Suzanne Talhouk: Don't kill your language

Translator: khalid marbou Reviewer: Anwar Dafa-Alla

翻译人员: Lyman Zhang 校对人员: Wu Di

Good morning!

早上好！

Are you awake?

你们醒了么？

They took my name tag, but I wanted to ask you,

他们刚拿走了我的胸卡，不过我想问问你们

did anyone here write their name on the tag in Arabic?

胸卡上的名字， 有没有人是用阿拉伯语写的？

Anyone! No one? All right, no problem.

有么？没有？恩，很好，没问题。

Once upon a time, not long ago,

就在不久之前，

I was sitting in a restaurant with my friend, ordering food.

我和朋友坐在餐厅里，正要点餐。

So I looked at the waiter and said,

我看着服务员，对他说，

"Do you have a menu (Arabic)?"

“有菜单么？” （用阿拉伯语）

He looked at me strangely, thinking that he misheard.

他奇怪地盯着我看，以为他听错了。

He said, "Sorry? (English)."

他(用英文)说：“Sorry？”

I said, "The menu (Arabic), please."

我又说：“请给我菜单好么？” （用阿拉伯语）

He replied, "Don't you know what they call it?"

他回答：“你难道不知道（菜单的）叫法么？”

"I do."

“我知道。”

He said, "No! It's called "menu" (English), or "menu" (French)."

他说，“应该叫Menu，或者Menu” （前者英文发音，后者是法文发音）

Is the French pronunciation correct?

我的法语发音对么？

"Come, come, take care of this one!" said the waiter.

“过来，过来，这桌交给你了” 那个服务员说。

He was disgusted when talking to me, as if he was saying to himself,

他明显不屑于和我说话， 然后他自言自语道，

"If this was the last girl on Earth, I wouldn't look at her!"

“就算世界上只有这一个女人， 我都不会正眼看她一眼。”

What's the meaning of saying "menu" in Arabic?

用阿拉伯语说“菜单”意味着什么？

Two words made a Lebanese young man judge a girl as being backward

这两个字让黎巴嫩的青年男子认为，说这话的女人，又封建

and ignorant.

又无知。

How could she speak that way?

她怎么说得出这种话？

At that moment, I started thinking.

从那一刻起，我开始思考这件事。

It made me mad.

这件事让我很生气，

It definitely hurts!

而且非常伤人。

I'm denied the right to speak my own language in my own country?

我在自己国家，说自己语言的权利被否定了？

Where could this happen?

(世界上)还有什么地方会发生这种事？

How did we get here?

我们怎么会走到这一步的？

Well, while we are here, there are many people like me,

不过，今天这个场合， 很多人和我一样，

who would reach a stage in their lives, where they involuntarily give up

到达了人生中的那个阶段： 心不甘情不愿的，放弃过去的一切，

everything that has happened to them in the past,

到达了人生中的那个阶段： 心不甘情不愿的，放弃过去的一切，

just so they can say that they're modern

只有这样他们才觉得自己是现代人、文化人。

and civilized.

只有这样他们才觉得自己是现代人、文化人。

Should I forget all my culture, thoughts,

那我是不是也该把我自己的文化、思想、

intellect and all my memories?

智慧和记忆全部都忘掉？

Childhood stories might be the best memories we have of the war!

童年可能是战争中我们最美好的回忆了！

Should I forget everything I learned in Arabic, just to conform?

我是不是该忘掉阿拉伯语，仅仅是随大流而已？

To be one of them?

变成他们中的一员？

Where's the logic in that?

逻辑何在？

Despite all that, I tried to understand him.

撇开这些不谈， 我依然试图去理解那个人。

I didn't want to judge him with the same cruelty that he judged me.

我不想用他那种残忍的标准， 反过来去评判他。

The Arabic language doesn't satisfy today's needs.

阿拉伯语确实满足不了今天的需要。

It's not a language for science,

不是科学用的语言，

research,

不是研究用语，

a language we're used to in universities,

不是大学里用的语言，

a language we use in the workplace,

不是工作场合的语言，

a language we rely on if we were to perform an advanced research project,

不是我们进行尖端研究时的用语，

and it definitely isn't a language we use at the airport.

而且绝对不是机场用语。

If we did so, they'd strip us of our clothes.

如果我们在机场这么说， 他们肯定当场要搜身了。

Where can I use it, then? We could all ask this question!

那我什么时候才能用到它呢？ 这个问题很值得深思！

So, you want us to use Arabic. Where are we to do so?

你告诉我，说阿拉伯语的场合， 哪里去找？

This is one reality.

这只是其中之一。

But we have another more important reality that we ought to think about.

还有一个更重要的现实需要我们考虑。

Arabic is the mother tongue.

