Introduction

'Mother tongue' is an interesting English expression. Like many languages, English has a number of gender-specific terms that don’t refer to gender-specific ideas and concepts. And this complicated relationship between language and gender is what Sam and Georgina are talking about in this programme.

This week's question

Which of these languages is the newest? Is it:

A: Esperanto

B: Afrikaans

C: Light Warlpiri

Listen to the programme to find out the answer.

Transcript

Note: This is not a word for word transcript??

Sam

Hello. This is 6 Minute English, I'm Sam.

Georgina

And I'm Georgina.?

Sam

Georgina, what languages do you speak?

Georgina

Well, my mother tongue is English and I also speak Spanish and French badly!

Sam

OK. It’s interesting that we say ‘mother tongue’, isn’t it? Like many languages, English has a number of gender-specific terms that don’t refer to gender-specific ideas and concepts. And this complicated relationship between language and gender is what we will be talking about today. But first, this week’s quiz question, which is also on the topic of languages. Which of these languages is the newest? Is it:

A: Esperanto

B: Afrikaans

C: Light Warlpiri

What do you think, Georgina?

Georgina

Well, I’ve only heard of two of these - Esperanto and Afrikaans – so I think I’m going to choose the other one, Light Warlpiri, purely as I’ve never heard of it, so I think that must be the one.

Sam

OK, well we’ll find out if your intuition is correct later in the programme. Professor Lera Boroditsky is a cognitive scientist who was a guest on the BBC World Service programme, The Conversation. She was asked about why we use the term ‘mother tongue’ in English.

Professor Lera Boroditsky

Different languages actually do it differently, but definitely there’s a strong association between mothers as?primary caregivers?and people who teach us things, and so there’s that?point of origin?metaphor?that applies in a lot of languages.

Sam

So, how does she explain the use of mother tongue, Georgina??

Georgina

Well, she says it’s a form of?metaphor. A?metaphor?is a way of describing something by comparing it to something else. In a?metaphor,though, you don’t say that something is?likesomething else, you say that it ‘is’?something else. For example, having good friends is the key to a happy life.

Sam

It is indeed. In this?metaphor, language is seen as coming from your?primary caregiver, the person who looked after you most when you were young, and traditionally this was mothers.?

Georgina

So, this is perhaps the?point of origin, the starting place,of the?metaphorical?phrase,?mother tongue. Let’s listen again.

Professor Lera Boroditsky

Different languages actually do it differently, but definitely there’s a strong association between mothers as?primary caregivers?and people who teach us things, and so there’s that?point of origin?metaphor?that applies in a lot of languages.

Sam

Language is very powerful in society and culture, and when it comes to gendered language, it can cause some issues. Here’s Lera Boroditsky again:

Professor Lera Boroditsky?

… in English of course we have some words that are gendered, like ‘a(chǎn)ctor’ and ‘a(chǎn)ctress’ or ‘waiter’ and ‘waitress’, and very commonly when there are those two gender forms people?perceive?the masculine form as being a more?prestigious?job or the more skilled job than the feminine form, so an actor is a fancier job than an actress and a waiter is a fancier job than a waitress, and so they could then come with pay?disparities?and so on.

Sam

So, what’s the subconscious difference in attitude towards, for example, an actor and actress??

Georgina

Well, she says that people?perceive?those roles differently. This means that we are aware of, or believe there is a difference in the jobs because of the vocabulary. The male form is?perceived?to be more?prestigious?– more important, more respected, even though it’s exactly the same job.?

Sam

And this attitude can lead to problems such as?disparities?in pay. A?disparity?is a difference, an inequality, and in the world of work it can mean men getting paid more than women for the same job. Here’s Professor Boroditsky again.?

Professor Lera?Boroditsky?

…in English of course we have some words that are gendered, like ‘a(chǎn)ctor’ and ‘a(chǎn)ctress’ or ‘waiter’ and ‘waitress’, and very commonly when there are those two gender forms people?perceive?the masculine form as being a more?prestigious?job or a more skilled job than the feminine form, so an actor is a fancier job than an actress and a waiter is a fancier job than a waitress, and so they could then come with pay?disparities?and so on.

