英语四级听力训练：人类语言的起源

The Origins Of Human Speech

Scientists have searched for the origins of human speech

in the hoots, grunts, and other vocalizations made by primates. It would seem to make sense, after all, that such sounds may be related to the more varied and articulated sounds we humans make. But there are significant differences.

For example, human speech is learned, made using

controlled and rapid movements of the tongue, lips, and jaw. Primatevocalizations, on the other hand, are not learned but innate.

So some researchers are now considering the hypothesis

that human speech evolved not from primate sounds but more

from monkey facial gestures.

Specifically, scientists are interested in how monkeys smack their lips to communicate. Using x ray movies, researchers at Princeton and the University of Vienna have found that primate lip smacking is much more complex than it appears. Like human speech, lip smacking requires quick, controlled movements of the lips, tongue, jaw, and hyoid bone, which supports the larynx and tongue.

For example, if you’ve been to a zoo you’ve probably seen chimps making loud lip smacks and buzzing sounds, like blowing a raspberry. Scientists believe that these sounds are a controlled form of chimp communication.

This research doesn’t quite solve the puzzle of the evolution of human speech. But it is a fascinating clue that

the way we speak may have developed from a combination of sounds produced by the vocal cords and by rapid, controlled movements of the vocal tract, including lips, tongue and jaw.

