Supplementary reading3.docx
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Supplementary reading3.docx
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Supplementaryreading3
Harrow
WinstonChurchill
IhadscarcelypassedmytwelfthbirthdaywhenIenteredtheinhospitableregionsofexaminations,throughwhichforthenextsevenyearsIwasdestinedtojourney.Theseexaminationswereagreattrialtome.ThesubjectswhichweredearesttotheexaminerswerealmostinvariablythoseIfanciedleast.Iwouldhavelikedtohavebeenexaminedinhistory,poetryandwritingessays.Theexaminers,ontheotherhand,werepartialtoLatinandmathematics.Andtheirwillprevailed.Moreover,thequestionswhichtheyaskedonboththesesubjectswerealmostinvariablythosetowhichIwasunabletosuggestasatisfactoryanswer.IshouldhavelikedtobeaskedtosaywhatIknew.TheyalwaystriedtoaskwhatIdidnotknow.WhenIwouldhavewillinglydisplayedmyknowledge,theysoughttoexposemyignorance.Thissortoftreatmenthadonlyoneresult:
Ididnotdowellinexaminations.
ThiswasespeciallytrueofmyEntranceExaminationtoHarrow.TheHeadmaster,Mr.Welldon,however,tookabroad-mindedviewofmyLatinprose:
heshoweddiscernmentinjudgingmygeneralability.Thiswasthemoreremarkable,becauseIwasfoundunabletoanswerasinglequestionintheLatinpaper.Iwrotemynameatthetopofthepage.Iwrotedownthenumberofthequestion"I."AftermuchreflectionIputabracketrounditthus"(I)."ButthereafterIcouldnotthinkofanythingconnectedwithitthatwaseitherrelevantortrue.Incidentallytherearrivedfromnowhereinparticularablotandseveralsmudges.Igazedfortwowholehoursatthissadspectacle;andthenmercifulusherscollectedmypieceoffoolscapwithalltheothersandcarriedituptotheHeadmaster'stable.ItwasfromtheseslenderindicationsofscholarshipthatMr.WelldondrewtheconclusionthatIwasworthytopassintoHarrow.Itisverymuchtohiscredit.Itshowedthathewasamancapableoflookingbeneaththesurfaceofthings:
amannotdependentuponpapermanifestations.Ihavealwayshadthegreatestregardforhim.
Inconsequenceofhisdecision,Iwasinduecourseplacedinthethird,orlowest,divisionoftheFourth,orbottom,Form.ThenamesofthenewboyswereprintedintheSchoolListinalphabeticalorder;andasmycorrectname,Spencer-Churchill,beganwithan"S,"Igainednomoreadvantagefromthealphabetthanfromthewidersphereofletters.Iwasinfactonlytwofromthebottomofthewholeschoolandthesetwo,Iregrettosay,disappearedalmostimmediatelythroughillnessorsomeothercause.
TheHarrowcustomofcallingtherollisdifferentfromthatofEton.AtEtontheboysstandinaclusterandlifttheirhatswhentheirnamesarecalled.AtHarrowtheyfilepastaMasterintheschoolyardandansweronebyone.Mypositionwasthereforerevealedinitssomewhatinvidioushumility.Itwastheyear1887.LordRandolphChurchillhadonlyjustresignedhispositionasLeaderoftheHouseofCommonsandChancelloroftheExchequer,andhestilltoweredintheforefrontofpolitics.Inconsequencelargenumbersofvisitorsofbothsexesusedtowaitontheschoolsteps,inordertoseememarchby;andIfrequentlyheardtheirreverentcomment,"Why,he'slastofall!
"
Icontinuedinthisunpretentioussituationfornearlyayear.However,bybeingsolonginthelowestformIgainedanimmenseadvantageovertheclevererboys.TheyallwentontolearnLatinandGreekandsplendidthingslikethat.ButIwastaughtEnglish.WewereconsideredsuchduncesthatwecouldlearnonlyEnglish.Mr.Somervellamostdelightfulman,towhommydebtisgreatwaschargedwiththedutyofteachingthestupidestboysthemostdisregardedthingnamely,towritemereEnglish.Heknewhowtodoit.Hetaughtitasnooneelsehasevertaughtit.NotonlydidwelearnEnglishparsingthoroughly,butwealsopractisedcontinuallyEnglishanalysis.Mr.Somervellhadasystemofhisown.Hetookafairlylongsentenceandbrokeitupintoitscomponentsbymeansofblack,red,blueandgreeninks.Subject,Verb,Object;RelativeClauses,ConditionalClauses,ConjunctiveandDisjunctiveClauses!
Eachhaditscolouranditsbracket.Itwasakindofdrill.Wediditalmostdaily.AsIremainedintheThirdFourththreetimesaslongasanyoneelse,Ihadthreetimesasmuchofit.Ilearneditthoroughly.ThusIgotintomybonestheessentialstructureoftheordinaryBritishsentencewhichisanoblething.AndwheninafteryearsmyschoolfellowswhohadwonprizesanddistinctionforwritingsuchbeautifulLatinpoetryandpithyGreekepigramshadtocomedownagaintocommonEnglish,toearntheirlivingormaketheirway,Ididnotfeelmyselfatanydisadvantage.NaturallyIambiasedinfavourofboyslearningEnglish.IwouldmakethemalllearnEnglish;andthenIwouldletthecleveroneslearnLatinasanhonour,andGreekasatreat.ButtheonlythingIwouldwhipthemforwouldbefornotknowingEnglish.Iwouldwhipthemhardforthat.
