評論
打印
How do you do it?
這件事你怎么做？
Why, every schoolchild knows the answer, You spell out the words.
為什么，每個小學生都知道答案,你拼寫出單詞。
Yes, all right, but what exactly do you mean?
對，但你到底是什么意思？
Well, there's an I, which makes "I",
是的，這里有一個I, 就組成了“I”,
and then a "C" and an "A" and an "N",
然后有一個C，一個A和一個N，
which spells "can" – and so on, and with 26 letters you can write anything down.
拼起來就是“can”——用26個字母就可以把一切都記下來了。
Anything?
一切？
Yes, anything. In any language? Just about.
是的，一切。在所有的語言中？本來就是的。
Isn't that amazing?
這不是神奇得很嗎？
With 26 simple signs, each no more than a couple of squiggles,
用26個簡單的符號，每個符號只有幾個筆畫，
you can write down anything you like, be it wise or silly, angelic or wicked.
你就能把一切記下來，不管聰明的話和蠢笨的話，還是神圣的事和惡劣的事
It wasn't anything like as easy for the ancient Egyptians with their hieroglyphs.
古埃及人的象形文字可沒有這么簡單。
Nor was it for the people who used the cuneiform script,
對于使用楔形文字的人們也沒有這么簡單，
for they kept on inventing new signs that didn't stand for just single letter sounds, but for whole syllables or more.
因為他們總是發明新的符號，它們不表示字母，而是至少表示完整的音節。
