How the English Language Conquered the World英语如何征服了世界

蔡美儿/文　王一宇/译

“Every time the question of language surfaces，” the Italian Marxist philosopher Antonio Gramsci wrote， “in one way or another a series of other problems are coming to the fore，” like “the enlargement of the governing class，” the “relationships between the governing groups and the national-popular mass” and the fight over “cultural hegemony.” Vindicating Gramsci， Rosemary Salomones The Rise of English explores the language wars being fought all over the world， revealing the political， economic and cultural stakes behind these wars， and showing that so far English is winning.

意大利馬克思主义理论家安东尼奥·葛兰西写道，“每当语言问题浮出水面，一系列其他问题就会以某种方式凸显出来”，比如“统治阶级的扩大”“统治团体与国民大众之间的关系”以及对“文化霸权”的争夺。罗丝玛丽·萨洛莫内所著《英语的崛起》一书支持葛兰西的观点，该书探讨世界各地正在进行的语言战争，揭示了这些战争背后政治、经济和文化上的利害关系，并表明到目前为止，英语正在取得胜利。

English is the worlds most widely spoken language， with some 1.5 billion speakers even though its native for fewer than 400 million. English accounts for 60 percent of world internet content and is the lingua franca of pop culture and the global economy. All 100 of the worlds most influential science journals publish in English. “Across Europe， close to 100 percent of students study English at some point in their education.”

英语是世界上使用最广泛的语言，尽管母语人口不到4亿，但共约有15亿人说英语。英语占世界互联网内容的60%，也是流行文化和全球经济的通用语言。世界上最具影响力的100部科学期刊都以英文出版。“在整个欧洲，近100%的学生在某个教育阶段学习英语。”

Even in France， where countering the hegemony of English is an official obsession， English is winning. French bureaucrats constantly try to ban Anglicisms “such as gamer， dark web and fake news1，” Salomone writes， but their edicts are “quietly ignored.” Although a French statute called the Toubon Law2 “requires radio stations to play 35 percent French songs，” “the remaining 65 percent is flooded with American music.” Many young French artists sing in English. By law， French schoolchildren must study a foreign language， and while eight languages are available， 90 percent choose English.

即使在官方都痴迷于对抗英语霸权的法国，英语也在节节获胜。萨洛莫内写道，法国官老爷们不断试图禁止“游戏玩家（gamer）、暗网（dark web）和假新闻（fake news）”等英语外来词的使用，但他们的发号施令总被“悄然忽视”。虽然法国出台了名为《都蓬法》的法律，“要求电台播放的歌曲中，35%须为法国歌曲”，但“剩下的65%尽由美国音乐占据”。法国许多年轻艺人都用英语唱歌。根据法律规定，法国学生必须学习一门外语，虽然有8种语言可供选择，但90%的学生选择英语。

Salomone， the Kenneth Wang professor of law at St. Johns University School of Law， tends to glide over why English won， simply stating that English is the language of neoliberalism and globalization， which seems to beg the question. But she is meticulous and nuanced in chronicling the battles being fought over language policy in countries ranging from Italy to Congo， and analyzing the unexpected winners and losers.

对于英语胜出的原因，美国圣约翰大学法学院“王健杰出法学教授”萨洛莫内未予深究，只是轻描淡写地表示这是由于英语是新自由主义和全球化的语言，看起来这样的回答会引起疑问。但她严谨、细致地回溯了意大利、刚果等国在语言政策方面的斗争，并分析了让人意想不到的赢家和输家。

Exactly whom English benefits is complicated. Obviously， it benefits native Anglophones. Americans， with what Salomone calls their “smug monolingualism，” are often blissfully unaware of the advantage they have because of the worldwide dominance of their native tongue.

英語究竟对谁有利是很复杂的。显然，这有利于母语为英语的人。萨洛莫内称之为“自鸣得意的单语主义”的美国人，往往身在福中，却没有意识到自己的优势，因为他们的母语在世界范围内占据主导地位。

English also benefits globally connected market-dominant minorities in non-Western countries， like English-speaking whites in South Africa or the Anglophone Tutsi elite in Rwanda. In former French colonies like Algeria and Morocco， shifting from French to English is seen not just as the key to modernization， but as a form of resistance against their colonial past.

