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科学美国人60秒 SSS 语言学家聆听口音的开端

时间:2020-11-03 08:07:57

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(单词翻译)

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Susanne Bard1.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列,我是苏珊娜·巴德。

(CLIP: The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.)

(音频剪辑:西班牙的雨主要留在平原上。)

Why can people speaking the same language have such different accents? The short answer: new accents begin to develop when isolated2 groups of speakers start making nearly imperceptible changes to the way they pronounce words.

为何说同一种语言的人会有如此不同的口音?简而言之:当孤立的说话者群体开始对他们的发音方式进行几乎不可察觉的改变时,新口音就会开始形成。

"Accent development is the first step in language change. Fifteen hundred years ago, languages like English, Dutch and Swedish were actually all dialects of the same language. But of course, then they diversified3 over time."

“口音发展是语言变化的第一步。1500年前,英语、荷兰语和瑞典语等语言实际上都是同一种语言的方言。但当然,后来它们随着时间的推移而各自分化。”

University of Munich linguist4 Jonathan Harrington. He's interested in how accents first get started. But because of global communication, most communities are no longer linguistically5 isolated, and audio recording6 equipment didn't exist back when more of them were. So how to capture the early stages of accent formation today?

慕尼黑大学的语言学家乔纳森·哈林顿说到。他对口音开始形成的方式很感兴趣。但由于全球通讯的出现,大多数群体在语言方面不再孤立,而在群体语言孤立的时代,录音设备又尚未出现。那如何发现口音形成的早期阶段呢?

Harrington and his team turned to members of the British Antarctic Survey, who speak with a variety of English accents.

哈林顿及其团队转而去找英国南极调查所的成员,这些成员的英语有各种口音。

"When you are in Antarctica during the winter period, then there's no way in, and there's no way out. So they were isolated together, and they interacted with each other, and they have to cooperate with each other."

“当冬季你在南极时,那里没有路进入,也没有路出去。因此,他们与世隔绝,互相影响,不得和互相合作。”

Harrington's team recorded the winterers reciting a list of words before they left for Antarctica. Then, while there, the winterers recorded themselves saying the same words four more times. The linguists7 then analyzed8 the recordings—in particular, resonances9: the way airflow shapes sound.

哈林顿的研究小组记录了这些越冬者出发去南极前朗读单词表的声音。之后,在南极时,越冬者又录了4次他们朗读相同单词的声音。接下来,语言学家分析了录音,特别是共振:气流塑造声音的方式。

"Resonances are the defining acoustic10 features, which let you distinguish one vowel11 from the next."

“共振是决定性的声学特征,它使你将一个元音与另一个元音区分开来。”

And even during their short time in Antarctica, the way the winterers produced certain vowels12 began to converge13, averaging out the resonances. For example, at the beginning of the study, some people produced the "oo" in "food" at the front of the mouth like this:

即使在南极短暂的逗留时间,越冬者某些元音的发音方式就开始趋同,将共振频率拉平。例如,在研究初期,有些人在读“food”这个词时,会用口腔前部发/u:/音,如下所示:

(CLIP: "Food" at front)

(音频剪辑:用口腔前部读“Food”)

While others used the back of the mouth:

其他人则用口腔后部发音:

(CLIP: "Food" at back)

(音频剪辑:用口腔后部读“Food”)

But they began to sound more similar over time.

但随着时间的推移,他们的发音方式越来越相似。

In addition, the winterers invented slightly new ways of pronouncing vowels, such as shifting the production of the second syllable14 in the word "window" very slightly forward in the vocal15 tract16. The linguists think these small changes document the very beginnings of a common accent. The study is in the Journal of the Acoustical17 Society of America.

此外,越冬者还发明了稍新乡的元音发声法,例如改变“window”第二音节的发音,让声道发音位置略微前移。语言学家认为这些微小变化记录了常见口音的开端。这项研究发表在《美国声学学会期刊》上。

Harrington says the research isn't just relevant for understanding Earth's colonial past. He thinks there's every reason to expect that prolonged isolation18 will cause astronauts on Mars missions to end up with an out-of-this world accent.

