Rajesh Rao: Computing a Rosetta Stone for the Indus script

Prevodilac: Vesna Savić Lektor: Mile Živković

I'd like to begin with a thought experiment.

Hteo bih da počnem jednim misaonim eksperimentom.

Imagine that it's 4,000 years into the future.

Zamislite da ste otišli 4000 godina u budućnost.

Civilization as we know it

Civilizacija kakvu poznajemo

has ceased to exist --

prestala je da postoji -

no books,

nema knjiga

no electronic devices,

ni električnih uređaja,

no Facebook or Twitter.

ni Fejzbuka ni Tvitera.

All knowledge of the English language and the English alphabet

Sve znanje o engleskom jeziku i alfabetu

has been lost.

je izgubljeno.

Now imagine archeologists

Sada zamislite arheologe

digging through the rubble of one of our cities.

koji kopaju po kršu nekog našeg grada.

What might they find?

Na šta mogu naići?

Well perhaps some rectangular pieces of plastic

Možda na nekoliko pravougaonih komada plastike

with strange symbols on them.

na kojima su neki čudni simboli.

Perhaps some circular pieces of metal.

Možda na neke kružne komade metala.

Maybe some cylindrical containers

Možda na neke cilindrične posude

with some symbols on them.

na kojima su neki simboli.

And perhaps one archeologist becomes an instant celebrity

I možda jedan arheolog odmah postane slavan

when she discovers --

kada otkrije -

buried in the hills somewhere in North America --

zakopane negde u brdima Severne Amerike --

massive versions of these same symbols.

masivne verzije ovih simbola.

Now let's ask ourselves,

Zapitajmo se

what could such artifacts say about us

šta takvi artefakti mogu da kažu o nama

to people 4,000 years into the future?

ljudima za 4000 godina?

This is no hypothetical question.

Ovo nije hipotetičko pitanje.

In fact, this is exactly the kind of question we're faced with

Zapravo, ovo je upravo pitanje s kojim se suočavamo

when we try to understand the Indus Valley civilization,

kada pokušamo da shvatimo civilizaciju Doline Inda

which existed 4,000 years ago.

koja je postojala pre 4000 godina.

The Indus civilization was roughly contemporaneous

Indska civilizacija je živela otprilike u vreme

with the much better known Egyptian and the Mesopotamian civilizations,

mnogo poznatije egipatske i mesopotamijske,

but it was actually much larger than either of these two civilizations.

ali je zapravo bila mnogo veća od te dve civilizacije.

It occupied the area

Prostirala se na provršini

of approximately one million square kilometers,

od otprilike milion kilometara kvadratnih,

covering what is now Pakistan,

na prostoru današnjeg Pakistana,

Northwestern India

severozapadne Indije

and parts of Afghanistan and Iran.

i delova Avganistana i Irana.

Given that it was such a vast civilization,

S obzirom na to da je bila jako velika,

you might expect to find really powerful rulers, kings,

možda očekujete da je imala jako moćne vladare, kraljeve

and huge monuments glorifying these powerful kings.

i ogromne spomenike koji su veličali te moćne kraljeve.

In fact,

Zapravo,

what archeologists have found is none of that.

arheolozi nisu otkrili ništa od pomenutog.

They've found small objects such as these.

Pronašli su male figure, poput ovih.

Here's an example of one of these objects.

Ovo je primer jedne takve figure.

Well obviously this is a replica.

Ovo je, očigledno, samo replika.

But who is this person?

Ali, ko je ova osoba?

A king? A god?

Neki kralj? Bog?

A priest?

Sveštenik?

Or perhaps an ordinary person

Ili možda neka obična osoba

like you or me?

poput vas ili mene?

We don't know.

Ne znamo.

But the Indus people also left behind artifacts with writing on them.

Ali, indski narod je za sobom ostavio artefakte sa natpisima.

Well no, not pieces of plastic,

Ne baš plastične komade.

but stone seals, copper tablets,

već kamene pečate, bakarne pločice,

pottery and, surprisingly,

grnčariju i, začuđujuće,

one large sign board,

jednu veliku tablu sa znakovima,

which was found buried near the gate of a city.

koja ja pronađena zakopana kod kapije jednog grada.

