2020年经济学人 约翰逊语言专栏--关于苏格兰语地位的政治辩论(3)

There is no consensus¹ among professional linguists² as to whether, in aggregate³, these features make Scots a language, or merely a dialect. Geo?rey Pullum, an Englishman at the University of Edinburgh, leans towards language status. Despite his expertise⁴ (and living in Scotland), he “simply cannot understand two Scots-speaking workers when they are chatting with each other”. He emphasises those grammatical di?erences, as well as the long literary history of Scots.

总的来说，这些特征是使苏格兰语成为一种语言，还是仅仅成为一种方言，这一点在专业语言学家之间没有共识。爱丁堡大学的英国人杰弗里·普勒姆倾向于语言地位。尽管他的专业知识(以及生活在苏格兰)，他“就是无法理解两个讲苏格兰语的工人交谈”。他强调了这些语法上的差异，以及苏格兰人悠久的文学历史。

David Adger, a Scot at Queen Mary University of London (and, like Mr Pullum, a specialist in syntax), is unconvinced. He studies Scots as one among many varieties of English. After all, people who speak it can vary their delivery from broad Scots to Scottish-accented standard English on a smooth continuum, depending on the circumstances.

伦敦玛丽女王大学的苏格兰人戴维?阿杰 (和语法专家普勒姆一样)对此并不信服。他把苏格兰语当作多种英语中的一种来研究。毕竟，说这种语言的人可以根据不同的情况，将带有苏格兰口音的标准英语流利地表达为带有苏格兰口音的标准英语。

This makes Scots and English di?erent from, say, Danish and Norwegian. Speakers of those related tongues understand each other with few problems. But they are not in the habit of making transitions between the two—they speak one or the other. Politics is integral to the divide: Norwegian was consciously developed away from Danish as part of a push for independence. As an old saying goes, “a language is a dialect with an army and a navy.” Recognition for Scots as a language may, ultimately, be clinched⁵ not by grammatical arguments but by political ones. In other words, proclaiming it to be a language to support Scottish independence may have little impact. But gain independence, and outsiders might take Scots seriously as a separate language, too.

这使得苏格兰语和英语不同于，比如，丹麦语和挪威语。说那些相关语言的人相互理解几乎没有问题。但他们并没有习惯在两者之间转换——他们只说其中之一。政治是分裂的组成部分:作为推动独立的一部分，挪威人有意识地远离了丹麦人。俗话说:“一种语言是有陆军和海军的方言” 苏格兰语是否被认为可一种语言，最终可能不是由语法上的争论，而是由政治上的争论来决定的。换句话说，将苏格兰语作为一种独立的语言来支持苏格兰可能影响不大。但一旦获得独立，外界可能也会认真地将苏格兰语视为一门独立的语言。

1 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

2 linguists   

n.通晓数国语言的人( linguist的名词复数 )；语言学家

参考例句：

• The linguists went to study tribal languages in the field. 语言学家们去实地研究部落语言了。 来自辞典例句
• The linguists' main interest has been to analyze and describe languages. 语言学家的主要兴趣一直在于分析并描述语言。 来自辞典例句

3 aggregate   

adj.总计的，集合的；n.总数；v.合计；集合

参考例句：

• The football team had a low goal aggregate last season.这支足球队上个赛季的进球总数很少。
• The money collected will aggregate a thousand dollars.进帐总额将达一千美元。

4 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

5 clinched   

v.（尤指两人）互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的过去式和过去分词 )；解决（争端、交易），达成（协议）

参考例句：

• The two businessmen clinched the deal quickly. 两位生意人很快达成了协议。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Evidently this information clinched the matter. 显然，这一消息使问题得以最终解决。 来自辞典例句