未來的太空旅行會造成何種語言交流問題

科學(xué)家和工程師們正在為可能在遙遠(yuǎn)的未來進(jìn)入星際空間(指星體與星體之間的空間)做準(zhǔn)備。

A new report examines the possible problem of changes in language on long space trips.

一份新的報告調(diào)查了長途太空旅行中語言變化可能出現(xiàn)的問題。

Only two spacecraft from Earth have reached the mysterious area known as interstellar space. Scientists identify interstellar space as the area outside the area of particles and magnetic fields created by the sun.

只有兩艘來自地球的宇宙飛船到達(dá)了被稱為星際空間的神秘區(qū)域。科學(xué)家認(rèn)為星際空間是指太陽產(chǎn)生的粒子和磁場之外的區(qū)域。

Experts believe it will likely take many years before the technology and equipment are developed to send humans to this unexplored area of space. But if it does happen, massive spaceships could carry humans on long trips to distant stars. Two American researchers have explored one possible problem with such travel.

專家們認(rèn)為，將人類送到這個尚未探索的太空區(qū)域所需的技術(shù)和設(shè)備，可能需要很多年的時間才能研發(fā)出來。但如果真的發(fā)生了，巨大的宇宙飛船可以載著人類進(jìn)行到遙遠(yuǎn)星球的長途旅行。兩名美國研究人員已經(jīng)探索了這種旅行可能存在的一個問題。

They considered the possibility that changes in human language could develop over time and lead to major communication problems with people on Earth.

他們認(rèn)為，隨著時間的推移，人類語言可能會發(fā)生變化，從而導(dǎo)致與地球上的人類發(fā)生重大交流問題。

The language experts are professors Andrew McKenzie from the University of Kansas, and Jeffrey Punske, of Southern Illinois University.The two recently published a paper on the subject that appears in the European Space Agencys online publication Acta Futura.

堪薩斯大學(xué)的安德魯·麥肯齊教授和南伊利諾伊大學(xué)的杰弗里·龐斯克教授，是研究該問題的語言專家。兩人最近就這個問題發(fā)表了一篇論文，文章發(fā)表在歐洲航天局的在線出版物《未來學(xué)報》上。

The paper considers very long trips necessary to reach interstellar space, estimated to be about 18 billion kilometers from Earth. It also examines the possibility of future colonization of distant stars.

該論文認(rèn)為，要到達(dá)星際空間，需要進(jìn)行非常長的旅行。星際空間距離地球約180億公里。它還研究了未來殖民遙遠(yuǎn)星球的可能性。

Languages naturally change as communities grow more isolated from each other, the researchers note in the paper. The long isolation of a community could lead to enough differences in language to make it impossible for community members back home to understand.

研究人員在這篇論文中指出，隨著社群彼此越來越孤立，語言自然會發(fā)生變化。一個社群的長期隔離可能會導(dǎo)致語言上的巨大差異，從而使得回到家鄉(xiāng)的社群成員無法理解。

"If youre on this (spaceship) for 10 generations, new concepts will emerge, new social issues will come up,and people will create ways of talking about them," McKenzie said in a statement.Such vocabulary would become specific to only that spaceship.

“如果你在這艘(宇宙飛船)上生活了10代人，新的概念就會出現(xiàn)，新的社會問題就會出現(xiàn)，人們就會創(chuàng)造出討論這些問題的方式。”麥肯齊在一份聲明中說。這樣的詞匯只適用于那艘宇宙飛船。

"People on Earth might never know about these words, unless theres a reason to tell them. And the further away you get, the less youre going to talk to people back home," McKenzie said.

“ 地球上的人可能永遠(yuǎn)不會知道這些詞，除非有告訴他們的理由。你走得越遠(yuǎn)，回家跟其他人說的話就越少。”麥肯齊說。

The researchers noted that in addition to new words being used, the language of people traveling on spaceships and living in colonies would experience many other changes.

研究人員指出，除了使用新單詞之外，乘坐宇宙飛船進(jìn)行旅行和居住在殖民地的人們的語言還將經(jīng)歷許多其它變化。

For example, the sounds of different letters would likely change over time, affecting not only individual words, but the whole "grammatical system," the paper states.

例如，不同字母的發(fā)音可能會隨著時間而改變，這不僅會影響單個單詞，而且會影響到整個“語法系統(tǒng)”，論文中寫道。

Major changes in word and sentence structure could also create systematic language barriers over time, the researchers said. "Given more time, new grammatical forms can completely replace current ones," McKenzie said.

研究人員表示，隨著時間的推移，單詞和句子結(jié)構(gòu)的重大變化也會造成系統(tǒng)性的語言障礙。如果有更多的時間，新的語法形式可以完全取代現(xiàn)有的語法形式，”麥肯齊說。

The paper provides examples of how languages developed on our own planet because communities became isolated over time.Examples include "the Polynesian settlement of far-flung Pacific islands,and dialect development in relatively isolated European colonies."

這篇論文舉例說明了語言是如何因?yàn)殡S著時間的推移，社群之間變得越來越孤立，在我們自己的星球上發(fā)展起來的。例子包括“遙遠(yuǎn)的太平洋島嶼上的波利尼西亞人的定居，以及在相對孤立的歐洲殖民地上方言的發(fā)展”。

McKenzie identified an example of a major language change on Earth during modern times. He described a way of speaking called "uptalk," when speakers end statements with a rising tone. He said this way of speaking is often mistaken for a question tone by those who are not aware of it. "Uptalk has only been observed occurring within the last 40 years, but has spread from small groups of young Americans and Australians to most of the English-speaking world," McKenzie said.

麥肯齊列舉了一個近代地球上語言發(fā)生重大變化的例子。他描述了一種被稱為“升調(diào)” 的說話方式，也就是說話者在陳述結(jié)束時用上升的音調(diào)結(jié)束發(fā)言。他說，這種說話方式經(jīng)常被那些不了解的人誤認(rèn)為是問句語調(diào)。麥肯齊說：“升調(diào)只是在過去40年里才被發(fā)現(xiàn)的現(xiàn)象，但是已經(jīng)從一小群年輕的美國人和澳大利亞人傳播到了大多數(shù)英語國家。”

The researchers say one possible solution to limit communication problems would be to include language experts on spaceship crews. Another suggestion is to use sign language as a form of communication.

研究人員說，限制出現(xiàn)交流問題的一個可能的解決方案是在飛船上的成員中插入語言專家。另一個建議是使用符號語言作為一種交流形式。

McKenzie added that space travelers might question whether it is even worth trying to learn how to communicate with people on Earth. But he believes there will always be a need, even if it is very limited. "You have to learn a little Earth English to send messages back, or to read the instruction manuals and information that came with the ship," he said.

麥肯齊補(bǔ)充說，太空旅行者可能會質(zhì)疑，學(xué)習(xí)如何與地球上的人進(jìn)行交流是否值得。但他認(rèn)為總會有需要的，即使是非常有限。他說:“你必須學(xué)會一點(diǎn)地球英語來發(fā)送信息，或者閱讀飛船上的操作說明書和信息。”

I'm Bryan Lynn.

布萊恩·林恩為您播報。