By+Rebecca+Roache

任何東西的逝去和消亡都會(huì)讓人感傷，語言也不例外。對于那些母語是瀕危語言的人來說，語言的消亡使他們承受著巨大的痛苦和不公。但對于其他人來說，保護(hù)少數(shù)民族語言似乎并沒有那么大的意義。我們應(yīng)該如何看待這種矛盾？我們又該怎樣理解語言消亡所帶來的感傷？

The year 2010 saw the death of Boa Senior， the last living speaker of Aka-Bo， a tribal language native to the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal. Tales of language extinction are invariably tragic. But why， exactly？ Aka-Bo， like many other extinct languages， did not make a difference to the lives of the vast majority of people. Yet the sense that we lose something valuable when languages die is familiar. Just as familiar， though， is the view that preserving minority languages is a waste of time and resources. I want to attempt to make sense of these conflicting attitudes.

The simplest definition of a minority language is one that is spoken by less than half of some country or region. This makes Mandarin—the worlds most widely spoken language—a minority language in many countries. Usually， when we talk of minority languages，we mean languages that are minority languages even in the country in which they are most widely spoken. That will be our focus here. Were concerned especially with minority languages that are endangered， or that would be endangered were it not for active efforts to support them.

The sorrow we feel about the death of a language is complicated. Boa Seniors demise1 did not merely mark the extinction of a language. It also marked the loss of the culture of which she was once part. There is， in addition， something melancholy2 about the very idea of a languages last speaker； of a person who suffered the loss of everyone to whom he was once able to chat in his mother tongue.

Part of our sadness when a language dies has nothing to do with the language itself. Thriving majority languages do not come with tragic stories， and so they do not arouse our emotions in the same ways. Unsurprisingly， concern for minority languages is often dismissed as3 sentimental. Researchers on language policy have observed that majority languages tend to be valued for being useful and for facilitating4 progress， while minority languages are seen as barriers to progress， and the value placed on them is seen as mainly sentimental.

Sentimentality， we tend to think， is an exaggerated emotional attachment to something. It is exaggerated because it does not reflect the value of its object. We all treasure such things—a decades-old rubber， our childrens drawings， a long-expired train ticket from a trip to see the one we love—that are worthless to other people. The same might be true of minority languages： their value to some just doesnt warrant5 the society-wide effort required to preserve them.endprint

There are a couple of responses to this. First， the value of minority languages is not purely sentimental. Languages are scientifically interesting. There are whole fields of study devoted to them—to charting their history， relationships to other languages， relationships to the cultures in which they exist， and so on. Understanding languages even helps us to understand the way we think. Some believe that the language we speak influences the thoughts we have， or even that language is what makes thought possible.

Second， lets take a closer look at sentimental value. Why do we call some ways of valuing “sentimental”？ We often do this when someone values something to which they have a particular personal connection. Things that have personal value are valued much less by people who do not have the right sort of personal connection to them. This sort of value is behind the thriving market in celebrity autographs， and it is why parents around the world stick their childrens drawings to the fridge.

Historical and cultural significance is part of why we value languages. Katrina Esau， aged 84， is one of only three remaining speakers of N|uu， a South African “click”language.6 For the past decade， she has run a school in her home， teaching N|uu to local children in an effort to preserve it.

Even people who are unsympathetic to efforts to support minority languages are， I imagine， less baffled by Esaus desire to preserve N|uu than they would be by a campaign for the creation and proliferation of a completely new artificial language.7 The reason why its better to preserve currently existing natural languages than to create new ones is because of the historical and personal value of the former. These are exactly the sort of values associated with sentimentality.

Minority languages， then， are valuable. Does that mean that societies should invest in supporting them？ Not necessarily. The value of minority languages might be outweighed by the value of not supporting them. Therere two reasons： the burden that supporting minority languages places on people， and the benefits of reducing language diversity.

