| 释义 |
biˈlingualism
[f. bilingual a. + -ism.]
Ability to speak two languages; the habitual use of two languages colloquially. Hence biˈlingualist = bilinguist.
1873J. Earle Philol. Eng. Tongue (ed. 2) 85 The Bilingualism of King's English... Words run much in couples, the one being English and the other French. 1897A. J. Butler tr. Ratzel's Hist. Mankind II. 20 The bi-lingualism of the Carib tribes, whose women speak Arawak and the men Carib. 1926Encycl. Brit. III. 114 The effects of bilingualism deserve attention, especially in those areas where permanent contact is established between two different families of speech, as in India. 1927British Weekly 12 May 125/4 Welsh bilingualists [decreased] by more than two per cent. 1960Guardian 7 Mar. 5/4 The progress in bilingualism shown by the Welsh children.
b. The use of two forms of the same language. (See also quot. 1940.)
1940J. H. Jagger Eng. in Future ii. 38 It [sc. Elizabethan English] suffered from two literary fashions... The first..is known to literary historians as Bilingualism, and consisted in the incessant employment of a pair of synonyms to convey a single idea. 1955T. H. Pear Eng. Social Diff. iii. 105 For the great majority of pupils, bilingualism is to be preferred to the replacement of their native speech by a colourless standard dialect.
▸ A policy or system which promotes the use of two languages among a community or population; (Canad.) recognition of both English and French as official languages; the government policy of protecting and promoting the use of both languages in public life.
1901Daily Chron. 23 May 3/7 It is essential, in the interests of education, that bilingualism, as a system, be introduced into the national schools in districts where Irish is extensively spoken. 1964Whig-Standard (Kingston, Ontario) 23 May 6/4 Bilingualism was put into full gear... It cost hundreds of millions. 1969Globe & Mail (Toronto) 22 Oct. 7/6 The delay gives the Government some breathing space before it must proceed with a second, more important appointment provided for in the legislation—that of the Official Languages Commissioner, the $35,000-a-year ombudsman of bilingualism. 1991Maclean's 22 July 17/2 A determined supporter of the Free Trade Agreement, the GST, the Meech Lake accord and bilingualism. 2003Toronto Star (Electronic ed.) 23 June The non-retired patrons, some well known in the province's media and business circles, are often the most ardent defenders of bilingualism you can find anywhere in Montreal. |