1、The Greeks assumed that the structure of language had some connection with the process of thought, which took root in Europe long before people realized how diverse languages could be.

【分析】多重复合句。句子主干为The Greeks assumed that…，that引导宾语从句。which引导的非限制性定语从句指代前半句所说的观点，由于定语从句较长，翻译时可单独译为一句话，把which译为“这种观点”。定语从句中嵌套long before引导的时间状语从句，状语从句中又含有how引导的从句作realized的宾语。翻译时状语从句前置。

【点拨】1、assumed在本句中意为“认为”，此外还有“假定，猜测；假装；承担”的意思。2、take root in原意是“(植物)生根，扎根于”,本句中为比喻用法,指思想或看法的“形成、确立”。

【译文】希腊人认为语言的结构与思维过程之间存在某种联系，这种观点早在人们意识到语言的千差万别之前就已经在欧洲根深蒂固了。

2、We are obliged to them because some of these languages have since vanished, as the peoples who spoke them died out or became assimilated and lost their native languages.

【分析】多重复合句。句子主干为We are obliged to them。because引导原因状语从句，主干为some of these languages have since vanished。because 从句中又包含as引导的状语从句，as从句从含义上来看,说明了语言消失的原因，因此可以理解为原因状语从句，译为“这是由于…”。as从句中又嵌套who引导的定语从句修饰the peoples，定语从句前置译。

【点拨】1、be obliged to sb. “感激某人”；be obliged to do sth.“不得不做某亊”。本句中可根据后面的them以及上下文推测出，be obliged to应译为“感激”。2、since在句中是副词，意为“在此之后”。

【译文】我们得感谢他们，是因为在此之后，这些语言中有一些已经不复存在了，这是由于说这些语言的部族或是灭绝了，或是被同化而丧失了自己的本族语言。