人类语言的起源

科学家一直在通过研究灵长类动物发出的鸣响声、呼噜声以及其

他发音来探寻人类语言的起源。这似乎很有道理，毕竟这些声音与人

类发出的更加多变、更加清晰的声音有相似之处。其实，两者之间还

是有很大不同的。

比如，人类语言是后天习得的，人类通过控制舌头、嘴唇和下颚

间的快速运动来发声。而灵长类动物的发音则是天生而非后天形成的。

所以，一些研究人员现在做出假设：人类语言并不是从灵长类动

物的声音进化而来，而是从猴子的面部表情进化而来的。

科学家对于猴子如何通过唇动来相互交流尤其感到兴趣。美国普

林斯顿大学和奥地利维也纳大学的研究人员通过使用X射线视频发现，灵长目动物的唇动要比看上去复杂的多。它们的唇动和人类语言一样

需要控制嘴唇、舌头、下颚以及支撑喉头和舌头的舌骨之间快速运动

来发声。

举个例子，如果你去过动物园，你可能看到过大猩猩发出很响的

咂嘴声和嗡嗡声，就像在嘲弄你一般。科学家相信这些声音是大猩猩

沟通的一种形式。

这项研究并不能真正揭开人类语言进化的谜团，但是却提供了一

个非常有用的线索，那就是人类说话的方式可能是从声带和声道（由

嘴唇、舌头和下颚组成）的快速运动产生的声音组合发展而来的。

语言的起源与进化

语言的起源与进化 10生物科学2班22号陈莹摘要：语言是人类的密码，关于语言起源的研究由来已久。关于语言的起源，有多种说法，如神授说、拟声说等。达尔文的《物种起源》发表至今近一个多世纪以来，用进化论的思想研究语言的传统一直非常盛行。我们试图从多个角度来探讨语言的起源与进化，以期能对该问题进行更深入的探讨。关键词：语言起源；进化；语音；劳动；思维 1．对语言的起源与进化的思考在人类的认识史上，关于语言起源的问题一直都是一个不解之谜。关于语言起源的研究从来都没有停止对人类的困扰。不断有学者提出各种各样的假说，诸如手势、契约说、感叹说、本能说、摹声说、神授说、进化说、劳动说、嘴势说、约定俗成说、人类本源说等等。这些假说在不同层面体现了人们对语言起源的探讨，对人类语言这一种神奇特征的猜测和推断。自达尔文的《物种起源》发表至今近一个多世纪以来，用进化论的思想研究语言的传统一直非常盛行。根据进化说的研究成果，人类的祖先在大约400万年前就已经开始直立行走。人类的喉部和声道的结构发生变化，空腔逐渐有可能发出越来越复杂的信号，最终产生语音。综合人类学、分子生物学和考学的证据，在10万年前到四万前之间，人类应该有了一些相当发达的原始语；从大约四万年前，这些原始语应该在词汇和语法上迅速丰富起来，开始向现代语言过渡。进化说虽说还不能够界定语言起源的具体时代，但是，这一假设说断言：语言的起源是一个相当漫长的过程，它是与人类进化相伴而行的，语言在大约一万年以前就已经成为现代语言的完整系统，换句话说，它与现代的语言已经没有什么本质上的区别了。2．劳动与进化的关系劳动与语言作为区分人类与他动物的最重要的两个标志。近年来考古发现和人类学的研究表明，古猿开始向人转化，约在1400万年以前。从猿到人转变这一历史过程，是由生产活动从动物的形式到真正有意识的人的形式的过渡所推动的。因此，人体的结构及器官的形态功能的形式、社会组织的形式、意识和语言的产生，也能从劳动形式的发展过程中求得解释。劳动有其形成过程。这个过程从开始到人类脱离动物界为止，大体经历了三个阶段：最初是纯粹的本能活动；伴随有一定的智力的劳动萌芽状态的活动，这种活动伴随有一定的意识萌芽，是劳动直接前身；最后发展为在自觉目的的指导下的制作和实用工具的活动，这是人类的真正的劳动。劳动促使人脑具有了形成意识和形象思维，发音器官与语言起源关系密切的条件的产生和进化。 3．语音条件的必然进化在语言起源的最初阶段，一开始猿人发出的是不分音节的呼叫或连缀的声音。在群居动物中，如果说动物的嘶鸣或猿猴的报警都能够代表一定的含义或传达要求的话，那么在初民的共同觅食或劳动进行的相互呼叫，就更要有协调行为要求的意义。初民的呼叫能反复地刺激已经抬起来的头脑，神经以及相应的发音器官。从南方猿脑模外表形态看来，与语言有关的区域已有分化的扩展。这种扩展，反映在出名的部分音节的连缀呼叫中，可能出现了口形不同的几个的元音，这与工具的出现，生产劳动的发展带来的杂食的增多密切相关。咀嚼着形态、韧性、硬度各不相同的食物，锻炼了空腔及舌功能的增大，从而使呼叫的语言中分化出来，这是人属成员在漫长的生存实践中从事语言尝试的最大成果。这几个元音节，于是语言由萌芽阶段开始向前迈步了。 4．语言与思维谈到语言的起源就不能回避语言与思维的关系及出现先后的问题，因为语言与思维是密不可

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Passage 1 Town and Country Life in England There is a big difference between town life and country life in England. In the country, everybody knows everybody else. They know what time you get up, what time you go to bed and what you have for dinner. If you want help, you will always get it and you will be glad to help others. In a large town like London, however, it can sometimes happen that you have never seen your next door neighbor and you do not know his name or anything about him. People in London are often very lonely. This is because people go to different places in the evenings and at weekends. If you walk through the streets in the centre of London on Sunday, it is like a town without people. One is sorry for old people living on their own .They could die in their homes and would not be discovered for weeks or even months. (154 words) Useful Words and Expressions: next door n. n．隔壁 the neighbors next他 door隔壁邻居 lonely adj ．孤独的，寂寞的，偏僻的，人迹罕至的 lonely life孤单的生活 a lonely old man一位孤独的老人 a lonely sand一个孤岛 the loneliest night最孤独的夜晚 on (one's) own独自；独立地；通过自己的努力 She lives on her own．她一个人过。 She go the job on her own．她自己找到了这份工作。 He Is now out of colleg6 and on his own．他现在离开了大学并且自己生活。 Passage 2 A Change in Women's Life The important change in women's life-pattern has only recently begun to have its full effect on women's economic position. Even a few years ago most girls left school at the first opportunity, and most of them took a full-time job. However, when they married, they usually left work at once and never returned to it. Today the school-leaving age is sixteen, many girls stay at school after that age, and though women tend to marry younger, more married women stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born. Very many more afterwards return to full-time or part-time work. Such changes have led to a new relationship in marriage, with the husband accepting a greater share of the duties and satisfactions of family life and with both husband and wife sharing more equally in providing the money, and running the home, according to the abilities and interests of each of them. (154 words) Useful Words and Expressions: life-pattern 生活方式 effect [i'fekt] n. 结果，效果，作用，影响 The old system is still in effect. 旧制度仍然有效。 He is, in effect, my rival. 实际上他是我的竞争对手。 The medicine quickly took effect. 药物很快见效了。 share vt. 分享；共享，参与 n. 一份，部分，份额 share responsibility 共同负责 share a room with sb. 与某人共居一室

