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

穆雷盖尔一曼(Murray Gell-Mann)谈我们祖先的语言

Filmed: 2007-03-03

Readability: 3.6

944,446 views

穆雷盖尔一曼除了在TED2007奉献了一篇精彩的物理学之外，也让我们有幸看到了他的另一个兴趣所在：追溯现代语言的共同祖先。

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. Full bio

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

00:13

Well, I'm involved参与 in other things, besides除了 physics物理.

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哦，我除了物理，还参与了些其他事情。

00:17

In fact事实, mostly大多 now in other things.

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事实上，现在大多数精力都在那些其他事上

00:19

One thing is distant遥远 relationships关系 among其中 human人的 languages语言.

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其中有一件事是人类语言间的远程联系

00:24

And the professional专业的, historical历史的 linguists语言学家 in the U.S.

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这也是一直以来大多数在美国

00:28

and in Western西 Europe欧洲 mostly大多 try to stay留 away

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乃至在西欧的职业历史语言学家所极力避讳的

00:31

from any long-distance远距离 relationships关系, big大 groupings分组,

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一种长距离的联系；大族群间的，

00:35

groupings分组 that go back a long time,

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可以追溯到很久以前的族群，

00:38

longer长 than the familiar熟 families家庭.

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久远到超出熟悉的家族范畴。

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They don't like that. They think it's crank曲柄. I don't think it's crank曲柄.

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他们不喜欢这些; 他们觉得这是怪诞的。我不这么认为，

00:45

And there are some brilliant辉煌 linguists语言学家, mostly大多 Russians俄罗斯,

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有些非常杰出的语言学家，其中很多来自于俄罗斯，

00:48

who are working加工 on that, at Santa圣诞老人 Fe铁 Institute研究所 and in Moscow莫斯科,

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在圣菲研究所和在莫斯科进行这个方面的研究工作。

00:52

and I would love to see where that leads引线.

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我一直期待着他们的研究进展。

00:56

Does it really lead铅 to a single单 ancestor祖先

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他们的研究是否会指向一个单一的

00:59

some 20, 25,000 years年份 ago前?

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在2万到2万5千年前的祖先级语言？

01:02

And what if we go back beyond外 that single单 ancestor祖先,

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如果再继续追溯道这个单一的祖先之前，

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when there was presumably想必 a competition竞争 among其中 many许多 languages语言?

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又或许是个多种语言纷争的年代？

01:09

How far远 back does that go? How far远 back does modern现代 language语言 go?

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那究竟是多久之前? 现代语言又可以追根到多久之前？

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How many许多 tens十 of thousands数千 of years年份 does it go back?

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这到底是多少万年之前事呢?

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Chris克里斯 Anderson安德森: Do you have a hunch直觉 or a hope希望 for what the answer回答 to that is?

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克里斯安德森：你对这个答案是否有任何的推测和期寄？

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Murray穆雷 Gell-Mann盖尔曼: Well, I would guess猜测 that modern现代 language语言 must必须 be older旧的

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穆雷盖尔：恩，我猜想现代语言一定很古老。

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than the cave洞穴 paintings绘画 and cave洞穴 engravings版画 and cave洞穴 sculptures雕塑

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比洞穴壁画，洞穴雕刻和洞穴雕刻更早，

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and dance舞蹈 steps脚步 in the soft柔软的 clay粘土 in the caves洞穴 in Western西 Europe欧洲,

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在西欧洞穴中发现的软泥上的舞步痕迹所处

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in the Aurignacian奥瑞纳 Period期 some 35,000 years年份 ago前, or earlier前.

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的3万5千年前奥瑞纳(译者:一种旧石器时代文化)时期以前，或者更早。

01:37

I can't believe they did all those things and didn't also也 have a modern现代 language语言.

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我很难相信他们创造了那么多东西却没有拥有现代语言。

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So, I would guess猜测 that the actual实际 origin起源 goes去 back at least最小 that far远 and maybe further进一步.

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所以我猜想真正的语言起源是来自那个时期或者这之前。

01:45

But that doesn't mean that all, or many许多, or most最

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但是这也不表明所有的或者大多数

01:48

of today's今天的 attested证明 languages语言 couldn't不能 descend降落 perhaps也许

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现今得到确认的语言不是源自

01:52

from one that's much younger更年轻 than that, like say 20,000 years年份,

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一个更年轻的，可能是2万年前的源头，

01:56

or something of that kind类. It's what we call a bottleneck瓶颈.

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或者诸如此类的来源。这也就是我们所谓的瓶颈。

02:00

CACA: Well, Philip菲利普 Anderson安德森 may可能 have been right.

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哇哦，菲利普安德森或许是对的。

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You may可能 just know more about everything than anyone任何人.

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你或许在每件事上都比别人懂得多。

02:04

So, it's been an honor荣誉. Thank you Murray穆雷 Gell-Mann盖尔曼.

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所以非常荣幸。谢谢你穆雷盖尔。

02:06

(Applause掌声)

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（鼓掌）

Translated by 剑Nan Lu
Reviewed by Zachary Lin Zhao

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

THE ORIGINAL VIDEO ON TED.COM

穆雷盖尔一曼(Murray Gell-Mann)谈我们祖先的语言 | TED Talk | TED.com