The South American hipster language cooler than Spanish
比西班牙语更酷的南美潮流语言
一堂医学生语言课引出瓜拉尼语在巴拉圭的复兴。文章以使用比例、流行文化和公共生活为证据，又提出一个反面问题：双语者增加，究竟意味着本土语言更强，还是原本的单语者正在改学西班牙语？
原文来源：The Economist
学习目标
- 区分身份、听懂、家庭使用与单语比例
- 解释only前置倒装和被长定语隔开的主谓
- 辨认复兴与语言替代两种解读
- 理解laid back、flat和speaks volumes的语境义
中英对照阅读
ONE HOUR into their Guaraní class, the medical students at the National University of Asunción are enthralled. One group provides “pytyvõpya’ehasývape” (first aid) for a “kangue opẽ” (broken bone). Another frets that a problem with the “tajygue mboaty rehe” (nervous system) may require “ñembovo” (surgery). The course is mandatory for Paraguay’s future doctors, part of a wave of official measures to promote the indigenous language. Few seem to mind. “I love speaking Guaraní—it’s much friendlier than Spanish,” says Tadeo Ramírez, an undergraduate.
在国立亚松森大学，上瓜拉尼语课已过一个小时，医学生们仍听得入迷。 一组学生为“kangue opẽ”（骨折）提供“pytyvõpya’ehasývape”（急救）。 另一组则担心，“tajygue mboaty rehe”（神经系统）出了问题，可能需要“ñembovo”（手术）。 这门课是巴拉圭未来医生的必修课，也是官方推动这种原住民语言的一系列措施之一。 似乎没几个人对此介意。 本科生Tadeo Ramírez说：“我喜欢说瓜拉尼语——它比西班牙语亲切多了。”
Such zest reflects the recent revival of Paraguay’s ancient tongue. Just 2.3% of the population identifies as indigenous, but some 90% understand Guaraní. Nearly 40% speak it every day at home along with Spanish, according to a recent survey. That is one of the highest rates of bilingualism in the world, far ahead of official diglots like Canada and Ireland. Most of this is “Yopará”, a blend of Spanish and Guaraní (the word means “mixture” in Guaraní). “It’s our lingua franca,” says Miguel Ángel, a taxi driver. Paraguay is one of only two countries in the Spanish-speaking Americas with an official second language.
这样的热情反映了巴拉圭古老语言近来的复兴。 只有2.3%的人口认同自己具有原住民身份，但约90%的人听得懂瓜拉尼语。 据近期一项调查，近40%的人每天在家同时使用瓜拉尼语和西班牙语。 这是世界上最高的双语使用比例之一，远超加拿大、爱尔兰等官方双语国家。 这种使用大多是“Yopará”，即西班牙语和瓜拉尼语的混合形式；这个词在瓜拉尼语中的意思就是“混合”。 出租车司机Miguel Ángel说：“它是我们的通用语。” 巴拉圭是西语美洲仅有的两个另设官方语言的国家之一。
Paraguay’s elites had long snubbed Guaraní as a rural vernacular, mocking its nasal sounds and glottal stops. Dictator Alfredo Stroessner discouraged its use in schools in the 1950s and 1960s. Only with the return of democracy in 1992 was Guaraní recognised as Paraguay’s official language alongside Spanish. A law in 2010 created a bilingual curriculum and administration. Today Paraguayans can choose to vote, marry and stand trial in Guaraní.
巴拉圭的精英长期轻视瓜拉尼语，把它当作乡间土话，嘲笑其鼻音和声门塞音。 独裁者阿尔弗雷多·斯特罗斯纳在20世纪50和60年代不鼓励学校使用这种语言。 直到1992年民主回归之际，瓜拉尼语才被确认为与西班牙语并列的巴拉圭官方语言。 2010年的一部法律建立了双语课程和行政体系。 如今，巴拉圭人可以选择用瓜拉尼语投票、结婚或接受审判。
This has facilitated a cultural craze. In June Paraguayan football fans attributed their World Cup win over Germany to “Guaraní spirit”. In May the national symphony orchestra performed Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” in Guaraní for the first time. In April Spain’s Queen Letizia opened her message of congratulations for the anniversary of the Spanish cultural centre in Asunción with “¡Vy’apavẽ ne arambotýre!” (”Happy Birthday!”). Youngsters are joining in. Influencers fill TikTok and Instagram with vocab tutorials; artists pump Yopará rap and jazz onto Spotify. Trendy parents give their children names like Yerutí (dove) and Marangatu (virtuous).
这推动了一股文化热潮。 6月，巴拉圭球迷将本队在世界杯上战胜德国归功于“瓜拉尼精神”。 5月，国家交响乐团首次用瓜拉尼语演出了贝多芬的《欢乐颂》。 4月，西班牙王后莱蒂齐亚为亚松森西班牙文化中心周年庆致贺辞时，以“¡Vy’apavẽ ne arambotýre!”（“生日快乐！”）开场。 年轻人也加入进来。 网红们在TikTok和Instagram上发布大量词汇教程；艺人们把Yopará说唱和爵士乐推上Spotify。 追赶潮流的父母给孩子取名Yerutí（鸽子）、Marangatu（有美德的）等。
Some worry that growing bilingualism comes from Guaraní speakers learning Spanish rather than vice versa. The share of monolingual Guaraní speakers dropped from 28% in 2002 to 12% in 2022. “It’s a process of displacement,” says Arnaldo Casco of the Secretariat of Linguistic Policy (SPL), a ministry. It has responded by publishing reams of Guaraní content, from technical dictionaries to poetry. Guaraní must cover all spheres of social interaction, says Javier Viveros, the SPL’s boss.
有人担心，双语使用增加，是因为瓜拉尼语使用者在学西班牙语，而不是反过来。 只说瓜拉尼语的人口比例从2002年的28%降到了2022年的12%。 语言政策秘书处这一部级机构的Arnaldo Casco说：“这是一个语言被替代的过程。” 该机构为此发布了大量瓜拉尼语内容，从技术词典到诗歌，应有尽有。 该机构负责人Javier Viveros说，瓜拉尼语必须覆盖社会交往的所有领域。
Others are laid back. Spanish monolingualism is flat. Guaraní is on Google Translate and Wikipedia (“Vikipetã”). SPL staff are training large language models on it. Social norms have shifted. “We who have gone through that experience of being hesitant to speak Guaraní as children today feel absolutely free,” says María del Carmen Giménez of the Patria Soñada Institute, a think-tank. That speaks volumes.
另一些人则比较放松。 只说西班牙语的人口比例保持平稳。 谷歌翻译和维基百科（瓜拉尼语称“Vikipetã”）上都有瓜拉尼语。 语言政策秘书处的工作人员正在用这种语言训练大语言模型。 社会规范已经改变。 智库Patria Soñada Institute的María del Carmen Giménez说：“我们这些经历过小时候不太敢说瓜拉尼语的人，如今感到完全自在。” 这一点就很能说明变化。