QandA:
TheDeathofLanguages
(
Aweekorsoago,co-vocabularistswereinvitedtopostquestionsonthefutureofcommunicationtotheFrenchlinguistClaudeHagège– authorof“OntheDeathandLifeofLanguages.”
Mr.Hagège’sdetailedandthought-provokinganswersarebelow:
Q.
WhosaysEnglishisgoingtodominateforever?
LastIchecked,IndiaandChinaareascendantandtheUSisindecline…–BrianBailey
A.
Hindi(themostspokenlanguageinIndia)andMandarinChinesemightreplaceEnglishasdominantlanguagessomeday.Buttworeasonsatleastleadonetothinkthattheprocesscouldbelong:
(i)HindiisnotwidespreadoutsideAsia,andthereispresentlynospecialefforttopromoteitworldwide.AsforMandarinChinese,itistruethatagreatnumberofConfuciusInstitutesarescheduledtobebuiltbyChinainvariouscountries,butwecannotknowtodaytheresultofthisdecision;
(ii)Thepublications(books,internet,etc.)inEnglishcoveralldomainsofknowledge,letalonethepresenceofEnglishinallotheractivities.ThesetracesoftheworldwidespreadofEnglishwillnotdisappear.
Whatrole,ifany,doyouthinkthatartsplayinthesurvivalofalanguage?
–Adam
A.
Iwouldtendtothinkthatartsplayaratherlimitedroleinthesurvivalofalanguage.Thisapplies,inparticular,topainting,sculptureandarchitecture,whichareparticulartypesofcommunication,abletodelivermessagesbyusingothermeansthanwords.However,historically,manytracesofextinctlanguagesaretransmittedtousbylinguisticmessageswhichaccompanyworksofart.Forinstance,manyoldreligiousbuildings,shrines,temples,churchescontaininscriptions.ArchaicmintsexhibitcarvedwordswhichkeeptracesofLatin,classicalGreek,PharaonicEgyptian,Sumerian,Coptic,Turkish,etc.PoemsinClassicalChineseoftenaccompanyChinesepaintings.Finally,oldformsofvariouslanguagesareconservedinmusicalworksinwhichthemelodyisaccompaniedbythewordsofoneoranotherlanguage.
Inyourstudyoflanguages,doyoudistinguishbetweenwhatiscommonlyreferredtoasBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglish?
Ifso,howdoyouapplythatdistinctionintermsofassessingthehealthofaspokenlanguage?
IamalsothinkingofvariousformsofFrench,Spanish,andGermanthatarenotconsideredregionaldialects.–HenryKrawitz
A.
Theexistenceofvariousformsofaspokenlanguagecanbothproveitshealthandbearsignsofitssplit.DuetocontinuousrelationshipsacrosstheAtlantic,theAmericanformofEnglishhasnotbecomealanguageentirelydifferentfromBritishEnglish,eventhoughmanyphonetic,lexical,and,toalesserextent,grammaticalfeaturesarenotthesameonbothsidesoftheAtlantic,andmakeitpossibletoassignacertainwayofspeakingeithertoBritishortoAmericanEnglish.Butatthesametime,thespreadofalanguageinmanypartsoftheworldcangenerateincreasinglydivergingforms.TheEnglishspokeninIndia,inThailand,inthePhilippines,totakethreeAsianexamples,andtheEnglishspokeninUganda,TanzaniaandNigeria,totakethreeAfricanexamples,aredifferentenoughtohavegivenrisetoanewdisciplinewithinlinguistics,namelythestudyofN(on)N(ative)V(arieties)ofE(nglish).ItisnotruledoutthattheseEnglishesmightsomedaybecomeasmanydifferentlanguages.
ThisevolutionislesslikelyinthecaseofFrenchandSpanish.Thereasonforthatisnotfartoseek.ThereisnoestablishednormofEnglish,thatwouldbeimposed,whetheraftertheBritishortheAmericanmodel,onallthosewhoexpressthemselvesinthislanguage.Asopposedtothat,otherlanguageswhichalsohaveaninternationalvocationaremuchmoreunified.SuchisthecaseofFrench,whichisofficialorwidelyusedinthe70countriesoftheOIF(OrganisationInternationaledelaFrancophonie).FormsofFrenchthatarenotconsideredregionaldialects,likethoseusedinQuebec,southernBelgiumorRomanceSwitzerland,aremoreorlessmodelledofParisianFrench,eventhoughtherearephoneticandlexicaldifferencesbetweenthem.ThisislargelyduetothepermanentcommunicationbetweenthespeakersoftheseformsofFrench.Similarly,lexicographersandgrammariansfromallthecountrieswhichspeakSpanish,inEuropeandCentralandSouthAmerica,gatherregularlyinordertoestablishacommonnormforthislanguage,eveninitsspokenform.
Alanguageisirreplaceable,justlikeananimalorplantspecies.Andthoseofuswholovelanguagesknowthatalanguageisnotjustwords:
itmirrorsanddefinesawayoflife,awayofthinking,auniqueviewofreality.Myquestion:
atwhatpointdowedeclarethatalanguagehasdied?
–Paulette
A.
Alanguageisdeclaredto
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