Sam

OK, before we take another look at today’s vocabulary, let’s reveal the answer to this week’s quiz. Which of these languages is the newest, is it:

A: Esperanto

B: Afrikaans

C: Light Warlpiri

Georgina, what did you say?

Georgina

I thought it had to be Light Walpiri, but just because I had never heard of it before.

Sam

Well, congratulations. Your instincts were good, that is correct. Let’s move on to vocabulary and look at today’s words and phrase again.

Georgina

A?primary caregiver?is a person who has most responsibility for looking after someone.

Sam

A?point of origin?is the place or time when something begins.

Georgina

A?metaphor?is a way of describing something. We can say that something is something else that has similar qualities.

Sam

You’re a star!?

Georgina

Aw, thank you.

Sam

No, I meant, you're a star, is an example of a?metaphor.

Georgina

Oh, OK. Of course, I knew that.?

Sam

Mmmm, if you say so. To?perceive?is to think of something in a particular way. We might?perceive?the value of different jobs based on the vocabulary used to describe them.

Georgina

Something?prestigious?is important and respected.

Sam

And finally, a?disparity?is a difference, an inequality and is often used when talking about how men and women aren’t always paid the same for the same job. And that is all from us. We look forward to your company again soon. In the meantime, you can always find us online, on social media and on the BBC Learning English app. Bye for now.

Georgina

Bye!

Vocabulary

primary caregiver

the person most responsible for looking after someone

point of origin

the place or time where something begins or comes from

metaphor

a way to describe something by saying that it is something else with similar qualities

perceive

to understand something to be true, to think of something in a particular way

prestigious

important, respected

a disparity

a difference, an inequality

====================================================================

雙語版Transcript

Hello. This is 6 Minute English, I'm Sam.

大家好。這里是六分鐘英語，我是薩姆。

And I'm Georgina.

我是喬治娜。

Georgina, what languages do you speak?

喬治娜，你會(huì)說什么語言？

Well, my mother tongue is English and I also speak Spanish and French badly!

嗯，我的母語是英語，我還說西班牙語和法語，但是說得不好！

OK. It'sinteresting that we say 'mother tongue', isn't it?

好的。我們稱某些語言是"母語"，這很有趣，不是嗎？

Like many languages, English has a number of gender-specific terms that don't refer to gender-specific ideas and concepts.

和許多語言一樣，英語中有許多性別類詞語，它們并不涉及性別類的觀點(diǎn)和概念。

And this complicated relationship between language and gender is what we will be?talking about today.

而且語言和性別之間的這種復(fù)雜關(guān)系就是我們今天要討論的。

But first, this week's quiz question, which is also on the topic of languages.

但首先是這周的測(cè)試問題，它也是關(guān)于語言的話題。

Which of these languages is the newest?

這些語言中哪一種是最新出現(xiàn)的？

Is it: A:Esperanto, B: Afrikaans, or C: Light Warlpiri?

是A：世界語，B：阿非利堪斯語，還是C：輕瓦爾皮瑞語？

What do youthink, Georgina?

你覺得呢，喬治娜？

Well, I've only heard of two of these - Esperanto and Afrikaans?– so I think I'm going to choose the other one, Light Warlpiri,?purely as I've never heard of it, soI think that must be the one.

好吧，我只聽說過其中的兩種——世界語和阿非利堪斯語——所以我想我會(huì)選擇另一種，輕瓦爾皮瑞語，純粹是因?yàn)槲覐奈绰犝f過，所以我想肯定是那種語言。

OK, well we'll find out if your intuition is correct later in the programme.

好的，稍后我們將看看你的直覺是否正確。

Professor LeraBoroditsky is a cognitive scientist who was a guest on the BBC World Service programme, The Conversation.