Now we don't know if it says Hollywood,

Ne znamo da li na njoj piše Holivud,

or even Bollywood for that matter.

ili čak Bolivud u ovom slučaju.

In fact, we don't even know

U stvari, mi čak ne znamo ni

what any of these objects say,

šta piše na bilo kom od ovih predmeta

and that's because the Indus script is undeciphered.

i to zato što indsko pismo nije dešifrovano.

We don't know what any of these symbols mean.

Ne znamo šta znači nijedan od ovih znakova.

The symbols are most commonly found on seals.

Ovi znakovi se najčešće nalaze na pečatima.

So you see up there one such object.

Tamo gore vidite jedan takav predmet.

It's the square object with the unicorn-like animal on it.

To je četvrtast predmet sa životinjom nalik na jednoroga.

Now that's a magnificent piece of art.

To je jedno stvarno prelepo umetničko delo.

So how big do you think that is?

I, šta mislite koliki je taj predmet?

Perhaps that big?

Možda ovoliki?

Or maybe that big?

Ili ovoliki?

Well let me show you.

Sad ću vam pokazati.

Here's a replica of one such seal.

Evo replike jednog takvog pečata.

It's only about one inch by one inch in size --

Veličine je otprilike 2,5 sa 2,5 cm -

pretty tiny.

prilično je mali.

So what were these used for?

I, čemu je on služio?

We know that these were used for stamping clay tags

Znamo da su korišćeni za pečatiranje glinenih pločica

that were attached to bundles of goods that were sent from one place to the other.

koje su kačene za svežnjeve robe koja se slala s jednog mesta na drugo.

So you know those packing slips you get on your FedEx boxes?

Znate kako izgledaju tovarni listovi koje dobijete na kutiji FedEks pošte?

These were used to make those kinds of packing slips.

Ovi pečati su korišteni za pravljenje takvih tovarnih listova.

You might wonder what these objects contain

Možda se pitate šta se na ovim predmetima

in terms of their text.

nalazi u pogledu teksta.

Perhaps they're the name of the sender

Možda piše ime pošiljaoca

or some information about the goods

ili neke informacije o robi koja se šalje

that are being sent from one place to the other -- we don't know.

s jednog mesta na drugo - ne znamo.

We need to decipher the script to answer that question.

Moramo da dešifrujemo pismo kako bismo odgovorili na to pitanje.

Deciphering the script

Dešifrovanje pisma nije

is not just an intellectual puzzle;

obična intelektualna zagonetka,

it's actually become a question

nego je to postalo pitanje

that's become deeply intertwined

koje je dubinski upleteno

with the politics and the cultural history of South Asia.

u političku i kulturnu istoriju južne Azije.

In fact, the script has become a battleground of sorts

Zapravo, ovo pismo je postalo svojevrsno bojno polje

between three different groups of people.

između tri različite grupe ljudi.

First, there's a group of people

Prva je grupa ljudi

who are very passionate in their belief

koji su toliko strastveni u svojim uverenjima

that the Indus script

da indsko pismo uopšte

does not represent a language at all.

i nije jezik.

These people believe that the symbols

Oni veruju da su simboli

are very similar to the kind of symbols you find on traffic signs

jako slični simbolima na saobraćajnim znacima

or the emblems you find on shields.

ili amblemima štitova.

There's a second group of people

Druga grupa ljudi

who believe that the Indus script represents an Indo-European language.

veruje da je indsko pismo jedan indo-evropski jezik.

If you look at a map of India today,

Ako pogledate kartu današnje Indije

you'll see that most of the languages spoken in North India

videćete da većina jezika koji se govore u severnoj Indiji

belong to the Indo-European language family.

pripada indo-evropskoj porodici jezika.

So some people believe that the Indus script

Tako da neki ljudi veruju da je indsko pismo

represents an ancient Indo-European language such as Sanskrit.

prastari indo-evropski jezik poput sanskrita.

