評論
打印
What's the most universal utterance in languages across the globe?
世界各地語言中最普遍的話是哪句?
Huh?
嗯?
Correct!
正確!
Huh?
嗯?
That's right.
就是這句。
HUH?
嗯?
Exactly. Because a new study finds that everybody around the world does indeed say “huh?”
的確如此。因為一項新的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)全世界的每個人都確實會說“嗯?”
The finding is the journal PLOS One.
這一發(fā)現(xiàn)已經(jīng)刊登在《公共科學(xué)圖書館》雜志上。
Is “Huh?” a Universal Word?
“嗯?”是個通用詞嗎?
Conversational Infrastructure and the Convergent Evolution of Linguistic Items.
會話基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施及語言項目趨同進化的研究人員們對此展開調(diào)查實驗。
The researchers were exploring linguistic tools people use to assure fluid communication.
研究人員探索人們?yōu)榱吮ＷC流暢溝通所使用的語言工具。
In this case, they were looking for an interjection that signals that a listener missed something, and prompts the speaker to repeat or rephrase the original statement.
在這種情況下,他們正在尋找一個感嘆詞,表明聽者錯過了一些東西,并提示說話人重復(fù)或改述原始語句。
In other words, something that works like the English word “Huh?”
換句話說,就比如英文單詞“嗯?”
So they eavesdropped on nearly 200 conversations in 10 different tongues, from Italian to Icelandic.
所以他們偷聽了從意大利到冰島10種不同語言中近200個對話。
And they found that, in language after language, a word that sounds a lot like “huh?” gets the job done.
而后他們在不同的語言中發(fā)現(xiàn)一個聽起來很像“嗯？”的字眼，于是任務(wù)就這樣完成了。
For example.
世界上有各種語言的“嗯？”。
It's short and sweet so it's likely to stop the speaker before the listener gets too lost.
簡單明了的這個字眼很可能讓聽者在跟不上之前叫停說話人。
And it sounds like a question so it warrants a response.
這聽起來就像對一個問題所作出的響應(yīng)。
The sound appears not to be innate.
而且這個聲音似乎與生俱來。
Babies don't use it before they say mama.
寶寶們在喊出媽媽之前也會這樣說。
But most five-year-olds are masters of “huh?”.
但大多數(shù)5歲的孩子們都是精通“嗯?”的大師。
No matter where they come from.
無論他們來自哪里。
