Why language is humanity's greatest invention | David Peterson

翻译人员: 宸煜 赵 校对人员: psjmz mz

Spoons.

勺子。

Cardboard boxes.

纸箱。

Toddler-size electric trains.

儿童电动小火车。

Holiday ornaments.

节日装饰品。

Bounce houses.

充气城堡。

Blankets.

毛毯。

Baskets.

篮子。

Carpets.

地毯。

Tray tables.

小桌板。

Smartphones.

智能手机。

Pianos.

钢琴。

Robes.

礼服长袍。

Photographs.

照片。

What do all of these things have in common,

这些东西有什么共同点？

aside from the fact they're photos that I took in the last three months,

除了它们是我在过去 三个月中拍的照片

and therefore, own the copyright to?

并且拥有著作权外？

(Laughter)

（笑声）

They're all inventions

它们是发明的产物，

that were created with the benefit of language.

得益于语言，它们被创造出来。

None of these things would have existed without language.

如果没有语言这些东西 都不会被创造出来。

Imagine creating any one of those things

试想创造任何一个这些东西

or, like, building an entire building like this,

或像建造这样一个完整的大楼，

without being able to use language

没有语言沟通

or without benefiting from any knowledge that was got by the use of language.

或不借助因使用语言而获得的知识。

Basically, language is the most important thing

从大体上来说，语言是这个世界上

in the entire world.

最重要的东西。

All of our civilization rests upon it.

我们所有的文明都依存于语言之上。

And those who devote their lives to studying it --

那些终生致力于研究语言的人——

both how language emerged, how human languages differ,

语言是怎么出现的， 人类的语言为什么有差异，

how they differ from animal communication systems --

与动物的交流系统有什么不同——

are linguists.

是语言学家。

Formal linguistics is a relatively young field, more or less.

正统的语言学，或多或少仍是 个比较新的领域。

And it's uncovered a lot of really important stuff.

并且它揭示了许多真正重要的信息。

Like, for example, that human communication systems

例如，人类的交流系统

differ crucially from animal communication systems,

与动物的交流系统有相当大的差异，

that all languages are equally expressive,

所有的语言都有相当的表现力，

even if they do it in different ways.

即便他们的表达方式不同。

And yet, despite this,

当然，尽管如此，

there are a lot of people who just love to pop off about language

还是许多随便谈论语言的人，

like they have an equal understanding of it as a linguist,

就像有语言学家那样高的理解似的，

because, of course, they speak a language.

当然，他们会说某种语言。

And if you speak a language, that means you have just as much right

如果你会讲一种语言， 那就意味着你有同样多的权利

to talk about its function as anybody else.

像其他人一样去谈论它的功能。

Imagine if you were talking to a surgeon,

想像一下假如你对一个外科医生说，

and you say, "Listen, buddy.

“听着，哥们儿。

I've had a heart for, like, 40 years now.

我活了四十年了。

I think I know a thing or two about aortic valve replacements.

我觉得我了解一些 主动脉瓣置换术的事情。

I think my opinion is just as valid as yours."

我认为我的观点和你的一样有效。”

And yet, that's exactly what happens.

是的，事情确实就是这样的。

This is Neil deGrasse Tyson, saying that in the film "Arrival,"

这是尼尔.德格拉塞.泰森 对电影《降临》的评论，

he would have brought a cryptographer --

他原本可以带一个密码专家——

somebody who can unscramble a message in a language they already know --

能够用他们已经知道的语言解读信息的人

rather than a linguist,

而不是一名语言学家，

to communicate with the aliens,

去和外星人对话，

because what would a linguist --

因为为什么一名语言学家——

why would that be useful in talking to somebody

为什么语言学家跟说我们完全不知道

speaking a language we don't even know?

的语言的人会有用？

Though, of course, the "Arrival" film is not off the hook.

当然，《降临》这部电影 并没有摆脱困境。

I mean, come on -- listen, film. Hey, buddy:

我的意思是，瞧这部电影：

there are aliens that come down to our planet in gigantic ships,

外星人坐在巨大的飞船里 降临到我们地球，

and they want to do nothing except for communicate with us,

然后他们除了想和我们交流之外 什么都不想做，

and you hire one linguist?

