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

“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 Salomone’s 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.

意大利马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 world’s most widely spoken language， with some 1.5 billion speakers even though it’s 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 world’s 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. John’s 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.

英语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 People’s 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 isn’t just a language in this country. It’s 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。

Salomone’s South Africa chapter is among the most interesting in the book. Along with Afrikaans， English is one of South Africa’s 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.