国际通用语发展演变的特点与模式——以拉丁语、法语和英语为例

Characteristics and Patterns of the Evolution of International Languages:The Case of Latin,French and English

社会的发展、文明的进步、国际交往的密切,导致人们对国际语的学习和认知需求与日俱增。历史上,拉丁语、法语和英语相继承担了辅助国际交流的功能,但程度各异。拉丁语和法语止步于欧洲的区域通用语,英语则进一步发展为全球通用语。三种语言的兴衰史表明,国际语的演变并非是偶然随机的语言兴亡与更替,而是遵循某些演化规律的。理论上,国际语的选择多种多样,但在实践层面更为偏好民族语言。国际语的发展路径遵循地理分布的层级规律,即从民族通用语到区域通用语再到国际通用语。语言外因素对语言的国际化不仅起到决定性作用,而且也表现出不同的层次性。国际语的演变通常滞后于国家的兴衰,新旧国际语的更替呈现出长期性、复杂性的特点。

The development of society,the progress of civilization and the frequent international communication have all led to an increasing demand for international languages.Latin,French and English have successively assumed the function of international communication in history to a certain degree.Either Latin or French stopped as a regional language in Europe,while English has further developed into a global language.The history of the rise and fall of the three languages shows that the evolution of an international language is not accidental,but has a certain evolutionary mechanism and development law.Theoretically,there are many international languages to choose,but in reality national languages are more preferable.The development of an international language follows the hierarchy of geographical distribution,that is,from a national language to a regional language and then to an international language.Extra-linguistic factors not only play a decisive role in the internationalization of a language,but also show the features of hierarchy.The evolution of an international language usually lags behind the rise and fall of its home country,and the replacement of an old international language with a new one reveals its time-consuming feature and complexity.