于是你就雇了一名语言学家？

(Laughter)

（笑声）

What's the US government on a budget or something?

美国政府都在搞什么预算？

(Laughter)

（笑声）

A lot of these things can be chalked up to misunderstandings,

许多这样的事情可以人们对

both about what language is and about the formal study of language,

什么是语言，什么是正式的语言学习，

about linguistics.

什么是语言学存在误区。

And I think there's something that underlies a lot of these misunderstandings

我认为支撑这些误区之下的东西

that can be summed up by this delightful article in "Forbes,"

可以由这篇发表在《福布斯》 上的令人愉悦的文章概括，

about why high school students shouldn't learn foreign languages.

这是一篇为什么高中生 不应当学习外语的文章。

I'm going to pull out some quotes from this,

我会从中抽取一些文段，

and I want you to see if you can figure out

我想让你们看看， 你们是否能够搞清

what underlies some of these opinions and ideas.

这些观点和想法的基础是什么。

"Americans rarely read the classics, even in translation."

“美国人很少读原著，即便是译本。”

So in other words, why bother learning a foreign language

所以，换句话说，为什么 要为学一门外语而烦恼呢，

when they're not even going to read the classic in the original anyway?

既然他们无论如何都 不去阅读原著典籍？

What's the point?

有什么意义呢？

"Studying foreign languages in school is a waste of time,

“与其他可以在学校做的事情相比，

compared to other things that you could be doing in school."

在学校里学习外语是浪费时间。”

"Europe has a lot of language groups clustered in a relatively small space."

“欧洲有许多语种聚集在 一个相对狭小的空间里。”

So for Americans, ah, what's the point of learning another language?

所以对于美国人， 学一门外语的意义何在呢？

You're not really going to get a lot of bang for your buck out of that.

你真不会从那得到什么大的好处。

This is my favorite,

这是我最爱的，

"A student in Birmingham would have to travel

“一名在伯明翰的学生可能会旅行

about a thousand miles to get to the Mexican border,

大约一千英里来到墨西哥边界，

and even then, there would be enough people who speak English to get around."

即使这样，那里也有足够多 讲英语的人在周围。”

In other words, if you can kind of wave your arms around,

换句话说，如果你能稍微招招手，

and you can get to where you're going,

你就能到达任何你想去的地方。

then there's really no point in learning another language anyway.

所以真没有意义去学一门外语。

What underlies a lot of these attitudes is the conceptual metaphor,

这些看法的基础是这种概念隐喻，

language is a tool.

语言是一种工具。

And there's something that rings very true about this metaphor.

这个隐喻听起来非常真实。

Language is kind of a tool

语言是一种工具，

in that, if you know the local language, you can do more than if you didn't.

如果你懂当地的语言，你可以 做更多之前不能做的事情。

But the implication is that language is only a tool,

但是这暗示了语言只是一种工具，

and this is absolutely false.

这是绝对错误的。

If language was a tool, it would honestly be a pretty poor tool.

如果语言是一种工具， 老实说，这是种相当不好用的工具。

And we would have abandoned it long ago for something that was a lot better.

我们会在很久以前就抛弃它 而去使用更好的工具。

Think about just any sentence.

随便想一个句子。

Here's a sentence that I'm sure I've said in my life: "Yesterday I saw Kyn."

这里有个我确信在生活中说过的句子： “昨天我看见肯了。”

I have a friend named Kyn.

我有一位叫肯的朋友。

And when I say this sentence, "Yesterday I saw Kyn,"

当我说这句话，“昨天我看见肯了，“

do you think it's really the case

你觉得我脑海中的东西

that everything in my mind is now implanted in your mind

通过这句话就植入你的大脑

via this sentence?

的这个场景真实吗？

Hardly, because there's a lot of other stuff going on.

当然不是，因为还有许多其它的东西。

Like, when I say "yesterday,"

例如，当我说“昨天”，

I might think what the weather was like yesterday because I was there.

