Условных предложений, эмфазы и синтаксиса

174. Chaucer's outlook on life was certainly narrower than Shakespeare's; he would have been unable to realize, much less to describe, the awful tragedy of the life of Lear or Othello. But what he has seen he describes perfectly and vividly.

175. In the past few decades much serious and effective work has been done by American linguists in order to produce scientific descriptions of the still-spoken Amerindian languages (as they are sometimes called). This work is

¹⁹ ad infinitum — бесконечно, постоянно. 206

the more important since some of the communities in question appear to face extinction in the near future.

176. That such a vast area should have bread many different peoples each with its own language, customs and religious observances is only natural.

177. Once an abstract idea is formed and embodied in words, then the possibility arises that these words will be taken to refer to special kinds of objects which exist apart from the objects of material world which are reflected in sense-perceptions. And this possibility is the more apt to be realized, the more the handling of abstract ideas becomes a special social activity separated from material labour.

178. And it is precisely here that the comedies of Johnson and Shakespeare differ most profoundly; for whatever labels we apply to them, whatever the general nature of their materials, whatever their connections with classical or Renaissance concepts of comedy, these plays differ most significantly in that they dramatize two different responses to the human situation.

179. As interesting as Inge's ideas and comments were, what he was as a human being was even more fascinating.

180. Whether this conviction was independently reached by him we do not know. We do know that some time during 1924 there came to his attention a book which could have buttressed his beliefs, and which at any rate drew him closer to linguistics.

181. But exactly how much this influence was exerted and how important was its role will only be disclosed when further first-hand researches have been concluded in Asia Minor.

182. The semantic difficulties of our topic are troublesome, and no ready relief seems possible beyond constant attention to how terms are used in their contexts, especially to their polar oppositions.

183. In some continental European countries, there are language Academies which practically legislate the language. Not that the Academies really want to halt the process of language change. They only want to turn it into what they consider desirable channels. But the Academy's view of what is a desirable channel and the view of the great body of speakers aren't always quite the same.

184. From etymology we learn that the Gauls whom Caesar fought wore clan tartans, as do their modern descendants.

185. After 1500 В. С. presumably as the result of the development of mining, metal became commoner everywhere. Even barbarians could now afford to provide carpenters and smiths with bronze tools. In the civilized Orient bronze hoe-blades and sickles became commoner. Even so, bronze never replaced stone in the way iron did.

186. It should be remembered, too, that it was a Dane, King Knut, who achieved what every English ruler had failed to achieve, the union of the whole of England into one peaceful realm.

187. Much of the material the biographer ought to consult, moreover, is widely dispersed or difficult to access. As the result of this, for a long while the amount of reputable criticism was small.