hellog〜英語史ブログ / 2025-08-29

■ #5968. 「あなたが選ぶ英語史ゆかりの場所100選」はおもしろい企画になりそう --- HEL in 100 Places の序文より [notice][review][hel][historiography][variety][world_englishes][100_places]

　「#5956. 100の場所で英語史を学ぶ本 --- A History of the English Language in 100 Places」 ([2025-08-17-1]) で紹介した書籍をパラパラと読んでいるが，意識的に場所と紐付けて英語史を考えるという視点に相変わらず興奮している．
　この本の序文 (9--10) を，David Crystal が書いている．その序文全体が読ませる文章となっているのだが，私が読んでとりわけ印象に残った2段落を引用しよう．

   Some places are included in this book because the people --- in some cases the person --- who lived there played an important role in the development of the standard language. Others are included because they identify the political and social factors that fostered the spread of the language language within the British Isles and around the world. Others are here because they represent the way their communities evolved a linguistic individuality that forms part of the kaleidoscopic mix of varieties we conveniently refer to as 'English'.
   It is an exercise in linguistic gazetteering, and one thing that strikes me about it is its highly personal character. It's impossible to say everything relevant about a place --- 100 things must have happened in London or New York that could be said to bear on the development of English. And 100 other places might compete as candidates for a particular theme. Selectivity is inevitable when creating a language's geobiography. No two people's selection for A History of the English Language in 100 Places would ever be the same. The fascination lies in the choices made, and the reasons for them. (9--10)

　gazetteering, geobiography という用語が，きれいにはまっていて気持ちよい．いずれも，先日の heldio 配信回で提案した「#1517. etymography 「語誌学」の妄想」とも関連してきそうである．
　また，英語史の場所100選という作業が個人的であるという指摘も，まさにその通りであり説得力がある．ということは「あなたが選ぶ英語史ゆかりの場所100選」なる企画を立ち上げることもできるだろう．100選は大変なので10選くらいから始めてもよいかもしれない．

　・ Lucas, Bill and Christopher Mulvey. A History of the English Language in 100 Places. London: Robert Hale, 2013.

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