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Language really is the voice of our genes.
語言的確是我們基因的聲音
Now having evolved language, though, we did something peculiar, even bizarre.
盡管我們有發達的語言，但我們也做了件特殊，甚至可以說是件奇怪的事
As we spread out around the world, we developed thousands of different languages.
當我們分散到全世界，我們發展出成千上萬種語言
Currently, there are about seven or 8,000 different languages spoken on Earth.
目前，全球大約有七千到八千種在使用的語言
Now you might say, well, this is just natural.
也許你覺得這是很自然的事
As we diverge, our languages are naturally going to diverge.
當我們越分散，語言也越高度分化
But the real puzzle and irony is that the greatest density of different languages on Earth
但真正令人困惑并且諷刺的是，世界上最密集的語言分布區域
is found where people are most tightly packed together.
恰恰是人口最密集聚居的地方
If we go to the island of Papua New Guinea,
在巴布新幾內亞
we can find about 800 to 1,000 distinct human languages,
那里有八百到一千種獨特的人類語言
different human languages, spoken on that island alone.
不同的人類語言，僅僅在那一座島上
There are places on that island where you can encounter a new language every two or three miles.
島上一些地方，你每走上兩三英里就能碰上一種新語言
Now, incredible as this sounds, I once met a Papuan man, and I asked him if this could possibly be true.
更神奇的是，有次我碰上一個巴布人，問他這是不是真的
And he said to me, "Oh no. They're far closer together than that."
他說：“不，不是。比這要近多了。”
And it's true; there are places on that island where you can encounter a new language in under a mile.
這是真的，島上有些地方，一英里之內就能發現另一語言的使用
And this is also true of some remote oceanic islands.
同樣在一些遙遠的大洋小島上也是這樣
And so it seems that we use our language, not just to cooperate,
這樣看來我們利用語言不僅僅是為了合作
but to draw rings around our cooperative groups and to establish identities,
也是在集團周圍劃分界限確立身份
and perhaps to protect our knowledge and wisdom and skills from eavesdropping from outside.
也許是保護我們的知識，智慧和技能，以防落入外人之手
And we know this because when we study different language groups
我們也深知如此，因為當我們研究不同的語言群落
and associate them with their cultures,
他們有著各自的文化
we see that different languages slow the flow of ideas between groups.
會發現不同的語言，減緩了群落間想法的交流
They slow the flow of technologies. And they even slow the flow of genes.
也阻礙了技術交流，甚至是基因交流
