TED英语演讲语言如何塑造我们的思维方式.docx

1、TED英语演讲语言如何塑造我们的思维方式TED英语演讲：语言如何塑造我们的思维方式“会第二种语言，就像是有了第二个灵魂”!能够与更多人沟通、丰富了自身的技能、能够看懂各个国家的电视剧每种语言都带有自己的思维方式，世界上有7000多种语言，每一种都有自己独特的魅力。下面是本人为大家收集关于TED英语演讲之学外语究竟对我们有什么好处，欢迎借鉴参考。中英对照翻译So, Ill be speaking to you using language . because I can. This is one these magical abilities that we humans have. We ca

2、n transmit really complicated thoughts to one another.我要用语言跟各位说话 因为我可以。 这是人类的神奇能力之一。 我们能把非常复杂的 想法传送给另一个人。So what Im doing right now is, Im making sounds with my mouth as Im exhaling. Im making tones and hisses and puffs, and those are creating air vibrations in the air.我现在在做的， 是用我的嘴巴发出声音， 吐气时发声。 我会做

3、出语调、嘶嘶声、呼气， 在空气中产生空气振动。Those air vibrations are traveling to you, theyre hitting your eardrums, and then your brain takes those vibrations from your eardrums and transforms them into thoughts. I hope.那些空气振动会传到你那里， 触及到你的耳膜， 接着你的大脑会取得 耳膜接收到的振动， 把它们转换为思想。 我希望啦。I hope thats happening. So because of this

4、 ability, we humans are able to transmit our ideas across vast reaches of space and time. Were able to transmit knowledge across minds.希望现在就在发生。 因为这种能力，我们人类 才得以把我们的想法 跨越空间和时间，传给别人。 我们能把知识传送到不同人的大脑。I can put a bizarre new idea in your mind right now. I could say, Imagine a jellyfish waltzing in a lib

5、rary while thinking about quantum mechanics.我现在就能在各位的脑中 放入一个怪异的想法。 我可以说， 想象一只水母在图书馆跳华尔兹， 同时想着量子力学。Now, if everything has gone relatively well in your life so far, you probably havent had that thought before.But now Ive just made you think it, through language.如果你的人生中目前为止 一切算是相对顺利， 你以前可能没有过那种想法。但现在我能

6、让你们去想它， 透过语言办到。Now of course, there isnt just one language in the world, there are about 7,000 languages spoken around the world. And all the languages differ from one another in all kinds of ways.当然，世界上的语言不只一种， 全世界人类说的语言就有约七千种。 每种语言在各面向上都不同。Some languages have different sounds, they have different

7、vocabularies, and they also have different structures - very importantly, different structures. That begs the question: Does the language we speak shape the way we think?有些语言有不同的声音， 它们有不同的字汇， 它们还有不同的结构 非常重要，不同的结构。 于是，我们会问： 我们所说的语言 是否会形塑我们的思考?Now, this is an ancient question.People have been speculat

8、ing about this question forever. Charlemagne, Holy Roman emperor, said, To have a second language is to have a second soul - strong statement that language crafts reality.这个问题历史悠久。长年来大家都一直在思索这个问题。 神圣罗马大帝查理曼说过： 有第二种语言， 就象是有第二个灵魂 很有力的陈述， 说明了语言制造出现实。But on the other hand, Shakespeare has Juliet say, Wh

9、ats in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Well, that suggests that maybe language doesnt craft reality.但，另一方面，莎士比亚 笔下的茱丽叶说： 名字有什么用? 玫瑰不叫玫瑰，依然芳香如故。 那意味着，语言不见得会制造现实。These arguments have gone back and forth for thousands of years. But until recently, there hasnt been any data to hel

10、p us decide either way.数千年来，这些论点一直你来我往。 但，直到最近之前，都没有任何资料 来协助我们决定是哪一种。Recently, in my lab and other labs around the world, weve started doing research, and now we have actual scientific data to weigh in on this question.最近，在我的实验室和世界上其他的实验室， 我们开始做研究， 现在，我们有了真正的科学资料， 可以来探究这个问题。So let me tell you about

