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、English. B、Sanskrit. C、Greek. D、Latin. A细节题。录音原文中提到:Their reasoning is that the old Indo-European languages like Sanskrit,Gree
A、English. B、Sanskrit. C、Greek. D、Latin. A细节题。录音原文中提到:Their reasoning is that the old Indo-European languages like Sanskrit,Gree
admin
2022-01-23
36
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、English.
B、Sanskrit.
C、Greek.
D、Latin.
答案
A
解析
细节题。录音原文中提到:Their reasoning is that the old Indo-European languages like Sanskrit,Greek and Latin all have complex declension and conjugation schemes.这段内容涵盖了B、C和D三个选项,因此答案是A。
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/6MkMFFFM
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
A、Theycomefromthesamecultureandbackground.B、Theywriteintheirownmotherlanguages.C、Theybringtheirownculturesin
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
A、Reasonsforgettingintoactingcareer.B、IntroductionofAmber’sroleonGreek.C、MentionofAmber’sfuturework.D、Theprosp
A、Becausetheymastermorethanonelanguage.B、Becausetheyutilizelanguageswithliteracyskills.C、Becausetheydowellina
A、Havingroommates.B、Practicingcourttrials.C、Studyingtogether.D、Takingnotesbyhand.D细节理解题。本题考查母女二人作为学生的共同之处。听力材料中提到Ass
随机试题
大坝受水流冲击力最大的部位是()。
兵种领导机关包括哪些。
缺铁性贫血铁剂治疗有效,最早的变化指标是
A.性别、药味名称B.剂数、用法C.药物名称、姓名D.医师签字E.用法、医院名称属处方后记的内容是
去除口臭宜选用的漱口液是
未满十七岁的张某应聘于某施工单位,下列关于此事说法正确的是()。
课堂导入的作用主要体现在集中注意、引发兴趣、进入课题。()
阅读以下文字,完成下列问题。《进一步做好新形势下就业创业工作重点任务分工方案》(以下简称《分工方案》)已经国务院同意,请各省、自治区、直辖市人民政府以及国务院有关部门认真落实。有关部门要认真贯彻实施甲,按照《分工方案》的要求,进一步分解
设f’(x)=arcsin(x-1)2,f(0)=0,求∫01f(x)dx.
It’simpossibletopredictwhethershe’llbewellenoughtocomehomefromhospitalnextmonth.
最新回复
(
0
)