homogeneity 復習
2017年の日本の出生率が過去最低数値を記録しました。
The number of births in Japan this year has fallen to is lowest since records began more than a century ago with about 941,000 new babies, the health ministry said on Friday, proof if any were needed that it faces an aging and shrinking population.
(中略)
Japan has long been reluctant to open up to immigration. Many Japanese pride themselves on what they see as their cultural and ethnic homogeneity, even as the population ages and the workforce shrinks.
https://japantoday.com/category/national/number-of-births-in-japan-to-hit-record-low-in-2017
homogeneity/hòʊmədʒəníːəṭi/をとりあげます。homogeneousで「同質の、同類の」という意味があることを何となく覚えていたので上記では人種的な共通性といった意味になると予測しました。『ジーニアス英和辞典』を引くと「同種、同質;均質;同次」とありました。LDOCEを引くと“consisting of people or things that are all of the same type”と定義されています。語源はギリシャ語のhomos=same(同じ)とgene(種)からきています。(Kiwi girl)