口音。

Oh, grazie,

喔，grazie，

Michael. Grazie.

Michael。Grazie。

I'm impressed every day.

你每天都讓我刮目相看。

But here's a challenge for you.

但我有個挑戰要給你。

Are you ready?

準備好了嗎？

Challenge.

挑戰。

I want you to do an impression 片語搭配

我想請你模仿一下，

of exactly how you think George Washington spoke.

完全照你的想像，演出 George Washington 說話的樣子。

Um,

呃，

let me just picture him. 用詞

讓我先想像一下他的樣子。

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

我以前在 25 美分硬幣上看過他。

I think he probably sounded like this.

我覺得他大概是這樣說話的。

What's up, players?

最近怎樣啊，各位？

Y'all gonna vote for me? 用詞

你們都會投我一票吧？

I'm gonna take two terms,

我要做兩任，

Just give me one,

只要給我一次，

one shot and um

一次機會，然後，呃，

one and done, baby. 慣用語

一次搞定，寶貝。

You know what I'm saying? 語氣意圖

懂我的意思吧？

No,

不，

seriously, father,

說真的，爸爸，

I did not chop down that there tree. 講解

那邊那棵樹真的不是我砍的。

All right?

好嗎？

I like that.

我喜歡。

But you know what?

但你知道嗎？

There's no way to be wrong.

你怎麼演都不會錯。

Well, I mean, 語氣意圖

呃，我是說，

there are ways to be wrong,

還是有可能演錯，

but we don't know the real answer

只不過我們不知道真正的答案，

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

因為早在美國剛成為一個國家時，

the classic British accent didn't even exist yet.

那種經典的英國口音甚至還不存在。

In fact,

事實上，

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

我還滿喜歡女王英語的。

Yeah,

對，

that would be completely foreign to them. 用詞

但對當時的人來說，那聽起來會完全陌生。

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

不過，真正讓人難以置信的是

about what the British gave to America,

英國人帶給美國的這個東西：

Southern drawl. 用詞

美國南方拖腔。

That's right.

沒錯。

These people known as the Cavaliers came over to America

一群被稱為「騎士黨人」的人來到美國，

before it was an actual independent country

當時美國還不是一個真正獨立的國家，

and they brought things like the word y'all,

他們帶來了 y’all 之類的詞，

snickerdoodle,

還有 snickerdoodle，

varmint,

varmint，

and they brought the word axed instead of ask

他們還用 axed，而不是 ask，

and the word ain't 用詞

也帶來了 ain’t，

as well as emphasizing the first syllable

此外，他們還會重讀第一個音節，

of words like guitar, July, and police.

例如 guitar、July 和 police 這些詞。

Man,

天啊，

I've taken a lot of heat from English people 慣用語

我沒少被英國人嘲笑，

for being from Texas and all that.

就因為我來自德州之類的事。

And they started it,

可這明明是他們開的頭，

didn't they? 文法

對吧？

But listen to this.

但來聽聽這個。

The Bo language

博語

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

曾在印度外海的一座島上使用，

and then last year this woman died.

可就在去年，這位女士過世了。

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

她是最後一位會說這種語言的人。

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

我滿腦子想的都是，這位女士努力想和別人建立連結時，

like, "Oh,

會不會像這樣：「喔，

let us share in the cultural joke.

讓我們一起分享這個文化笑話吧。

You know,

你知道，

the famous cultural joke of the Bo people."

就是那個博族人盡皆知的文化笑話。」

Yes.

是啊。

Yes.

是啊。

It was probably quite lonely.

她大概非常孤單。

Todd,

Todd，

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

我們今天所熟悉的現代英語，其實並沒有出現很久。

Think of it this way. 表達脈絡

可以這樣想。

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

紐約這裡埋著一個時間膠囊，

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

要到 6939 年才會打開。

By then, 片語搭配

到那時，

English itself may be completely different or possibly extinct.

英語本身可能已經完全變了樣，甚至可能滅絕。

And so,

所以，

they actually included a drawing of the human mouth

他們還特地放入一張人類口腔圖，

where they diagrammed out where you need to put your tongue

在圖上標示舌頭必須放在哪裡，

to say the letters like we say them today.

才能像我們今天一樣念出這些字母。

And we only have to wait almost 5000 years?

而我們只需要等將近 5000 年？

What a bargain. 語氣意圖

太划算了。

How convenient for everyone.

對大家來說都真方便啊。

Yeah,

對，

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

那在這段期間，我們要做什麼？

Well,

嗯，

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

你可以去我的頻道看一些喜劇內容。

We did an episode of Vsauce

我們做了一集 Vsauce，

called Vsauce Unplugged.

叫作《Vsauce Unplugged》。

There's a lot of neat information over there

那裡有很多有意思的資訊，

about the brain and language,

內容談到大腦和語言，

some joking around,

還有一些說說笑笑，

and I got to talk to Dale. 用詞

而且我還跟 Dale 聊了天。

Dale the mouse.

老鼠 Dale。

Dale the mouse.

老鼠 Dale。

He does not play around. 片語動詞

他可不是在開玩笑。

No.

沒錯。

Be sure to check out the Cheese Shorts 片語動詞

記得去看看《Cheese Shorts》，

video over on Todd's channel.

那支影片就在 Todd 的頻道上。

It's much more funny than Vsauce. 文法

它比 Vsauce 好笑多了。

But when you're there

不過，等你到了那裡就會發現，

and every time I'm there,

我每次去那裡時，

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

都會對那些角色和口音讚嘆不已。

Hey,

嘿，

we got all sorts of stuff.

我們這裡什麼都有。

We got behind the scenes Key of Awesome stuff. 慣用語

有《Key of Awesome》的幕後花絮。

We got stand-up,

有單口喜劇，

me doing stand-up.

我表演單口喜劇。

Got me going to China.

還有我去中國的內容。

We got all sorts of comedy stuff.

我們有各式各樣的喜劇內容。

Come over for a visit.

過來逛逛吧。

I'll give you a bowl of soup.

我請你喝碗湯。

Come on.

來嘛。

Yeah,

對，

come on.

來嘛。

I'll see you there

到時候見，

and as always,

一如往常，

thanks for watching.

感謝收看。