ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Murray Gell-Mann - Physicist
Murray Gell-Mann brings visibility to a crucial aspect of our existence that we can't actually see: elemental particles. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics for introducing quarks, one of two fundamental ingredients for all matter in the universe.

Why you should listen

He's been called "the man with five brains" -- and Murray Gell-Mann has the resume to prove it. In addition to being a Nobel laureate, he is an accomplished physicist who's earned numerous awards, medals and honorary degrees for his work with subatomic particles, including the groundbreaking theory that the nucleus of an atom comprises 100 or so fundamental building blocks called quarks.

Gell-Mann's influence extends well beyond his field: He's a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Council on Foreign Relations. He also serves on the board of the Wildlife Conservation Society and is a director of Encyclopedia Britannica. Gell-Mann, a professor emeritus of Caltech, now heads the evolution of human languages program at the Santa Fe Institute, which he cofounded in 1984.

A prolific writer -- he's penned scores of academic papers and several books, including The Quark and the Jaguar -- Gell-Mann is also the subject of the popular science biography Strange Beauty: Murray Gell-Mann and the Revolution in 20th-Century Physics.

More profile about the speaker
Murray Gell-Mann | Speaker | TED.com
TED2007

Murray Gell-Mann: The ancestor of language

Murray Gell-Mann over de voorouder van taal

Filmed:
944,446 views

Na op TED2007 gesproken te hebben over de elegantie van natuurkunde, geeft de verbazingwekkende Murray Gell-Mann een snel overzicht van een andere passie: het vinden van de gemeenschappelijke voorouder van onze moderne talen.
- Physicist
Murray Gell-Mann brings visibility to a crucial aspect of our existence that we can't actually see: elemental particles. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics for introducing quarks, one of two fundamental ingredients for all matter in the universe. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:13
Well, I'm involvedbetrokken in other things, besidesbehalve physicsfysica.
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Nou, ik ben nog bij meer onderwerpen betrokken dan natuurkunde.
00:17
In factfeit, mostlymeestal now in other things.
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Tegenwoordig zelfs meer bij andere dingen.
00:19
One thing is distantafgelegen relationshipsrelaties amongtussen humanmenselijk languagestalen.
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Eén van die dingen is de verre verwantschap tussen menselijke talen.
00:24
And the professionalprofessioneel, historicalhistorisch linguiststaalkundigen in the U.S.
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En de professionele, historische taalkundigen in de VS
00:28
and in WesternWestern EuropeEuropa mostlymeestal try to stayverblijf away
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en in West Europa proberen zich verre te houden
00:31
from any long-distancelange afstand relationshipsrelaties, biggroot groupingsgroeperingen,
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van lange afstand relaties, grote groeperingen,
00:35
groupingsgroeperingen that go back a long time,
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groeperingen die ver terug gaan,
00:38
longerlanger than the familiarvertrouwd familiesgezinnen.
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verder dan de bekende (taal)families.
00:41
They don't like that. They think it's crankzwengel. I don't think it's crankzwengel.
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Daar houden ze niet van, ze denken dat het onzin is. Ik denk niet dat het onzin in.
00:45
And there are some brilliantbriljant linguiststaalkundigen, mostlymeestal RussiansRussen,
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En er zijn enkele briljante taalkundigen, overwegend Russen,
00:48
who are workingwerkend on that, at SantaSanta FeFe InstituteInstituut and in MoscowMoskou,
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die hieraan werken in het Santa Fe Instituut en in Moscow,
00:52
and I would love to see where that leadsleads.
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en ik ben erg benieuwd waar dat toe zal leiden.
00:56
Does it really leadlood to a singlesingle ancestorvoorouder
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Zal het werkelijk leiden tot één enkele voorouder
00:59
some 20, 25,000 yearsjaar agogeleden?
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van 20, 25.000 jaar geleden?
01:02
And what if we go back beyondvoorbij that singlesingle ancestorvoorouder,
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En als we nog verder teruggaan dan die enkele voorouder,
01:05
when there was presumablyvermoedelijk a competitionwedstrijd amongtussen manyveel languagestalen?
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toen er waarschijnlijk een competitie was tussen talen?
