How to speak monkey: The language of cotton-top tamarins - Anne Savage

譯者: 家平 林 審譯者: Geoff Chen

Living with her family high above the ground

在哥倫比亞北部的熱帶叢林中

in the northern tropical forests of Colombia,

她和家人住在高高的樹上

you will find Shakira,

你會發現夏奇拉

a cotton-top tamarin with a penchant for conversation.

一隻喋喋不休的棉頂狨猴

Say, "Hola!"

說“ 你好 “

Though you may not realize it,

也許你沒發現到

this one pound monkey communicates

這隻一磅左右重的小猴子

in a highly sophisticated language

用一種極複雜的語言交流

of 38 distinct calls

擁有了多達38種不同的叫聲

based on variations of chirps and whistles.

包含各種啾啾聲

The response she just gave is

和哨叫

known as a "B chirp",

剛才牠發出的的回應

a call often directed at humans.

被稱為B行啁啾聲

To appreciate the complexities of Shakira's language,

一種常用來跟人類打招呼的呼叫

let's learn a few chirps and whistles,

為了了解夏奇拉語言的複雜性

then examine how their combinations

讓我們先來了解幾種啁啾聲和哨叫聲

form grammatically structured sequences.

再看牠們的组合

The chirp Shakira used to greet us

是怎麼形成語法结構順序的

comes from a class of calls known as

夏奇拉用來和我們打招呼的啁啾聲

single frequency modulated syllables.

是由一组音節组成

This class is made up of short duration calls, or chirps,

這组音節由短音音調，比如啁啾聲

and long duration calls, like screams and squeals.

和長音音调，比如尖叫聲，一起组成

Researchers have determined that there are eight

研究人員發現

different types of chirps categorized by

有8種不同的啁啾聲

stem upsweep, duration, peak frequency, and frequency change.

是根據聲調、音長、尖峰頻率值 和頻率變化劃分出來的

In addition, each chirp has its own unique meaning.

另外，每一種啁啾聲有它自己獨特的含意

For example, Shakira's "C chirp" is used

比如说，當夏奇拉發出“C型啁啾聲”時

when she is approaching food,

是在她獲得食物的時候

where as her "D chirp" is only used

而“D型啁啾聲”

when she has the food in hand.

則是在牠手中有食物時才會使用

Single whistles also exhibit a unique intention with each call

單信號哨叫 也在每次呼叫中表達獨特的意思

and just as there are eight different chirps,

就如同這8種不同的啁啾聲

there are five different whistles.

哨叫也有5種之分

Based on frequency modulation,

根據頻率分類

single whistles are subdivided into four categories:

哨叫又被细分成4個子種類：

squeaks, initially modulated whistles,

吱吱聲和初級調製哨叫

terminally modulated whistles, and flat whistles.

進階調製哨叫以及平哨

The language's quality of unique intention

這種語言表達含義時的清晰性

is wonderfully exemplified by the category

完全可以用初級調製哨叫的種類來說明

of initially modulated whistles.

These whistles change based on the proximity

這些哨叫會根據夏奇拉

of Shakira to other members of her family.

與牠家人之間的距離遠近而改變

If Shakira is greater than .6 meters from her family,

如果夏奇拉與牠家人之間的距離 遠於6米

she'll sound a large initally modulated whistle.

牠就會發出高度初級調製哨叫

But if she's less than .6 meters from her family,

如果牠與家人的距離小於6米

she'll sound a small initially modulated whistle.

牠就會發出輕度初級調製哨叫

Now that we've learned a few chirps and whistles,

現在我們既然已經了解了幾種 啁啾聲和哨叫聲

Shakira wants to show off by taking you

夏奇拉非常想跟你炫耀一下 牠的語言功力

through a quick day in her life with these calls.

牠要帶你體驗一下 牠從早到晚所發出的聲音

While heading towards a feeding tree for her first meal of the day,

當牠跳到一棵樹上開始吃早餐時

she says, (monkey noise),

牠說，（猴子的叫聲）

a call most often used in relaxed investigations.

