2019年经济学人 拉丁语的演化发展(3)

 

Italy was unified¹ far later, in the 19th century. “Italian” was thus created by the pen, not the sword. The 13th- and 14thcentury works of Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio were the peninsula’s most revered² literature. So when, in the 16th century, Pietro Bembo sat down to write a grammar for the prestige language of their texts, he used their (by now rather old) Tuscan dialect as his model. In this way “Italian” was born—though Bembo titled his book simply “Writings on the Vulgar Tongue”. It soon spread to elites³ in other regions.

意大利很晚才在19世纪统一。因此，“意大利语”是由笔而不是剑创造的。13、14世纪但丁、彼特拉克和薄伽丘的作品是半岛上最受尊敬的文学作品。因此，16世纪，当皮埃特罗·本博坐下来为他们的经典语言编写语法时，使用了他们的托斯卡纳方言(到目前为止相当古老)作为模型。就这样，“意大利语”诞生了——尽管本博把他的书简单地命名为“俗语的写作”。它很快就传播到了其他地区的精英阶层。

Even then, ordinary folk continued speaking their own dialects, which, across great enough distances—say from Milan to Naples—were and remain mutually incomprehensible. These are not bad copies of Italian but its siblings⁴, descendants of Latin in their own right. Over half of Italians proudly speak one of them still (though nearly all speak Italian, too). A Sicilian who doesn’t speak Sicilian is hardly worthy⁵ of the name; Neapolitan plays a crucial role in the celebrated⁶ novels of Elena Ferrante.

即使在那个时候，普通百姓仍然在讲他们自己的方言，这些方言跨越了足够远的距离，比如从米兰到纳普勒斯，彼此之间仍然无法理解。这些并非意大利语失败的复制品，而是其兄弟姐妹，拉丁语的后裔。超过一半的意大利人仍然自豪地说其中一种语言(尽管几乎所有人也都说意大利语)。一个不会说西西里语的西西里人很难称得上是西西里人; 那不勒斯人在埃琳娜·费朗特的著名小说中起着至关重要的作用。

These days, amid migration⁷ and globalisation, Italian continues to develop. Naturally some worry that it is happening too fast; that young people are derelict in their grammar, or use too many foreign words. In reality, the same forces that made Latin from its predecessor⁸ (called Proto Indo-European), and turned Latin into Italian—the drift of time and exposure to different influences— are still operating. The only unchanging language is an unspoken one. Classical Latin may be dead—but as Italian, it lives on. Long live dismal⁹ Latin!

如今，在移民和全球化的背景下，意大利继续发展。自然有人担心这一切发生得太快；年轻人在语法上荒废了，还使用了太多的外来词。事实上，时间累积和受到的不同影响使拉丁语从前身原始印欧语变为拉丁语，而同样力量也把拉丁语变成意大利语，如今这种力量仍然在发挥作用。只要语言在使用就会一直发生改变。古典拉丁语可能已经绝迹，但作为意大利语，它仍然存在。没落的拉丁语万岁！

1 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

2 revered   

v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of institutions revered and respected in earlier times have become Aunt Sally for the present generation. 一些早年受到尊崇的惯例，现在已经成了这代人嘲弄的对象了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Chinese revered corn as a gift from heaven. 中国人将谷物奉为上天的恩赐。 来自辞典例句

3 elites   

精华( elite的名词复数 )； 精锐； 上层集团； （统称）掌权人物

参考例句：

• The elites are by their nature a factor contributing to underdevelopment. 这些上层人物天生是助长欠发达的因素。
• Elites always detest gifted and nimble outsiders. 社会名流对天赋聪明、多才多艺的局外人一向嫌恶。

4 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

5 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

6 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

7 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

8 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

9 dismal   

adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的

参考例句：

• That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
• My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。