2020年经济学人 约翰逊语言专栏--语言与音乐(1)

Books & arts

文艺板块

Johnson

约翰逊栏目

They can feel it all over

他们能感知到一切

The echaes between music and language are revealing about both

从音乐和语言的差异中揭示彼此

One of the liveliest debates in lingistics is over whether all languages share fundamental properties. If so, perhaps language is a universal feature of evolution. To find out, scholars have looked to other universal features, and one in particular: no society on Earth lacks music. The comparison illuminates¹ what is special about both.

是否所有的语言都具有相同的基本属性是语言学中最激烈的辩论之一。如果是这样的话，那么也许语言是进化的普遍特征。为了找到答案，学者们研究了其他的普遍特征，其中特别关注音乐：因为在地球上，没有哪个社会是缺少音乐的。通过对比，研究者们也发现了两者的特殊性。

Music and language seem intimately linked, but how? Did language start with song, as Darwin believed? or is music "auditory cheesecake" that developed from language and other useful faculties², as Steven Pinker, a Harvard psychologist, has said? Is music itself a language, as Stevie wonder intoned? Might the two be fundamentally the same?

音乐和语言似乎有着紧密的联系，但究竟是何种联系呢？就像达尔文所想的那样，语言起源于音乐吗？还是如哈佛大学心理学家史蒂文·平克所说的那样，音乐是“听觉盛宴”，是由语言和其他有用的能力共同发展而来的？或者如史蒂夫旺达歌里唱的那样，音乐本身就是一种语言？或许语言和音乐在本质上是相同的？

Some similarities are obvious. Both can utilise the unique human vocal³ tract⁴.Both have a kind of beat. Both can express emotion. Both can be either carefully composed or spontaneously improvised⁵. And both are highly social. Although the origin of music is unclear, it seems likely to have involved celebration, communal⁶ worship or martial⁷ inspiration and co-ordination.

一些相似之处显而易见。两者都可以利用人类独特的声道，有节奏感、能表达情感，既可以精心创作也可以即兴创作，且都具有高度的社交性。尽管音乐的起源尚不清楚，但很可能与庆祝活动与集体崇拜或鼓舞士气和团结协作有关。

At a structural⁸ level the parallels are striking, too. With a finite set of notes or words, and a finite set of rules, an inexhaustible variety of novel melodies or sentences can be created. This "discrete⁹ infinity¹⁰" is often said to be the hallmark of human language. Animal communication, by contrast, is only able to convey a limited number of thoughts (the location of a source of food, for example, or the presence of a predator).

在结构层面，相似之处也很明显。用一套有限的音符或文字，以及一套有限的规则，就可以创造出无穷无尽的新旋律或句子。这种“离散无穷大”常被认为是人类语言的标志。相比之下，动物之间的交流只能传达有限的想法（比如食物来源的位置，或者捕食者的存在）。

Aniruddh Patel of Thufts University has argued that music and language, rather than being essentially¹¹ the same, rely on the same bit of the brain. In an experiment he presented his subjects with a sentence that contained a grammatical trick (" The scientist confirmed the hypothesis was being studied in his lab" ), revealing one word at a time. The subjects were to press a button for each word at their own pace. Many paused at the unexpected "was". "The scientist confirmed the hypothesis" seemed a complete sentence.

塔夫茨大学的阿尼鲁德·帕特尔认为，音乐和语言的本质并不相同，相同的是依赖于大脑的同一片区域。在一个实验中，他向实验对象展示了一个包含语法技巧的句子，" The scientist confirmed the hypothesis was being studied in his lab" ，（“科学家证实了他的实验室正在研究这个假设”），一次只显示一个单词。实验对象要按照自己的速度在每一个词出现时按下按钮。很多人在意外的“was”出现时停下了。"The scientist confirmed the hypothesis" （科学家证实了这一假设）看起来已经是一个完整的句子了。

They also heard music as they performed this exercise. Some were treated to a new chord in a pleasing progression with every word that was revealed. Others heard a jarring chord at the moment they reached the trick word "was". Both groups slowed down-but those given the discordant¹² notes did so much more. Mr Patel hypothesises that this is because sentence structure, and the structure of the harmony, draw on shared, limited resources in the brain.

实验对象在实验过程中也会听音乐。一部分参与者听到的是到一段令人愉快的新和弦，同时向他们展现每个单词。剩下的则在“was”这个引起错觉的单词出现时听到一段刺耳的音乐。两组都停下了，但那些听到不和谐音符的人停得更久。帕特尔假设这是因为理解句子结构以及和弦结构，利用了大脑中共享的、有限的资源。

1 illuminates   

v.使明亮( illuminate的第三人称单数 )；照亮；装饰；说明

参考例句：

• The light shines on from over there and illuminates the stage. 灯光从那边照进来，照亮了舞台。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sun illuminates the sky. 太阳照亮了天空。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 faculties   

n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院

参考例句：

• Although he's ninety, his mental faculties remain unimpaired. 他虽年届九旬，但头脑仍然清晰。
• All your faculties have come into play in your work. 在你的工作中，你的全部才能已起到了作用。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

4 tract   

n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林)

参考例句：

• He owns a large tract of forest.他拥有一大片森林。
• He wrote a tract on this subject.他曾对此写了一篇短文。

5 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

6 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。

7 martial   

adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的

参考例句：

• The sound of martial music is always inspiring.军乐声总是鼓舞人心的。
• The officer was convicted of desertion at a court martial.这名军官在军事法庭上被判犯了擅离职守罪。

8 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

9 discrete   

adj.个别的，分离的，不连续的

参考例句：

• The picture consists of a lot of discrete spots of colour.这幅画由许多不相连的色点组成。
• Most staple fibers are discrete,individual entities.大多数短纤维是不联系的单独实体。

10 infinity   

n.无限，无穷，大量

参考例句：

• It is impossible to count up to infinity.不可能数到无穷大。
• Theoretically,a line can extend into infinity.从理论上来说直线可以无限地延伸。

11 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

12 discordant   

adj.不调和的

参考例句：

• Leonato thought they would make a discordant pair.里奥那托认为他们不适宜作夫妻。
• For when we are deeply mournful discordant above all others is the voice of mirth.因为当我们极度悲伤的时候，欢乐的声音会比其他一切声音都更显得不谐调。