阿拉伯语是我们的母语。

Research says that mastery of other languages

研究表明，要想掌握其他语言，

demands mastery of the mother tongue.

需要先掌握自己的母语。

Mastery of the mother tongue is a prerequisite for creative expression in other languages.

掌握母语，是掌握其他语言的前提。

How?

此话怎讲？

Gibran Khalil Gibran,

纪伯伦·哈利勒·纪伯伦， （黎巴嫩诗人，旧译 哈里利·吉布兰）

when he first started writing, he used Arabic.

他最初写作时用的是阿拉伯语。

All his ideas, imagination and philosophy

他所有的灵感，想象力和哲学观

were inspired by this little boy in the village

都来源于他小时候的乡村成长经历，

where he grew up, smelling a specific smell,

来源于故乡的气味，

hearing a specific voice,

那特别的声音，

and thinking a specific thought.

还有独特的想法。

So, when he started writing in English, he had enough baggage.

所以当他开始用英文写作时， 肚子里已经有足够的墨水了。

Even when he wrote in English,

即便之后他用英文写作，

when you read his writings in English, you smell the same smell,

当你读他的英文作品时， 你能闻到一样的气味，

sense the same feeling.

体味到同样的感觉。

You can imagine that that's him writing in English,

你可以想象出用英文写作的他，

the same boy who came from the mountain. From a village on Mount Lebanon.

依然是那个从黎巴嫩山村里出来的小男孩。

So, this is an example no one can argue with.

这是个无可争辩的例子。

Second, it's often said that if you want to kill a nation,

其次，人们经常说，如果要消灭一个民族，

the only way to kill a nation,

唯一的办法

is to kill its language.

是消灭它的语言，

This is a reality that developed societies are aware of.

这是发达国家都认识到的事实。

The Germans, French, Japanese and Chinese, all these nations are aware of this.

德国、法国、日本、中国， 这些国家都意识到了这一点。

That's why they legislate to protect their language.

这也是为什么他们要立法保护本国语言

They make it sacred.

把语言当做神圣的东西看待。

That's why they use it in production, they pay a lot of money to develop it.

这也是为什么他们在生产中使用母语， 并投入大量资金发展自己的母语。

Do we know better than them?

相比之下，我们的做法更明智吗？

All right,

好吧，

we aren't from the developed world,

我们不属于发达国家

this advanced thinking hasn't reached us yet,

这种前卫的想法还没有传播到这里，

and we would like to catch up with the civilized world.

我们希望追赶上文明社会。

Countries that were once like us, but decided to strive for development,

那些曾经和我们一样， 但谋求发展的国家，

do research,

它们进行研究，

and catch up with those countries,

并追上发达水平的，

such as Turkey, Malaysia and others,

比如土耳其、马来西亚等等，

they carried their language with them as they were climbing the ladder,

它们不管走到哪里，都会带上自己的语言，

protected it like a diamond.

像保护钻石一样。

They kept it close to them.

他们把母语紧紧带在身边。

Because if you get any product from Turkey or elsewhere

因为如果你从土耳其买来的东西

and it's not labeled in Turkish,

标签上没有使用土耳其语

then it isn't a local product.

那就不是当地产品。

You wouldn't believe it's a local product.

你不会相信这是当地产品的。

They'd go back to being consumers,

他们会变成这样的消费者，

clueless consumers, like we are most of the time.

和你我一样，一无所知的消费者。

So, in order for them to innovate and produce, they had to protect their language.

所以，为了创新和生产， 他们必须保护自己的语言。

If I say, "Freedom, sovereignty, independence (Arabic),"

如果我说，“自由，主权，独立” （阿拉伯语）

what does this remind you of?

这些词让你联想到什么？

It doesn't ring a bell, does it?

没有任何感觉，是么？

Regardless of the who, how and why.

不管让谁说都是一样的。

Language isn't just for conversing, just words coming out of our mouths.

语言不只是对话时，从嘴里发出来的音而已。

Language represents specific stages in our lives,

语言代表了我们生活中不同的阶段，

and terminology that is linked to our emotions.

也是连接我们感情的术语。

So when we say, "Freedom, sovereignty, independence,"

所以当我说， “自由，主权，独立”

each one of you draws a specific image in their own mind,

每一个词都唤起了你脑海中的一副图片，

there are specific feelings

在某个时代背景下

of a specific day in a specific historical period.

存在某种特定的情感。

Language isn't one, two or three words or letters put together.

语言并不是单纯的把一个两个三个字放在一起。

It's an idea inside that relates to how we think,

语言直接关系到我们内心的想法，

and how we see each other and how others see us.

我们对彼此的看法， 以及别人如何看待我们。

What is our intellect?

智慧是什么？

How do you say whether this guy understands or not?

