華文與西文，孰優？繼續
(本文原載于華文詳解第一集)
英文與華文
當筆者學習英語時，導師說英文的狀詞經常加<LY>音作爲語尾．表示多數的名詞，常要加<Ｓ>音在詞尾．但不是全部都要如此．在簡單觀點看，這些語尾都是多餘不必要的！在實際上，中國語言也有語尾音産生．比如：兒，的，地..... 等音．但在簡潔修詞的文章中，這些語尾音常常被省略．拼音文字是容易表達語音，所以才記錄不必要的語音．華文系統，每字只可能發成一音，<不便> 於表達語尾音，所以減少一些不必要的聲音在文章中．華文<不便>之處，在無形中，便成爲華文的<優點>．結果，華文的動詞，名詞，狀詞，形容詞等等都不必改變字音或增加音節．在目前，有些多音節的英文名詞都趨向減省成一，二音節(注18)．
據英國有二十五年經驗的 OXFORD大學教授 JEAN AITCHISON 發現，在不知不覺中，有很多不規則的英文動詞都趨向規律化 (注19)．新英國百科詞典又認爲，現代英語的名詞，動詞，雖然還有變化，但是形容詞，狀詞，前置詞，連詞都不變化(注20)．可見英文當趨向華文的簡單路線． 華文的動詞, 名詞以及其他詞類, 老早在二三千年前已經規律化了!
GOTEBORG 大學院長 BERNHARD KARLGEN教授認爲，在印歐語中，英文是最進步，但中國語文更進步(注21)．最近西方學者Umberto Eco又認爲，華文是完善理想的文字，甚至有人認爲中國語是上帝天主首創，並且是世界的模範語文 (注22)．又據英國吉尼斯的世界紀錄 ：世界上有8.3億人說普通話．普通話是世界最多人使用的語言．英美語只有3.2 億人使用．法語只有0.7億人使用(注23)．
註 解 與 引 證：
18. Anthony => Tony Aeroplane => plane
Benjamin => Ben Laboratory => lab
Catherine, Katherine => Kate Maximum => max.
Christopher => Chris Representative => rep
Jennifer => Jenny Veterinary-surgeon => vet
19. First, the old irregular forms gradually get forgotten, especially when the verbs are rarely used ones. In this century, gelded and girded have mostly replaced gelt and girt as the past tense forms of geld and gird, and many people don't even realize a change has occurred......Second, new uses of old forms tend to acquire regular endings......Third, any new forms receive regular inflections.....So more and more old forms are wiped away as new, regular forms flood in. 一．那些舊式不規則動詞逐漸給遺忘，尤其是那些少用的動詞．geld 和 gird 的過去式是gelt 和 girt, 但今世人常寫成 gelded 和 girded．很多人都不知曾有變動發生....二．舊動詞 獲用爲新的意思時，它的語尾偏偏變成規則....三．新的動詞都成爲規則變動....所以越來越多的不規則舊動詞給沖掉,而成爲規則的新動詞，就越來越多． Jean Aitchison, The Language web, Cambridge University Press,1997, p.13.
