你還會說自己的家鄉(xiāng)話嗎？
Decades ago, a stroll around Beijing’s hutong would have meant overhearing chatting locals adding “r” to the end of *syllables.
幾十年前，如果你在北京的胡同口遛彎兒，你或許會聽見許多本地人聊天時會在話尾加上 “兒化音”。
This sound is a major characteristic of the Beijing dialect, except “swallowing” *consonants–just think of “zhuangdianrtai” in Beijing dialect compared to China Central Television in Putonghua, also kown as Modern Standard Mandarin. However, none of these features can be heard that often among today’s Beijing dwellers. A recent report by the Ministry of Education shows that the Beijing dialect is declining among the younger generation.
這種“兒化音”是北京方言的一大特征，除此之外，“吞音”也是北京話的一大顯著特點 —— 只要將北京話里的“裝墊兒臺”和標(biāo)準(zhǔn)普通話里的“中央電視臺”相比較，你就能明白了。然而，在現(xiàn)今的北京居民口中，這些北京方言的特點都不如以往那么常見了。教育部近期發(fā)布的一份報告顯示，在年輕一代中，北京方言正在衰亡。
The news doesn’t come as a surprise though, as previous studies have highlighted the “dialect crisis” in other parts of China as well.
盡管如此，這一消息也并非意料之外，先前的一系列研究也指出了中國其他地區(qū)的“方言危機”。
According to the UNESCO *Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, nearly 100 Chinese dialects are on the brink of extinction.
據(jù)聯(lián)合國教科文組織發(fā)布的“全球瀕危語言地圖”顯示，近100種中國方言處于消失的邊緣。
He Hongzhi, of the Beijing Municipal Language Commission, attributes this problem to migration and the promotion of Putonghua.
北京市語言文字工作委員會辦公室主任賀宏志將此歸結(jié)于外來移民以及普通話的推廣普及。
“With rapid social development over recent years, an increasing number of migrants with different dialects can be found all over China. However, people are encouraged to speak Putonghua between each other, threatening the existence of dialects,” he told Beijing Daily.
“隨著近些年來社會的快速發(fā)展，人口流動性加大，各種方言遍布全國。因為人們之間多使用普通話交流，方言的存在遭到了威脅，”他在接受《北京日報》采訪時表示。
Reflection of history
歷史的映射
But rather than just letting the problem be, efforts are being made to preserve these local dialects because of the culture *heft they carry.
考慮到方言本身濃厚的歷史底蘊，人們采取了許多措施來保護(hù)家鄉(xiāng)方言，而非將問題置之不理。
“For many Chinese who live outside their hometowns, dialect is an important symbol of identity and a constant reminder of where they come from,” commentator Li Yue wrote on Daily Sunshine.
“對于許多背井離鄉(xiāng)的中國人來說，方言是一個很重要的身份象征，不斷提醒著他們故鄉(xiāng)所在，”《晶報》評論員李躍寫道。
Dialects also reflect history and embody local culture. The Beijing dialect for example, though being a language of the Han ethnic group, shows traces of Mongolian and Manchu languages. Mongolian and Manchu are ethnic groups who had ruled Beijing during the Yuan and Qing dynasties respectively. The Mongolian word hutong and the Manchu word Sachima (a common Chinese pastry) now appear in the Beijing dialect.
方言也反映了歷史、體現(xiàn)了當(dāng)?shù)匚幕?。以北京方言為例，盡管北京話是一種漢族語言，但它也體現(xiàn)了蒙古語和滿語的痕跡。蒙古族和滿族都曾先后在元朝和清朝統(tǒng)治中國。而蒙古語的胡同以及滿語的薩琪瑪(一種常見的中式點心)也在北京方言中留存了下來。
To preserve these valuable parts of history, the State Language Commission has maintained databases since 2008 to cover different local dialects, while many areas such as Beijing, Shanghai and Zhejiang province have established museums dedicated to local *lingo. The Beijing municipal education authority, similar to its counterpart in Shanghai, also plans to make the Beijing dialect part of its school-based curriculum.
為了保護(hù)這些珍貴的歷史遺產(chǎn)，國家語言文字工作委員會從2008年開始，啟動了涵蓋多種不同方言的數(shù)據(jù)庫建設(shè)，而諸如北京、上海以及浙江等地則建立起了相應(yīng)的方言博物館。北京市教育局也采取了和上海市教育局相同的舉措，正計劃將北京方言引入學(xué)校課程當(dāng)中。
Individual effort
個人的努力
And it’s not just the government that is making an effort to maintain the country’s waning dialects – an increasing number of individuals are joining in the effort too. Wang Han, a well-known anchor for Hunan TV, has invested several million yuan into the research and protection of Hunan dialects, for example.
除了政府之外，越來越多的個人也加入到了保護(hù)瀕危方言這一大軍中來。比如，著名的湖南衛(wèi)視節(jié)目主持人汪涵就已經(jīng)投入了幾百萬元，用于湖南方言的研究及保護(hù)。
But all these efforts are still *insufficient in keeping dialects from fading away, according to Cao Zhiyun, professor of linguistics at Beijing Language and Culture University.
然而，北京語言大學(xué)語言學(xué)教授曹志耘卻認(rèn)為，這些努力對于阻止方言消失，還遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不夠。
“What we’re doing now are mostly rescue works. A more effective measure to keep them alive could be using elements such as pop songs and the ‘celebrity effect’ to attract the young to use dialects,” he told Xinhua News Agency. “They need to realize that speaking [their local] dialect is something they can be proud of.”
“我們現(xiàn)在所做的，大部分都是救護(hù)工作。而讓這些方言能夠保持活力的更有效的辦法是利用流行歌曲等‘名人效應(yīng)’，來吸引年輕人使用方言，”他在接受新華社采訪時表示。“年輕人需要意識到，說(自己的家鄉(xiāng))方言也能成為他們的驕傲。”
