【英语时差8,16】首音误置：“该死德布尔”

Spoonerism: “Darn Boor¹” At some point, everyone has transposed the first letters in two words and came up with a nonsense phrase. You might mean to say “barn door,” but it comes out “darn boor.” These slips of the tongue are called spoonerisms，and Cognitive² psychologists study them because of what they say about how our brains construct language. Early twentieth-century psychologists believed that language was produced in our brains one word at a time, that each word acted as a stimulus³ to produce another word. But cognitive psychologists now believe that we produce language in clumps⁴ rather than one word at a time. The study of spoonerisms has helped scientists formulate⁵ these new theories. Spoonerisms may seem like random⁶ mistakes, but, in fact, they follow a regular set of rules. When two sounds are transposed between two words, they are almost always sounds that belong in the same positions. For example, the beginning of one word almost never exchanges with the end of another. The close association your brain makes between two words such as “barn” and “door” indicates that your brain chose those words as a unit, rather than one at a time. We make speech errors like this because as we construct language, our brain builds a frame for what we are going to say before we choose the actual words that will go into that frame. When we get a phrase right, our brains have successfully coordinated⁷ this frame with the sound of a word. Spoonerisms happen when this coordination⁸ breaks down, often because of the interference of external or internal stimulus.

1 boor   

n.举止粗野的人；乡下佬

参考例句：

• I'm a bit of a boor,so I hope you won't mind if I speak bluntly.我是一个粗人，说话直来直去，你可别见怪。
• If he fears the intellectual,he despises the boor.他对知识分子有戒心，但是更瞧不起乡下人。

2 cognitive   

adj.认知的，认识的，有感知的

参考例句：

• As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
• The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。

3 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

4 clumps   

n.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的名词复数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声v.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的第三人称单数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声

参考例句：

• These plants quickly form dense clumps. 这些植物很快形成了浓密的树丛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The bulbs were over. All that remained of them were clumps of brown leaves. 这些鳞茎死了，剩下的只是一丛丛的黃叶子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 formulate   

v.用公式表示；规划；设计；系统地阐述

参考例句：

• He took care to formulate his reply very clearly.他字斟句酌，清楚地做了回答。
• I was impressed by the way he could formulate his ideas.他陈述观点的方式让我印象深刻。

6 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

7 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

8 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。