【轻松英文阅读】一个全世界通用的字符

 Researchers have discovered an almost universal word. “Huh?” You say?

 

Even if you are not a native speaker of English, you probably don’t need a translation for “Huh?” It appears that the word, or a very similar form of it, is used in most of the languages in the world.

 

Until now, there was very little written about 'huh' in linguistic¹ literature. It was thought to be an unimportant feature of language. Thinking there was perhaps more to it, some researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in the Netherlands decided² to look into the matter. They began analyzing³ recordings⁴ of ten different languages, including Spanish, Chinese, Icelandic and indigenous⁵ languages from Australia, South America and Africa to see whether these other languages had a similar word with the same function. They discovered that in every one of the languages, speakers would use roughly the same sound to ask for a clarification or when they wanted their counterpart to repeat something.

 

Generally, when words are similar in different languages they share the same origin. These are called cognates. But most of the languages in the study were completely unrelated to the others. The word “huh” in these languages could not have been a cognate⁶. This meant that “huh” is a very different kind of word.

 

The scientists suspect that the same sound is used because it is the most efficient way to ask for someone to explain something further or to clarify their statement. They compare it to convergent⁷ evolution. Convergent evolution is when similar environments cause the evolution of similar features in unrelated species.

 

How do you say “huh” in your native language? Feel free to let me know in our Facebook comments section.

1 linguistic   

adj.语言的，语言学的

参考例句：

• She is pursuing her linguistic researches.她在从事语言学的研究。
• The ability to write is a supreme test of linguistic competence.写作能力是对语言能力的最高形式的测试。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句

4 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

5 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

6 cognate   

adj.同类的，同源的，同族的；n.同家族的人，同源词

参考例句：

• Mathematics and astronomy are cognate sciences.数学和天文学是互相关联的科学。
• English,Dutch and German are cognate languages. 英语、荷兰语、德语是同语族的语言。

7 convergent   

adj.会聚的

参考例句：

• A curved-inwards wall has a convergent effect on wall spray.凹型壁面对碰壁喷雾有聚集作用。
• If a sequence is not convergent,it is divergent.如果一个序列不收敛，我们称它发散。