評論
打印
You're telling a friend an amazing story, and you just get to the best part when suddenly he interrupts,
你正給朋友講一個精彩的故事，剛講到最精彩的部分時，他突然打斷了你說：
"The alien and I," not "Me and the alien."
應該是“外星人和我” 而不是“我和外星人”。
Most of us would probably be annoyed, but aside from the rude interruption, does your friend have a point?
許多人都會對這種行為感到反感，先拋開無禮的打斷不談，想想你朋友說的有道理嗎？
Was your sentence actually grammatically incorrect?
你說的這句話從語法上講真的是錯的嗎？
And if he still understood it, why does it even matter?
要是他依舊能理解你的意思，那么這樣做又有什么意義呢？
From the point of view of linguistics, grammar is a set of patterns for how words are put together to form phrases or clauses, whether spoken or in writing.
從語言學的角度來看，語法就是一系列規則，教你怎樣在口語和寫作中用單詞構成短語和句子。
Different languages have different patterns.
不同的語言有著不同的規則。
In English, the subject normally comes first, followed by the verb, and then the object,
比如在英語中，主語通常放在最前面，謂語動詞跟在主語后面，賓語則放在最后，
while in Japanese and many other languages, the order is subject, object, verb.
而在日語和其他許多語言中順序卻變成了主語、賓語和謂語動詞。
Some scholars have tried to identify patterns common to all languages, but apart from some basic features,
一些學者嘗試找到適用于所有語言的規則，但是除了一些基本的屬性，
like having nouns or verbs, few of these so-called linguistic universals have been found.
比如所有語言都有名詞和動詞，所謂的語言上的共性幾乎是不存在的。
And while any language needs consistent patterns to function,
盡管所有語言都得按照一套固定的規則來，
the study of these patterns opens up an ongoing debate between two positions known as prescriptivism and descriptivism.
但有兩方觀點在這些規則的研究上始終爭論不休，即規定主義和描寫主義。
Grossly simplified, prescriptivists think a given language should follow consistent rules,
簡單來說，規定主義認為一門既定的語言要遵循固定的規則，
while descriptivists see variation and adaptation as a natural and necessary part of language.
而描寫主義則認為變化和調整是語言正常且必要的一部分。
For much of history, the vast majority of language was spoken.
絕大多數語言在其大部分歷史時期中都是用于口頭的交流。
But as people became more interconnected and writing gained importance,
不過隨著人們相互之間聯系的增多，書寫的地位開始提升。
written language was standardized to allow broader communication and ensure that people in different parts of a realm could understand each other.
于是書面語開始規范化，以適用于更為廣泛的交流，同時也確保了不同地方的人能夠理解這些語言所表達的意思。
In many languages, this standard form came to be considered the only proper one,
對于大多數語言而言，這一標準形式被認為是唯一合適的，
despite being derived from just one of many spoken varieties, usually that of the people in power.
但實際上它卻是從眾多不同的口語形式中脫穎而出且通常情況下來自掌權的一方。
Language purists worked to establish and propagate this standard by detailing a set of rules that reflected the established grammar of their times.
通過將那個時代已有的一系列語法規則詳盡記錄下來，語言純粹主義者們開始建立并傳播這一標準。
And rules for written grammar were applied to spoken language, as well.
書面語言所涉及的語法同樣也適用于口語。