There's a last group of people

Poslednja grupa ljudi

who believe that the Indus people

veruje da je indski narod

were the ancestors of people living in South India today.

predak naroda koji danas žive u južnoj Indiji.

These people believe that the Indus script

Ovi ljudi veruju da indsko pismo

represents an ancient form

predstavlja prastari oblik

of the Dravidian language family,

dravidske porodice jezika,

which is the language family spoken in much of South India today.

koja je porodica jezika kojima se danas govori u većem delu Indije.

And the proponents of this theory

Zagovornici ove teorije

point to that small pocket of Dravidian-speaking people in the North,

ukazuju na grupicu ljudi na severu koji govore dravidski jezik,

actually near Afghanistan,

zapravo, u blizini Avganistana,

and they say that perhaps, sometime in the past,

i kažu da se možda nekada u prošlosti

Dravidian languages were spoken all over India

dravidskim jezicima govorilo širom Indije,

and that this suggests

što navodi na pomisao da je

that the Indus civilization is perhaps also Dravidian.

indska civilizacija možda takođe dravidska.

Which of these hypotheses can be true?

Koja od ovih hipoteza može biti tačna?

We don't know, but perhaps if you deciphered the script,

Ne znamo, ali, ako bi se ovo pismo dešifrovalo,

you would be able to answer this question.

možda biste mogli da odgovorite na ovo pitanje.

But deciphering the script is a very challenging task.

Ali dešifrovanje ovog pisma je veoma zahtevan posao.

First, there's no Rosetta Stone.

Kao prvo, nemamo "kamen iz Rozete".

I don't mean the software;

Ne mislim na program za učenje jezika;

I mean an ancient artifact

nego mislim na prastari artefakt

that contains in the same text

na kome se nalazi isti tekst:

both a known text and an unknown text.

jedan poznat i jedan nepoznat.

We don't have such an artifact for the Indus script.

Takav artefakt za indsko pismo nemamo.

And furthermore, we don't even know what language they spoke.

Štaviše, ne znamo čak ni kojim su jezikom oni govorili.

And to make matters even worse,

I što je još gore,

most of the text that we have are extremely short.

većina tekstova koje imamo su jako kratki.

So as I showed you, they're usually found on these seals

Kao što sam vam pokazao, oni su obično na ovakvim pečatima

that are very, very tiny.

koji su vrlo, vrlo mali.

And so given these formidable obstacles,

Uzevši u obzir ove značajne prepreke,

one might wonder and worry

možemo se zapitati i brinuti

whether one will ever be able to decipher the Indus script.

da li ćemo ikada uspeti da dešifrujemo indsko pismo.

In the rest of my talk,

U ostatku mog govora

I'd like to tell you about how I learned to stop worrying

ispričaću vam kako sam naučio da prestanem da brinem

and love the challenge posed by the Indus script.

i da zavolim izazove koji se javljaju uz indsko pismo.

I've always been fascinated by the Indus script

Ja sam opčinjen indskim pismom

ever since I read about it in a middle school textbook.

još od kada sam u udžbeniku u srednjoj školi pročitao o njemu.

And why was I fascinated?

A zašto sam bio opčinjen?

Well it's the last major undeciphered script in the ancient world.

Zato što je to poslednje veliko nedešifrovano pismo antičkog sveta

My career path led me to become a computational neuroscientist,

Karijera me je odvela put računarske neuronauke

so in my day job,

tako da u svakodnevnom poslu

I create computer models of the brain

pravim računarske simulacije mozga

to try to understand how the brain makes predictions,

ne bih li shvatio kako mozak predviđa,

how the brain makes decisions,

kako mozak odlučuje,

how the brain learns and so on.

kako mozak uči, itd.

But in 2007, my path crossed again with the Indus script.

Ali, 2007. godine put mi se ponovo ukrstio sa indskim pismom.

That's when I was in India,

Tada sam bio u Indiji

and I had the wonderful opportunity

i pružila mi se sjajna prilika

to meet with some Indian scientists

da upoznam neke indijske naučnike

who were using computer models to try to analyze the script.

koji su koristili računarske simulacije kako bi analizirali indsko pismo.

