英音岌岌可危？！地方口音50年后将不再？！

The Queen’s English could soon become a thing of the past as immigration gradually affects the way we speak.

Linguists have predicted the ‘th’ sound could disappear from speech within 50 years due to the number of foreign visitors who cannot pronounce it.

据语言学家预测,因为很多外国游客无法发出“th”音,“th”音可能会在50年内从口语中消失。

A study suggested urban dialects such as Multicultural London English (MLE) – which incorporates pronunciations from Caribbean, West African and Asian communities – will spread across regions.

一项研究指出,城市方言将席卷各个地区,例如,融合了多种文化的伦敦英语就吸收了加勒比社区、西非社区以及亚洲社区的发音。

In fifty years, regional accents could be wiped out by technology, according to a new report.

一项新报告指出,五十年后,地方口音可能会被技术消灭。

Keyboards will have become obsolete and we will become completely comfortable speaking to our cars, washing machines, fridges, taxi apps and online banking services. Experts have said speech will become the main way we interact with machines, and through this process accents will evolve. The research, for HSBC, suggests conversations with virtual reality assistants, such as the iPhone’s Siri, will influence speech patterns and erase regional accents.

键盘会被淘汰,我们会完全适应与车子、洗衣机、冰箱、出租车应用软件以及网上银行的对话。专家指出,语音将成为我们与机器沟通的主要方式,而通过这种方法,口音将逐步演化。汇丰集团的一项研究指出,与虚拟现实助手的对话会影响人们的语言表达模式,并且会使他们忘掉地方口音,如苹果手机的语音控制功能(Siri)。

Key changes anticipated over the next 50 years include shortening of words and simplification of pronunciations as people strive to make talking as easy as possible, the researchers said.

研究员表示,据他们预测,由于人们力图使沟通尽量简单些,所以在未来的50年里,(发音中的)关键改变将包括读单词的时候发短音以及简化发音。

Tex would replace text, or vex for vexed and think is becoming fink.

According to a report, a preference for informal, chatty and jokey language in the technological and scientific domains is a recent phenomenon, but it’s one which makes these areas seem more accessible and less po-faced, and we are likely to see more and more of it.

报告指出,科技领域对通俗、口语化、诙谐语言的偏爱已成为一种新现象,不过这也使这些领域看上去更平易近人,不再那么一本正经,而这样的现象,我们很可能会见到更多。