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第3篇Some things we know about language

Many things about language are a mystery, and many will always remain SO．But some

things we do know．

First，we know that all human beings have a language of some sort．There is no race of men anywhere on earth so backward that it has no language，no set of speech sounds by which the people communicate with one mother．Furthermore，in historical times，there has never been a race of men without a language．

Second，there is no such thing as a primitive language．There are many people whose

cultures are undeveloped，who are，as we say，uncivilized, but the languages they speak are not primitive．In all known 1anguages we can see complexities that must have been tens of thousands of years in developing．

This has not always been well understood；indeed, the direct contrary has often been stated．Popular ideas of the 1anguage of the American Indians will illustrate．Many people have supposed that the Indians communicated in a very primitive system of noises．Study has proved this to be nonsense．There are，or were，hundreds of American Indian languages，and a11 of them turn out to be very complicated and very old. They are certainly different from the languages that most of us are familiar with，but they are no more primitive five than English and Greek．

A third thing we know about language is that all languages are perfectly adequate．That is, each one is a perfect means of expressing the culture of the people who speak the language．

Finally, we know that language changes．It is natural and normal for language to change；

the only languages which do not change are the dead ones．This is easy to understand if we look backward in time．Change goes on in all aspects of language．Grammatical features change as do speech sounds，and changes in vocabulary are sometimes very extensive and may occur very rapidly．Vocabulary is the least stable part of any language．

詞匯：

race／n．種族

primitive／adj．原始的

uncivilized／adj．不開化的，落后的

complexity／n．復雜性，復雜現象

nonsense／n．胡說，沒有根據的話

extensive／adj．廣泛的

vocabulary／n．詞匯

練習：

1． In the second paragraph the author thinks that

A)some backward race doesn’t have a language of its own．

B)some race in history didn’t possess a language of its own．

C)any human race，whether backward or not，has a language．

D)some races on earth call communicate without language．

2． According to the author, people of undeveloped cultures can have___ languages.

A)complicated

B)uncivilized

C)primitive

D)well—known

3．The author has used American Indian languages as an example to show that they are

A)just as old as some well-known languages．

B)just as sophisticated as some well-known languages．

C)more developed than some well-known languages．

D)more complex than some well-known languages．

4. Which of the following statements is INCORRECT?

A)A language is a means of expressing a particular culture．

B)All languages can well express their respective cultures．

C)American Indian languages are as sophisticated as English．

D)Some languages are better than other languages．

5． According to the author, language changes are most likely to occur in

A)grammar．

B)pronunciation．

C)vocabulary．

D)intonation．

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