영어의 힘

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영어의 힘



미국 대통령조차 애를 먹일 만큼 영어의 어휘는 방대하다. 옥스퍼드 영어사전에 공식 게재된 단어만 60만 개다. 프랑스어(10만 개)나 스페인어(25만 개)는 비교도 안 된다. 다른 언어와 문화를 스펀지처럼 흡수해 몸집을 불려온 결과다. ‘영문학의 아버지’라 불리는 제프리 초서는 빈약하기 짝이 없던 영어를 풍성하게 만든 선구자로 꼽힌다. 14세기 당시 영어에 없던 말을 프랑스어나 이탈리아어에서 슬쩍 빌려왔다. secret(비밀)·policy(정책)·galaxy(은하) 등 그렇게 만든 신조어가 1000개도 넘는다.

내가 한 영작
In fact, ⓐEnglish language is so vast that it can tongue-tie even a well-educated president of an English-speaking country. The number of entries in the Oxford English Dictionary is 600,000, while the French language has 100,000 words and Spanish 250,000. That is because English has absorbed other cultures and languages like a spunge. Geoffrey Chaucer, ⓑthe “father” of English literature, is regarded as the frontier, who turned the ⓒpoor English language into a rich tongue He borrowed words that English ⓓdid not have in the 14th century from French or Italian. Including “secret”, “policy” and “galaxy”, he made up more than 1,000 new words in this way.

JoongAng Daily 에디터가 수정한 문장
In fact, the English language is so vast that it can tongue-tie even a well-educated president of an English-speaking country. The number of entries in the Oxford English Dictionary is 600,000, while the French language has 100,000 words and Spanish 250,000. That is because English has absorbed other cultures and languages like a sponge. Geoffrey Chaucer, the so-called “father” of English literature, is regarded as the frontier, who turned the backward English language into a rich tongue. He borrowed words that English lacked in the 14th century from French or Italian. Including “secret,” “policy” and “galaxy,” he made up more than 1,000 new words in this way.

Writing Tip
ⓐ English language → the English language 영어라는 특정 언어를 지칭하여 가리키고 있으므로 정관사 the 삽입
ⓑ the “father” → the so-called “father” 문맥에 자연스럽게 ‘흔히 말하는, 소위’의 의미를 지닌 ‘so-called’ 추가
ⓒ poor → backward 문맥상 ‘발달이 늦거나 뒤쳐진’의 의미를 지니고 있는 ‘backward’로 수정. 참고로 ‘poor’는 ‘질이 낮다’는 의미가 있음
ⓓ did not have → lacked 문맥상 단어 자체가 없었다기 보다는 부족했다는 의미이므로 ‘lacked’로 수정

영어의 득세엔 그늘도 따른다. 영어의 확산으로 각국의 토착 언어가 급속히 사라지고 있다는 게 데이비드 크리스털 교수(영국 방고르대) 등 언어학자들의 지적이다. 2100년쯤이면 현존하는 7000개 언어가 수백 개로 줄어들 거란 암울한 예측도 있다. 영어 공부 열기가 둘째가라면 서러운 한국도 귀담아들어야 할 대목이다. 한류 덕에 한국어를 쓰는 해외 인구가 늘고 있는 게 그나마 희망이라 해야 할까.


내가 한 영작
The phenomenon of English linguistic dominance also casts a large shadow. As English spreads across the globe, indigenous languages in many countries are rapidly disappearing, according to Professor David Crystal ⓐat Bangor University in the United Kingdom. Some linguists ⓑeven have forecast that the current 7,000 languages will be reduced to ⓒseveral hundreds by 2100. Korea must pay attention to this gloomy prediction. Koreans, in particular, are more eager to learn English than most. Should we then find hope in the fact that an increasing number people in other countries want to learn ⓓKorea thanks to the hallyu, or Korean wave, of our pop culture?

JoongAng Daily 에디터가 수정한 문장
The phenomenon of English linguistic dominance also casts a large shadow. As English spreads across the globe, indigenous languages in many countries are rapidly disappearing, according to Professor David Crystal of Bangor University in the United Kingdom. Some linguists have even forecast that the current 7,000 languages will be reduced to several hundred by 2100. Korea must pay attention to this gloomy prediction. Koreans, in particular, are more eager to learn English than most. Should we then find hope in the fact that an increasing number of people in other countries want to learn Korean thanks to the hallyu, or Korean wave, of our pop culture?

Writing Tip
ⓐ at → of ‘소속’을 나타내는 전치사 ‘of’로 수정
ⓑ even have → have even 영어에 자연스러운 어순으로 수정
ⓒ several hundreds → several hundred ‘수’를 나타내는 형용사를 동반할 때에는 복수형 s를 붙이지 않음
ⓓ Korea → Korean 한국을 배우는 것이 아니라, 한국어를 배우는 것이므로 ‘Korean’으로 수정
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