哈林顿表示,这项研究不仅有助于了解世界殖民史。他认为,现在完全有理由期待,长时间的与世隔绝将导致执行火星任务的宇航员最终会产生“另一个世界”的口音。

Thanks for listening for Scientific American's 60-second Science. I'm Susanne Bard.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是苏珊娜·巴德。


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 bard QPCyM     
n.吟游诗人
参考例句:
  • I'll use my bard song to help you concentrate!我会用我的吟游诗人歌曲帮你集中精神!
  • I find him,the wandering grey bard.我发现了正在徘徊的衰老游唱诗人。
2 isolated bqmzTd     
adj.与世隔绝的
参考例句:
  • His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
  • Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。
3 diversified eumz2W     
adj.多样化的,多种经营的v.使多样化,多样化( diversify的过去式和过去分词 );进入新的商业领域
参考例句:
  • The college biology department has diversified by adding new courses in biotechnology. 该学院生物系通过增加生物技术方面的新课程而变得多样化。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Take grain as the key link, develop a diversified economy and ensure an all-round development. 以粮为纲,多种经营,全面发展。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
4 linguist K02xo     
n.语言学家;精通数种外国语言者
参考例句:
  • I used to be a linguist till I become a writer.过去我是个语言学家,后来成了作家。
  • Professor Cui has a high reputation as a linguist.崔教授作为语言学家名声很高。
5 linguistically 7b66da4344783a4db62f333568be23c1     
adv. 语言的, 语言学的
参考例句:
  • But this group is linguistically, culturally, and even genetically diverse. 但这个人群在语言上,文化上,甚至在遗传上都是多样化的。
  • Like the EU, Belgium is linguistically and culturally divided. 与欧盟一样,比利时是个多语言、多文化的地区。
6 recording UktzJj     
n.录音,记录
参考例句:
  • How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间?
  • I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。
7 linguists fe6c8058ec322688d888d3401770a03c     
n.通晓数国语言的人( linguist的名词复数 );语言学家
参考例句:
  • The linguists went to study tribal languages in the field. 语言学家们去实地研究部落语言了。 来自辞典例句
  • The linguists' main interest has been to analyze and describe languages. 语言学家的主要兴趣一直在于分析并描述语言。 来自辞典例句
8 analyzed 483f1acae53789fbee273a644fdcda80     
v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 );分解;解释;对…进行心理分析
参考例句:
  • The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程,因为对他来说,爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 resonances 017f9a96ff40c502885b9545757401fb     
n.共鸣( resonance的名词复数 );(声音) 洪亮;(文章、乐曲等) 激发联想的力量;(情感)同感
参考例句:
  • This system can set up acoustical resonances. 这种系统能产生共鸣。 来自辞典例句
  • New supershortlived particles are called resonances. 新超短寿命粒子叫做共振态粒子。 来自辞典例句
10 acoustic KJ7y8     
adj.听觉的,声音的;(乐器)原声的
参考例句:
  • The hall has a fine acoustic.这个大厅的传音效果很好。
  • Animals use a whole rang of acoustic, visual,and chemical signals in their systems of communication.动物利用各种各样的听觉、视觉和化学信号来进行交流。
11 vowel eHTyS     
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。
12 vowels 6c36433ab3f13c49838853205179fe8b     
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
13 converge 6oozx     
vi.会合;聚集,集中;(思想、观点等)趋近
参考例句:
  • The results converge towards this truth.其结果趋近于这个真理。
  • Parallel lines converge at infinity.平行线永不相交。
14 syllable QHezJ     
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。
15 vocal vhOwA     
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。
16 tract iJxz4     
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。
17 acoustical acoustical     
adj. 听觉的,声学的,音响学的
参考例句:
  • This system can set up acoustical resonances. 这种系统能产生共鸣。
  • The relevance of acoustical principles is by no means limited to sound and hearing. 声学原理并不仅仅适用于声音和听觉。
18 isolation 7qMzTS     
n.隔离,孤立,分解,分离
参考例句:
  • The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
  • He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后,生活比较孤寂。

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