语言与文风2010theamericanscholar.org编辑精选
以英语作为第二语言写作
Writing English as a Second Language
导读
这篇讨论非母语者如何用英文写作，核心围绕简洁、短句和选词展开。它值得写作者读，因为把“写好英文”落到了可操作的语言选择上，评论区也补充了简洁规则可能带来的局限。
可以直接用的写作要点
- 01
写英文时先求清楚：句子短一些，通常比堆叠复杂结构更容易让读者跟上。
- 02
不要机械排斥拉丁词源词；选词标准应是语境中是否准确、自然，而不是词源“纯不纯”。
- 03
可以把 Orwell 的《Politics and the English Language》当作简洁写作的经典参照，同时记住繁复风格也可能很有力量。
HN 评论精选
不应机械排斥拉丁词源词，写作规则应服务于表达而非限制风格。
我赞同并喜欢 William Zinsser 的许多观点，他的书帮助过无数初学写作者和语言学习者。但英语丰富、美丽而多样，不应被任意规则框住。他反对使用或过度使用拉丁词源词，这太武断。比如 productive 源自拉丁语 duco/ducere（引导），英语中 duke、duct、deduce、reduce、induce、introduce、produce 及其变体在合适语境中都很有用；硬按词源区分词并不有意义。
grellas查看英文原文
I agree with and like William Zinsser on many points, and I believe he has helped countless budding authors and language learners over the years to develop good writing skills. I know I read his books years ago and profited from them (I will never forget a funny introduction to On Writing Well, where he highlighted the point that good writing skills can only be developed through persistent, hard work over a long period by featuring a conversion between an author and a brain surgeon - who did writing "on the side" - in which the author chimed in that he too planned to do some brain surgery "on the side"). That said, English is a rich, beautiful, and varied language and we should be careful not to box ourselves in with arbitrary rules that limit our style. Mr. Zinsser's admonition not to use or over-use Latin-origin words does just that and is therefore too arbitrary to be productive. Take the word "productive," which I just used. At its root is the Latin duco, ducere, duxi, ductus, generally meaning "to lead." So we get, in English, a rich range of words such as duke, duct, deduce, reduce, induce, introduce, produce, and all their variants (deductive, inductive, productive, etc.), all useful words in the right context. Now there are countless words like this in English, and I don't think it is meaningful to try to sort them out from words having an Anglo-Saxon lineage and others thought to have punchier qualities. After all, well over half of English vocabulary derives from Latin and it seems self-defeating to limit yourself to less than half of the words available to you in choosing ways to express yourself. Yes, do avoid writing in a bloated or hopelessly abstract style. Use punchy verbs to liven things up as occasion allows. But don't waste your time trying to sort words out by their etymological origin because words derived from Latin are not "the enemy" and, even if some of them are stilted, many or even most are not. If I may suggest my own rule: do not mechanically apply arbitrary rules on word choice but rather choose your words to suit the context, following your instincts for what sounds right for your intended reader.
简洁风格很有价值，但繁复复杂也可能有力，关键是找到最合适的词。
我很喜欢这种风格，并推荐 Orwell 的《Politics and the English Language》作为经典论述；他若看到“Enhanced Interrogation Techniques”这样的说法会大做文章。不过这里也有取舍：莎士比亚的语言繁复复杂却仍然有力，他喜欢翻遍词汇柜找最合适的词。
petewarden查看英文原文
I'm a big fan of this style, and I recommend Orwell's "Politics and the English Language" as the canonical take on it. He would have a field day with "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques"! http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm There is a tradeoff here though. Shakespeare's language was elaborate and complex but still powerful. He loved rummaging through the back of the vocabulary cupboard to find just the right word.
康拉德这样的例子说明非英语母语者也能成为出色的英文写作者。
小挑刺：他本应提到 Joseph Conrad（或类似作家），Conrad 的第一语言并不是英语。
patrickgzill查看英文原文
Quibble: he should have mentioned Joseph Conrad (or another writer like him), whose first language was not English.
非母语写作者需要刻意提醒自己压缩句子长度。
作为学习用英文写作的德国人，我得不断提醒自己把句子写短 :)
bjoernw查看英文原文
As a German learning to write in English I had to constantly remind myself to keep my sentences short :)
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