While we might value minority languages for similar reasons that we value medieval castles， there is an important difference in how we can go about preserving the two types of thing. We can preserve a castle by paying people to maintain it. But we cant preserve a minority language by paying people to carry out maintenance. Instead， we must get people to make the language a big part of their lives， which is necessary if they are to become competent speakers. Often this involves legislation to ensure that children learn the minority language at school.endprint

Some parents think that it would be better for their children to learn a useful majority language rather than a less useful minority language. However， for native English speakers， the most commonly taught majority languages—French， German， Spanish， Italian—are not as useful as they first seem. Because English is so widely spoken， even an English-speaking monoglot8 can make himself understood pretty well when visiting these countries. If he decides to invest effort in learning one of these languages， he can expect relatively little return on his investment in terms of usefulness.

In that case， why is it so widely seen as a good thing for English-speaking children to learn majority languages such as French， German and Spanish？ I think it is the same reason that many claim its a good thing to learn a minority language： to gain an insight into an unfamiliar culture， to be able to signal respect by speaking to people in the local language， to hone9 the cognitive skills one gains by learning a language， and so on.

Finally， lets consider a very different reason to resist the view that we should support minority languages. Language diversity is a barrier to successful communication. The advantages to adopting a single language are clear. It would enable us to travel anywhere in the world， confident that we could communicate with the people we met. We would save money on translation and interpretation. Scientific advances and other news could be shared faster and more thoroughly.

It would be difficult， however， to implement a lingua franca peacefully and justly.10 The history of language death is a violent one. It would， then， be difficult to embrace a lingua franca without harming speakers of other languages. Given the injustices that the communities of minority language speakers have suffered in the past， it might be that they are owed compensation， and it seems clear that it should not include wiping out and replacing the local language.

Perhaps， if one were a god creating a world from scratch11， it would be better to give the people in that world one language rather than many. But now that we have a world with a rich diversity of languages， all of which are interwoven with distinct histories and cultures， and many of which have survived ill-treatment and ongoing persecution， yet which continue to be celebrated and defended by their communities and beyond—once we have all these things， there is no going back without sacrificing a great deal of what is important and valuable.12endprint

最后一位會(huì)說孟加拉灣安達(dá)曼群島的部落語言阿卡波語的人，博阿·西尼爾，于2010年去世。關(guān)于語言消亡的消息總是令人悲痛的。但這究竟是為什么呢？和其他已經(jīng)消失的語言一樣，阿卡波語并沒有對大多數(shù)人的生活產(chǎn)生什么影響。但是當(dāng)某種語言消亡時(shí)，我們會(huì)覺得是失去了寶貴的東西，這種感覺很常見。而同樣地，我們對于“保護(hù)少數(shù)民族語言是一種浪費(fèi)時(shí)間和資源的事情”的說法也不陌生。我想試著解讀一下這些矛盾的態(tài)度。

如果一種語言的使用人數(shù)達(dá)不到這個(gè)國家或地區(qū)總?cè)丝诘囊话?，那么這種語言就是少數(shù)民族語言——這是對少數(shù)民族語言最簡單的一種定義。這使得漢語普通話——這種世界上使用人數(shù)最多的語言——在很多國家中變成了少數(shù)民族語言。但在通常情況下，我們所說的少數(shù)民族語言指的是那些即使在某個(gè)國家中是最廣泛使用的語言，但依舊屬于少數(shù)民族語言的語言。第二種定義下的少數(shù)民族語言是本文的關(guān)注點(diǎn)。我們尤其關(guān)注那些瀕臨滅絕的，或者是那些若缺乏積極有效的保護(hù)措施就會(huì)瀕臨滅絕的語言。

一種語言的死亡使我們產(chǎn)生的感傷之情是非常復(fù)雜的。博阿·西尼爾的去世不僅僅標(biāo)志著一種語言的消失，還標(biāo)志著她曾經(jīng)所處的文化的消失。此外，一想到某些人是最后一位可以說某種語言的人，以及他承受著失去所有他曾經(jīng)可以用母語交談的人的痛苦，也會(huì)讓人感到惆悵。