你怎么判断，对方理解了没有？

So, if I say, "Freedom, sovereignty, independence (English),"

所以，如果我说，“自由，主权，独立” （英文）

or if your son came up to you and said,

或者如果你儿子走过来，对你说：

"Dad, have you lived through the period of the freedom (English) slogan?"

“爸爸，你有没有经历过“宣扬自由”（英文）的那个时代”

How would you feel?

你会怎么想？

If you don't see a problem,

如果你不觉得这问题很严重，

then I'd better leave, and stop talking in vain.

那我今天全部都是白讲。 不如早点回去比较好。

The idea is that these expressions remind us of a specific thing.

我的观点是，“表述”能让人联想到特定的某件事。

I have a francophone friend who's married to a French man.

我有一个说法语的朋友，嫁给了一个法国人。

I asked her once how things were going.

我有次问她最近如何。

She said, "Everything is fine,

她说 “都还可以，

but once, I spent a whole night asking and trying to translate

但有一次我花了一整晚的时间

the meaning of the word 'toqborni' for him."

试图向他解释“toqborni”这个词的意思” （字面意思：愿你把我埋葬）

(Laughter)

（其实是对钟爱之人的爱语。愿我走的比你早，因为我不能没有你。） （笑声）

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

The poor woman had mistakenly told him "toqborni,"

那可怜的女人不经意地对他说“toqborni”，

and then spent the whole night trying to explain it to him.

然后不得不花整晚的时间去解释。

He was puzzled by the thought: "How could anyone be this cruel?

而他完全无法理解： “这话也太残忍了”

Does she want to commit suicide?

她是想自杀吗？

'Bury me?' (English)"

“埋了我？” （英文）

This is one of the few examples.

这仅仅是一个例子而已。

It made us feel that she's unable to tell that word to her husband,

这让我觉得她无法跟自己的老公解释这个词，

since he won't understand,

因为他无法理解，

and he's right not to; his way of thinking is different.

这也是无可厚非的； 毕竟他的思路不同。

She said to me, "He listens to Fairuz with me,

她告诉我， “他和我一起听Fairuz” （黎巴嫩歌手）

and one night, I tried to translate for him

一天晚上， 我试着给他翻译歌词

so he can feel what I feel when I listen to Fairuz."

让他也能理解我听Fairuz 时的心情。“

The poor woman tried to translate this for him:

那个可怜的女人试着翻译这句话：

"From them I extended my hands and stole you --"

”我伸长双手，把你从他们那里，偷过来“

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And here's the pickle:

还有更刺激的：

"And because you belong to them, I returned my hands and left you."

”因为你属于他们，我放开双手让你回去“

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Translate that for me.

你倒是翻译一个给我看看。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

So, what have we done to protect the Arabic language?

所以，我们是怎么保护阿拉伯语的？

We turned this into a concern of the civil society,

我们把这个问题变成一个社会议题，

and we launched a campaign to preserve the Arabic language.

然后开展了一项保护阿拉伯语的运动。

Even though many people told me, "Why do you bother?

即使很多人问我 “不觉得麻烦么？

Forget about this headache and go have fun."

忘掉这个烂摊子，去享受生活吧”

No problem!

没关系的！

The campaign to preserve Arabic launched a slogan that says,

保护阿拉伯语的运动有一句口号，

"I talk to you from the East, but you reply from the West."

“我们从东面和你交谈，而你们从西面回应”

We didn't say, "No! We do not accept this or that."

我们可没说，“不行！非要怎么怎么样不可！”

We didn't adopt this style because that way, we wouldn't be understood.

我们不这样做， 因为这么一来就没人会理解我们了。

And when someone talks to me that way, I hate the Arabic language.

当有人非要这样说时， 我自己都很讨厌这样的阿拉伯语。

We say--

我们说——

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

We want to change our reality,

我们想要改变现状，

and be convinced in a way that reflects our dreams, aspirations and day-to-day life.

并确信存在一种方式， (用语言)反映我们梦想、灵感和日常生活。

In a way that dresses like us and thinks like we do.

就像我们的衣服，和我们的想法一样。

So, "I talk to you from the East, but you reply from the West"

所以“我们从东面和你交谈，而你们从西面回应”

has hit the spot.

非常到位。

Something very easy, yet creative and persuasive.

简简单单，有创造性，又有说服力。

After that, we launched another campaign

之后我们开展了另一项运动，

with scenes of letters on the ground.

在地面上放置大幅文字。

You've seen an example of it outside,

你在外面就能看到一个，

a scene of a letter surrounded by black and yellow tape

用黑色、黄色的胶带围起来，

with "Don't kill your language!" written on it.

写着“不要消灭你的母语！”。

Why? Seriously, don't kill your language.

为什么？ 我是认真的，不要消灭自己的母语。

We really shouldn't kill our language.