20. English is an analytic (i.e., relatively uninflected) language, where as Proto-Indo-European, the ancestral tongue of most European, Iranian, and North Indian language, is synthetic, or inflected. Over thousands of years, English has lost most of its inflections, while other European languages have retained more of theirs. Indeed, English is the only European language in which adjectives have no distinctive endings, aside from determiners and endings denoting degrees of comparison. 監于印歐的原始語言，大部份歐洲語，伊朗語，北印語的祖宗音調是由組合或語尾變化而成，但英語是個分析語言（比如，相關不變化）．經過千年後，大部份英語已消失它的變化，但其他歐洲語還保存很多語尾變化性．實際上，在歐洲語言中，唯有英語的形容詞尾音是不變化，除了指定詞和語尾變化表達比較程度之外. (葉玉龍教授翻譯:原始印歐語,即大部份歐洲,伊朗和北印地安的原始口語爲綜合語,或者說是屈折語, 而英語則爲分折語(即相對的非屈折性). 經過數千年變化,英語已失去大部份屈折性,但其他歐洲語言仍大多保留.實際上,在歐洲語中,唯有英語形容詞無詞尾變化,限定詞及表示比較級的詞尾變化除外.) Modern English nouns, pronouns, and verbs are inflected; but adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections are not. 現代英語名詞，代名詞，和動詞都有變化；但是形容詞，狀詞，前置詞，連詞，和感歎詞都不變形． The New Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th ed., vol.4, p.500
21. The old theory, which classified Chinese as a 'primitive' language, not yet raised to the inflectional status, is the opposite of the truth. Chinese, in fact, has followed exactly the same line of evolution as the Indo-European languages....English is perhaps in this respect the most highly developed Indo-European language, but Chinese has progressed much further....The literature of China is, as we have stated, an Esperanto, but be it observed, exclusively a written one, and in this respect it is surely unique....The Chinese script is so wonderfully well adapted to the linguistic conditions of China that it is indispensable. （西歐）昔日論談把中國語列爲低等語言，還未達到確定程度，是與事實相反．在實際上，中國語言也跟隨印歐語言的演變進化路線一樣....在這（演化）方面，英語可能是最高度發展的印歐語言，但是中國語更進步....中國的文章，如我們曾陳述，是一個世界語，且要注意的，尤其是書寫文字方面，是確實獨特無比....中國文字很奇妙適合中國語言的條件，即是中國文字不可廢除的．Bernhard Karlgen, Sound and Symbol in Chinese, London, Oxford University Press, Humphrey Milford, 1923, p.25-41 （Bernhard Karlgen 的中文名是高本漢）
22. Chinese might be the language of Adam.....Chinese was offered as a model for an international language....Chinese writing was considered perfect in so far as with ideograms every element on the expression-plane corresponded to a semantic unit on the content-plane. 中國語言可能是阿當的語言（筆者注：據天主基督教經典說，天主製造第一個人是阿當）....中國(語文)曾經獲得推薦爲國際語言的模範....至今,華文曾獲考慮爲完善理想的表意文字，因爲每一個成份在表達方面都配合意義內容方面． Umberto Eco, The Search For The Perfect Language, Fontana Press, 1995/1997, p.158-161
23.甲．THE WORLD'S PRINCIPAL LANGUAGES
THE WORLD'S PRINCIPAL LANGUAGES |
Language | Number of speakers as a first language (1993 est) | Notes |
1. Mandarin(Chinese) | 830,000,000 | The official language of China. Mandarin---also known as Putonghua---is the standardized northern Chinese. Spoken in China and by Chinese communities throughout Southeast Asia. An additional 90,000,000 people speak Mandarin as a second language. |
2. Hindi | 330,000,000 | One of the official languages of India. Spoken in north and central India. An additional 65,000,000 people speak Hindi as a second language. |
3. Spanish (Castilian) | 325,000,000 | Spoken as a first language in Spain (except in Catalonia, Galicia and the Basque Country) and in Latin America (except Brazil). An official language in 21 countries. An additional 45,000,000 people speak Spanish as a second language. |
4. English | 320,000,000 | The first language in Australia, Canada, Caribbean Commonwealth countries, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK and the USA, and widely spoken in Commonwealth and former Commonwealth countries included India, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. An official language in 47 countries. An additional 140,000,000 people speak English as a second language. |
The Guinness book of answers, 1995, p.350
乙．
THE WORLD'S MAIN LANGUAGES |
| LANGUAGE FAMILY | First language (million) | Notes |
1 GUOYU (PUTONGHUA) | Sino-Tibetan | 810 | The official language of China. Putonghua –also known as Mandarin- is standardized northern Chinese. Spoken in China and by Chinese communities throughout South-East Asia. |
2 HINDI | Indo-European (Indo-Iranian) | 364 | One of the official language of India. Spoken in north and central India. An additional 60 million people speak Hindi as a second language. |
3 ENGLISH | Indo-European (Germanic) | 335 | The first language in Australia, Canada, Caribbean Commonwealth countries, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK and the USA, and widely spoken in former British countries. An additional 185 million people speak English as a second language, and it is used in many parts of the world for communication among people of different mother tongues. English is an official language in 57 countries. |
Guinness Book of Knowledge, 1997, p.247
筆者觀點：中國第一。英國第三。台灣法定全民要學習英語。大陸鼓吹學英語。漢唐的富強時期，完全沒有英語。日本明治天皇更新強國，也不靠英文英語啊！自悲得可憐！