11、some of my favorite examples. Ill start with an example from an Aboriginal community in Australia that I had the chance to work with. These are the Kuuk Thaayorre people.让我分享一些我最喜欢的例子。 我的第一个例子 来自澳洲的一个原住民部落， 我有机会和他们合作。 他们是库克萨优里族，They live in Pormpuraaw at the very west edge of Cape York. Whats cool a

12、bout Kuuk Thaayorre is, in Kuuk Thaayorre, they dont use words like left and right, and instead, everything is in cardinal directions: north, south, east and west.他们住在波姆浦洛， 那是约克角半岛的西部边缘。 库克萨优里族很酷的一点是， 在库克萨优里语中，他们 不用左、右这些字， 一切都是用基本的方向： 北、南、东、西。And when I say everything, I really mean everything. You

13、would say something like, Oh, theres an ant on your southwest leg. Or, Move your cup to the north-northeast a little bit.我说一切，真的就是指一切。 你可能会说这样的话： 喔，在你的脚的 西南方有一只蚂蚁。 或把你的杯子向北北东移一点。In fact, the way that you say hello in Kuuk Thaayorre is you say, Which way are you going? And the answer should be, North

14、-northeast in the far distance. How about you?事实上，在库克萨优里语中， 说哈囉的方式是： 你要去哪个方向? 而回应应该是： 北北东的远方。 你呢?So imagine as youre walking around your day, every person you greet, you have to report your heading direction.所以，想象一下 你当天走到任何地方， 你问候每一个人时， 都得要报告你朝什么方向前进。But that would actually get you oriented pretty f

15、ast, right? Because you literally couldnt get past hello, if you didnt know which way you were going. In fact, people who speak languages like this stay oriented really well.但那会让你很快速确定方位，对吧? 因为如果不知道 你在朝什么方向前进， 你就说不出哈囉。 事实上，说这类语言的人， 都一直很有方向感。They stay oriented better than we used to think humans coul

16、d. We used to think that humans were worse than other creatures because of some biological excuse: Oh, we dont have magnets in our beaks or in our scales.他们的方向感比我们认为人类能办到的程度更好。 我们以前认为人类这方面比其他生物更糟，是因为某种生物借口： 我们的鸟喙或鳞片里面 没有内建的磁铁。No; if your language and your culture trains you to do it, actually, you c

17、an do it. There are humans around the world who stay oriented really well.不对;如果你的语言 和你的文化训练你去做， 你其实能办到。 世界上有些人类的方向感非常好。And just to get us in agreement about how different this is from the way we do it, I want you all to close your eyes for a second and point southeast.为了让大家能够了解 我们的做法上有多大的差异， 我想请大家闭上

18、眼睛一下子， 请指出东南方。Keep your eyes closed. Point. OK, so you can open your eyes. I see you guys pointing there, there, there, there, there . I dont know which way it is myself -You have not been a lot of help.眼睛别张开。指出来。 好，可以张开眼睛了。 我看到大家指向那里、 那里、那里、那里 我自己也不知道是哪一边-你们实在也没帮上忙。So lets just say the accuracy in

19、this room was not very high. This is a big difference in cognitive ability across languages, right? Where one group - very distinguished group like you guys -姑且就说在这间房间中的 正确率没有很高。 不同语言中的认知能力 差别很大，对吧? 一个族群非常 卓越的族群，比如各位-doesnt know which way is which, but in another group, I could ask a five-year-old a

20、nd they would know.There are also really big differences in how people think about time.不知道哪边是哪个方向， 但到了另一个族群， 我去问五岁的小孩，他们也会知道。大家对于时间的思考方式也有很大的差异。So here I have pictures of my grandfather at different ages. And if I ask an English speaker to organize time, they might lay it out this way, from left to

21、 right.这里是我祖父的照片， 他在照片中的年龄都不同。 如果我请说英语的人 依据时间来整理， 他们可能会这样排列， 从左到右。This has to do with writing direction. If you were a speaker of Hebrew or Arabic, you might do it going in the opposite direction, from right to left.这与书写的方向有关。 如果你说希伯来语或阿拉伯语， 你可能会用反方向， 从右到左。But how would the Kuuk Thaayorre, this Abor

