2021年经济学人 约翰逊专栏--口音歧视(1)

Books & arts

文艺板块

Johnson

约翰逊专栏

Eiffel power

埃菲尔力量

The rights and wrongs of a French bid to ban accent discrimination

法国禁止口音歧视的是非曲直

In the early 1790s French revolutionaries commissioned a priest, Henri Gregoire, to take a census¹ of the languages spoken in France. His findings were eventually titled a “Report on the necessity and means to annihilate² the patois³ and to universalise the use of the French language”. Gregoire was a pioneering believer in racial equality, a fact that may seem to fit oddly with his passion for eradicating⁴ linguistic⁵ diversity. But to him, it made sense: French was the language of liberation, and those without it could be kept in ignorance.

18世纪90年代初，法国革命者委托一位名叫亨利·格雷戈尔的牧师对法国说的语言进行普查。格雷戈尔的研究结果最终被命名为《关于消灭土话必要性及其措施以及普及使用法语的报告》。格雷戈尔是种族平等的先锋信徒，这一事实似乎与他对根除语言多样性的热情有着诡异的契合。但他做出这样的事情合乎常理，法语是解放的语言，不讲法语的人可能愚昧无知。

How very French, their British cousins might chuckle⁶. The same people who introduced the metric system and (unsuccessfully) tried to replace the Gregorian calendar can seem to have a mania⁷ for top-down reform and standardisation. Now some Britons are chuckling⁸ to see this approach enlisted⁹ in the name of tolerance¹⁰: on November 26th the National Assembly passed a law forbidding accent discrimination. If it gets through the French Senate, severe cases—say, denying someone a job because of how they speak—could result in three years in prison, or a fine of 45,000 euros ($55,000). How very French.

他们兄弟的英国人民可能会暗自发笑，这很法国人。同样是那些引进公制并试图取代公历（但没有成功）的人，似乎对自上而下的改革和标准化抱有狂热。现在，一些英国人看到这种以包容为名的做法，都笑了：11月26日，法国国民议会通过了一项禁止口音歧视的法律。如果该法案通过法国参议院，那一些严重的案件（比如，招聘方因为应聘者说话的方式而拒绝应聘者）可能会导致3年监禁，或罚款4.5万欧元（约合5.5万美元）。这很法国。

The country certainly has biases¹¹ to amend¹². In America regional accents can be heard in the highest office in the land (Donald Trump’s New York, George W. Bush’s Texan). In Britain the BBC has expanded the variety of accents heard on its broadcasts. By contrast, regional accents in France are far tougher to find in high places. This makes it harder for the French to associate intelligence and competence¹³ with anything but standard Parisian. At best French politicians, like some elsewhere, switch between their local accent when in the areas they represent and the standard Parisian kind when in the capital or on television.

法国当然要矫正口音偏见。你可以听到美国的最高领导者有地区口音（唐纳德·特朗普的纽约口音，乔治·布什的德克萨斯口音）。英国的BBC更是海纳百川，你能在广播中听到各式各样的口音。相比之下，很难听到有法国高层带有地方口音。为此，法国人很难将智力和能力与标准巴黎口音以外的事物联系起来。法国政界人士充其量能和其他地方的政客一样切换口音，在他们所代表的地区讲当地口音，在首都或电视上切换标准巴黎口音。

1 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

2 annihilate   

v.使无效；毁灭；取消

参考例句：

• Archer crumpled up the yellow sheet as if the gesture could annihilate the news it contained.阿切尔把这张黄纸揉皱，好象用这个动作就会抹掉里面的消息似的。
• We should bear in mind that we have to annihilate the enemy.我们要把歼敌的重任时刻记在心上。

3 patois   

n.方言；混合语

参考例句：

• In France patois was spoken in rural,less developed regions.在法国，欠发达的农村地区说方言。
• A substantial proportion of the population speak a French-based patois.人口中有一大部分说以法语为基础的混合语。

4 eradicating   

摧毁，完全根除( eradicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Objective: To study the acute and chronic toxicity of Ten-flavor-acne eradicating-capsule. 目的：探讨复方中药合剂十味平痤胶囊的急性及慢性毒性。
• We are on the verge of eradicating polio in the world. 我们已在世界消除小儿？痹症的边缘了。

5 linguistic   

adj.语言的，语言学的

参考例句：

• She is pursuing her linguistic researches.她在从事语言学的研究。
• The ability to write is a supreme test of linguistic competence.写作能力是对语言能力的最高形式的测试。

6 chuckle   

vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑

参考例句：

• He shook his head with a soft chuckle.他轻轻地笑着摇了摇头。
• I couldn't suppress a soft chuckle at the thought of it.想到这个，我忍不住轻轻地笑起来。

7 mania   

n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好

参考例句：

• Football mania is sweeping the country.足球热正风靡全国。
• Collecting small items can easily become a mania.收藏零星物品往往容易变成一种癖好。

8 chuckling   

轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I could hear him chuckling to himself as he read his book. 他看书时，我能听见他的轻声发笑。
• He couldn't help chuckling aloud. 他忍不住的笑了出来。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

9 enlisted   

adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持）

参考例句：

• enlisted men and women 男兵和女兵
• He enlisted with the air force to fight against the enemy. 他应募加入空军对敌作战。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

11 biases   

偏见( bias的名词复数 )； 偏爱； 特殊能力； 斜纹

参考例句：

• Stereotypes represent designer or researcher biases and assumptions, rather than factual data. 它代表设计师或者研究者的偏见和假设，而不是实际的数据。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• The net effect of biases on international comparisons is easily summarized. 偏差对国际比较的基本影响容易概括。

12 amend   

vt.修改，修订，改进；n.[pl.]赔罪，赔偿

参考例句：

• The teacher advised him to amend his way of living.老师劝他改变生活方式。
• You must amend your pronunciation.你必须改正你的发音。

13 competence   

n.能力，胜任，称职

参考例句：

• This mess is a poor reflection on his competence.这种混乱情况说明他难当此任。
• These are matters within the competence of the court.这些是法院权限以内的事。