我可能会想到昨天的天气怎么样， 因为我在那里。

And if I'm remembering,

然后如果我继续回忆，

I'll probably remember there was something I forgot to mail, which I did.

我将可能会回忆起我忘记发快递了，

This was a preplanned joke, but I really did forget to mail something.

这是一个预先计划的笑话， 但我确实忘记发快递了。

And so that means I'm going to have to do it Monday,

所以那意味着我将不得不在周一邮寄它，

because that's when I'm going to get back home.

因为那是我要回家的时候。

And of course, when I think of Monday,

当然，当我想起周一，

I'll think of "Manic Monday" by the Bangles. It's a good song.

我将会想起手镯乐队的 “炸裂的星期一”，这是首不错的歌。

And when I say the word "saw," I think of this phrase:

当我说单词“看见”，我想起了这个句子：

"'I see!' said the blind man as he picked up his hammer and saw."

“‘我看见了’，瞎子边说边拿起 锤子和锯子。”

I always do.

我总是这样。

Anytime I hear the word "saw" or say it, I always think of that,

无论何时我听见单词“看”或者说它时， 我总会像这样去想，

because my grandfather always used to say it,

因为我的祖父过去总是这样说，

so it makes me think of my grandfather.

所以它使我想起了我的祖父。

And we're back to "Manic Monday" again, for some reason.

现在我们再次回到“炸裂的星期一”， 因为某些缘故。

And with Kyn, when I'm saying something like, "Yesterday I saw Kyn,"

伴随着肯，当我说： “昨天我看见肯了，”

I'll think of the circumstances under which I saw him.

我会想起我看见他的场景。

And this happened to be that day. Here he is with my cat.

就在那天，他和我的猫在一起。

And of course, if I'm thinking of Kyn,

当然，如果我想到肯，

I'll think he's going to Long Beach State right now,

我会想起他现在将去长滩市，

and I'll remember that my good friend John and my mother

并且我会记起我的好朋友 约翰和我妈妈

both graduated from Long Beach State,

都是从长滩州立大学毕业的，

my cousin Katie is going to Long Beach State right now.

我的姐姐凯特现在也将去这所大学念书。

And it's "Manic Monday" again.

然后又是“炸裂的星期一”

But this is just a fraction of what's going on in your head

但这一切都只是在 你说话的任何时候

at any given time while you are speaking.

发生在我脑海里的一些碎片。

And all we have to represent the entire mess

我们所要做的就是把我们脑子里

that is going on in our head, is this.

发生的一切都表现出来，就是这个。

I mean, that's all we got.

我的意思是，那就是全部东西。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Is it any wonder that our system is so poor?

难怪我们的系统这么差？

So imagine, if I can give you an analogy,

想象一下，如果我给你一个类比，

imagine if you wanted to know what is it like to eat a cake,

试想如果你想知道 吃蛋糕是什么感觉，

if instead of just eating the cake,

如果不只是吃蛋糕，

you instead had to ingest the ingredients of a cake,

而是你必须咽下这个蛋糕的原料，

one by one,

一个接一个的，

along with instructions

按照说明书说的

about how these ingredients can be combined to form a cake.

将这些材料组合成一个蛋糕来。

You had to eat the instructions, too.

你也必须也把说明书吃掉。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

If that was how we had to experience cake,

如果我们是这样品尝蛋糕的，

we would never eat cake.

我们将绝不会再吃蛋糕了。

And yet, language is the only way -- the only way --

然而，语言是唯一一种， 唯一一种

that we can figure out what is going on here, in our minds.

我们能理解大脑中发生什么的方式。

This is our interiority,

这是我们的内在，

the thing that makes us human,

是使我们成为人类的东西，

the thing that makes us different from other animals,

是使我们与其他动物有区别的东西，

is all inside here somewhere,

都在这里面某个地方，

and all we have to do to represent it is our own languages.

我们所要做的是用自己 的语言来表达它。

A language is our best way of showing what's going on in our head.