英语也有利于非西方国家中那些与全球有联系且市场占主导地位的少数族群，如南非讲英语的白人或卢旺达讲英语的图西族精英。在阿尔及利亚和摩洛哥等前法国殖民地，从法语转向英语不仅被视为实现现代化的关键，也是对其殖民历史的一种抵抗。

In India， the role of English is spectacularly complex. The ruling Hindu nationalist Indian Peoples Party prefers to depict English as the colonizers language， impeding the vision of an India unified by Hindu culture and Hindi. By contrast， for speakers of non-Hindi languages and members of lower castes， English is often seen as a shield against majority domination. Some reformers see English as an “egalitarian language” in contrast to Indian languages， which carry “the legacy of caste.”

在印度，英语的作用极其复杂。执政的印度教民族主义政党印度人民党倾向于将英语描绘成殖民者的语言，该语言阻碍了由印度教文化和印地语将印度合众为一的愿景。相比之下，对于非印地语使用者和低种姓成员来说，英语往往被视为反对多数统治的盾牌。一些改革者将英语视为一种“平等主义语言”，而印度的诸语言则带有“种姓的后遗症”。

English is also a symbol of social status. As a character in a recent Bollywood hit says： “English isnt just a language in this country. Its a class.” Meanwhile， Indian tiger parents， “from the wealthiest to the poorest，” press for their children to be taught in English， seeing it as the ticket to upward mobility.

英语也是社会地位的象征。正如近年宝莱坞热播剧中角色所言：“英语不仅仅是这个国家的一种语言。它是一种阶级。”与此同时，“从最富有到最贫穷”的印度虎爸虎妈，都会敦促他们的孩子接受英语教育，并将其视为阶级跃迁的门票。

Salomones South Africa chapter is among the most interesting in the book. Along with Afrikaans， English is one of South Africas 11 official languages， and even though only 9.6 percent of the population speak English as their first language， it “dominates every sector，” including government， the internet， business， broadcasting， the press， street signs and popular music.

薩洛莫内书中关于南非的章节是最有趣的章节之一。与南非荷兰语一样，英语是南非11种官方语言之一，尽管只有9.6%的人口将英语作为第一语言，但它“主导着各个领域”，包括政府、互联网、商业、广播、报刊、路标和流行音乐。

But English is not only the language of South Africas commercial and political elite. It was also the language of Black resistance to the Afrikaner-dominated apartheid regime， giving it enormous symbolic importance. Thus， recent years have seen poor and working-class Black activists pushing for English-only instruction in universities， even though many of them are not proficient in the language.

但英语不仅仅是南非商业精英和政治精英的语言，也是黑人反抗南非白人主导的种族隔离政权的语言，被赋予了巨大的象征意义。由此，近年来，贫困和工薪阶层的黑人活动家在大学里推行纯英语教学，尽管他们中许多人并不精通英语。

Opponents of English， however， argue that shifting away from Afrikaans instruction disproportionately hurts the poor of all races， including lower-income Blacks， whites and mixed-race “colored” South Africans. Meanwhile， younger “colored activists are challenging the English-Afrikaans binary and exploring alternate forms of expression， like AfriKaaps，” a form of Afrikaans promoted by hip-hop artists. For now， though， “the constitutional commitment to language equality in South Africa is aspirational at best，” and “English reigns supreme for its economic power.”

然而，反对英语（教学）的人认为，放弃南非荷兰语教学，对所有种族的穷人造成了过多的伤害，包括低收入的黑人、白人和“有色的”混血南非人。与此同时，年轻的“有色人种活动家正在挑战英语-南非荷兰语的二元对立，并探索其他语言表达形式，如开普荷兰语（AfriKaaps）”，这是嘻哈艺术家推广的一种南非荷兰语。然而，就目前而言，“南非对语言平等的宪法承诺充其量只是一种理想”，“英语以其经济实力占据了至高无上的地位”。

Learning English pays， with “positive labor market returns across the globe.” Throughout academia today， even in Europe and Asia， “the rule no longer is ‘Publish or perish but rather ‘Publish in English… or perish.” In the Middle East， “employees who were more proficient in English earned salaries from 5 percent （Tunisia） to a stunning 200 percent （Iraq） more than their non-English-speaking counterparts.” In Argentina， 90 percent of employers “believed that English was an indispensable skill for managers and directors.” In every country she surveys， higher income is correlated with English proficiency.

