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Scientists have identified some of the oldest words in English, the BBC reports.

Reading University researchers claim the words "I" and "who" are among the oldest, along with the words "two", "three", and "five". The word "one" is only slightly younger.

The researchers found that the frequency with which a word is used relates to how slowly it changes through time, so that the most common words tend to be the oldest ones.

They also say their computer model can predict which words are likely to become extinct -- citing "squeeze," "guts," "stick" and "bad" as probable first casualties.

(點擊BBC網站查看原文)

“I”名列最古老英文詞

??????? 據英國廣播公司報道，科學家們找出了英語中最古老的詞匯。

???????英國雷丁大學的研究人員稱，“I” 和“who”，還有“two”﹑“three”和“five”都是最古老的詞匯，“one”的年頭稍稍少些。

???????他們發現，詞匯的使用頻率與其隨時間改變的快慢相關，那些最常用的詞往往也是最古老的。

???????另外，他們的計算機模型還能預測出哪些詞最可能消失，“squeeze”﹑“guts”﹑“stick”和“bad”或許會成為首批消失的詞匯。

(China.org.cn April 21, 2011)