And so it was then that I realized

I tako sam tada shvatio da postoji šansa da

there was an opportunity for me to collaborate with these scientists,

sarađujem sa tim naučnicima

and so I jumped at that opportunity.

te sam tu priliku ugrabio.

And I'd like to describe some of the results that we have found.

Hteo bih da opišem neke rezultate na koje smo naišli.

Or better yet, let's all collectively decipher.

Ili, još bolje, hajde da ih zajedno dešifrujemo.

Are you ready?

Jeste li spremni?

The first thing that you need to do when you have an undeciphered script

Prvo što treba da uradite kada imate nedešifrovan tekst

is try to figure out the direction of writing.

je da probate da odredite smer pisanja.

Here are two texts that contain some symbols on them.

Ovo su dva teksta sa znakovima.

Can you tell me

Možete li mi reći

if the direction of writing is right to left or left to right?

da li je smer pisanja s desna na levo, ili s leva na desno?

I'll give you a couple of seconds.

Daću vam malo vremena.

Okay. Right to left, how many? Okay.

Dobro. S desna na levo, koliko vas? Dobro.

Okay. Left to right?

S leva na desno?

Oh, it's almost 50/50. Okay.

Skoro 50 prema 50. Dobro.

The answer is:

Odgovor je:

if you look at the left-hand side of the two texts,

ako pogledate levu stranu oba teksta,

you'll notice that there's a cramping of signs,

primetićete da su znakovi zbijeni

and it seems like 4,000 years ago,

da je pisaru pre 4000 godina,

when the scribe was writing from right to left,

kada je pisao s desna na levo,

they ran out of space.

nestalo prostora.

And so they had to cram the sign.

I zato je morao da zbije znakove.

One of the signs is also below the text on the top.

Jedan znak je takođe ispod teksta na vrhu.

This suggests the direction of writing

Ovo ukazuje da je smer pisanja

was probably from right to left,

verovatno s desna na levo,

and so that's one of the first things we know,

i to je jedna od prvih stvari koje znamo -

that directionality is a very key aspect of linguistic scripts.

da je smer pisanja ključan faktor jezičkih pisama.

And the Indus script now has

A indsko pismo sada ima

this particular property.

ovu ključnu karakteristiku.

What other properties of language does the script show?

Koje druge karakteristike jezika ima ovaj tekst?

Languages contain patterns.

Jezici imaju šablone.

If I give you the letter Q

Ako vam navedem slovo P

and ask you to predict the next letter, what do you think that would be?

i tražim da predvidite naredno slovo, šta mislite koje će to slovo biti?

Most of you said U, which is right.

Većina vas je rekla I, što je tačno.

Now if I asked you to predict one more letter,

Ako bih vam tražio da predvidite još jedno slovo,

what do you think that would be?

šta mislite koje bi to slovo bilo?

Now there's several thoughts. There's E. It could be I. It could be A,

Ima više opcija. Npr. T. Može biti V. Može biti K,

but certainly not B, C or D, right?

ali svakako ne Đ, NJ ili U, zar ne?

The Indus script also exhibits similar kinds of patterns.

Indsko pismo takođe ima slične šablone.

There's a lot of text that start with this diamond-shaped symbol.

Dosta tekstova počinje ovim znakom u obliku dijamanta.

And this in turn tends to be followed

Njega obično prati

by this quotation marks-like symbol.

ovaj znak u obliku navodnika.

And this is very similar to a Q and U example.

Ovo je vrlo slično primeru sa P i I.

This symbol can in turn be followed

Ovaj znak obično prate

by these fish-like symbols and some other signs,

ovi znakovi u obliku ribe i neki drugi znakovi

but never by these other signs at the bottom.

ali nikad ovi drugi znakovi na dnu.

And furthermore, there's some signs

Štaviše, neki znakovi

that really prefer the end of texts,

se često javljaju na kraju tekstova,

such as this jar-shaped sign,

kao ovaj znak u obliku tegle,

and this sign, in fact, happens to be

a ovaj znak, u stvari,

the most frequently occurring sign in the script.

je znak koji se najčešće javlja u indskom pismu.