萊拉·博洛迪茨基教授是認(rèn)知科學(xué)家，曾做客BBC全球服務(wù)節(jié)目《對(duì)話》。

She was asked about why we use the term 'mother tongue' in English.

她被問及為什么我們?cè)谟⒄Z中使用"母語"一詞。

Different languages actually do it differently,?but definitely there's a strong association between mothers as primary caregivers and people who teach us things,?and so there's that point of origin metaphor that applies in a lot of languages.

不同的語言被稱為"母語"其實(shí)是有差異的，但作為主要照顧者和教我們東西的人，母親之間有很強(qiáng)的聯(lián)系，因此對(duì)于"母語"源頭的隱喻適用于很多種語言。

So, how does she explain the use of mother tongue, Georgina?

所以，她如何解釋母語的使用，喬治娜？

Well, she saysit's a form of metaphor.

她說那是一種隱喻。

A metaphor is away of describing something by comparing it to something else.

隱喻是通過將某物比作別的東西來描述某物的一種方式。

In a metaphor,though, you don't say that something is like something else, you say that it'is' something else.

但在隱喻中，你不是說某物像別的東西，你會(huì)說它就是別的東西。

For example,having good friends is the key to a happy life.

例如，有好朋友就是幸福生活的關(guān)鍵。

It is indeed.

確實(shí)是。

In this metaphor, language is seen as coming from your primary caregiver, the person who looked after you most when you were young,?and traditionally this was mothers.

在這個(gè)隱喻中，語言被認(rèn)為來自你的主要照顧者，在你年輕的時(shí)候照顧你最多的人，傳統(tǒng)上那是指母親。

So, this is perhaps the point of origin, the starting place, of the metaphorical phrase,mother tongue.

所以，這可能是隱喻短語——"母語"的源頭，開始的地方。

Let's listen again.

讓我們?cè)俾犚槐椤?/p>

Different languages actually do it differently,?but definitely there's a strong association between mothers as primary caregivers and people who teach us things,?and so there's that point of origin metaphor that applies in a lot of languages.

不同的語言被稱為"母語"其實(shí)是有差異的，但作為主要照顧者和教我們東西的人，母親之間有很強(qiáng)的聯(lián)系，因此對(duì)于"母語"源頭的隱喻適用于很多種語言。

Language is very powerful in society and culture, and when it comes to gendered language,it can cause some issues.

語言在社會(huì)和文化中是非常強(qiáng)大的，當(dāng)涉及到性別類語言時(shí)，它會(huì)引起一些問題。

Here's LeraBoroditsky again.?… in English of course we have some words that are gendered, like 'actor' and 'actress' or 'waiter' and 'waitress',?and verycommonly when there are those two gender forms people perceive the masculineform as being a more prestigious job or the more skilled job than the feminineform,?so an actor is a fancier job?than an actress and a waiter is afancier job than a waitress, and so they could then come with pay disparitiesand so on.

這是萊拉·博洛迪茨基再次談到的。當(dāng)然在英語中我們有一些性別類詞語，像"男演員"和"女演員"或者"男服務(wù)員"和"女服務(wù)員"，而且在有兩種性別形式的情況下，人們通常會(huì)認(rèn)為男性的工作比女性更重要，更有技術(shù)含量，所以男演員是比女演員更高級(jí)的工作，男服務(wù)員是比女服務(wù)員更高級(jí)的工作，因此他們可以會(huì)出現(xiàn)薪資差異等等。

So, what's the subconscious difference in attitude towards, for example, an actor and actress?

那么，潛意識(shí)里對(duì)例如男女演員的態(tài)度有什么不同呢？

Well, she says that people perceive those roles differently.

好的，她說人們對(duì)這些角色的認(rèn)知是不同的。

This means that we are aware of, or believe there is a difference in the jobs because of the vocabulary.

這意味著我們覺得或者認(rèn)為，由于表示工作的詞匯不同，工作是存在差異的。

The male formis perceived to be more prestigious – more important, more respected, even though it's exactly the same job.