语言是展示我们头脑想法的最好方式。

Imagine if I wanted to ask a big question, like:

试想如果我要问一个重要的问题：

"What is the nature of human thought and emotion?"

“人类思想和情感的本质是什么？”

What you'd want to do

你要做的就是

is you'd want to examine as many different languages

尽可能多地研究不同

as possible.

的语言。

One isn't just going to do it.

一种并不足以回答。

To give you an example,

举个例子

here's a picture I took of little Roman,

这有一张我从罗马拍的照片，

that I took with a 12-megapixel camera.

用了1200万像素的相机。

Now, here's that same picture with a lot fewer pixels.

现在，这有一张相同的低像素的照片。

Obviously, neither of these pictures is a real cat.

当然，这两张照片拍的都不是真正的猫。

But one gives you a lot better sense of what a cat is than the other.

但其中一张比另一张让你感觉更像猫。

Language is not merely a tool.

语言不仅仅是一种工具。

It is our legacy,

是我们的遗产，

it's our way of conveying what it means to be human.

这是我们表达身为人 的意义的方式。

And of course, by "our" legacy, I mean all humans everywhere.

当然，“我们”的遗产， 我指的是任何地方的人。

And losing even one language makes that picture a lot less clear.

即使是失去一种语言， 也会使这幅图景变得模糊。

So as a job for the past 10 years

所以过去十年我做的工作

and also as recreation, just for fun,

也是一种消遣，仅仅是因为乐趣，

I create languages.

我创造语言。

These are called "conlangs,"

它们被称作“造语”

short for "constructed languages."

“人造语言”的简称。

Now, presenting these facts back to back,

现在，我一件件地阐述这些事实，

that we're losing languages on our planet

在地球上我们正在遗失自己的语言，

and that I create brand-new languages,

所以我创造了全新的语言，

you might think that there's some nonsuperficial connection

你可能认为它们之间有某种

between these two.

非表面的联系。

In fact, a lot of people have drawn a line between those dots.

事实上，许多人已经在 这两点间画了一条线。

This is a guy who got all bent out of shape

有个人对詹姆斯·卡梅隆执导的

that there was a conlang in James Cameron's "Avatar."

《阿凡达》中的某个人造语言大为恼火。

He says,

他说，

"But in the three years it took James Cameron

“在三年时间内詹姆斯·卡梅隆

to get Avatar to the screen, a language died."

把《阿凡达》搬上银幕， 一种语言消亡了。”

Probably a lot more than that, actually.

也许事实上还远不止这样。

"Na'vi, alas, won't fill the hole where it used to be ..."

“纳美人，唉，填补不了曾经的空白…”

A truly profound and poignant statement --

一个真正深远且深刻的观点——

if you don't think about it at all.

如果你不去想的话。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

But when I was here at Cal,

但当我在加州大学时，

I completed two majors.

我修完了两门专业。

One of them was linguistics, but the other one was English.

一门是语言学另一门是英文。

And of course, the English major, the study of English,

当然，英文专业，研究英文，

is not actually the study of the English language, as we know,

但并不是真正的像我们 认为的那样研究英语，

是研究英国文学。

it's the study of literature.

Literature is just a wonderful thing,

文学是很美妙的，

because basically, literature, more broadly, is kind of like art;

因为基本上讲，文学非常广博， 有些像艺术那样；

it falls under the rubric of art.

它属于艺术范畴。

And what we do with literature,

当我们研究文学时发现，

authors create new, entire beings and histories.

作者创造了全新的生物和历史故事。

And it's interesting to us to see

而且我们很高兴看到

what kind of depth and emotion and just unique spirit

作者可以授予这些虚构的众生

authors can invest into these fictional beings.

各种不同深度的情感 和独特的精神。

So much so, that, I mean -- take a look at this.

所以，看看这些。

There's an entire series of books

有一系列的书

that are written about fictional characters.

来完整地描绘这些虚拟人物。

Like, the entire book is just about one fictional, fake human being.