Given such patterns, here was our idea.

Na osnovu ovih šablona, imali smo sledeću ideju.

The idea was to use a computer

Ideja je bila da se koristi računar

to learn these patterns,

koji bi naučio ove šablone.

and so we gave the computer the existing texts.

te smo postojeće tekstove prebacili u računar.

And the computer learned a statistical model

Računar je sastavio statistički model

of which symbols tend to occur together

simbola koji se javljaju zajedno

and which symbols tend to follow each other.

i koji simboli slede jedni druge.

Given the computer model,

Uzevši u obzir ovaj računarski model,

we can test the model by essentially quizzing it.

možemo da ga testiramo postavljajući pitanja.

So we could deliberately erase some symbols,

Možemo namerno brisati neke znakove

and we can ask it to predict the missing symbols.

i možemo mu tražiti da predviti znakove koji nedostaju.

Here are some examples.

Evo nekih primera.

You may regard this

Ovo se može smatrati

as perhaps the most ancient game

možda najstarijom igrom

of Wheel of Fortune.

kola sreće.

What we found

Otkrili smo da je

was that the computer was successful in 75 percent of the cases

računar bio uspešan u 75% slučajeva

in predicting the correct symbol.

predviđanja ispravnog znaka.

In the rest of the cases,

U ostalim slučajevima

typically the second best guess or third best guess was the right answer.

je obično drugi ili treći pogodak bio ispravan.

There's also practical use

Postoji i praktična primena

for this particular procedure.

ovog konkretnog postupka.

There's a lot of these texts that are damaged.

Mnogo tekstova je oštećeno.

Here's an example of one such text.

Evo primera jednog takvog teksta.

And we can use the computer model now to try to complete this text

Računarski model možemo iskoristiti da upotpunimo ovaj tekst

and make a best guess prediction.

i predvidimo najbliži pogodak.

Here's an example of a symbol that was predicted.

Evo primera predviđenog znaka.

And this could be really useful as we try to decipher the script

Ovo može biti vrlo korisno dok pokušavamo da dešifrujemo pismo

by generating more data that we can analyze.

stvaranjem mnogo više podataka koje možemo da analiziramo.

Now here's one other thing you can do with the computer model.

Evo šta možemo uraditi s tim računarskim modelom.

So imagine a monkey

Zamislite da majmun

sitting at a keyboard.

sedi za tastaturom.

I think you might get a random jumble of letters that looks like this.

Iz toga se mogu dobiti nasumične skupine ovakvih slova.

Such a random jumble of letters

Za takav nasumični skup slova

is said to have a very high entropy.

kaže se da ima vrlo visoku entropiju.

This is a physics and information theory term.

To je termin iz fizike i teorije informacija.

But just imagine it's a really random jumble of letters.

Ali, zamislite da je to običan nasumični skup slova.

How many of you have ever spilled coffee on a keyboard?

Koliko vas je nekad prosulo kafu na tastaturu?

You might have encountered the stuck-key problem --

Verovatno vam se javio problem zaglavljene tipke --

so basically the same symbol being repeated over and over again.

u suštini, isto slovo koje se neprestano ponavlja.

This kind of a sequence is said to have a very low entropy

Za ovakav niz se kaže da ima vrlo nisku entropiju

because there's no variation at all.

zato što uopšte ne postoje varijacije.

Language, on the other hand, has an intermediate level of entropy;

Jezik, s druge strane, ima srednji nivo entropije;

it's neither too rigid,

nije ni previše rigidan

nor is it too random.

niti je previše nasumičan.

What about the Indus script?

A šta je sa indskim pismom?

Here's a graph that plots the entropies of a whole bunch of sequences.

Ovo je grafik koji prikazuje entropije jednog čitavog niza.

At the very top you find the uniformly random sequence,

Na samom vrhu je ravnomerno slučajan niz,

which is a random jumble of letters --

koji je nasumična skupina slova -

and interestingly, we also find

i, zanimljivo, tu je i

the DNA sequence from the human genome and instrumental music.

niz iz genoma ljudskog DNK i instrumentalne muzike.