這是一種多用於輕鬆探查的叫聲

However, suddenly she spots the shadow of a hawk.

然而，牠突然發現一隻大鷹的影子

"E chirp" for alarm.

牠發出警報聲“E型啁啾聲”

This call alerts her family to the presence of this predator,

這聲音警示牠家人：捕食者靠近了

and Shakira jumps to the safety of an inner branch.

夏奇拉自己也趕緊跳入 密枝深處的安全地帶

The coast seems clear,

現在應該沒事了

so Shakira makes her way towards her dad.

所以夏奇拉向牠的爸爸靠近

Wait, wait. Who is that?

等等，等等，那個小傢伙是誰

Ah, it's her younger brother, Carlos.

啊哈，是牠的弟弟卡洛斯

Cotton-top tamarins often squeal during play wrestling.

棉頂狨猴玩摔跤的時候通常會發出尖叫

Uh-oh. He's playing a little too roughly, and Shakira screams,

啊哦，卡洛斯有點粗暴了 夏奇拉開始尖叫

alerting her parents to help her.

想讓牠父母來幫她

Her dad makes his way towards the ball of rolling fur

牠爸爸朝著扭打成一團毛球走去

and her brother stops.

牠弟弟識相地停了下來

Shakira shakes herself

夏奇拉抖了抖身子

and scratches herself to get the hair on her head

伸手整理她頭上的毛

back in place.

恢復牠的髮型

Then Shakira spots another group of unfamiliar tamarins

之後，夏奇拉發現了另一群 不太熟悉的棉頂狨猴

and hears their normal long call.

聽了聽牠們的長叫

She turns to her family. (Monkey noise)

牠轉向她的家人（猴子叫聲）

Did you catch that? First there was a chirp, then a whistle.

你聽出來了嗎？首先是啁啾聲 然後是哨叫聲

This is what's known as a combination vocalization,

這被稱為組合發聲

a phrase that contains both a chirp and a whistle.

一個由一聲啁啾和一聲哨叫組成的“短語”

These are two calls strung together to convey a message.

這兩聲串起來表達一個信息

The combination of these two elements

牠把這兩個聲音元素合在一起

alerts her family to the presence of another group,

通知牠的家人另一個群體存在 牠用“F型啁啾聲”

the "F chirp", and the distance they are away,

並同時說明這個群體與牠們的距離

the normal long call whistle.

牠用慣用的長口哨

In other words, Shakira just said a sentence.

換句話說，夏奇拉剛剛說了一句話

Her simple demonstration is just the tip of the iceberg.

牠這句簡單的話只是牠們語言中的冰山一角

She's got trills, chatters, multiple whistle calls,

牠還有顫音，饒舌，多樣的哨叫

more combination vocalizations, even twitters.

更有多種組合發音，甚至是吱吱喳喳

Yet sadly enough, we may not get to hear

然而，讓人難過的是，我們可能永遠也聽不盡

everything she has to say.

牠說得每一件事

Mixed in with chirping sonatas from high above

伴隨樹木高處的啁啾聲

is the constant thud of a machete chopping trees.

還有持續不斷砍伐樹木的轟隆聲

Shakira's habitat in Colombia is being cut down,

夏奇拉在哥倫比亞的家正在被砍伐

piece by piece,

一棵又一棵的樹倒下

and if we don't work to protect

如果我們不採取行動

the critically endangered cotton-top tamarin,

保護瀕臨絕種的棉頂狨猴

it will become extinct in our lifetime.

牠們會在我們有生之年絕跡的

If the chirp from one tamarin to the next

如果棉頂狨猴之間的啁啾聲

has proven to be more than just idle chit chat,

被證明不僅僅是閒聊那麼簡單

imagine what else we have left to discover.

想像一下還有多少是我們有待發現的

Imagine what else Shakira can tell us.

想像一下夏奇拉還能告訴我們什麼