美国国家公共电台 NPR Orangutan's Vocal Feats Hint At Deeper Roots of Human Speech

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Scientists are finding clues about the origin of human speech thanks to a very unusual ape. NPR's Jon Hamilton reports on an orangutan named Rocky.

JON HAMILTON, BYLINE¹: A half-dozen orangutans are relaxing in a sun-filled atrium at the Indianapolis Zoo. Then they notice Rob Shumaker. He's the zoo's director, and he's got treats.

ROB SHUMAKER: When we have special visitors like today, we do...

ROCKY: (Vocalizing).

SHUMAKER: ...Really bring treats. Oh, that's Rocky - Rocky trying to get my attention to come over and...

ROCKY: (Vocalizing).

SHUMAKER: Hold on, bud. Hold on. Hold on.

HAMILTON: All the orangutans want some sugar-free jelly beans and a juice box. But Rocky, who is 12 and still an adolescent, is by far the most vocal² and persistent³.

ROCKY: (Vocalizing).

SHUMAKER: What?

ROCKY: (Vocalizing).

SHUMAKER: You've had everything.

ROCKY: (Vocalizing).

SHUMAKER: That's it. You've had everything.

HAMILTON: Shumaker calls these vocalizations wookiees because they sound like the "Star Wars" character Chewbacca.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "STAR WARS: EPISODE VI - RETURN OF THE JEDI")

HARRISON FORD⁴: (As Hon Solo) Keep your distance though, Chewie, but don't look like you're trying to keep your distance.

PETER MAYHEW: (As Chewbacca) (Vocalizing).

FORD: (As Han Solo) I don't know. Fly casual.

HAMILTON: Rocky is the only orangutan known to make these sounds. In the forests of Borneo and Sumatra, orangutans tend to sound like this.

(SOUNDBITE OF ORANGUTAN VOCALIZATIONS)

HAMILTON: But Shumaker says Rocky didn't grow up in the forest. He grew up in Hollywood.

SHUMAKER: A number of years ago, he was certainly the most visible orangutan in entertainment at the time - TV commercials, things like that.

(SOUNDBITE OF AD)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: (As character) Hey, boss, do we have Aflac?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) No, we have...

ROCKY: (Vocalizing).

HAMILTON: Rocky's work meant he grew up without his mother and spent much of his time with people. Shumaker says that may be why Rocky developed a special Wookiee call for his human friends.

SHUMAKER: He most often uses it when he would like someone's attention.

HAMILTON: The first time Shumaker and other scientists heard Rocky making his Wookiee sound, they were really surprised.

SHUMAKER: Because we had never heard it before from any other orangutan, we assumed then that it had to be learned. If it was learned, it had to involve voluntary control of his vocal folds or what people call voice box.

HAMILTON: Humans are masters at controlling the voice box and imitating sounds. But an ape wasn't supposed to have that ability. To find out for sure what Rocky could do, the team did an experiment. They asked him to imitate one of the scientists.

SHUMAKER: She would vary the frequency high or low.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Haaa (ph).

ROCKY: (Vocalizing).

SHUMAKER: He would vary the frequency high or low.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Haaa (ph).

ROCKY: (Vocalizing).

SHUMAKER: Slightly to our surprise - not totally - slightly to our surprise, he was matching things perfectly⁵.

HAMILTON: Adriano Lameira of Durham University in the U.K. says that experiment revealed something really important about the origins of human speech.

ADRIANO LAMEIRA: The type of control that we need to produce our vowels⁷ and learn our vowels, it is already present in great apes.

HAMILTON: So is the ability to produce consonants⁹. Lameira discovered that a couple of years ago with an orangutan named Tilda. She was able to replicate¹⁰ the rhythms of human speech.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TILDA: (Vocalizing).

HAMILTON: Together, Rocky and Tilda make the case that orangutans can manipulate the building blocks of speech. That may not sound like a big deal. After all, parrots can speak entire sentences. But we evolved from ape-like ancestors, not birds. And for decades, there's been a debate about whether humans' ability to speak appeared suddenly or evolved slowly from abilities found in other primates¹¹.

Lameira says that debate persisted because scientists were unable to answer a simple question.

LAMEIRA: If the control of the voice is so fundamental, if this is so crucial, why we're not seeing in our closest relatives?

HAMILTON: Now that we are, Lameira says it's time to focus on a new question.

LAMEIRA: Why did our ancestors about 10 million years ago piece together the first consonant⁸ with the first vowel⁶ to make up the first syllable¹² or the first word?

HAMILTON: In other words, what was their motivation? That's still a mystery. But Lameira says it's pretty clear what motivates Rocky. He wants to connect with his human friends.

LAMEIRA: He's so into it. He wants to perform so well so badly that we really need to sort of calm him down and give him hints that he's not being judged according to his performance.

HAMILTON: Rob Shumaker says Rocky understands a lot of words but still doesn't speak any.

ROCKY: (Vocalizing).

SHUMAKER: Hold on, Rock. Hey, hold on, man.

HAMILTON: At least not yet. Jon Hamilton, NPR News.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 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。

3 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

4 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

5 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

6 vowel   

n.元音；元音字母

参考例句：

• A long vowel is a long sound as in the word"shoe ".长元音即如“shoe” 一词中的长音。
• The vowel in words like 'my' and 'thigh' is not very difficult.单词my和thigh中的元音并不难发。

7 vowels   

n.元音，元音字母( vowel的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Vowels possess greater sonority than consonants. 元音比辅音响亮。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Note the various sounds of vowels followed by r. 注意r跟随的各种元音的发音。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

8 consonant   

n.辅音；adj.[音]符合的

参考例句：

• The quality of this suit isn't quite consonant with its price.这套衣服的质量和价钱不相称。
• These are common consonant clusters at the beginning of words.这些单词的开头有相同辅音组合。

9 consonants   

n.辅音，子音( consonant的名词复数 )；辅音字母

参考例句：

• Consonants are frequently assimilated to neighboring consonants. 辅音往往被其邻近的辅音同化。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Vowels possess greater sonority than consonants. 元音比辅音响亮。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 replicate   

v.折叠，复制，模写；n.同样的样品；adj.转折的

参考例句：

• The DNA of chromatin must replicate before cell division.染色质DNA在细胞分裂之前必须复制。
• It is also easy to replicate,as the next subsection explains.就像下一个小节详细说明的那样，它还可以被轻易的复制。

11 primates   

primate的复数

参考例句：

• Primates are alert, inquisitive animals. 灵长目动物是机灵、好奇的动物。
• Consciousness or cerebration has been said to have emerged in the evolution of higher primates. 据说意识或思考在较高级灵长类的进化中已出现。

12 syllable   

n.音节；vt.分音节

参考例句：

• You put too much emphasis on the last syllable.你把最后一个音节读得太重。
• The stress on the last syllable is light.最后一个音节是轻音节。