起源之语言

语言的起源语言的起源是一个有高度争议性的话题，因为可得到的实证证据的欠缺，很多人认为严肃的学者不应涉足于此问题。1866年，巴黎语言学会甚至明令禁止讨论此问题，这个禁令对西方学界产生的影响一直延续到20世纪末。[1]现今，关于语言在何时何地如何起源的问题有着众多的假说，假说的数量几乎与此领域中学者的数量一样多。[2]对旁观者来说，与一百年前用达尔文演化学说对这个问题作粗糙解释的时代相比，如今此领域中似乎并没有达成更多的共识。[3]自1990年代起，越来越多的语言学家、神经科学家、考古学家、心理学家、人类学家等都开始尝试应用各种新方法来探究这个“科学界最难的问题”。[4] 语言起源理论能够根据它们前提假设的不同划分为连续性假说与非连续性假说两类。连续性假说的基本思想认为语言不可能突然之间就形成其最终的形式，它一定是由人类灵长类祖先的早期前语言系统演变而来。非连续性假说则持相反的意见，认为语言有着独一无二的特征，只能是在人类演化历程中的某一时间点上相对突然地出现的。不同理论间的另一区别是，有些认为语言是一种先天的水平，由遗传因素决定，另一些则认为语言具有文化性，是通过社交接触而习得的。[5] 现今唯一一位重要的非连续性假说支持者是诺姆·乔姆斯基。乔姆斯基如此回应达尔文主义的理论说：“在研究语言起源的很长历史中，人们一直想要知道它是如何从猿类的叫声中演变而来。不过对我来说这完全是浪费时间，因为语言是基于与任何动物沟通方式都截然不同的原则之上的”。[6]而当问到如何解释语言起源时，乔姆斯基的回答是我们无法知晓：“讲一个神话故事的话，很久以前某些灵长类动物在到处闲逛，突然间，或许是在奇异的宇宙射线的辐射后，产生了一些随机突变，它重组了灵长类大脑，并将一个语言器官植入其中”。他提醒说不应该仅仅按字面意思来理解他的故事，同时也坚持“和其他包括语言在内的与演化相关的神话故事相比，这可能更接近于事实”。[7]最近，乔姆斯基甚至更进一步地指出，产生于某个个体的一个随机突变，导致了语言在突然之间便以完美或近乎完美的形式出现。 [8][9] 绝大部分学者则更倾向于连续性假说，但对于演变的过程他们各自有着不同的看法。有一些把语言水平看作很大水准上是天生的，其中包括史迪芬·平克在内[10]，他们避免去研究灵长类中明确的语言雏型，而是简单地认为“语言本能”[11]是通过通常的方式渐进演化而来。另外有一些学者认为语言并不是从灵长类的交流、而是从灵长类的认知水平中演化而来，所以也更为复杂。[12]而迈克尔·托马塞洛（Michael Tomasello）等学者则认为，语言是从灵长类的某些能够通过认知控制的沟通方式中发展而来，这些方式更多地是基于手势而非发声的。[13][14]还有些支持发声说的人把语言看作是发源于音乐的。[15] 同时还有学者超越了连续性与非连续性的二分法，他们认为语言的出现是某些社会转变的结果。[16]因为建立了前所未有的公众信任，使得人类将原先已潜藏的语言水平解放出来。[17][18][19]这些学者指出野生的黑猩猩与倭黑猩猩也有潜在但几乎从未使用的符号水平。[20] 演变

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