未來(lái)的太空旅行會(huì)造成何種語(yǔ)言交流問(wèn)題

科學(xué)家和工程師們正在為可能在遙遠(yuǎn)的未來(lái)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(bào)告調(diào)查了長(zhǎng)途太空旅行中語(yǔ)言變化可能出現(xiàn)的問(wèn)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(lái)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?？茖W(xué)家認(rèn)為星際空間是指太陽(yáng)產(chǎn)生的粒子和磁場(chǎng)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(gè)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(shí)間才能研發(fā)出來(lái)。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(zhǎng)途旅行。兩名美國(guó)研究人員已經(jīng)探索了這種旅行可能存在的一個(gè)問(wèn)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(shí)間的推移，人類語(yǔ)言可能會(huì)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(wèn)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(wèn)題的語(yǔ)言專家。兩人最近就這個(gè)問(wèn)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(lái)學(xué)報(bào)》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(zhǎng)的旅行。星際空間距離地球約180億公里。它還研究了未來(lái)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(lái)越孤立，語(yǔ)言自然會(huì)發(fā)生變化。一個(gè)社群的長(zhǎng)期隔離可能會(huì)導(dǎo)致語(yǔ)言上的巨大差異，從而使得回到家鄉(xiāng)的社群成員無(wú)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(huì)出現(xiàn)，新的社會(huì)問(wèn)題就會(huì)出現(xiàn)，人們就會(huì)創(chuàng)造出討論這些問(wèn)題的方式。”麥肯齊在一份聲明中說(shuō)。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(huì)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(shuō)的話就越少。”麥肯齊說(shuō)。

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(yǔ)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(huì)隨著時(shí)間而改變，這不僅會(huì)影響單個(gè)單詞，而且會(huì)影響到整個(gè)“語(yǔ)法系統(tǒng)”，論文中寫(xiě)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(shí)間的推移，單詞和句子結(jié)構(gòu)的重大變化也會(huì)造成系統(tǒng)性的語(yǔ)言障礙。如果有更多的時(shí)間，新的語(yǔ)法形式可以完全取代現(xiàn)有的語(yǔ)法形式，”麥肯齊說(shuō)。

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(shuō)明了語(yǔ)言是如何因?yàn)殡S著時(shí)間的推移，社群之間變得越來(lái)越孤立，在我們自己的星球上發(fā)展起來(lái)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(duì)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(gè)近代地球上語(yǔ)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(shuō)話方式，也就是說(shuō)話者在陳述結(jié)束時(shí)用上升的音調(diào)結(jié)束發(fā)言。他說(shuō)，這種說(shuō)話方式經(jīng)常被那些不了解的人誤認(rèn)為是問(wèn)句語(yǔ)調(diào)。麥肯齊說(shuō)：“升調(diào)只是在過(guò)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(guó)人和澳大利亞人傳播到了大多數(shù)英語(yǔ)國(guó)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(shuō)，限制出現(xiàn)交流問(wèn)題的一個(gè)可能的解決方案是在飛船上的成員中插入語(yǔ)言專家。另一個(gè)建議是使用符號(hào)語(yǔ)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(shuō)，太空旅行者可能會(huì)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(huì)有需要的，即使是非常有限。他說(shuō):“你必須學(xué)會(huì)一點(diǎn)地球英語(yǔ)來(lái)發(fā)送信息，或者閱讀飛船上的操作說(shuō)明書(shū)和信息。”

I'm Bryan Lynn.

布萊恩·林恩為您播報(bào)。