【質問 No. 23887】 指示語について |
安室 |
2024-01-12 06:49:09 |
Some people go a stage further, and see change in language as a progression from a simple to a complex state ー a view which was common as a consequence of 19th-century evolutionary thinking. But there is no evidence for this view. Languages do not develop, progress, decay, evolve, or act according to any of the metaphors which imply a specific endpoint and level of excellence. They simply change, as society changes. If a language dies out, it does so because its status alters in society, as other cultures and languages take over its role: it does not die because it has got too old', or 'become too complicated', as is sometimes maintained. Nor, when languages change, do they move in a predetermined direction. Some are losing inflections; some are gaining them. Some are moving to an order where the verb precedes the object; others to an order where the object precedes the verb. Some languages are losing vowels and gaining consonants; others are doing the opposite. If metaphors must be used to talk about language change, one of the best is that of a system holding itself in a state of equilibrium, while changes take place within it; another is that of the tide, which always and inevitably changes, but never progresses, while it ebbs and flows.
最終文、one of the best is that of a system の that が、何を指しているのかわかりません。
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【回答】
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ご質問の If metaphors must be used to talk about language change, one of the best (metaphors) is that(=the metaphor) of a system holding itself in a state of equilibrium の意味は、「言語の変化について語るために比喩を使用しなければならない場合、最良の比喩の一つは、平衡感覚にあるシステムの比喩です」ということで、原文のカッコで示した言葉を補えば、分かりやすいと思います。
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