And both of these are very, very flexible,

Oba niza su vrlo, vrlo fleksibilna

which is why you find them in the very high range.

i zato se oni nalaze u visokom rasponu.

At the lower end of the scale,

Na nižem kraju skale

you find a rigid sequence, a sequence of all A's,

vidite rigidan niz, niz svih A,

and you also find a computer program,

i vidite i računarski program.

in this case in the language Fortran,

U ovom slučaju, na programskom jeziku fortran,

which obeys really strict rules.

koji poštuje vrlo stroga pravila.

Linguistic scripts

Jezička pisma

occupy the middle range.

su na sredini skale.

Now what about the Indus script?

A šta je sa indskim pismom?

We found that the Indus script

Otkrili smo da indsko pismo

actually falls within the range of the linguistic scripts.

zapravo potpada unutar raspona tih jezičkih pisama.

When this result was first published,

Kada je to otkriće prvi put objavljeno

it was highly controversial.

bilo je vrlo kontroverzno.

There were people who raised a hue and cry,

Bilo je ljudi koji su podigli hajku

and these people were the ones who believed

i nisu uopšte verovali

that the Indus script does not represent language.

da je indsko pismo jezik.

I even started to get some hate mail.

Čak sam dobijao i preteća pisma.

My students said

Studenti su mi rekli

that I should really seriously consider getting some protection.

da ozbiljno razmislim o traženju zaštite.

Who'd have thought

Ko bi i pomislio

that deciphering could be a dangerous profession?

da dešifrovanje može biti opasno zanimanje?

What does this result really show?

Šta ovo otkriće zapravo znači?

It shows that the Indus script

Znači da indsko pismo

shares an important property of language.

ima jednu važnu karakteristiku jezika.

So, as the old saying goes,

Tako da, kao što kaže stara izreka,

if it looks like a linguistic script

ako izgleda kao jezičko pismo

and it acts like a linguistic script,

i ako se ponaša kao jezičko pismo

then perhaps we may have a linguistic script on our hands.

onda možda u rukama stvarno imamo jezičko pismo.

What other evidence is there

Koji su drugi dokazi

that the script could actually encode language?

da indsko pismo možda sadrži neki jezik?

Well linguistic scripts can actually encode multiple languages.

Zapravo, jezička pisma mogu da sadrže više jezika

So for example, here's the same sentence written in English

Npr. ovo je jedna ista rečenica koja je zapisana na engleskom

and the same sentence written in Dutch

i holandskom,

using the same letters of the alphabet.

pri čemu su korišćena ista alfabetska slova.

If you don't know Dutch and you only know English

Ako ne znate holandski nego samo engleski,

and I give you some words in Dutch,

i ako vam kažem neke reči na holandskom,

you'll tell me that these words contain

reći ćete mi da te reči sadrže

some very unusual patterns.

neke veoma neobične šablone.

Some things are not right,

Neke stvari nisu u redu

and you'll say these words are probably not English words.

i reći ćete da te reči verovatno nisu engleske.

The same thing happens in the case of the Indus script.

Ista stvar se događa sa indskim jezikom.

The computer found several texts --

Računar je našao da nekoliko tekstova -

two of them are shown here --

od kojih su dva ovde prikazana -

that have very unusual patterns.

imaju vrlo neobične šablone.

So for example the first text:

Tako npr. u prvom tekstu

there's a doubling of this jar-shaped sign.

imamo dva znaka u obliku tegle.

This sign is the most frequently-occurring sign

Ovaj znak se najčešće javlja

in the Indus script,

u indskom pismu,

and it's only in this text

i jedino se u ovom tekstu

that it occurs as a doubling pair.

javlja u paru.

Why is that the case?

Zašto je to tako?

We went back and looked at where these particular texts were found,

Vratili smo se i pogledali gde su ovi tekstovi pronađeni

and it turns out that they were found

i ispostavilo se da su pronađeni

very, very far away from the Indus Valley.

vrlo, vrlo daleko od Doline Inda.