就像，整本书只是描述一个虚幻的故事， 一个不存在的人。

There's an entire book on George F. Babbitt

这有一整本辛克莱·刘易斯写的《巴比特》，

from Sinclair Lewis's "Babbitt,"

关于乔治·F·巴比特的书，

and I guarantee you, that book is longer than "Babbitt,"

并且我向你保证，那书比“巴比特”长，

which is a short book.

是一篇短篇书。

Does anybody even remember that one?

有人记得这本书吗？

It's pretty good, I actually think it's better than "Main Street."

那本书非常好，我其实 觉得它比《大街》还好。

That's my hot take.

这是我的最爱。

So we've never questioned the fact that literature is interesting.

所以我们绝不会质疑文学 的趣味性这个事实。

But despite the fact,

但除了这个事实，

not even linguists are actually interested in what created languages can tell us

事实上，即使是语言学家也没有兴趣知道，

about the depth of the human spirit just as an artistic endeavor.

究竟是什么创造了语言， 才能够告诉我们人类精神的深度。

I'll give you a nice little example here.

我给你举一个小例子。

There was an article written about me

前阵子在加州校友的杂志中

in the California alumni magazine a while back.

有一篇关于我的文章。

And when they wrote this article,

当他们写这篇文章时，

they wanted to get somebody from the opposing side,

他们却想找一个与我对立的人，

which, in hindsight, seems like a weird thing to do.

事后看来，这很奇怪。

You're just talking about a person,

你是在谈论一个人，

and you want to get somebody from the opposing side of that person.

但你想找一个与他完全不同阵营的人。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Essentially, this is just a puff piece, but whatever.

尤其是，这还是一篇吹捧性文章。

So, they happened to get

他们碰巧找到了

one of the most brilliant linguists of our time,

我们这个时代最杰出的语言学家之一，

George Lakoff, who's a linguist here at Berkeley.

乔治·莱考夫，在伯克利的语言学家。

And his work has basically forever changed the fields of linguistics

他的作品基本上永久 改变了语言学领域

and cognitive science.

和认知科学。

And when asked about my work and about language creation in general,

当他被问起关于我的作品 和大体的语言创造时，

he said, "But there's a lot of things to be done in the study of language.

他说:“但是在语言研究方面 还有很多事情要做。

You should spend the time on something real."

你应当在一些实事上花时间。”

Yeah.

没错。

"Something real." Does this remind you of anything?

“一些实事。”，它有使你回想起什么了吗？

To use the very framework that he himself invented,

用他自己发明的框架，

let me refer back to this conceptual metaphor:

让我回顾一下这个概念隐喻:

language is a tool.

语言是一种工具。

And he appears to be laboring under this conceptual metaphor;

而且他像是在这个隐喻概念下 努力工作；

that is, language is useful when it can be used for communication.

也就是说，当语言可以被 用来交流时它是有用的。

Language is useless when it can't be used for communication.

当语言不能被用来交流时是无用的。

It might make you wonder: What do we do with dead languages?

这也许会令你想知道: 对于消亡的语言我们应该做什么？

But anyway.

但无论如何。

So, because of this idea,

因为有了这样的想法，

it might seem like the very height of absurdity

这可能看起来像非常荒谬，

to have a Duolingo course on the High Valyrian language

对我在HBO的《冰与火之歌》中所创造 的高级瓦雷利亚语言

that I created for HBO's "Game of Thrones."

开设一门“多邻国”课程。

You might wonder what, exactly, are 740,000 people learning?

你可能会好奇， 这74万人到底在学什么？

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Well, let's take a look at it.

让我们看看这个。

What are they learning?

他们在学什么？

What could they possibly be learning?

他们可能在学什么？

Well, bearing in mind that the other language for this --

记住这一点，另一种语言是——

it's for people that speak English --

针对说英语的人而言——

English speakers are learning quite a bit.

学英语的人要学习不少东西。

Here's a sentence that they will probably never use for communication

有一句话他们可能一生中都不会

in their entire lives:

用在对话中：

"Vala ābre urnes."

“Vala ābre urnes.”

"The man sees the woman."

“那个男人看见了那个女人。”

The little middle line is the gloss,

中间的小线是注释，

so it's word for word, that's what it says.

