To the professional linguist, there is no superiority of any language. Therefore, it is well-accepted in the field of linguistics that there exist no higher or lower grades among languages. People once thought of the languages of backward groups as undeveloped forms of speech, consisting largely of rough and simple sounds. It is possible that language in general began as a series of simple sounds. But it is a fact established by the study of "backward" languages that no spoken tongue answers that description. Most languages of "backward" groups are extremely complex pieces of tool for the transfer of ideas. They "fall behind" the western languages not in their sound pattern or grammatical structures but only in their vocabularies. The sound pattern or grammatical structures usually are fully adequate for all language needs. The vocabulary reflects the objects and activities known to their speakers.
There are two things to be noted. Firstly, a
A. Being complete.
B. Being better.
C. Being large.
D. Being tiny.
| As regards social conventions, we must say a word about the English class system. This is an embarrassing subject for English people, and one they tend to be ashamed of, though during the present century class-consciousness has grown less and less. But it still exists. Broadly speaking, it means there are two classes, the "middle class" and the "working class" (We shall ignore for a moment the old "upper class", since it is extremely small in numbers; but some of its members have the right to sit in the House of Lords, and some newspapers take a surprising interest in their private life.) The middle class consists chiefly of businessmen and professional people of all kinds. The working class consists chiefly of manual and unskilled workers. The most obvious difference between them is in their accent. Middle-class people use slightly varying kinds of "received pronunciation" which is the kind of English spoken by BBC announcers and taught to overseas pupils. Typical working-class people speak in many different local accents which are generally felt to be rather ugly and uneducated. One of the biggest barriers of social equality in England is the two-class education system. To have been to a so-called "public school" immediately marks you out as one of the middle class. The middle classes tend to live a more formal life. Their midday meal is "lunch" and they have a rather formal evening meal called "dinner", whereas the working man’s dinner, if his working hours permit, is at midday, and his smaller, late-evening meal is called supper. It has been government policy to reduce class distinctions. Working-class students commonly receive a university education and enter the professions, and working-class incomes have grown so much recently. However, regardless of one’s social status, certain standards of politeness are expected of everybody, and a well-bred person is polite to everyone he meets, and treats a laborer with the same respect he gives an important businessman. Servility inspires both embarrassment and dislike. Even the word "sir", except in school and in certain occupations (e.g. commerce, the army etc.) sounds too servile to be commonly used. |
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