我們在某種語言消亡時(shí)所產(chǎn)生的傷感其中一部分和語言本身并沒有關(guān)系。欣欣向榮的被大多數(shù)人所使用的語言并不會(huì)走向悲慘的境地，因而它們也就不能以相同的方式激發(fā)我們的情感。自然地，對少數(shù)民族語言的關(guān)心經(jīng)常被當(dāng)做過于感性的事而被忽視。語言政策的研究者們發(fā)現(xiàn)，一個(gè)國家中大多數(shù)人所使用的語言常常會(huì)因?yàn)樗杏貌⑶夷軌虼龠M(jìn)社會(huì)發(fā)展而被重視，但少數(shù)民族語言卻被看做進(jìn)步的障礙，對于它們的關(guān)注也常被當(dāng)做感情用事。

我們往往將“感情用事”視為一種被夸大的對某些事物的情感依戀。之所以說它被夸大，是因?yàn)檫@樣的情感并不能如實(shí)反映那個(gè)被依戀物的價(jià)值。我們都會(huì)珍視一些對別人來說并沒有價(jià)值的東西—— 一塊幾十年的舊橡皮、自己孩子的涂鴉，或是一張去見戀人時(shí)留下的早已過期的火車票根。這樣的情況可能也適用于少數(shù)民族語言：這些瀕臨滅絕的語言對于某一部分人的價(jià)值，并不能保證我們能得到保護(hù)其所需的來自全社會(huì)范圍內(nèi)的支持。

對于這種情況，我們需要闡明幾點(diǎn)。第一，重視少數(shù)民族語言并不完全是感情用事。語言是科學(xué)而有趣的。對于語言，我們開展了完善而全面的研究——追蹤記錄它們的歷史、研究與其他語言之間的關(guān)系，以及它們和母體文化之間的關(guān)系等等。理解語言甚至可以幫助我們理解自身思考的方式。一些人認(rèn)為我們所使用的語言能夠影響我們的思想，有人甚至認(rèn)為語言還可能產(chǎn)生了思想。

其次，讓我們來更加仔細(xì)地看一下感情用事的價(jià)值取向。為什么我們會(huì)把一些價(jià)值判斷的方式叫做“感情用事”呢？我們常常會(huì)在有人十分重視跟他們自身有特殊關(guān)聯(lián)的事物時(shí)這么說。而對于并沒有這種特殊關(guān)聯(lián)的人來說，就不會(huì)那么重視這些存在個(gè)人價(jià)值的事物。正因?yàn)榇嬖谶@樣一種價(jià)值取向，名人的親筆簽名才會(huì)那么有市場，全世界的父母才會(huì)把他們孩子的涂鴉貼到冰箱上。

語言的歷史和文化意義也是我們需要重視語言的原因?？ㄌ厝鸺{·以素今年84歲，是南非一種含有“搭嘴音”的N|uu方言僅剩的三位使用者之一。在過去的十年間，她在她的家鄉(xiāng)建立了一個(gè)學(xué)校，通過教當(dāng)?shù)氐暮⒆诱fN|uu語來保護(hù)這種語言。

我覺得，即便那些對于保護(hù)少數(shù)民族語言不太關(guān)心的人來說，比起以素保護(hù)N|uu語的強(qiáng)烈愿望，創(chuàng)造和推行一種全新的人造語言可能會(huì)更讓他們感到困惑。保護(hù)目前存在的語言之所以比創(chuàng)造新語言更好，是因?yàn)榍罢咴跉v史層面和個(gè)人層面具有價(jià)值。這些價(jià)值也正是和“感情用事”相關(guān)聯(lián)的東西。

所以，少數(shù)民族語言是有價(jià)值的。那這就意味著社會(huì)應(yīng)該大舉投入保護(hù)它們嗎？未必。少數(shù)民族語言的價(jià)值可能不如不保護(hù)它們的價(jià)值大。原因有兩點(diǎn)：一是保護(hù)少數(shù)民族語言給人們帶來的壓力，二是減少語言多樣性的好處。

雖然我們珍惜少數(shù)民族語言的原因可能和重視中世紀(jì)城堡相似，但我們?nèi)绾伪Ｗo(hù)這兩種東西是有重要區(qū)別的。我們可以花錢雇人去保護(hù)一座城堡。但是我們不能通過花錢讓人們來保護(hù)一個(gè)少數(shù)民族語言。相反地，我們必須讓語言變成人們生活中非常重要的一部分，這對于讓他們成為合格的語言使用者來說是非常必要的。通常情況下，要實(shí)現(xiàn)這一點(diǎn)，需要通過立法來確保孩子們能在學(xué)校里學(xué)習(xí)少數(shù)民族語言。

