Foreign languages

外語(yǔ)

The gift of tongues

語(yǔ)言的天賦

What makes some people learn language after language?

何者吸引一些人接二連三地學(xué)習(xí)多門(mén)語(yǔ)言?

譯者：stella_tang

Babel No More: The Search for the World’s Most Extraordinary Language Learners.

消逝的巴別塔：尋找世間最卓越的語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)者

By Michael Erard. Free Press; 306 pages

CARDINAL MEZZOFANTI of Bologna was a secular saint. Though he never performed the kind of miracle needed to be officially canonised, his power was close to unearthly. Mezzofanti was said to speak 72 languages. Or 50. Or to have fully mastered 30. No one was certain of the true figure, but it was a lot. Visitors flocked from all corners of Europe to test him and came away stunned. He could switch between languages with ease. Two condemned prisoners were due to be executed, but no one knew their language to hear their confession. Mezzofanti learned it in a night, heard their sins the next morning and saved them from hell.

博洛尼亞的Mezzofanti紅衣主教是一個(gè)身處于俗世的圣人。盡管他從未演示過(guò)任何奇跡而被正式冊(cè)封為圣徒，其能力也近乎超自然了。據(jù)說(shuō)Mezzofanti可以說(shuō)72抑或50種語(yǔ)言，若說(shuō)精通則是30種。對(duì)此，沒(méi)人能說(shuō)得準(zhǔn)，但總之很多。成群結(jié)隊(duì)從歐洲各地趕來(lái)驗(yàn)證他能力的游客都帶著瞠目結(jié)舌的神情離去。他可以輕松地任意在幾種語(yǔ)言之間切換。曾有兩個(gè)被定罪的囚犯即將行刑，卻因說(shuō)一口無(wú)人知曉的語(yǔ)言使得最后的懺悔無(wú)人聽(tīng)得懂。Mezzofanti用一夜學(xué)會(huì)了這種語(yǔ)言，并于隔天早晨?jī)A聽(tīng)了他們的罪孽，救贖了他們的靈魂以免于淪落地獄。

Or so the legend goes. In “Babel No More”, Michael Erard has written the first serious book about the people who master vast numbers of languages—or claim to. A journalist with some linguistics training, Mr Erard is not a hyperpolyglot himself (he speaks some Spanish and Chinese), but he approaches his topic with both wonder and a healthy dash of scepticism.

如此這般，傳言之謂?！断诺陌蛣e塔》是Michael Erard所寫(xiě)的有關(guān)于精通或聲稱自己精通許多種語(yǔ)言之人的第一本嚴(yán)肅書(shū)籍。Erard先生雖是個(gè)受過(guò)些許語(yǔ)言學(xué)訓(xùn)練的記者，但卻并沒(méi)有通曉超多種語(yǔ)言的特殊能力（他能說(shuō)一點(diǎn)西班牙語(yǔ)和中文），不過(guò)他在處理論題時(shí)，即帶著驚奇艷羨，又帶著幾許健康的懷疑態(tài)度。

Mezzofanti, for example, was a high-ranking clergyman born in 1774. In most of his interactions, he would have been the one to pick the topic of conversation, and he could rely on the same formulae he had used many times. He lived in an age when “knowing” a language more often meant reading and translating rather than speaking fluently with natives. Nonetheless, Mezzofanti clearly had speaking talent; his English accent was so good as to be almost too correct, an Irish observer noted.

如Mezzsfanti生于1774年，曾是高級(jí)神職人員。多數(shù)情況下，他可能正是在與人交流中掌握選擇話題主動(dòng)權(quán)的人，如此，他便能夠仰仗用過(guò)許多次的同一種模式交談了。他所生活的年代對(duì)于“知曉”一種語(yǔ)言的理解更多的是指能讀能譯而非能夠流利地與母語(yǔ)使用者交流。盡管如此，Mezzofanti顯然還是擁有語(yǔ)言天賦的：一個(gè)愛(ài)爾蘭目擊者指出，他的英語(yǔ)口音好到幾乎過(guò)了頭。

To find out whether anyone could really learn so many languages, Mr Erard set out to find modern Mezzofantis. The people he meets are certainly interesting. One man with a mental age of nine has a vast memory for foreign words and the use of grammatical endings, but he cannot seem to break free of English word-order. Ken Hale, who was a linguist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and died in 2001, was said to have learned 50 languages, including notoriously difficult Finnish while on a flight to Helsinki. Professional linguists still swear by his talent. But he insisted he spoke only three (English, Spanish and Warlpiri—from Australia’s Northern Territory) and could merely “talk in” others.

