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The rights and wrongs of a French bid to ban accent discrimination
法國禁止口音歧視的是非曲直
In the early 1790s French revolutionaries commissioned a priest, Henri Gregoire, to take a census of the languages spoken in France. His findings were eventually titled a “Report on the necessity and means to annihilate the patois and to universalise the use of the French language”. Gregoire was a pioneering believer in racial equality, a fact that may seem to fit oddly with his passion for eradicating linguistic diversity. But to him, it made sense: French was the language of liberation, and those without it could be kept in ignorance.
18世紀90年代初，法國革命者委托一位名叫亨利·格雷戈爾的牧師對法國說的語言進行普查。格雷戈爾的研究結果最終被命名為《關于消滅土話必要性及其措施以及普及使用法語的報告》。格雷戈爾是種族平等的先鋒信徒，這一事實似乎與他對根除語言多樣性的熱情有著詭異的契合。但他做出這樣的事情合乎常理，法語是解放的語言，不講法語的人可能愚昧無知。
How very French, their British cousins might chuckle. The same people who introduced the metric system and (unsuccessfully) tried to replace the Gregorian calendar can seem to have a mania for top-down reform and standardisation. Now some Britons are chuckling to see this approach enlisted in the name of tolerance: on November 26th the National Assembly passed a law forbidding accent discrimination. If it gets through the French Senate, severe cases—say, denying someone a job because of how they speak—could result in three years in prison, or a fine of 45,000 euros ($55,000). How very French.
他們兄弟的英國人民可能會暗自發笑，這很法國人。同樣是那些引進公制并試圖取代公歷（但沒有成功）的人，似乎對自上而下的改革和標準化抱有狂熱。現在，一些英國人看到這種以包容為名的做法，都笑了：11月26日，法國國民議會通過了一項禁止口音歧視的法律。如果該法案通過法國參議院，那一些嚴重的案件（比如，招聘方因為應聘者說話的方式而拒絕應聘者）可能會導致3年監禁，或罰款4.5萬歐元（約合5.5萬美元）。這很法國。
The country certainly has biases to amend. In America regional accents can be heard in the highest office in the land (Donald Trump’s New York, George W. Bush’s Texan). In Britain the BBC has expanded the variety of accents heard on its broadcasts. By contrast, regional accents in France are far tougher to find in high places. This makes it harder for the French to associate intelligence and competence with anything but standard Parisian. At best French politicians, like some elsewhere, switch between their local accent when in the areas they represent and the standard Parisian kind when in the capital or on television.
法國當然要矯正口音偏見。你可以聽到美國的最高領導者有地區口音（唐納德·特朗普的紐約口音，喬治·布什的德克薩斯口音）。英國的BBC更是海納百川，你能在廣播中聽到各式各樣的口音。相比之下，很難聽到有法國高層帶有地方口音。為此，法國人很難將智力和能力與標準巴黎口音以外的事物聯系起來。法國政界人士充其量能和其他地方的政客一樣切換口音，在他們所代表的地區講當地口音，在首都或電視上切換標準巴黎口音。
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