Sunday, August 17, 2008

关于在校园引入福州话教育的一些思考

从今年春天到现在,我陆续听到不少关于拯救福州话的令人振奋的新闻,兹摘录若干如下:
2008-6-11:福州市将福州方言列为非物质文化遗产加以保护

记者从福州市政府获悉,福州市将福州话列为市级第一批非物质文化遗产名录,对其加强保护。

福州方言是闽东话的代表,流行于福州市和附近县市,覆盖面占福建省面积五分之一强。福州话不仅历史悠久,而且语词丰富、语体多样、语流音变复杂,是保存中古音(或称唐音)最多的方言之一。

福州市大力加强对福州方言的保护,先后出台了《关于进一步扶持福州地方传统艺术事业发展的若干意见》《关于加强非物质文化遗产保护工作的实施意见》等文件,大力保护福州话。

福州市政府表示,将通过发展民间文艺团体、组织开展文化进社区和文化下乡、举办福州话歌曲演唱会、福州十邑闽剧票友大赛等对福州方言进行保护推广。

据介绍,福州还将设立福州话培训基地,免费举办福州话培训班,并在福州教院附中、台江第四中心小学等27所中小学,开展包括学讲福州话在内的乡土文化传统特色教育试点。
2008-8-2:福州方言将进中小学课堂 抢救保护要从娃娃抓起

福州方言是汉语八大方言之一,但如今在福州城区青少年中会听福州话的不多,会讲福州话的更少。在今年年初召开的市人代会上,有人大代表呼吁“抢救保护福州方言要从娃娃抓起”。市委宣传部和市教育局近日分别表示将采纳代表建议,市教育局还要求各中小学在课程中要适当增加学习福州方言的内容。

领衔提出“抢救保护福州方言要从娃娃抓起”建议的陈长钦代表是福州人。他说,福州是历史文化名城,福州方言承载着福州人两千多年的历史文化,是中原古汉语的活化石。如今,旅居海外的福州乡亲仍把福州方言作为交流的主要语言。但身处福州城中的年轻一辈,能讲标准福州话的却越来越少。他建议,我市在加大对三坊七巷、闽剧、十番音乐等非物质文化遗产挖掘与保护的同时,也要进一步抢救和保护福州方言。要在“闽都乡学讲习所”的基础上,进一步扩大福州话教学基地,还要在中小学教学活动中安排适当课时,对中小学生进行福州方言教育。

市委宣传部在给代表建议的答复中表示,近年来我市对抢救和保护福州方言已有所行动。如以爱国爱乡为主题,坚持开展暑期青少年教育;以乡学讲坛为依托,积极打造福州话教学基地;以主流媒体为平台,大力开办福州方言节目;以恳亲大会等重大活动为契机,评选演唱福州话歌曲等。下一步,我市将把抢救、保护和传承福州方言工作纳入非物质文化保护范畴,积极探索适合青少年学习和应用福州方言的路子,如组织全市中小学生开展福州方言歌曲、演讲比赛,在校园中开办福州方言广播,创作福州方言动画配音、福州方言笑话等,让广大青少年经常性地接触福州方言,热爱福州方言。

市教育局也表示,此前他们已与市文化局联合确定了乡土文化传统(特色)学校在福州的规划分布,要求各学校认真做好乡土艺术进校园工作,定期邀请专家、民间艺人进校开展活动。下一阶段,市教育部门还将要求各中小学校在校园课程中适当增加福州方言内容,开展以保护福州方言为主题的少先队会和班会活动,并通过家长会等渠道呼吁福州籍家长在家里或家人聚会时多与孩子讲福州方言,创造孩子学讲福州话的良好语言环境。
20080815:福州市中小学将教授方言课程

日前,福州市教育局对陈长钦等市人大代表关于抢救保护福州方言从娃娃抓起的建议做出答复:教育局将要求各中小学在课程中适当增加学习福州方言的内容。

福州市委宣传部也表示,下一阶段,福州市将试着陆续组织全市中小学生开展福州方言歌曲、演讲比赛,在校园中开办福州方言广播等。福州市钱塘小学德育处主任表示,从下学期开始,该校每周将开设一次“福州方言”的早会课。课上,学校广播将教授福州方言、童谣。

最令我欣慰的是,我们的市委、市教育局等政府机构已经开始联合民间的 NGO 共同开展福州话的拯救工作——说实话,在若干年前我是不敢想象的——这也许将意味着开明的政府已经明确,推普和发扬在地语言文化这二者是互为促进的关系,而非彼此抵触。希望事情会尽快地朝明朗的方向发展吧!

