美国国家公共电台 NPR--New Oxford dictionary will document the lexicon of African American English

New Oxford¹ dictionary will document the lexicon² of African American English

Transcript³

Black Americans have long contributed to the ways in which the English language is used. A new research project aims to compile the first Oxford Dictionary of African American English.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Black people have long contributed to the ways in which we use the English language. Linguistics⁴ professor Sonja Lanehart shares some examples.

SONJA LANEHART: If we look at some present words, we can think of something like woke and hip⁵, cool, bad meaning good.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Lanehart is on the advisory⁶ board of a new Oxford Dictionary of African American English that is set to create a historical record of these contributions.

LANEHART: Finally, we will have a space that recognizes our language in a way that encompasses⁷ all the people within African American language communities.

FADEL: Although there have been projects like this in the past, Lanehart says none have reached this magnitude.

LANEHART: This dictionary is distinct in that it focuses on this particular language variety of African Americans in a way that hasn't been done before. So it will be much more expansive and much more inclusive of the language, as opposed to some words here and there.

MART?NEZ: The project is a collaboration⁸ between Harvard University's Hutchins Center for African & African American Research and Oxford University Press. It's one of the most well-funded efforts of its kind and the first edition of the dictionary expected in about three years.

FADEL: Lanehart says what makes this project so special is that it won't just have definitions. It will also provide historical context for each word.

LANEHART: The etymology⁹ of a word, the history of the word is extremely important. And so for this, they'll note when a word first came into the language. Who was using it? Where was it being used? And that's really important in understanding how a language sort of has developed and evolved and who's been a part of it.

FADEL: Besides books, newspapers, oral histories and music, the dictionary will also draw from social media.

LANEHART: One of the things that's going to be interesting about this is that because of social media and Black Twitter, there are words that are represented in terms of the ways that Black people have used them. And it's going to be really important to look at that and how words are created in that particular space. Social media has allowed an outlet¹⁰ in a way that Black people hadn't really had before.

MART?NEZ: And she says looking at social media can highlight the regional, economic and social roots of language.

LANEHART: Dictionaries attempt to codify¹¹ language. That is, this is the spelling. This is the definition. And what's going to be important about this in getting it right is listening to the people, especially for current things, listening to the people in terms of what they say and how they say these words are used and what they mean to them.

MART?NEZ: Lanehart says this is important because African American language has been viewed from a deficit¹² perspective in the past.

LANEHART: I think it's taken a lot to get to this point, to show that Black people and Black language aren't grotesque¹³. They're not exotic. They're not deficient¹⁴. They have a language variety that is different and should be recognized just like any other language variety.

FADEL: And this new dictionary aims to credit and celebrate this variety.

This is NPR News.

1 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

2 lexicon   

n.字典，专门词汇

参考例句：

• Chocolate equals sin in most people's lexicon.巧克力在大多数人的字典里等同于罪恶。
• Silent earthquakes are only just beginning to enter the public lexicon.无声地震才刚开始要成为众所周知的语汇。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 linguistics   

n.语言学

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• Linguistics is a scientific study of the property of language.语言学是指对语言的性质所作的系统研究。

5 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

6 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

7 encompasses   

v.围绕( encompass的第三人称单数 )；包围；包含；包括

参考例句：

• The job encompasses a wide range of responsibilities. 这项工作涉及的职责范围很广。
• Its conservation law encompasses both its magnitude and its direction. 它的守恒定律包括大小和方向两方面。 来自辞典例句

8 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

9 etymology   

n.语源；字源学

参考例句：

• The hippies' etymology is contentious.关于嬉皮士的语源是有争议的。
• The origin of OK became the Holy Grail of etymology.OK的出典成了词源学梦寐以求的圣杯。

10 outlet   

n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄

参考例句：

• The outlet of a water pipe was blocked.水管的出水口堵住了。
• Running is a good outlet for his energy.跑步是他发泄过剩精力的好方法。

11 codify   

v.将法律、法规等编成法典

参考例句：

• The noble,Dracon,was asked to codify the laws.贵族德拉古被选为立法者。
• The new government promised to codify the laws.新政府应允要编纂法典。

12 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

13 grotesque   

adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物）

参考例句：

• His face has a grotesque appearance.他的面部表情十分怪。
• Her account of the incident was a grotesque distortion of the truth.她对这件事的陈述是荒诞地歪曲了事实。

14 deficient   

adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的

参考例句：

• The crops are suffering from deficient rain.庄稼因雨量不足而遭受损害。
• I always have been deficient in selfconfidence and decision.我向来缺乏自信和果断。