科学家发现新语种 Hidden Language Recorded
语音:美式发音 适合泛听
语速:140词/分钟
关键词:hidden language, linguist, endangered
Before this trip to a remote part of northeast India, there were 6,909 living languages known to scientists. Now there is one more.
在动身出发前去位于印度东北部一处边远地区之前,全世界为科学家所知的语言一共是6909种。现在,科学家又发现了一种未知的语种。
National Geographic's “1)Enduring Voices” project brought 2)linguists Gregory Anderson and David Harrison to a region of India that requires a special permit just to enter. To reach one village, where this language is spoken, the 3)expedition team had to cross a mountain river by bamboo 4)raft. It would be the first known time the language would be recorded.
国家地理杂志的“持久的声音”探险计划把语言学家格雷戈里·安德森和大卫·哈里森带到了印度一处需要特殊通行证才能进入的地区。为了到达这个新发现语种所在的村子,科考队必须先坐竹筏渡过一条小河。这将是这种语言历史上首次被记载下来。
Arunachal Pradesh is the home of an endangered language known as Koro. It's part of the Tibeto-Burman language family, a group of some 400 languages. But until now, Koro was unknown to world linguists. Only about 800 people are believed to speak it, with few under age 20. Harrison, Anderson and Indian linguist Ganesh Murmu sat in the homes of the speakers making recordings as people shared vocabularies and stories in Koro.
在这个名为Arunachal Pradesh的地方,村民讲的被称为Koro的语言面临消亡的危险。Koro语属于包含约四百多种语言的藏缅语族。然而在此之前,Koro语一直未被外界所知。科学家相信目前仅有大约800人说Koro语,而其中只有为数不多的是20岁以下的年轻人。哈里森、安德森和印度语言学家伽内什·穆尔穆坐在村民的家中,录下村民用Koro语讲述的词汇和故事。
Harrison (Linguist, Swarthmore College): It contains very sophisticated knowledge that these people possess about this valley, the 5)ecosystems, the animals, the plants: how they survived here, how they adapted. So if they switch over to another language, a lot of that knowledge will simply be lost.
哈里森(美国斯沃斯莫尔学院语言学家):这种语言凝聚了村民高深的智慧,包括他们对自己村庄、生态系统、动物和植物的认识;记录了他们如何一代接一代地生息繁衍,如何学会适应大自然环境。他们自己的语言一旦消亡,该语言所承载的智慧也会一并消失。
The scientists believe Koro may have 6)sprung from slaves in the region, but they say more research is needed to determine precise origins.
科学家相信Koro语也许起源于该地区的奴隶,但他们表示,需要进行更多的研究以确定它的准确源头。