為了弄清是否真有人能夠?qū)W如此多的語(yǔ)言，Erard先生啟程去尋找現(xiàn)代的“Mezzofantis”。他果真遇到了有趣之人。一個(gè)心理年齡僅9歲的男子擁有大量關(guān)于外語(yǔ)單詞和詞尾的記憶，但似乎不能打破英語(yǔ)詞序的思維定式。另?yè)?jù)說(shuō)Ken Hale，這位于2011年去世的麻省理工學(xué)院的語(yǔ)言學(xué)家，生前學(xué)習(xí)了50種語(yǔ)言，甚至在一架飛往赫爾辛基的航班上學(xué)會(huì)被公認(rèn)極難的芬蘭語(yǔ)。語(yǔ)言專家們至今仍對(duì)他的天賦確信無(wú)疑。而他本人確堅(jiān)稱自己只會(huì)三門(mén)語(yǔ)言（英語(yǔ)，西班牙語(yǔ)和沃匹利語(yǔ)——來(lái)自于澳洲北領(lǐng)地），而對(duì)于其它語(yǔ)言，聊聊尚可。

Mr Erard says that true hyperpolyglottery begins at about 11 languages, and that while legends abound, tried and tested exemplars are few. Ziad Fazah, raised in Lebanon and now living in Brazil, once held the Guinness world record for 58 languages. But when surprised on a Chilean television show by native speakers, he utterly flubbed questions in Finnish, Mandarin, Farsi and Russian (including “What day is it today?” in Russian), a failure that lives in infamy on YouTube. Perhaps he was a fraud; perhaps he simply had a miserable day. Hyperpolyglots must warm up or “prime” their weaker languages, with a few hours’ or days’ practice, to use them comfortably. Switching quickly between more than around six or seven is near-impossible even for the most gifted.

Erard先生稱真正的精通超多語(yǔ)言者應(yīng)從掌握11門(mén)語(yǔ)言算起，而且盡管傳言四起，能經(jīng)受住考驗(yàn)的實(shí)例確少之甚少。成長(zhǎng)于黎巴嫩現(xiàn)居于巴西的Ziad Fazah曾因會(huì)58種語(yǔ)言而被載入吉尼斯世界紀(jì)錄，卻在一臺(tái)智利的電視節(jié)目中在無(wú)準(zhǔn)備狀態(tài)下受到母語(yǔ)使用的突襲，以至于完全弄錯(cuò)了用芬蘭語(yǔ)、普通話、波斯語(yǔ)和俄語(yǔ)問(wèn)的問(wèn)題（包括俄語(yǔ)的“今天周幾？”），這個(gè)失敗帶了的恥辱在因YouTube得以長(zhǎng)存。也許Ziad Fazah是個(gè)騙子，也許他那天只是特別倒霉。精通超多語(yǔ)言者必須對(duì)他較薄弱的語(yǔ)言進(jìn)行幾小時(shí)甚至是幾天的熱身或者說(shuō)是“事先準(zhǔn)備”，才能自如運(yùn)用這些語(yǔ)言。而迅速地在六、七種語(yǔ)言之間來(lái)回切換，即使對(duì)于那些天賦異稟者來(lái)說(shuō)，也幾乎是不可能的。

Does that mean they don’t really know them? Is instant availability of native-like competence the only standard for “knowing” a language? How should partly knowing a tongue be tallied? What if you can only read in it? Mr Erard repeatedly peppers his text with such questions, feeling his way through his story as a thoughtful observer, rather than banging about like an academic with a theory to defend or a pitchman with a technique to sell.

這就意味著他們并非真正知曉這些語(yǔ)言么？擁有與母語(yǔ)使用者那樣呼之即來(lái)來(lái)之能用的能力即是“知曉”一種語(yǔ)言的唯一標(biāo)準(zhǔn)嗎？該如何評(píng)估部分知曉一門(mén)語(yǔ)言呢？又如果你僅能閱讀呢？Erard先生在他的文章中接二連三地提出問(wèn)題，如一個(gè)善思考的觀察者根據(jù)故事尋找線索，而非言辭激烈地如同一個(gè)專家用理論來(lái)辯解或像個(gè)宣傳員以技巧來(lái)銷售自己的觀點(diǎn)。

Hyperpolyglots are more likely to be introverted than extroverted, which may come as a surprise to some. Hale’s son always said that, in his father’s case, languages were a cloak for a shy man. Another, Alexander Arguelles, has learned dozens of languages only to read them, saying “It’s rare that you have an interesting conversation in English. Why do I think it would be any better in another language?” Emil Krebs, an early-20th-century German diplomat who was also credited with knowing dozens of languages, was boorish in all of them. He once refused to speak to his wife for several months because she told him to put on a winter coat.

