2021年经济学人 约翰逊专栏--口音歧视(1)（在线收听）

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约翰逊专栏

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埃菲尔力量

The rights and wrongs of a French bid to ban accent discrimination

法国禁止口音歧视的是非曲直

In the early 1790s French revolutionaries commissioned a priest, Henri Gregoire, to take a census of the languages spoken in France. His findings were eventually titled a “Report on the necessity and means to annihilate the patois and to universalise the use of the French language”. Gregoire was a pioneering believer in racial equality, a fact that may seem to fit oddly with his passion for eradicating linguistic diversity. But to him, it made sense: French was the language of liberation, and those without it could be kept in ignorance.

18世纪90年代初，法国革命者委托一位名叫亨利·格雷戈尔的牧师对法国说的语言进行普查。格雷戈尔的研究结果最终被命名为《关于消灭土话必要性及其措施以及普及使用法语的报告》。格雷戈尔是种族平等的先锋信徒，这一事实似乎与他对根除语言多样性的热情有着诡异的契合。但他做出这样的事情合乎常理，法语是解放的语言，不讲法语的人可能愚昧无知。

How very French, their British cousins might chuckle. The same people who introduced the metric system and (unsuccessfully) tried to replace the Gregorian calendar can seem to have a mania for top-down reform and standardisation. Now some Britons are chuckling to see this approach enlisted in the name of tolerance: on November 26th the National Assembly passed a law forbidding accent discrimination. If it gets through the French Senate, severe cases—say, denying someone a job because of how they speak—could result in three years in prison, or a fine of 45,000 euros ($55,000). How very French.

他们兄弟的英国人民可能会暗自发笑，这很法国人。同样是那些引进公制并试图取代公历（但没有成功）的人，似乎对自上而下的改革和标准化抱有狂热。现在，一些英国人看到这种以包容为名的做法，都笑了：11月26日，法国国民议会通过了一项禁止口音歧视的法律。如果该法案通过法国参议院，那一些严重的案件（比如，招聘方因为应聘者说话的方式而拒绝应聘者）可能会导致3年监禁，或罚款4.5万欧元（约合5.5万美元）。这很法国。

The country certainly has biases to amend. In America regional accents can be heard in the highest office in the land (Donald Trump’s New York, George W. Bush’s Texan). In Britain the BBC has expanded the variety of accents heard on its broadcasts. By contrast, regional accents in France are far tougher to find in high places. This makes it harder for the French to associate intelligence and competence with anything but standard Parisian. At best French politicians, like some elsewhere, switch between their local accent when in the areas they represent and the standard Parisian kind when in the capital or on television.

法国当然要矫正口音偏见。你可以听到美国的最高领导者有地区口音（唐纳德·特朗普的纽约口音，乔治·布什的德克萨斯口音）。英国的BBC更是海纳百川，你能在广播中听到各式各样的口音。相比之下，很难听到有法国高层带有地方口音。为此，法国人很难将智力和能力与标准巴黎口音以外的事物联系起来。法国政界人士充其量能和其他地方的政客一样切换口音，在他们所代表的地区讲当地口音，在首都或电视上切换标准巴黎口音。