阅读难度：

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.

(点击BBC网站查看原文)

“I”名列最古老英文词

        据英国广播公司报道，科学家们找出了英语中最古老的词汇。

       英国雷丁大学的研究人员称，“I” 和“who”，还有“two”﹑“three”和“five”都是最古老的词汇，“one”的年头稍稍少些。

       他们发现，词汇的使用频率与其随时间改变的快慢相关，那些最常用的词往往也是最古老的。

       另外，他们的计算机模型还能预测出哪些词最可能消失，“squeeze”﹑“guts”﹑“stick”和“bad”或许会成为首批消失的词汇。

(China.org.cn April 21, 2011)