令很多人感到驚奇的是，精通超多語(yǔ)言者們的性格更趨于內(nèi)向。Hale的兒子總是說(shuō)，在他父親看來(lái)，語(yǔ)言是靦腆者的偽裝。另一個(gè)名為Alexander Arguelles的人會(huì)許多種語(yǔ)言卻都僅限于閱讀，他解釋說(shuō)“如果你對(duì)用英語(yǔ)交談都罕有興趣的話，又怎會(huì)對(duì)說(shuō)其他語(yǔ)言有更多好感呢？”20世紀(jì)上半葉的德國(guó)外交官Emil Krebs也被公認(rèn)會(huì)幾十種語(yǔ)言，但不管說(shuō)哪一種都是生硬無(wú)禮。他曾有一次幾個(gè)月都拒絕跟他妻子說(shuō)話僅因?yàn)樗屗硪患隆?/p>

Different hypotheses may explain part of the language-learner’s gift. Some hyperpolyglots seem near-autistic. In support, Mr Erard points to the theory of Simon Baron-Cohen, of Cambridge University, that autists have an “extreme male brain” that seeks to master systems. Another hypothesis is the “Geschwind-Galaburda” cluster of traits. Supposedly resulting from abnormal antenatal exposure to hormones, this cluster includes maleness, homosexuality, left-handedness, poor visual-spatial skills, immune disorders, and perhaps also language-learning talent. Brain areas are also keyed to certain skills. The left Heschl’s gyrus is bigger than average in professional phoneticians. People who learn new vocabulary quickly show more activity in the hippocampus. Krebs’s brain, preserved in slices at a laboratory in Düsseldorf, shows various unusual features.

不同的假說(shuō)也許能夠解釋語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)者的部分天賦。有一些精通超多語(yǔ)言者顯現(xiàn)出自閉的傾向。Erard先生以劍橋大學(xué)Simon Baron-Cohen的理論作為例證，即自閉癥患者擁有“極端男性大腦”以尋求對(duì)事物系統(tǒng)性地掌握。另一個(gè)假設(shè)則是“Geschwind-Galaburda”的特征簇。這一被推測(cè)為因孕期非正常接觸到荷爾蒙而導(dǎo)致的特征包括男性向、同性戀、左撇子、立體空間辨別力差、免疫系統(tǒng)紊亂，也可能是學(xué)習(xí)語(yǔ)言的天賦。大腦的區(qū)域與特定的人體機(jī)能相聯(lián)系。專業(yè)語(yǔ)音學(xué)者的左聽(tīng)皮質(zhì)區(qū)比常人大，而能夠快速學(xué)習(xí)新詞匯的人大腦海馬區(qū)域較常人活躍。Kreb的大腦切片被保存在杜塞爾多夫的一個(gè)實(shí)驗(yàn)室里，其顯示出多種不同尋常的特質(zhì)。

The discovery of the FOXP2 brain gene, a mutation of which can cause language loss, was met with considerable excitement when it was announced over a decade ago. But the reality is that many parts of the brain work together to produce speech and no single gene, region of the brain or theory can explain successful language-learning. In the end Mr Erard is happy simply to meet interesting characters, tell fascinating tales and round up the research without trying to judge which is the best work.

十多年前，對(duì)FOXP2大腦基因突變會(huì)導(dǎo)致語(yǔ)言能力喪失這一發(fā)現(xiàn)的公布使眾人激動(dòng)不已。事實(shí)上，話語(yǔ)能力是大腦的許多部分共同運(yùn)作而產(chǎn)生的，沒(méi)有任何單獨(dú)的基因、大腦區(qū)域或理論的不同領(lǐng)域可以成功解釋語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)。最后，Erard先生只能滿足于結(jié)實(shí)有趣之人、敘述精彩故事和搜集科研的喜悅之情，而非對(duì)這些研究的優(yōu)劣妄加評(píng)判。

At the end of his story, however, he finds a surprise in Mezzofanti’s archive: flashcards. Stacks of them, in Georgian, Hungarian, Arabic, Algonquin and nine other tongues. The world’s most celebrated hyperpolyglot relied on the same tools given to first-year language-learners today. The conclusion? Hyperpolyglots may begin with talent, but they aren’t geniuses. They simply enjoy tasks that are drudgery to normal people. The talent and enjoyment drive a virtuous cycle that pushes them to feats others simply shake their heads at, admiration mixed with no small amount of incomprehension.

然而，在著述的末尾，他在Messofanti的檔案資料中找到令人驚訝的發(fā)現(xiàn)：抽認(rèn)卡——一大堆的抽認(rèn)卡，格魯吉亞語(yǔ)，匈牙利語(yǔ)，阿拉伯語(yǔ)，阿爾貢金語(yǔ)以及另外九中語(yǔ)言——舉世最著名的通曉超多語(yǔ)言者也要依靠這一現(xiàn)今我們?yōu)檎Z(yǔ)言初學(xué)者所準(zhǔn)備的工具。結(jié)論呢？精通超多語(yǔ)言者最初確實(shí)可能由能力而起，但他們也并非天才而只是能夠?qū)σ话闳擞X(jué)得單調(diào)乏味的工作感到樂(lè)在其中。這一由天賦和興趣所形成的良性循環(huán)驅(qū)策著他們成就另他人望而卻步的事業(yè)，而在得到他人欽佩的同時(shí)也伴隨著更多的不解。