They were found in present day Iraq and Iran.

Pronađeni su u današnjem Iraku i Iranu.

And why were they found there?

A zašto su pronađeni baš tamo?

What I haven't told you is that

Nisam vam rekao da

the Indus people were very, very enterprising.

je indski narod bio vrlo, vrlo preduzimljiv.

They used to trade with people pretty far away from where they lived,

Trgovali su sa ljudima koji su bili veoma udaljeni od područja u kome su živeli,

and so in this case, they were traveling by sea

i, u ovom slučaju, plovili su morem

all the way to Mesopotamia, present-day Iraq.

čak do Mesopotamije - današnjeg Iraka.

And what seems to have happened here

Čini se da se ovde desilo to

is that the Indus traders, the merchants,

da su indski trgovci

were using this script to write a foreign language.

koristili ovo pismo da pišu stranim jezikom.

It's just like our English and Dutch example.

Isto kao u našem primeru sa engleskim i holandskim.

And that would explain why we have these strange patterns

To bi objasnilo te čudne šablone

that are very different from the kinds of patterns you see in the text

koji se vrlo razlikuju od šablona u tekstu

that are found within the Indus Valley.

koji je nađen u Dolini Inda.

This suggests that the same script, the Indus script,

Ovo navodi na zaključak da se isto pismo, indsko pismo,

could be used to write different languages.

može koristiti u pisanju različitih jezika.

The results we have so far seem to point to the conclusion

Dosadašnji rezultati ukazuju na zaključak da

that the Indus script probably does represent language.

indsko pismo verovatno jeste jezik.

If it does represent language,

Ako jeste,

then how do we read the symbols?

kako da onda čitamo znakove?

That's our next big challenge.

To nam je sledeći veliki izazov.

So you'll notice that many of the symbols

Primetićete da su mnogi simboli

look like pictures of humans, of insects,

nalik na slike ljudi, insekata,

of fishes, of birds.

riba, ptica.

Most ancient scripts

Mnoga antička pisma

use the rebus principle,

koriste princip rebusa,

which is, using pictures to represent words.

koji koristi slike koje predstavljaju reči.

So as an example, here's a word.

Npr. evo jedne reči. [eng. belief - verovanje]

Can you write it using pictures?

Možete li da je zapišete pomoću slika?

I'll give you a couple seconds.

Daću vam nekoliko sekundi.

Got it?

Jeste li uspeli?

Okay. Great.

Dobro. Odlično.

Here's my solution.

Evo mog rešenja.

You could use the picture of a bee followed by a picture of a leaf --

Može se koristiti slika pčele [BEE] koju sledi slika lista [LEAF]

and that's "belief," right.

i to je "belief", je l' tako?

There could be other solutions.

Postoje i druga rešenja.

In the case of the Indus script,

U slučaju indskog pisma,

the problem is the reverse.

problem je obrnut.

You have to figure out the sounds of each of these pictures

Treba da se otkriju zvuci svake ove sličice

such that the entire sequence makes sense.

tako da čitav niz ima smisla.

So this is just like a crossword puzzle,

Isto kao kod osmosmerke,

except that this is the mother of all crossword puzzles

samo što je ovo majka svih osmosmerki,

because the stakes are so high if you solve it.

zato što je ulog za njeno rešavanje jako visok.

My colleagues, Iravatham Mahadevan and Asko Parpola,

Moje kolege, Iravatam Mahadevan i Asko Parpola,

have been making some headway on this particular problem.

napravili su određen pomak u rešavanju ovog problema.

And I'd like to give you a quick example of Parpola's work.

I daću vam kratak primer Parpolinog rada.

Here's a really short text.

Evo jednog vrlo kratkog teksta.

It contains seven vertical strokes followed by this fish-like sign.

Sadrži sedam vertikalnih linija iza kojih je ovaj znak nalik na ribu.