01:09
How farver back does that go? How farver back does modernmodern languagetaal go?
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Hoe ver gaat dat terug? Hoe ver gaat de moderne taal terug?
01:13
How manyveel tenstientallen of thousandsduizenden of yearsjaar does it go back?
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Hoe veel tienduizenden jaren gaat dat terug?
01:16
ChrisChris AndersonAnderson: Do you have a hunchvoorgevoel or a hopehoop for what the answerantwoord to that is?
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Chris Anderson: Heeft u een idee wat het antwoord kan zijn?
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MurrayMurray Gell-MannGell-Mann: Well, I would guessraden that modernmodern languagetaal mustmoet be olderouder
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Murray Gell-Mann: Nou, ik denk dat de moderne taal ouder moet zijn
01:22
than the cavegrot paintingsschilderijen and cavegrot engravingsgravures and cavegrot sculpturesbeeldhouwwerken
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dan de grottekeningen en grotgravures en grotbeeldhouwwerken
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and dancedans stepsstappen in the softzacht clayklei in the cavesgrotten in WesternWestern EuropeEuropa,
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en de danspassen in de zachte klei in de grotten van West Europa
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in the AurignacianAurignacien PeriodPeriode some 35,000 yearsjaar agogeleden, or earliervroeger.
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in de Aurignacian periode, ongeveer 35.000 jaar geleden, of nog vroeger.
01:37
I can't believe they did all those things and didn't alsoook have a modernmodern languagetaal.
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Ik kan niet geloven dat ze al deze dingen konden doen zonder moderne taal.
01:40
So, I would guessraden that the actualwerkelijk originoorsprong goesgaat back at leastminst that farver and maybe furtherverder.
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Dus ik denk dat de daadwerkelijke herkomst zo ver terug gaat, of nog verder.
01:45
But that doesn't mean that all, or manyveel, or mostmeest
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Maar dat betekent niet dat alle, of veel, of de meeste
01:48
of today'svandaag attestedgeattesteerd languagestalen couldn'tkon het niet descenddalen perhapsmisschien
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van de hedendaagse talen niet misschien afgeleid zijn van
01:52
from one that's much youngerjonger than that, like say 20,000 yearsjaar,
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één taal, die veel jonger is, zeg 20.000 jaar,
01:56
or something of that kindsoort. It's what we call a bottleneckbottleneck.
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of iets dergelijks. Dat is wat we een flessenhals noemen.
02:00
CACA: Well, PhilipPhilip AndersonAnderson maymei have been right.
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CA: Nou, Philip Anderson zou wel eens gelijk kunnen hebben.
02:01
You maymei just know more about everything than anyoneiedereen.
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U weet gewoon meer over wat dan ook dan wie dan ook.
02:04
So, it's been an honoreer. Thank you MurrayMurray Gell-MannGell-Mann.
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Het was een eer. Dank u, Murray Gell-Mann.
02:06
(ApplauseApplaus)
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(Applaus)
Translated by Erik Mulder
Reviewed by Maarten Hofman

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Murray Gell-Mann - Physicist
Murray Gell-Mann brings visibility to a crucial aspect of our existence that we can't actually see: elemental particles. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics for introducing quarks, one of two fundamental ingredients for all matter in the universe.

Why you should listen

He's been called "the man with five brains" -- and Murray Gell-Mann has the resume to prove it. In addition to being a Nobel laureate, he is an accomplished physicist who's earned numerous awards, medals and honorary degrees for his work with subatomic particles, including the groundbreaking theory that the nucleus of an atom comprises 100 or so fundamental building blocks called quarks.

Gell-Mann's influence extends well beyond his field: He's a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Council on Foreign Relations. He also serves on the board of the Wildlife Conservation Society and is a director of Encyclopedia Britannica. Gell-Mann, a professor emeritus of Caltech, now heads the evolution of human languages program at the Santa Fe Institute, which he cofounded in 1984.

A prolific writer -- he's penned scores of academic papers and several books, including The Quark and the Jaguar -- Gell-Mann is also the subject of the popular science biography Strange Beauty: Murray Gell-Mann and the Revolution in 20th-Century Physics.

More profile about the speaker
Murray Gell-Mann | Speaker | TED.com