一些父母覺得讓他們的孩子學(xué)一門有用的大語種可能會(huì)比學(xué)一門沒那么有用的少數(shù)民族語言要好。然而，對于以英語為母語的人來說，他們學(xué)的最多的幾個(gè)大語種——法語、德語、西班牙語、意大利語——并沒有他們想象中那么有用。由于英語的使用范圍太廣泛了，即便一個(gè)只會(huì)說英語的人在上述這些國家旅行時(shí)也能和當(dāng)?shù)厝藴贤ǖ梅浅：?。如果一個(gè)人決定學(xué)習(xí)上述某一種語言的話，在實(shí)用性方面，他的投入并不能期望可以得到什么回報(bào)。

既然這樣，為什么人們會(huì)普遍認(rèn)為學(xué)一門像法語、德語或西班牙語的大語種對以英語為母語的孩子來說是一件好事呢？我覺得這可能和許多人認(rèn)為學(xué)一門少數(shù)民族語言是件好事的原因一樣：收獲一種理解陌生文化的洞察力，讓人可以用當(dāng)?shù)氐恼Z言對別人表示尊敬，以及通過學(xué)習(xí)一門新的語言來鍛煉認(rèn)知能力等等。

最后，讓我們來考慮一個(gè)與眾不同的用來反對“我們應(yīng)該保護(hù)少數(shù)民族語言”的理由。語言多樣性是溝通的障礙。使用同一種語言的好處是顯而易見的。這能夠讓我們到世界各地旅行，自信地與我們在旅途中遇到的人交流。我們也可以節(jié)省筆譯和口譯的錢?？茖W(xué)方面的進(jìn)展和其他的消息能夠被更加迅速而深入地傳播。

但是，以和平公正的方式來推行一門通用語言是很難的。語言消亡的歷史是充滿暴力的。因而，我們很難在不傷害其他語言使用者的情況下推崇通用語言?？紤]到少數(shù)民族語言使用者在過去所遭受的不公，他們需要得到一種補(bǔ)償，而且很明顯，這樣的補(bǔ)償不應(yīng)該包括清除和取代當(dāng)?shù)氐恼Z言。

如果上帝現(xiàn)在要從頭開始創(chuàng)造一個(gè)世界的話，他給那個(gè)世界的人們同一種語言可能比給他們許多語言要好。但既然我們的世界已經(jīng)有豐富多彩的語言了，并且所有的語言與各自獨(dú)特的歷史文化相互交融，其中許多語言還是經(jīng)歷了不公正對待和持續(xù)不斷的迫害后存活下來的，并繼續(xù)被少數(shù)民族群體及更多人支持和保護(hù)著—— 一旦我們有了所有這些東西，在不犧牲大量重要和有價(jià)值的東西的情況下，是沒有回頭路可以走的。

1. demise： 死亡。

2. melancholy： // 憂郁的，使人悲傷的。

3. dismiss as： （因認(rèn)為某事不重要而）不予認(rèn)真對待。

4. facilitate： 促進(jìn)，幫助。

5. warrant： 保證，允諾。

6. N|uu： 南非Tuu語系中的一種方言，瀕臨滅絕；click： 搭嘴音，又叫吸氣音、吮吸音、咂嘴音，是發(fā)音方式的一種，多見于非洲東部和南部的語言中。

7. baffle： 使困惑，使為難；proliferation：增殖，擴(kuò)散。

8. monoglot： // 只會(huì)一種語言的人。

9. hone： 磨煉，訓(xùn)練（技藝等）。

10. implement： 實(shí)施，執(zhí)行；lingua franca： （母語不同的人共用的）通用語。

11. from scratch： 從零開始。

12. interweave with： 與……交織，緊密結(jié)合；persecution： 迫害；celebrate： 贊美，頌揚(yáng)。endprint