Talking and Speaking

散文家梁實秋《談話的藝術》這樣開頭：：一個人在談話中可以採取三種不同的方式，一種是獨白，一是靜聽，一是互話。

英語中的 TALK ，最洽當地表達「談話」的意思：You talk to somebody in order to be friendly or to ask for advice：談話通常表示友好，或詢問別人的建議。

Talk, Talk with, and conversation

TALK 這個名詞相當 informal，作非正式用法時，可以代替 conversation 交談，更強調親密關係、真誠和坦率：Talk as a noun is both relatively informal and very general. It can serve as an informal substitute for conversation, with greater emphasis on intimacy, sincerity and frankness。

Talk to 和 talk with 用法上有分別：The first suggests a superior’s advising or reprimanding：Your boss says he doesn’t want to talk to you. The second suggests a conversation between equals, with equal participation：I like to talk with my colleagues. 上司訓話，適用於前者，同僚談話，適用於後者。

CONVERSATION 常用於非正式的社交場合，帶有一種放鬆的、隨便的、親密的、令人愉快的氣氛。Conversation 很常用，versatile in collocations 搭配很多，例如：get into a conversation/join in a conversation / strike up a conversation 。你可以 carry on/interrupt/monopolise/overhear/ get into a conversation。你也可以參與 a civilized/private/ sensible/polite conversation。

談話的藝術是 the art of conversation。話題是 a topic of conversation/ 語氣是the tone of a conversation 。話不投機可以說 we have little in common and run out of conversation。

CHAT 指親密和非正式的談話，可以指兩個人或更多的人之間的交談，漫談中即使涉及到個人的私事，也不會令人緊張或不自在。Chat suggests light, pleasant, and rambling talk。例如：an hour chat among good friends, a chat between mother and daughter。We also use chat to describe an informal conversation or informal talking。常用的搭配有：drop in for a chat/an interesting chat/no time for idle chat/a ‘chat room’ on the internet/ a T. V. chat show 。

至於 TALKING 和 SPEAKING，意思相近，用法頗有不同。

Talk and Speak這兩個字都包含交流、交談的意思：Both words mean to share news, information, ideas or feelings with another person or other people, especially by talking with them。

Talk 指說話、講話 to speak in order to give information, express feelings or share ideas ：We talked on the phone for over an hour.

speak指談話、交談to talk to somebody about something; to have a conversation with somebody ： I‘ve spoken to the manager about my complaint.

講電話時 ‘Can I speak to Paul?’ 接線者正是要找的人，可以單說 Speaking 一個字便足夠： ‘Speaking ’ here=at the beginning of a telephone conversation 。

跟 SPEAKING 有關的 VOCABULARY 詞匯，因應 volume 音量大小和 loudness 聲浪高低而產生變化。壓低聲音、輕聲說話有 whisper 竊竊私語, murmur 喃喃自語, mumble 咕噥, mutter 嘟囔這幾個動詞。The moods expressed in speaking are different. They are secretive, romantic, nervous and irritated respectively，分別表達秘而不宣、羅曼蒂克、緊張不安和感到煩惱等不同情緒。高聲喧嘩的說話，有 shout 大叫, yell 吶喊, scream 呼嘯, shriek 尖叫這幾個動詞，分別表達憤怒、激動、傷痛和興奮等情緒。