男性被認(rèn)為更有聲望——更重要，更受尊重，即使是完全相同的工作。

And this attitude can lead to problems such as disparities in pay.

這種態(tài)度可能會(huì)導(dǎo)致一些問題，比如薪酬差距。

A disparity is a difference, an inequality, and in the world of work it can mean men getting paid more than women for the same job.

"Adisparity"是一種差異，一種不平等，在工作領(lǐng)域，它可能意味著同樣的工作，男性的工資比女性高。

Here's Professor Boroditsky again.?… in English of course we have some words that are gendered, like 'actor' and 'actress' or 'waiter' and 'waitress',?andvery commonly when there are those two gender forms people perceive themasculine form as being a more prestigious job or the more skilled job than the feminine form,?so an actor is a fancier job?than an actress and a waiteris a fancier job than a waitress, and so they could then come with paydisparities and so on.

再聽一遍萊拉·博洛迪茨基教授所說的。當(dāng)然在英語中我們有一些性別類詞語，像"男演員"和"女演員"或者"男服務(wù)員"和"女服務(wù)員"，而且在有兩種性別形式的情況下，人們通常會(huì)認(rèn)為男性的工作比女性更重要，更有技術(shù)含量，所以男演員是比女演員更高級(jí)的工作，男服務(wù)員是比女服務(wù)員更高級(jí)的工作，因此他們可以會(huì)出現(xiàn)薪資差異等等。

OK, before we take another look at today's vocabulary, let's reveal the answer to this week's quiz.

好的，在我們回顧今天的詞匯之前，我們先來揭曉一下本周小測(cè)驗(yàn)的答案。

Which of theselanguages is the newest, is it: A: Esperanto, B: Afrikaans, or C: LightWarlpiri?

這些語言中哪一種是最新出現(xiàn)的？是A：世界語，B：阿非利堪斯語，還是C：輕瓦爾皮瑞語？

Georgina, whatdid you say?

喬治娜，你說是什么？

I thought it had to be Light Walpiri, but just because I had never heard of it before.

我覺得肯定是輕瓦爾皮瑞語，但僅是因?yàn)槲乙郧皬奈绰犝f過。

Well,congratulations. Your instincts were good, that is correct.

好吧，恭喜你。你的直覺是對(duì)的。

Let's move onto vocabulary and look at today's words and phrase again.

讓我們繼續(xù)詞匯部分，再次看看今天的單詞和短語。

A primary caregiver is a person who has most responsibility for looking after someone.

主要照顧者是負(fù)有最大責(zé)任照顧某人的人。

A point of origin is the place or time when something begins.

源頭是某件事開始的地點(diǎn)或時(shí)間。

A metaphor is away of describing something.

隱喻是描述某事物的一種方式。

We can say thatsomething is something else that has similar qualities.

我們可以說某物就是具有相似性質(zhì)的別的東西。

You're a star!

你就是明星！

Aw, thank you.

啊，多謝。

No, I meant,you're a star, is an example of a metaphor.

不，我的意思是，"你是個(gè)明星"是個(gè)隱喻的例子。

Oh, OK. Of course, I knew that.

哦，好吧。我當(dāng)然知道。

Mmmm, if yousay so.

嗯，如果你這么說的話。

To perceive is to think of something in a particular way.

感知就是以一種特殊的方式去思考某件事。

We might perceive the value of different jobs based on the vocabulary used to describe them.

我們可能會(huì)根據(jù)用來描述不同工作的詞匯來感知它們的價(jià)值。

Something prestigious is important and respected.

某事物有聲望就是重要的和受人尊敬的。

And finally, a disparity is a difference, an inequality and is often used when talking about how men and women aren't always paid the same for the same job.

最后，"a disparity"是一種差異，一種不平等，經(jīng)常被用于當(dāng)男性和女性做同樣的工作卻沒有得到同樣的報(bào)酬。

And that is all from us.

以上就是我們的全部?jī)?nèi)容。

We look forward to your company again soon.

我們期待你的下次參與。

Bye for now.

再見了。

Bye!