在这里,附上我的一些粗浅的思考。如果能为相关工作者带来一点点的启迪,我就很满足了。
  1. 当务之急是尽快在全市确立统一的福州话教材。若干年前,台湾马祖的国小校园就已经推行了第一套多媒体的福州语教材,据说编者就是福建师范大学的老师,所以这份教材直接拿来给福州的孩子们用也没有什么不妥。
  2. 母语教育之目的必须明确,即应当扭转孩子们的语言偏见,让他们明白语言没有高低贵贱之分,进而培养热爱母语的乡土情结。我不赞成刻意地教授理论知识:福州话深奥晦涩的变声、变韵、变调知识足以让任何一个成年人望而却步,何况是学业负担本来就够重的孩子。因此,教育需要侧重于实践,讲授日常用语的表达方式,背诵儿歌童谣谚语等。
  3. 我曾听人问过,面对所有学生开展母语教育,那不会听福州话的外地人怎么办?我的回答是:福州没有外地人——户口在福州,生活在福州,你就是福州人;既然是福州人,理应学习日常的福州话。在福州只有中老一辈人会根据语言习惯来区别福州侬(Hók-ciŭ-nè̤ng / [huʔ21 tsiu55 nøyŋ53])和两个声(Lâng-gá-siăng / [laŋ21 ŋa21 liaŋ55])这两个族群。而今天的福州人口流动十分频繁,通婚也很普遍,去划分福州侬/两个声早就失去意义了——大家都是福州侬,是福州侬,就该当讲福州话。
福州作为一个现代化大都市,全面通行普通话已成为不可阻挡的趋势;但同时,它也是福建文化的中心,因此绝对需要有自己的地方特色,需要我们的市民为它独特的语言和文化留下一小片蔚蓝的天空。青少年是我们民族的未来,笔者诚挚地祝愿这些针对青少年的母语拯救工作能顺利地开展!

Friday, August 15, 2008

The Elements of Style 札记二(上)

II. Elementary Principle of Composition (a)

12. 构思合适的大纲并遵行之。
有效的写作必须紧紧跟随着作者的思路,但并不一定是按照作者思维的顺序,所以必须构思合适的大纲。文体大多都自由随意,但无论如何,它们都有一个骨架以填充血与肉。大纲愈清晰,成功的可能性就越大。

13. 让段落成为文章的单元。
一般来说,一个主题是可以分成几个要点的,每个要点用一个段落处理。除非作为过渡段落,否则一个单独的句子不应该独立成段。

每个段落的起首句要么应当点明本段主旨,要么应当作为承上启下的过渡句。作为一篇文章的一部分,某个段落同它之前段落的逻辑关系以及在全文中的地位需要明确给读者。有时,通过首句的一个单词或词组就够了(againthereforefor the same reason);而有时,通过一两句话缓慢地切入主题更好。

在叙事性或描述性文体中,段落常常以简洁扼要的语句起首。
The breeze served us admirably.
The campaign opened with a series of reverses.
The next ten or twelve pages were filled with a curious set of entries.
但无论是什么方法都不宜过多使用。更常见的情况是,起始句通过主题简明地指出段落情节发展的方向。
At length I thought I might return toward the stockade.
He picked up the heavy lamp from the table and began to explore.
Another flight of steps, and they emerged on the roof.

在生动的叙事性文体中,段落一般都很简短,并且完全不需要主题句。

太长的段落应当分成较小的若干段落,即使逻辑上没有必要,在视觉上也是有帮助的。而一连串太短的段落会分散读者的注意力。

14. 使用主动态。
主动态一般比被动态更直接,更有活力:
I shall always remember my first visit to Boston.
My first visit to Boston will always be remembered by me.

但有时候被动态也是必要的。
The dramatists of the Restoration are little esteemed today.
Modern readers have little esteemed for the dramatists of the Restoration.

一些死板的句子可以通过将“there is”或“could be heard”等官腔替换成主动态的方式变得具有活力:
There were a great number of dead leaves lying on the ground.
Dead leaves covered the ground.
--
At dawn the crowing of a rooster could be heard.
The cock's crow came with dawn.
--
The reason he left college was that his health became impaired.
Failing health compelled him to leave college.
--
It was not long before he was very sorry that he had said what he said.
He soon repented her words.