22、iginal group I just told you about, do it? They dont use words like left and right. Let me give you hint. When we sat people facing south, they organized time from left to right.但库克萨优里族， 我刚刚和各位说的 原住民族群，会怎么做? 他们没有左和右这些字。让我提示各位。 当我们让他们面向南方时， 他们会把时间从左向右排。When we sat them facing north, they organized ti

23、me from right to left. When we sat them facing east, time came towards the body. Whats the pattern? East to west, right? So for them,当我们让他们面向北方时， 他们会把时间从右向左排。 当我们让他们面向东方时， 时间的方向朝向他们的身体。 模式是什么? 由东向西，对吧? 所以，对他们而言，time doesnt actually get locked on the body at all, it gets locked on the landscape. So f

24、or me, if Im facing this way, then time goes this way, and if Im facing this way, then time goes this way. Im facing this way, time goes this way -时间完全不会被身体限制住， 时间是和地景绑在一起的。对我来说，当我面向这边， 时间就朝这个方向， 当我面向这边，时间就朝这个方向。 面向这边，时间就朝这个方向-very egocentric of me to have the direction of time chase me around every

25、 time I turn my body. For the Kuuk Thaayorre, time is locked on the landscape. Its a dramatically different way of thinking about time.非常自我中心，每当我转身， 也让时间的方向跟着我转。 对库克萨优里族， 时间和地景绑在一起。 这是非常不同的时间思考方式。Heres another really smart human trait. Suppose I ask you how many penguins are there. Well, I bet I kno

26、w how youd solve that problem if you solved it. You went, One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.还有个很聪明的人类技俩。 如果我问各位，这里有几只企鹅? 我打赌我知道各位是 如何解答这个问题的。 你会用：一、二、三、 四、五、六、七、八。You counted them. You named each one with a number, and the last number you said was the number of penguins. This is a littl

27、e trick that youre taught to use as kids. You learn the number list and you learn how to apply it.你用数的。 你给毎一只一个号码， 你说出的最后一个号码， 就是企鹅的数目。 这是个小计俩，你小时候 就有人教你用了。 你学到了数字表， 你学到了如何应用它。A little linguistic trick. Well, some languages dont do this, because some languages dont have exact number words. Theyre la

28、nguages that dont have a word like seven or a word like eight.小小的语言计俩。 有些语言并不会这样做， 因为有些语言并没有代表数字的字。 这些语言并没有像七这样的字， 也没有八。In fact, people who speak these languages dont count, and they have trouble keeping track of exact quantities. So, for example, if I ask you to match this number of penguins to the

29、 same number of ducks, you would be able to do that by counting.事实上，说这些语言的人不会计数， 他们无法记得确实的量。 比如，如果我请各位 把刚才企鹅的数目 对应到同样数目的鸭子， 你可以靠计数的方式做到。But folks who dont have that linguistic trait cant do that.Languages also differ in how they divide up the color spectrum - the visual world. Some languages have lo

30、ts of words for colors, some have only a couple words, light and dark.但语言没有这项特征的人就没办法。语言也有不同的方式来区别色谱 视觉世界。 有些语言中有很多颜色的字， 有些语言只有几个字， 亮和暗。And languages differ in where they put boundaries between colors. So, for example, in English, theres a world for blue that covers all of the colors that you can se

31、e on the screen, but in Russian, there isnt a single word.不同语言也有不同的颜色界线。 比如，在英文中就有蓝色的世界， 包含荧幕上的所有这些颜色， 但在俄语中，就没有单一个字。Instead, Russian speakers have to differentiate between light blue, goluboy, and dark blue, siniy. So Russians have this lifetime of experience of, in language, distinguishing these two colors.说俄语的人，得要去区别 浅蓝色goluboy， 和深蓝色siniy。 所以俄国人一生当中都会在语言上 把这两种颜色区别开来。When we test peoples ability to perceptually discriminate these colors, what we find is that Russian speakers are faster across this linguistic boundary. Th