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 o predkovi jazyka

Filmed:
944,446 views

Po prednáške o elegancii fyziky na TED2007, úžasný Murray Gell-Mann podáva stručný prehľad o ďalšom vášnivom koníčku: hľadaní spoločného predka našich moderných jazykov.
- 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 involvedzapojení in other things, besidesokrem physicsfyzika.
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Zaoberám sa aj inými vecami ako fyzikou.
00:17
In factskutočnosť, mostlyväčšinou now in other things.
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Vlastne, momentálne hlavne inými vecami.
00:19
One thing is distantvzdialený relationshipsvzťahy amongmedzi humančlovek languagesjazyky.
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Jednou z nich sú vzdialené vzťahy medzi ľudskými jazykmi.
00:24
And the professionalprofesionálny, historicalhistorický linguistsjazykovedci in the U.S.
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Profesionálni, historickí jazykovedci v USA
00:28
and in WesternWestern EuropeEurópa mostlyväčšinou try to staypobyt away
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a v západnej Európe sa zväčša snažia držať odstup
00:31
from any long-distanceveľká vzdialenosť relationshipsvzťahy, bigveľký groupingszoskupenia,
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od vzdialených vzťahov; veľkých skupín,
00:35
groupingszoskupenia that go back a long time,
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skupín, ktoré sa vracajú veľmi ďaleko v čase,
00:38
longerdlhšie than the familiaroboznameny familiesrodiny.
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ďalej ako známe jazykové rodiny.
00:41
They don't like that. They think it's crankkľučka. I don't think it's crankkľučka.
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Nemajú to radi; myslia si, že je to nanič. Ja si nemyslím, že je to nanič.
00:45
And there are some brilliantbrilantný linguistsjazykovedci, mostlyväčšinou RussiansRusi,
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A sú niektorí výborní jazykovedci, hlavne ruskí,
00:48
who are workingpracovný on that, at SantaSanta FeFe InstituteInštitút and in MoscowMoskva,
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ktorí na tom pracujú na Inštitúte Santa Fe a v Moskve,
00:52
and I would love to see where that leadsvodiče.
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a veľmi rád by som videl, kam to povedie.
00:56
Does it really leadolovo to a singlejednoposteľová ancestorpredok
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Vedie to naozaj k jedinému spoločnému predkovi
00:59
some 20, 25,000 yearsleta agopred?
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spred nejakých 20 - 25 000 rokov?
01:02
And what if we go back beyondmimo that singlejednoposteľová ancestorpredok,
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A čo ak pôjdeme späť ešte ďalej, pred tohto predka,
01:05
when there was presumablypodľa všetkého a competitionsúťaž amongmedzi manyveľa languagesjazyky?
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keď medzi sebou pravdepodobne súťažilo množstvo jazykov?
01:09
How farďaleko back does that go? How farďaleko back does modernmoderný languageJazyk go?
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Ako ďaleko sa dostaneme? Ako ďaleko siaha moderný jazyk?
01:13
How manyveľa tensdesiatky of thousandstisíce of yearsleta does it go back?
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Koľko desiatok tisícov rokov má už za sebou?
01:16
ChrisChris AndersonAnderson: Do you have a hunchtušenie or a hopenádej for what the answerodpoveď to that is?
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Chris Anderson: Máte nejaké tušenie alebo očakávanie, ako by mala znieť odpoveď?
01:19
MurrayMurray Gell-MannGell-Mann: Well, I would guesshádať that modernmoderný languageJazyk mustmusieť be olderstaršie
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Murray Gell-Mann: Povedal by som, že moderné jazyky musia byť staršie
01:22
than the cavejaskyňa paintingsobrazy and cavejaskyňa engravingsrytiny and cavejaskyňa sculpturessochy
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ako kresby, rytiny a sochy v jaskyniach
01:26
and dancetanec stepskroky in the softmäkký clayhlina in the cavesjaskyne in WesternWestern EuropeEurópa,
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a ako odtlačky tanečných krokov v mäkkom íle v jaskyniach západnej Európy
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in the AurignacianAurignacienu PeriodObdobie some 35,000 yearsleta agopred, or earlierskôr.
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z obdobia kultúry Aurignacien spred 35 000 rokov alebo ešte viac.
01:37
I can't believe they did all those things and didn't alsotaktiež have a modernmoderný languageJazyk.
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Nemôžem tomu uveriť, že toto všetko spravili a zároveň nemali moderný jazyk.
01:40
So, I would guesshádať that the actualskutočný originpôvod goeside back at leastnajmenej that farďaleko and maybe furtherďalej.
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Odhadujem teda, že pôvod jazyka siaha aspoň tak ďaleko a možno aj ďalej.
01:45
But that doesn't mean that all, or manyveľa, or mostväčšina
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To ale neznamená, že všetky dnešné, overené jazyky, alebo mnohé či väčšina
01:48
of today'sdnešný attestedzhoda languagesjazyky couldn'tnemohol descendzostúpiť perhapsmožno
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z nich by nemohli pochádzať
01:52
from one that's much youngermladší than that, like say 20,000 yearsleta,
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z takého, ktorý je oveľa mladší ako, povedzme, 20 000 rokov,
01:56
or something of that kinddruh. It's what we call a bottleneckúzky profil.
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alebo podobne. Voláme to lievikový efekt.
02:00
CACA: Well, PhilipPhilip AndersonAnderson maysmieť have been right.
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CA: Možno mal Philip Anderson predsa len pravdu.
02:01
You maysmieť just know more about everything than anyoneniekto.
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Asi viete o všetkom skutočne viac ako hocikto iný.
02:04
So, it's been an honorčesť. Thank you MurrayMurray Gell-MannGell-Mann.
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Bolo nám cťou. Ďakujeme, Murray Gell-Mann.
02:06
(ApplausePotlesk)
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(Potlesk)
Translated by Roman Studenic
Reviewed by Tomas Sooky

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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