当一个句子变得更有活力时,它通常变得更短更简洁了。

15. 以肯定的方式陈述事物。
not 来拒绝或者否定,而绝不要将它用作逃避的借口。读者总是希望被告知什么是什么,而非什么不是什么。

He was not very often on time.
He usually came late.
--
She did not think that studying Latin was much use.
She thought the study of Latin useless.
--
The Taming of the Shrew is rather weak in spots. Shakespeare does not portray Katharine as a very admirable character, nor does Bianca remain long in memory as an important character in Shakespeare's works.
The women in The Taming of the Shrew are unattractive. Katharine is disagreeable, Bianca insignificant.

将互为反义的肯定词和否定词并列在一起会使句子的结构更为有力。
Not charity, but simple justice.
Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.

除了 not 以外的否定词语气往往强烈。
Her loveliness I never know / Until she smiled on me.

用不必要的助动词或者条件从句修饰的句子听起来犹豫不决。
If you would let us know the time of your arrival, we would be happy to arrange your transportation from the airport.
If you will let us know the time of your arrival, we shall be happy to arrange your transportation from the airport.
--
Applicants can make a good impression by being neat and punctual.
Applicants will make a good impression if they are neat and punctual.
--
Plath may be ranked among those modern poets who died young.
Plath was one of those modern poets who died young.

如果每句话都允许这样不必要的怀疑语气存在,你的文字将缺乏权威性。所以,请把 wouldshouldcouldmaymightcan 等助动词留到真正当你不确信的场合使用。

16. 使用明确、详细、具体的语言。
语言要详细而不是空泛,要明确而不是模糊,要具体而不是抽象。这样的语言勾勒出形象,引发真情实感,是吸引读者的最有效的方式。
A period of unfavorable weather set in.
It rained every day for a week.
--
He showed satisfaction as he took possession of his well-earned reward.
He grinned as he pocketed the coin.

… Daisy and I in time found asylum in a small menagerie down by the railroad tracks. It belonged to a gentle alcoholic ne'er-do-well, who did nothing all day long but drink bathtub gin in rickeys and play solitaire and smile to himself and talk to his animals. He had a little, stunted red vixen and a deodorized skunk, a parrot from Tahiti that spoke Parisian French, a woebegone coyote, and two capuchin monkeys, so serious and humanized, so small and sad and sweet, and so religious-looking with their tonsured heads that it was impossible not to think their gibberish was really an ordered language with a grammar that someday some philologist would understand.

Gran knew about our visits to Mr. Murphy and she did not object, for it gave her keen pleasure to excoriate him when we came home. His vice was not a matter of guesswork; it was an established fact that he was half-seas over from dawn till midnight. "With the black Irish," said Gran, "the taste for the drink is taken in with the mother’s milk and is never mastered. Oh, I know all about those promises to join the temperance movement and not to touch another drop. The way to Hell is paved with good intentions."
-- Jean Stafford, In the Zoo

明确、详细、具体的语言不是说要巨细无遗地记录每一个细节——而是要记录每一个重要的细节。伴随着想象,读者能够自己在脑海中勾画出形象来。

Herbert Spencer 在 Philosophy of Style 中举了一例说明一个模糊空泛的句子如何变得生动有力。
In proportion as the manners, customs, and amusements of a nation are cruel and barbarous, the regulations of its penal code will be severe.
In proportion as men delight in battles, bullfights, and combats of gladiators, will they punish by hanging, burning, and the rack.

George Orwell 曾经从圣经中抽出一段,去除了其中的血液,以说明鲜活的文字是如何被剥夺生命力的。下面的两段文字,第一段是 Orwell 的翻译,第二段是钦定版圣经传道书中的原文。
Objective consideration of contemporary phenomena compels the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must inevitably be taken into account.
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

17. 删掉多余的词。
充满活力的文字是简洁的,作者必须保证,每一字每一词都言之有物。

出现在任何场合的“the fact that”都是华而不实的。
owing to the fact that --> since (because)
in spite of the fact that --> though (although)
call your attention to the fact that --> remind you (notify you)
I was unaware of the fact that --> I was unaware that (did not know)
the fact that he had not succeeded --> his failure
the fact that I had arrived --> my arrival

Who is”、“which was”等等也是冗余的,应当直接用同位语代替。

主动态一般比被动态简洁,肯定式一般比否定式简洁,因此规则 14 和 15 中的例子事实上也佐证了这条规则。

冗余文字的一种常见的错误就是逐步地通过一系列句子表达某个单一复杂的概念。
Macbeth was very ambitious. This led him to wish to become king of Scotland. The witches told him that this wish of his would come true. The king of Scotland at this time was Duncan. Encouraged by his wife, Macbeth murdered Duncan. He was thus enabled to succeed Duncan as king. (51 个单词)

Encouraged by his wife, Macbeth achieved his ambition and realized the prediction of the witches by murdering Duncan and becoming king of Scotland in his place. (26 个单词)