学习英语是有回报的，英语在“全球劳动力市场回报率为正”。在今天的整个学术界，甚至在欧洲和亚洲，“规则不再是‘出版或出局，而是‘用英语出版……否则出局”。在中东，“使用英语更熟练的员工的工资比不懂英语的员工从高出5%（突尼斯）到惊人的200%（伊拉克）”。在阿根廷，90%的雇主“认为英语是经理和主管不可或缺的技能”。在萨洛莫内调查的每一个国家，收入更高都与英语熟练有关。

Salomone concludes with a brief discussion of American monolingualism， describing the waves of political angst over threats to English as the national language， while advocating more multilingualism in Anglophone countries. Beyond the economic benefits of speaking multiple languages in a globalized world， Salomone cites studies that show learning new languages improves overall cognitive function. In addition， she argues， “observing life through a wide linguistic and cultural lens leads to greater creativity and innovation.”

萨洛莫内最后简要讨论了美国的单语主义，介绍对英语作为国家语言受到威胁的政治焦虑浪潮，同时倡导英语国家更多地使用多种语言。除了在全球化世界中说多种语言带来的经济效益之外，萨洛莫内还引用研究，表明学习新语言可以提高整体认知功能。此外，她认为，“通过广泛的语言和文化视角观察生活会带来更大的创造力和创新”。

The Rise of English has its weaknesses. Most important， the book lacks any clear thesis beyond suggesting “language is political; its complicated.” In addition， the book doesnt tie together or reflect on the divergence of its case studies; I frequently found myself wondering why the experiences of （say） France or Italy or Denmark were different， and what we should take from that fact.

《英语的崛起》也有缺憾。最重要的是，这本书除了暗示“语言是政治性的，很复杂”之外，没有任何明确的论点。此外，这本书里没有把案例研究联系在一起，也没有反思案例研究的分歧。我在阅读中常想知道，为什么，（比如）法国、意大利或丹麦的情况不同，以及我们应该从中吸取什么。

Finally， the book offers no clear evaluative framework. Salomone focuses primarily on straightforward economic factors （which often boil down to the same thing： access to global markets）， but there is a smattering of underdeveloped discussion of other， more elusive themes too， like race， equity， colonialism and imperialism. This hodgepodge of incommensurables may trace back to the books origins. In her preface， Salomone writes， “My initial plan was to write a book on the value of language in the global economy.” But “the deeper I dug… the more I viewed the issues through a wider global lens and the clearer the connections to educational equity， identity and democratic participation appeared.” Unfortunately， she never quite gets a handle on these deeper issues.

最后，這本书没有提供明确的评价框架。萨洛莫内主要关注直接的经济因素（通常归结为同一件事：进入全球市场），但对种族、公平、殖民主义和帝国主义等其他更难以捉摸的主题只有一些不够深入的零星讨论。这两重互不相容的主题大杂烩的缘由，可从这本书的撰写起源中探寻一二。萨洛莫内在序言中写道，“我最初的计划是写一本关于语言在全球经济中的价值的书”，但“我挖掘得越深……就越能从更广泛的全球视角看待这些问题，它们与教育公平、身份认同和民主参与的联系就越清晰”。遗憾的是，她并未完全驾驭这些更深层次的问题。

The justifications for English—or any language—as a global lingua franca are based primarily in economic efficiency. By contrast， the reasons to protect local languages mostly sound in different registers—the importance of cultural heritage; the geopolitics of resistance to great powers; the value of Indigenous art; the beauty of idiosyncratic words in other languages that describe all the different types of snow or the different flavors of melancholia. As Gramsci reminded us， the question of who speaks what language invariably puts all this on the table.

将英语或任何语言作为全球通用语言的理由主要基于经济效率。相比之下，保护地方语言的理由大多是源自不同的考量：文化遗产的重要性、反抗强权的地缘政治、土著艺术的价值、地方语言中描述雪的各种类型或忧郁的不同滋味的独特词汇的美感。正如葛兰西提醒我们的那样，“谁说什么语言”的问题，无一例外都是悬而待决的。

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖选手；单位：北京大学国际法学院）

1法语中，游戏玩家（gamer）为joueur de jeu vidéo，暗网（dark web）为internet clandestine，假新闻（fake news）为information fallacieuse。  2法国《都蓬法》（La Lois Toubon），1994年法国议会通过的法律，主要内容包括政府出版物、大多数工作场所、广告、部分媒体和公立学校必须强制使用法语。为适应互联网经济，近年该限制有所放松。例如，1996年，在不影响消费者的健康、安全或权利的前提下，法国免除部分外国产品和服务必须提供法语翻译的义务。2015年，法国最高法院裁定，该法律不适用于总部不在法国或不针对法国消费者的网站。2018年，法国允许更多的例外情况和简化创建新法语术语的程序，使其更灵活适应数字时代。