我们真的不应该消灭自己的语言。

If we were to kill the language, we'd have to find an identity.

如果我们消灭了语言， 我们就必须去寻找另一种身份。

We'd have to find an existence.

我们必须去寻找另一种存在形式。

We'd go back to the beginning.

我们必须重新开始。

This is beyond just missing our chance of being modern and civilized.

这么一来， 失去的可不光是现代化机会而已了。

After that we released photos of guys and girls wearing the Arabic letter.

然后我们放出了男孩女孩穿着纹有阿拉伯文字的衣服。

Photos of "cool" guys and girls.

很"酷"的男孩女孩的照片。

We are very cool!

我们真的"酷"毙了。

And to whoever might say, "Ha! You used an English word!"

至于那些说， “哈，你这不是用英文了么！”

I say, "No! I adopt the word 'cool.'"

我会说， “错！是我们搬用了cool这个词”

Let them object however they want, but give me a word that's nicer

随他们怎么否认， 但这个词真的又好用

and matches the reality better.

又贴切，找不到更好的了。

I will keep on saying "Internet"

我还会继续说“互联网(internet)”

I wouldn't say: "I'm going to the world wide web"

我不会说： “我要去上万维网(www)了”

(Laughs)

（笑声）

Because it doesn't fit! We shouldn't kid ourselves.

因为和时代不符了！ 我们还是不要自己开自己的玩笑了

But to reach this point, we all have to be convinced

但要做到这件事， 我们必须确信

that we shouldn't allow anyone who is bigger

不能让任何比我们强大的，

or thinks they have any authority over us when it comes to language,

或是自认为有权利去控制我们说什么语言的人

to control us or make us think and feel what they want.

来控制我们，把他们的感受和看法强加在我们身上。

Creativity is the idea.

创造性是关键。

So, if we can't reach space or build a rocket and so on,

即使我们没办法上太空， 或是造出火箭之类的，

we can be creative.

我们还是有创造力的。

At this moment, every one of you is a creative project.

此时此刻，在座的每一个人都是有创意的。

Creativity in your mother tongue is the path.

母语中的创造性，才是出路。

Let's start from this moment.

就让我们从这一刻起开始吧

Let's write a novel or produce a short film.

我们可以写一本小说 或是拍部微电影。

A single novel could make us global again.

一本小说就能让我们重登世界舞台了。

It could bring the Arabic language back to being number one.

足够让阿拉伯语回到世界的顶端。

So, it's not true that there's no solution; there is a solution!

所以说“没有办法”是不对的。 当然有办法！

But we have to know that, and be convinced that a solution exists,

但我们要记得，既然解决的方法是有的，

that we have a duty to be part of that solution.

我们就有责任成为其中的一份子。

In conclusion, what can you do today?

所以说，你今天能做什么呢？

Now, tweets, who's tweeting?

现在，发微博，有人发微博了么？

Please, I beg of you, even though my time has finished,

拜托，真的拜托你了， 因为我的时间快到了，

either Arabic, English, French or Chinese.

阿拉伯语，英文，法文，或者中文。

But don't write Arabic with Latin characters mixed with numbers!

但请不要把阿拉伯和拉丁字母和数字混在一起写！

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

It's a disaster! That's not a language.

这么写也太糟蹋了 根本不是语言了。

You'd be entering a virtual world with a virtual language.

你这是在用虚拟世界里的虚拟语言。

It's not easy to come back from such a place and rise.

从这种(支离破碎的)状态再拼起来就很困难了。

That's the first thing we can do.

这是我们能做的第一件事。

Second, there are many other things that we can do.

其次，还有很多事是我们能做到的。

We're not here today to convince each other.

今天我们在这里不是为了说服谁，

We're here to bring attention to the necessity of preserving this language.

我们在这里是为了让大众理解，保护语言的重要性。

Now I will tell you a secret.

让我来告诉你们一个小秘密。

A baby first identifies its father

婴儿第一次认识父亲，

through language.

是通过语言来认识的。

When my daughter is born, I'll tell her, "This is your father, honey (Arabic)."

当我的女儿出生时，我会告诉她， “宝贝，这是你爸爸”（阿拉伯语）

I wouldn't say, "This is your dad, honey (English)."

我不会说， “宝贝，这是你爸爸”（英语）

And in the supermarket, I promise my daughter Noor,

在超市里的时候，我跟我的女儿诺儿保证，

that if she says to me, "Thanks (Arabic),"

如果她用阿拉伯语对我说“谢谢”

I won't say, "Dis, 'Merci, Maman,'" and hope no one has heard her.

我就绝对不会怕别人听到（我女儿这么说）， 然后用法文矫正：“要说谢谢,女儿”（法文）

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

Let's get rid of this cultural cringe.

让我们一起摆脱文化上的崇洋媚外吧。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）