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

小美人鱼

奥运会开幕式的那天晚上,十多亿观众都看到了这难以忘怀的一幕:林妙可,一位扎着两条马尾辫、身着红裙、满脸灿烂的 9 岁小姑娘,孑立于灯光与烟火交织的舞台上,用甜美的声音将《歌唱祖国》献给了全世界。笔者也是这些被震撼的观众之一,所以,今天刚获悉的林妙可其实是被另一位 7 岁的、正值换牙期的小女孩杨沛宜配了音的消息又足足使我惊讶了好几分钟,这件事本身就不那么值得惊讶了。

开幕式的音乐总监说,他们这么做是为了国家的利益——能够代表中国的女孩,必须无论在外表、声音、气质上毫无瑕疵。甜美动人的林妙可嗓音平平,声若天籁的杨沛宜门齿不齐——在为了国家的利益的人的眼里看来,每个女孩都是一例例充斥着悖逆的实体。所以,为了国家的利益,他们只好用杨沛宜的声音拼接上林妙可的脸蛋,将这个人造的形象呈现给全世界。

大谬矣!谁说非要一个外在毫无瑕疵的人才能代表他(她)的国家?罹患帕金森综合症而手脚颤抖的拳王阿里,难道不是美国人坚忍拼搏、敢于伸张信仰的代表?全身肌肉瘫痪萎缩、连话都不能说的史蒂芬•霍金,难道不是英国人智慧与乐观的代表?还是说,只有我们问题多多的中国,才一定要找到一个完美无瑕的人来代表它,来掩盖它满眼疮痍不堪入目的事实??

当然,我不想在此论述此事背后的政治动机,我所关心(甚至是担忧)的是,这两个女孩会如何看待这件事情,她们的心灵会不会因此受到伤害。据报道,最先被张艺谋相中的女孩是林妙可,可是在最后的排练阶段,来视察的官员要求换掉她的声音。于是音乐总监找到了杨沛宜代替林妙可,然而杨沛宜的牙齿不整齐,上不了台面。于是,你我所熟悉的奥运会上的那一幕又重现了:林妙可在舞台上甜美地歌唱着,但是她根本不知道(除她之外也更不可能有谁能知道),别在她胸前的小扩音话筒根本没有扩音功能,舞台上空飘逸的其实是杨沛宜的已经录制好了的声音。我不禁害怕地想:随着她们长大,当她们意识到自己的外表抑或声音存在缺憾而不能登大雅之堂时,会不会而背负上自卑的累赘呢?

笔者突然想起童年读过的安徒生《小美人鱼》的童话故事。小美人鱼有着全世界最令人痴醉的声音,她深深地爱着一位人类王子;为了融入人类的生活,她竟和毒恶的海巫达成协议,用自己的声音换来了一双腿——但是,陆地上的王子并没有因为她有一双常人的腿而垂青于她……从某种意义上说,林妙可和杨沛宜这两位可爱得难分伯仲的小女孩,就是我们国家利益的牺牲品,她们俨然就是这个时代的两条小美人鱼。安徒生的童话以小美人鱼化作大海中的泡沫为结局,是一场悲剧,而悲剧的原因——在我看来——就恰恰是因为小美人鱼没有把真切的自我展现给王子:毕竟,无论王子是否爱上她,她依然可以做一条真实而完整的人鱼。

所以,这个世界并不存在毫无瑕疵的人。我们每个人都有缺陷,都有矛盾,都有丑恶,同时又因我们的真实和独一无二故此美丽。我们每个人都是充满了 oxymoron 修辞法的文学作品,真切得不容篡改。

Friday, August 01, 2008

共 = 华?

美国总统布什 7 月 30 日接见了一派人马,国内某门户网站旋即贴出血红色大字标题——中方对布什会见反华人士表示强烈不满和坚决反对。我愣了一下,还以为自己眼睛看花了:咦?那伙人明明反的是“共”嘛!怎么摇身就升级成反“华”了?

这一忖可不得了,我决心弄清楚“共”和“华”到底有什么瓜葛,竟如此剪不断理还乱。想来想去想不通,无奈下,拿出一张纸一支笔反复地临摹这两个字,希望能藉此捞到什么线索……哦哇,茅厕顿开:原来它们都只有 6 笔!

然而,找到答案的喜悦随即又被另一个闯入脑海事实冲得烟消云散:“华”的繁体字是“華”,那可是比“共”字复杂了无数笔呀!想来想去想不通,无奈下,只得招认,“共”和“华”,实在是八竿子打不着 Orz……