所以这是逐字对应的，这是它的意思。

And they're actually learning some very fascinating things,

并且他们确实学到了 一些超级棒的东西，

especially if they're English speakers.

尤其是如果他们是说英语的人。

They're learning that a verb can come at the very end of a sentence.

他们能学到动词是可以 放在一句话的末尾的。

Doesn't really do that in English when you have two arguments.

在英语中，当你有两个论点时 并不会这样用。

They're learning that sometimes

他们学习到有时候

a language doesn't have an equivalent for the word "the" -- it's totally absent.

一门语言中没有“the”这个词的对应词， 它是完全不存在的。

That's something language can do.

这是语言可以做到的。

They're learning that a long vowel can actually be longer in duration,

他们学习到长元音的持续时间可能更长，

as opposed to different in quality,

用于和其它音加以区别，

which is what our long vowels do; they're actually the same length.

这就是我们的长元音的作用； 它们实际上是一样长的。

They're learning that there are these little inflections.

他们学习到有这些微小的变化。

Hmm? Hmm?

嗯？

There are inflections called "cases" on the end of nouns --

名词后面有人称“格”的屈折变化——

(Laughter)

（笑声）

that tell you who does what to whom in a sentence.

那在一句话中告诉你 谁对谁做了什么。

Even if you leave the order of the words the same

即使你保持单词的顺序不变

and switch the endings,

并改变词尾，

it changes who does what to whom.

它也会改变谁对谁做了什么。

What they're learning is that languages do things, the same things, differently.

他们正在学习的是，语言做的事情， 一样的事情，不同的方式。

And that learning languages can be fun.

像这样学语言会很有趣。

What they're learning is respect for Language: capital "L" Language.

他们正在学的是尊重语言 :“L”开头的单词，语言。

And given the fact that 88 percent of Americans only speak English at home,

鉴于88％的美国人在国内 只说英语的事实，

I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.

我认为这并不是一件坏事。

You know why languages die on our planet?

你们知道为什么语言会在 我们的星球消亡吗？

It's not because government imposes one language on a smaller group,

不是因为政府将一种语言 强加在一个小群体上，

or because an entire group of speakers is wiped out.

或者是某一群讲这种语言 的人灭亡了。

That certainly has happened in the past, and it's happening now,

那种事情过去发生过， 并且现在也正在发生，

but it's not the main reason.

但那并不是主要原因。

The main reason is that a child is born to a family

主要原因是一个孩子出生在一个

that speaks a language that is not widely spoken in their community,

说一种在他们的社区并不广泛 使用的语言的家庭，

and that child doesn't learn it.

而且孩子不学它。

Why?

为什么？

Because that language is not valued in their community.

因为那种语言在他们社区中没有任何价值。

Because the language isn't useful.

因为那种语言没有用。

Because the child can't go and get a job if they speak that language.

因为如果孩子说那种语言 就不能出行，找工作。

Because if language is just a tool,

因为语言仅仅是一种工具，

then learning their native language

那么学习他们的土著语

is about as useful as learning High Valyrian,

就和学习高瓦里安语一样，

so why bother?

所以为什么要去学呢？

Now ...

现在……

Maybe language study isn't going to lead to a lot more linguistic fluency.

也许学习语言并不会 让语言更加流利。

But maybe that's not such a big deal.

但这也许没什么大不了的。

Maybe if more people are studying more languages,

也许如果更多的人 学习更多的语言，

it will lead to more linguistic tolerance

将会导致更多的语言包容

and less linguistic imperialism.

和更少的语言专制。

Maybe if we actually respect language for what it is --

也许如果我们确实尊重语言——

literally, the greatest invention in the history of humankind --

因为语言是人类历史上最伟大的发明——

then in the future,

那么在将来，

we can celebrate endangered languages as living languages,

我们可以把濒临灭绝的语言 当作活的语言来庆祝，

as opposed to museum pieces.

而非博物馆里的展品。

(High Valyrian) Kirimvose. Thank you.

（高瓦里安语）Kirimvose谢谢。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）