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1、关于英语语言的变化AboutLanguageChangeIstheEnglishlanguagechanging? Yes,andsoiseveryotherhumanlanguage.Languageisalwayschanging,evolving,andadaptingtotheneedsofitsusers.Thisisn'tabadthing;ifEnglishhadn'tchangedsince,say,1950,wewouldn'thavewordstorefertomodems,faxmachines
2、,orcableTV.Aslongastheneedsoflanguageuserscontinuetochange,sowillthelanguage.Thechangeissoslowthatfromyeartoyearwehardlynoticeit(excepttogrumbleeverysooftenaboutthe'poorEnglish'beingusedbytheyoungergeneration!).ButreadingShakespeare'swritingsfromthesixteenthcen
3、turycanbedifficult.Ifyougobackacouplemorecenturies,Chaucer'sCanterburyTalesareverytoughsledding,andifyouwentbackanother500yearstotrytoreadBeowulf,itwouldbelikereadingadifferentlanguage. Whydoeslanguagechange? Languagechangesforseveralreasons.First,itchangesbeca
4、usetheneedsofitsspeakerschange.Newtechnologies,newproducts,andnewexperiencesrequirenewwordstorefertothemclearlyandefficiently.Considerthefaxmachine:Originallyitwascalledafacsimilemachine,becauseitallowedonepersontosendanotheracopy,orfacsimile,ofadocument.Asthem
5、achinesbecamemorecommon,peoplebeganusingtheshorterformfaxtorefertoboththemachineandthedocument;fromthere,itwasjustashortsteptousingthewordfaxasaverb(asinI'llfaxthisovertoSylvia). Anotherreasonforchangeisthatnotwopeoplehavehadexactlythesamelanguageexperience.Wea
6、llknowaslightlydifferentsetofwordsandconstructions,dependingonourage,job,educationlevel,regionofthecountry,andsoon.Wepickupnewwordsandphrasesfromallthedifferentpeoplewetalkwith,andthesecombinetomakesomethingnewandunlikeanyotherperson'sparticularwayofspeaking.At
7、thesametime,variousgroupsinsocietyuselanguageasawayofmarkingtheirgroupidentity-showingwhoisandisn'tamemberofthegroup.Manyofthechangesthatoccurinlanguagebeginwithteensandyoungadults:Asyoungpeopleinteractwithotherstheirownage,theirlanguagegrowstoincludewords,phra
8、ses,andconstructionsthataredifferentfromthoseoftheoldergeneration.Somehaveashortlifespan(heardgroovylately?),butothersstickaroundtoaffectthelanguageasawhole. Wegetnewwordsfr
