hellog〜英語史ブログ / 2019-04-16

■ #3641. 英語史のすゝめ (1) --- 英語史は教養的な学問領域 [hel_education][bchel]

　常々，英語史という学問領域は，教養的，人文的，学際的であると考えています．言語学（英語学）と歴史学の接点であることは言うまでもなく，言語学の関連諸分野と歴史学の関連諸分野とが多様に交差する複合的な知の領域です．年度初めのこの4月に，英語史の世界に初めて足を踏み入れる人も，改めて深く学ぼうと意気軒昂たる人も，ぜひ英語史をこのように広くとらえてもらえればと思います．
　英語史の古典的名著を著わした Baugh and Cable も，その第6版の冒頭を飾る第1節 "The History of the English Languages as a Cultural Subject" にて，それは教養ある人々にふさわしい教養科目であると宣言しています．少し長いですが，力のこもった文章なので，掲載しておきましょう．

It was observed by that remarkable twelfth-century chronicler Henry of Huntington that an interest in the past was one of the distinguishing characteristics of humans as compared with the other animals. The medium by which speakers of a language communicate their thoughts and feelings to others, the tool with which they conduct their business or the government of millions of people, the vehicle by which has been transmitted the science, the philosophy, the poetry of the culture is surely worthy of study. It is not to be expected that everyone should be a philologist or should master the technicalities of linguistic science. But it is reasonable to assume that a liberally educated person should know something of the structure of his or her language, its position in the world and its relation to other tongues, the wealth of its vocabulary together with the sources from which that vocabulary has been and is being enriched, and the complex relationships among the many different varieties of speech that are gathered under the single name of the English language. The diversity of cultures that find expression in it is a reminder that the history of English is a story of cultures in contact during the past 1,500 years. It understates matters to say that political, economic, and social forces influence a language. These forces shape the language in every aspect, most obviously in the number and spread of its speakers, and in what is called "the sociology of language," but also in the meanings of words, in the accents of the spoken language, and even in the structures of the grammar. The history of a language is intimately bound up with the history of the peoples who speak it. The purpose of this book, then, is to treat the history of English not only as being of interest to the specialized student but also as a cultural subject within the view of all educated people, while including enough references to technical matters to make clear the scientific principles involved in its evolution. (Baugh and Cable 1--2)

　この主張に賛同するのであれば，英語史と同じくらい日本語史も勉強したくなるかもしれません．○○語史は，専門科目でもあり教養科目でもあるのです．学習意欲を高めるために，次の記事もどうぞ．

　・ 「#24. なぜ英語史を学ぶか」 ([2009-05-22-1])
　・ 「#1199. なぜ英語史を学ぶか (2)」 ([2012-08-08-1])
　・ 「#1200. なぜ英語史を学ぶか (3)」 ([2012-08-09-1])
　・ 「#1367. なぜ英語史を学ぶか (4)」 ([2013-01-23-1])
　・ 「#2984. なぜ英語史を学ぶか (5)」 ([2017-06-28-1])

　・ Baugh, Albert C. and Thomas Cable. A History of the English Language. 6th ed. London: Routledge, 2013.

[ 固定リンク | 印刷用ページ ]