And I want to mention that these seals were used

I treba da spomenem da su ovi pečati korišteni

for stamping clay tags

za pečatiranje glinenih pločica

that were attached to bundles of goods,

koje su bile zakačene za svežnjeve robe,

so it's quite likely that these tags, at least some of them,

tako da je vrlo verovatno da su te pločice, ili bar neke od njih,

contain names of merchants.

sadržale imena trgovaca.

And it turns out that in India

Ispostavilo se da u Indiji

there's a long tradition

postoji duga tradicija

of names being based on horoscopes

imena zasnovanih na horoskopskim znacima

and star constellations present at the time of birth.

i sazvežđima koja su bila na nebu u trenutku rođenja.

In Dravidian languages,

U dravidskim jezicima,

the word for fish is "meen"

reč za ribu je "meen",

which happens to sound just like the word for star.

i ona zvuči isto kao reč koja označava zvezdu.

And so seven stars

I tako sedam zvezda

would stand for "elu meen,"

bi moglo označavati "elu meen",

which is the Dravidian word

što je dravidska reč

for the Big Dipper star constellation.

za sazvežđe Veliki medved.

Similarly, there's another sequence of six stars,

Slično tome, postoji drugi niz od šest zvezda

and that translates to "aru meen,"

koji se prevodi kao "aru meen",

which is the old Dravidian name

što je starodravidski naziv

for the star constellation Pleiades.

za zvezdano jato Plejade.

And finally, there's other combinations,

I konačno, postoje i druge kombinacije,

such as this fish sign with something that looks like a roof on top of it.

poput ovog znaka u obliku ribe sa nekakvim krovom odgore.

And that could be translated into "mey meen,"

To se može prevesti kao "mey meen",

which is the old Dravidian name for the planet Saturn.

što je starodravidski naziv za planetu Saturn.

So that was pretty exciting.

Ovo je bilo vrlo uzbudljivo.

It looks like we're getting somewhere.

Izgleda kao da smo na tragu nečeg.

But does this prove

Ali, da li ovo dokazuje

that these seals contain Dravidian names

da ovi pečati sadrže dravidska imena

based on planets and star constellations?

zasnovana na planetama i sazvežđima?

Well not yet.

Još uvek ne.

So we have no way of validating

Nemamo način da potvrdimo

these particular readings,

ova tumačenja,

but if more and more of these readings start making sense,

ali, ako sve više ovih tumačenja počnu da imaju smisla,

and if longer and longer sequences

i ako se ispostavi da sve duži nizovi

appear to be correct,

budu tačni,

then we know that we are on the right track.

onda ćemo znati da smo na dobrom putu.

Today,

Danas,

we can write a word such as TED

možemo da napišemo reč kao što je TED

in Egyptian hieroglyphics and in cuneiform script,

koristeći egipatske hijeroglife i klinasto pismo

because both of these were deciphered

zato što je i jedno i drugo dešifrovano

in the 19th century.

u devetnaestom veku.

The decipherment of these two scripts

Dešifrovanje ova dva pisma

enabled these civilizations to speak to us again directly.

omogućilo je da nam se njihove civilizacije neposredno obrate.

The Mayans

Maje

started speaking to us in the 20th century,

su nam se obratile u dvadesetom veku,

but the Indus civilization remains silent.

ali je indska civilizacija još uvek nema.

Why should we care?

Zašto bi nas bilo briga?

The Indus civilization does not belong

Indska civilizacija ne pripada

to just the South Indians or the North Indians

samo južnim i severnim Indijcima

or the Pakistanis;

ili Pakistancima;

it belongs to all of us.

ona pripada svima nama.

These are our ancestors --

To su naši preci -

yours and mine.

i vaši i moji.

They were silenced

Oni su ostali nemi

by an unfortunate accident of history.

zbog pukog slučaja tokom istorije.

If we decipher the script,

Ako dešifrujemo ovo pismo,

we would enable them to speak to us again.

omogućili bismo im da nam se ponovo obrate.

What would they tell us?

Šta bi nam mogli reći?

What would we find out about them? About us?

Šta bismo mogli saznati o njima? O nama?

I can't wait to find out.

Jedva čekam da saznam.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)