资源描述:
《how-many-languages.pdf》由会员上传分享,免费在线阅读,更多相关内容在学术论文-天天文库。
1、Theobjectofinquiryinlinguisticsishumanlanguage,inparticulartheextentandlimitsofdiversityintheworld’slanguages.Onemightsuppose,therefore,thatlinguistswouldhaveaclearandreasonablyprecisenotionofhowmanylanguagesthereareintheworld.Itturnsout,however,thatthe
2、reisnosuchdefinitecount—oratleast,nosuchcountthathasanystatusasascientificfindingofmodernlinguistics.Thereasonforthislackisnot(just)thatpartsoftheworldsuchashighlandNewGuineaortheforestsoftheAmazonhavenotbeenexploredinenoughdetailtoascertaintheHowManyra
3、ngeofpeoplewholivethere.Rather,theproblemisthattheverynotionofenumeratinglanguagesisalotmorecomplicatedthanitmightseem.LanguagesAreThereareanumberofcoherent(butquitedifferent)answersthatlinguistsmightgivetothisapparentlyThereinthesimplequestion.Morethan
4、youmighthavethought.World?Whenpeopleareaskedhowmanylanguagestheythinkthereareintheworld,theanswersvaryquiteabit.OnerandomsamplingofNewYorkers,forinstance,resultedStephenR.Anderson*inanswerslike“probablyseveralhundred.”Howeverwechoosetocountthem,though,t
5、hisisnotclose.Whenwelookatreferenceworks,wefindestimatesthathaveescalatedovertime.The1911(11th)editionoftheEncyclopediaBritannica,forexample,impliesaLinguisticSocietyofAmericafiguresomewherearound1,000,anumberthatclimbsBrochureSeries:steadilyoverthecour
6、seofthetwentiethcentury.ThatFrequentlyAskedQuestionsisnotduetoanyincreaseinthenumberoflanguages,butrathertoourincreasedunderstandingofhowmanylanguagesareactuallyspokeninareasthathadpreviouslybeenunderdescribed.Muchpioneeringworkindocumentingthelanguages
7、oftheworldhasbeendonebymissionaryorganizations(suchastheSummerInstituteofLinguistics,nowknownasSILInternational)withaninterestintranslatingtheChristianBible.Asof2009,atleastaportionoftheBiblehadbeentranslatedinto2,508differentlanguages,stillalongwayshor
8、toffullcoverage.Themostextensivecatalogoftheworld’slanguages,generallytakentobeasauthoritativeasany,isthatofEthnologue(publishedbySILInternational),whosedetailedclassifiedlistasof2009included6,909distinctlanguages.Afamilyisagroup