規範派 vs. 描述派，假議題的新出路

紐約時報刊載了超過三十年的語言專欄On Language，於2011年2月喊停，其實我真的不懂爲何要停。以下這篇2012年紐時以辯論形式發表於2012年的文章，留言數高達400多則，顯示有興趣、關心（英語）語言的讀者大有人在。

這篇辯論文應該是"prescriptive descriptivism"或"prescriptive descriptivist“這樣的新稱呼最早在網路上出現的地方，出自辯論一方的Greene（他是美國人，如今是經濟學人雜誌Johnson語言專欄的作者之一）。看到prescriptive descriptivist這詞，真的很高興，即便是七年多的後知後覺。多年來，一直覺得語言用法的規範派與描述派這兩種井水不犯河水又互婊以求自我感覺良好的陣營，讓我覺得格格不入，因爲一旦自稱描述派，就好像失去了說某某說法「文法錯誤」的權利（這其實是誤解描述派的立意），但我顯然早已看穿強硬規範派的荒謬與不實，更不可能以此自居。所以，我很開心終於找到一個標籤，讓我加入prescriptive descriptivist陣營，認爲語言用法應該與時代俱進，並有適當規範，但堅拒當今臺灣基本國民教育中的英文老師應該還在灌輸的那套數十年不改的死硬規範文法。

// Pinker saw no conflict in being a descriptivist and speaking of “correct” grammar. I consider myself a “prescriptive descriptivist,” and have no qualms with the word “error.” Even the “no such thing as an error” linguists whom you cite ring-fence their statements with things like “for the most part” (Trudgill and Andersson, 1990). They mean that “when expressing themselves as they intend to,” not hurried, tired, distracted or drinking, native speakers do not make mistakes. Instead, they would say that those speakers constitute their own idiolects (individual ways of speaking) and when their speech patterns line up, they constitute stable dialects, and when enough dialects overlap, they constitute languages. I would never say “native speakers can’t make an error,” but I do see what they’re aiming for: a correction of the centuries-old view that error is everywhere because most people are ignorant.

https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/09/27/which-language-and-grammar-rules-to-flout

American English at State
來和ShareAmerica一起練習的英語 #English 日常對話吧！今天的要練習的對話是："你想家了嗎?"。請聽這個網頁的錄音檔(內有英文全文): https://goo.gl/BWZH7c

讓我們來學習一些詞語：

Long time no see：好久不見。這是一種英語口語表達方式，用在與很長時間未見面的人相遇的時候。

What've you been up to? ：是英語口語的一種非正式問話，意思為“你近來在幹什麼？”

To seem or be a little down 的意思是，好像有點低沉/情緒不高。

Homesick：想家，思鄉。前面通常用“是”動詞be或者動詞feel（感覺）。例如： She is homesick. （她想家了。）I feel homesick.（我想家。）

形容詞multilingual用來指熟練掌握兩種以上語言的人。

形容詞multicultural的意思是多種文化的，可以形容融合多種文化的環境或者有多種文化背景的群體。

To acclimate: 指適應一個新地方或新環境。常見的用法是acclimate+to+地點或環境。例如：She is acclimating to the new city. （她正在適應她的新城市。）He quickly acclimates to the cultures of other countries.（他對其他國家的文化適應很快。）

在這個對話裡， nonsense表示說話人認為前面的說法完全不對。

會話逐字文:
Peter: Hi Jana. Long time no see. What’ve you been up to?

Jana: Just studying a lot.

Peter: You seem a little down. Is everything okay?

Jana: Yeah, everything is okay. Thanks for asking. Sometimes I get a little homesick and miss my family and my language. I didn’t realize how important my home language is to me. It’s really part of who I am.

Peter: I definitely understand that. Even though my parents and sisters are multilingual, we usually only speak our first language with one another.

Jana: But you don’t seem to ever miss your home language.

Peter: Of course I do! But this is a very multicultural campus and city. There are people here who speak your home language. It has helped me to find people who speak my first language. We get together every couple of weeks to talk.

Jana: I’m glad you understand. Part of me thinks I am a failure or I’m not acclimating to the U.S. if I don’t speak English all the time.

Peter: Nonsense! All of our languages are part of who we are and part of our identities. We can’t ignore that.

Practice your #English with ShareAmerica's Everyday Conversations! Today's dialogue: Are you homesick? @AmericanEnglishatState