双言与双语现象不是一回事

　　1.Diglossia(双言现象)

　　Diglossia usually describes a situation in which two very different varieties of language co-exist in a speech community,each with a distinct range of purely social functions and appropriate for certain situations.Usually,one is a more standard variety called the high variety or H-variety,which is used for more formal or serious matters.And the other is a non-prestige variety called the low variety or L-variety,which is used in colloquial and other informal situations.

　　双言经常被用来描述两种截然不同的语言变体共存于同一个言语社区的情况，每一种变体都具有一系列纯粹的社会功能以适应某些特定场合的需要。通常，其中一个是较为标准的语言变体，叫做高层次变体，这种变体一般用于较为正式或严肃的场合。另外的一种稍逊色的变体叫做低层次变体，这种变体多用于口语或其他非正式的场合。

　　Often the high variety is regarded as a literary standard called a classical language,whereas the low variety remains a local vernacular.In certain cases,only the educated class are fully competent in both varieties.For socio-cultural reasons,the high variety is regarded by many people as a more correct or purer version of the language,reflecting a social bias against the more colloquial low variety.

　　一般说来，高层次的语言变体会被看做是一种文学标准，叫做古典语言；而低层次的语言变体则仍然是一种本地语。有时，只有受过教育的阶层才可能会同时使用两种语言变体。出于一定的社会文化原因，多数人把高层次的变体看成是该语言中较正确或较纯正的语言类型，这种现象也反映了人们对口语化的低层次变体的社会偏见。

　　Although the two diglossic forms of language are generally two varieties of the same language,there are situations in which the high variety may have no genetic relationship with the low one.

　　虽然语言的双言形式通常是同一种语言的两种不同的变体，但在有些情况下高层次变体和低层次变体之间并不具有亲缘关系。

　　2.Bilingualism(双语现象)

　　Bilingualism refers to a linguistic situation in which two standard languages are used either by an individual or by a group of speakers,such as the inhabitants of a particular region or a nation.

　　双语现象指的是某个地区或国家的一个人或社区群体同时使用两种标准语言的一种语言现象。

　　There are bilingual communities in which their members commonly use two languages in their daily lives.A community cannot be described as bilingual unless a sufficient number of its members regularly use two languages.Bilingualism also occurs to countries with substantial populations speaking different languages and with a need for more than one standard language.These countries are officially bilingual in the sense that they may have designated two official languages for national or regional use.Canada is a typical example of official bilingualism,where both French and English are recognized official languages.

　　一些双语社区里的成员在日常生活中通常使用两种语言。一个社区里只有有一定数量的人群经常地使用两种语言我们才能够称之为双语社区。人口众多而需要一种以上标准语的国家里也会出现双语现象。这些国家出现的双语现象叫官方双语现象，因为它们可能为了国家或地域的使用而指定了两种官方语言。加拿大就是官方双语现象的一个典型的例子，在这个国家法语和英语都被认为是官方语言。

　　Perfect bilingualism,however,is uncommon,as it is rare for individuals to be a perfect user of two languages in a full range of situations.For most bilingual speakers,whether they have acquired both languages at the same time in childhood or have acquired one language before the other,they approximate to perfect bilingualism by being equally competent in both languages over a fairly wide range of situations.For those bilingual speakers who have acquired their languages one after the other,one language is usually more dominant than the other.Their utterance of the less perfect language may involve a process of translation from the dominant language at a subconscious level of psychological organization.

　　然而，完美的双语现象是很少见的，因为一个人不大可能在所有的场合都能够完美地使用两种语言。但有些人是在孩提时代同时习得两种语言的，有的是先学一种语言然后再学另一种，对于这些双语使用者中的大多数人而言，因为他们能够在相当广阔的范围内同样得心应手地使用两种语言，所以可以说他们的双语是臻于完美的。而对于那些渐次掌握了双语的双语使用者来说，其中一种语言总是比另一种语言占主导地位。当他们使用那个不够完善的语言的时候，在心理结构中的潜意识层面里实质上存在着一个从主导语言到该语言的翻译过程。

　　Regardless of the differences in the approximation of perfect bilingualism,most bilingual communities have one thing in common,that is,a fairly clear functional differentiation of the two languages in respect of speech situations known as domains.In bilingual communities,one language may be used in some domains and another language in other domains.

　　除了双语的完美程度方面的不同之外，大多双语社区都有一个共同点，那就是两种语言在被称作“适用域”的言语情景方面存在着相当明晰的功能差别。在双语社区中，一种语言可能在一定的适用域中使用，而另外一种语言在其他适用域中使用。

　　A bilingual speaker often uses two languages alternatively during a conversation with another bilingual speaker,a speech situation known as code-switching.For example,when two bilingual speakers of Chinese and English conduct business in English in New York’s Chinatown,a typical bilingual community in the United States,they might suddenly switch to the Chinese language when the topic of the conversation changes from business proper to more personal matters.Code-switching may also take place in a conversation when one speaker uses one language and the other speaker answers in a different language.Another instance of code-switching is the situation when a person begins his or her speech in one language and then changes to another language in the middle of the speech,or sometimes even in the middle of a sentence,a situation that occurs to all bilinguals at one time or another.

　　一个双语使用者在和另外一个双语使用者交谈的时候经常会交互使用两种不同的语言，这种言语情景被称为语言切换现象。例如，当两个说英语和汉语的双语使用者在美国的唐人街用英语谈生意的时候，如果他们谈论的话题从生意方面转换到个人私事上面的话，他们的交谈会突然转用汉语。在交谈中当一个人正用一种语言讲话而另一个人却用另外一种语言回答的时候，也会出现语言切换现象。另外一种语言切换的情况是当一个人正在用一种语言讲话的时候，突然在讲话的过程中间或甚至在一个句子中间转换到另外一种语言，这种现象经常会时不时地在双语使用者中间出现。

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