VOA慢速英语2019 文化不同，音乐是否相似？

Is Music Similar Across Cultures?

Love songs, dance tunes¹, bed time songs for children – all of these kinds of music share patterns across cultures, a new study finds. Researchers who set up the study say this suggests a commonality in the way human minds create music.

一项新的研究发现，儿童的爱之歌，舞蹈曲调，摇篮曲，所有这些音乐在各种文化中都有着共同的模式。 进行这项研究的研究人员称，这暗示了人类大脑创作音乐的共性。

The findings were reported in Science magazine.

该发现发表在《科学》杂志上。 

Samuel Mehr was the lead author of a report on the study.He is a research associate in psychology² at Harvard University in Massachusetts.

塞缪尔·梅尔是该研究报告的主要作者。他是马萨诸塞州哈佛大学心理学的研究助理。  

Mehr noted³ that the study supports "the idea that there is some sort of set of governing rules for how human minds produce music worldwide."

梅尔指出，这项研究支持“全世界人类大脑制作音乐是存在一套规则管理的观念。” 

He and other researchers studied musical recordings⁴ and ethnographic records from 60 societies around the world.They looked at a mix of very different cultures, such as the Highland⁵ Scots in Scotland, Nyangatom nomads⁶ in Ethiopia, and Aranda hunter-gatherers in Australia.

他和其他研究人员研究了来自全球60个地区的音乐唱片和民族志记录。 他们考察了天差地别的文化，例如苏格兰的高地苏格兰人，埃塞俄比亚的尼扬加通部落游牧民族和澳大利亚的阿兰达狩猎采集者。

The researchers found that music had a link with behaviors such as dancing and loving, among others.

研究人员发现，音乐与诸如跳舞和爱恋等行为有联系。 

Manvir Singh is a graduate student in Harvard’s department of human evolutionary⁷ biology and a co-author of the study.Singh noted that childrens’ lullabies were likely to be slow and fluid while dance songs tended to be fast and lively.

曼弗·辛格是哈佛大学人类进化生物学系的研究生，也是该研究的合著者。 辛格指出，儿童的摇篮曲大都缓慢流畅，而舞蹈歌曲则倾向于快速活泼。

Another co-author of the study was Luke Glowacki, an anthropology⁸ professor at the Pennsylvania State University. He noted that the social purpose of the music influences how it sounds.

宾夕法尼亚州立大学的人类学教授卢克·格洛奇奇是这项研究的另一位合著者。他指出，音乐的社会目的会影响它的发音。

He said: "Dance songs sound a certain way around the world because they have a specific function.Lullabies around the world sound a certain way because they have a specific function ...If music were entirely⁹ shaped by culture and not human psychology you wouldn’t expect these deep similarities to emerge in extremely diverse cultures."

他说:“世界各地的舞曲听起来都有特定的方式，因为它们有特定的功能。世界各地的摇篮曲听起来都有特定的方式，因为它们有特定的功能……如果音乐完全是由文化而非人类心理塑造的，那么你将不会指望在极为多样化的文化中出现如此深刻的相似性。”

Glowacki noted how amazing the musical patterns across cultures were.

格洛奇奇指出了跨文化音乐模式是多么令人惊奇。 

He said: “The fact that a lullaby, healing song or dance song from the British Isles¹⁰ or anywhere else in the world has many musical features in common with the same kind of song from hunter-gatherers in Australia or horticulturalists in Africa is remarkable¹¹.”

他说:“来自不列颠群岛或世界其他地方的摇篮曲、治愈歌曲或舞蹈歌曲，与来自澳大利亚狩猎采集者或非洲园艺学家的同类型歌曲有许多共同的音乐特征，这一点值得注意。”

Words in This Story

pattern – n. the regular and repeated way in which something happens or is done

author – n. a writer of a book or report

ethnographic – adj. from the noun ethnography, the study of human races and cultures

graduate student – n. a person who has successfully completed a bachelor's degree and is continuing their studies

lullaby – n. a song used to help a child fall asleep

function - n. the special purpose or activity for which a thing exists or is used

amazing – adj. of or involving great surprise or wonder

feature – n. a quality or property of something

horticulturalist -- n. people or scientists who grow fruits, vegetables, and flowers

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1 tunes   

n.曲调，曲子( tune的名词复数 )v.调音( tune的第三人称单数 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• a potpourri of tunes 乐曲集锦
• When things get a bit too much, she simply tunes out temporarily. 碰到事情太棘手时，她干脆暂时撒手不管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

3 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

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 highland   

n.(pl.)高地，山地

参考例句：

• The highland game is part of Scotland's cultural heritage.苏格兰高地游戏是苏格兰文化遗产的一部分。
• The highland forests where few hunters venture have long been the bear's sanctuary.这片只有少数猎人涉险的高山森林，一直都是黑熊的避难所。

6 nomads   

n.游牧部落的一员( nomad的名词复数 )；流浪者；游牧生活；流浪生活

参考例句：

• For ten years she dwelled among the nomads of North America. 她在北美游牧民中生活了十年。
• Nomads have inhabited this region for thousands of years. 游牧民族在这地区居住已有数千年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

8 anthropology   

n.人类学

参考例句：

• I believe he has started reading up anthropology.我相信他已开始深入研究人类学。
• Social anthropology is centrally concerned with the diversity of culture.社会人类学主要关于文化多样性。

9 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

10 isles   

岛( isle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the geology of the British Isles 不列颠群岛的地质
• The boat left for the isles. 小船驶向那些小岛。

11 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。