Shakespeare the Wordsmith 造词大师

Professor David Crystal and William Shakespeare

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本集内容

牛津英语字典中有1700多个词条都首次出自莎士比亚的十四行诗歌或戏剧。

Did Shakespeare really coin 铸造/创造 all those words? William Kremer and Yang Li hear from the renowned 著名的 linguist and expert on Shakespearean language, Professor David Crystal.

William asks some of his colleagues in BBC Learning English to invent some words of their own. Listen to the programme to find out what on earth 到底/究竟 seezy, smasual and shloppy mean.

Also, what's the best way for learners of English to approach 了解 Shakespeare? David Crystal has some valuable 宝贵的 advice.

As you listen, try to answer these questions. The answers are at the bottom of this page.

1. Does David Crystal think that Shakespeare really coined the word well-behaved?

2. Complete the quote: "_______ the noise that banish'd Martius!"

3. Does David Crystal think you should read the plays before seeing them on stage?

莎翁名言

In the programme David Crystal quoted some of the chorus 在这里指旁白 lines from Henry V. Click on the audio link on the right to hear the lines again, first in a modern accent and then in an Elizabethan 伊丽莎白时期的 accent.

In the clip you will also hear the phrase from this week's S Words programme. The actor is Simon Mathis.

Click on the pdf link to read the excerpts 选文。

下 集预告

Next week we end this Shakespeare series by asking, what is it like to perform Shakespeare? Yang Li and William Kremer meet some budding 朝气蓬勃的 young actors at the Globe Theatre in London.

Answers to the quiz:

1. Yes, because "there's obviously an attempt at expressing a more complex notion 意思/概念".

2. "Unshout the noise that banish'd Martius!" (Coriolanus, Act V, Scene V).

3. No. Shakespeare didn't write his plays to be read. You are more likely to understand the plays if you see them acted. You might also want to read them in Chinese before approaching them in English.