【TED演讲35*】语言如何塑造我们的思维方式? 演讲者： Lera Boroditsky

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演说题目：语言如何塑造我们的思维方式? 演讲者： Lera Boroditsky

“会第二种语言，就像是有了第二个灵魂”！能够与更多人沟通、丰富了自身的技能、能够看懂各个国家的电视剧……每种语言都带有自己的思维方式，世界上有7000多种语言，每一种都有自己独特的魅力。

中英对照翻译

So, I'll be speaking to you using language ... because I can. This is one these magical abilities that we humans have. We can transmit really complicated thoughts to one another. 

我要用语言跟各位说话…… 因为我可以。 这是人类的神奇能力之一。 我们能把非常复杂的 想法传送给另一个人。 

So what I'm doing right now is, I'm making sounds with my mouth as I'm exhaling. I'm making tones and hisses and puffs, and those are creating air vibrations in the air. 

我现在在做的， 是用我的嘴巴发出声音， 吐气时发声。 我会做出语调、嘶嘶声、呼气， 在空气中产生空气振动。

Those air vibrations are traveling to you, they're hitting your eardrums, and then your brain takes those vibrations from your eardrums and transforms them into thoughts. I hope.

那些空气振动会传到你那里， 触及到你的耳膜， 接着你的大脑会取得 耳膜接收到的振动， 把它们转换为思想。 我希望啦。

I hope that's happening. So because of this ability, we humans are able to transmit our ideas across vast reaches of space and time. We're able to transmit knowledge across minds. 

希望现在就在发生。 因为这种能力，我们人类 才得以把我们的想法 跨越空间和时间，传给别人。 我们能把知识传送到不同人的大脑。

I can put a bizarre new idea in your mind right now. I could say, "Imagine a jellyfish waltzing in a library while thinking about quantum mechanics."

我现在就能在各位的脑中 放入一个怪异的想法。 我可以说， 「想象一只水母在图书馆跳华尔兹， 同时想着量子力学。」

Now, if everything has gone relatively well in your life so far, you probably haven't had that thought before.But now I've just made you think it, through language.

如果你的人生中目前为止 一切算是相对顺利， 你以前可能没有过那种想法。但现在我能让你们去想它， 透过语言办到。

Now of course, there isn't just one language in the world, there are about 7,000 languages spoken around the world. And all the languages differ from one another in all kinds of ways. 

当然，世界上的语言不只一种， 全世界人类说的语言就有约七千种。 每种语言在各面向上都不同。 

Some languages have different sounds, they have different vocabularies, and they also have different structures -- very importantly, different structures. That begs the question: Does the language we speak shape the way we think? 

有些语言有不同的声音， 它们有不同的字汇， 它们还有不同的结构── 非常重要，不同的结构。 于是，我们会问： 我们所说的语言 是否会形塑我们的思考？

Now, this is an ancient question.People have been speculating about this question forever. Charlemagne, Holy Roman emperor, said, "To have a second language is to have a second soul" -- strong statement that language crafts reality. 

这个问题历史悠久。长年来大家都一直在思索这个问题。 神圣罗马大帝查理曼说过： 「有第二种语言， 就象是有第二个灵魂」── 很有力的陈述， 说明了语言制造出现实。

But on the other hand, Shakespeare has Juliet say, "What's in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Well, that suggests that maybe language doesn't craft reality.

但，另一方面，莎士比亚 笔下的茱丽叶说： 「名字有什么用？ 玫瑰不叫玫瑰，依然芳香如故。」 那意味着，语言不见得会制造现实。

These arguments have gone back and forth for thousands of years. But until recently, there hasn't been any data to help us decide either way. 

数千年来，这些论点一直你来我往。 但，直到最近之前，都没有任何资料 来协助我们决定是哪一种。 

Recently, in my lab and other labs around the world, we've started doing research, and now we have actual scientific data to weigh in on this question.

最近，在我的实验室和世界上其他的实验室， 我们开始做研究， 现在，我们有了真正的科学资料， 可以来探究这个问题。

So let me tell you about some of my favorite examples. I'll start with an example from an Aboriginal community in Australia that I had the chance to work with. These are the Kuuk Thaayorre people. 

让我分享一些我最喜欢的例子。 我的第一个例子 来自澳洲的一个原住民部落， 我有机会和他们合作。 他们是库克萨优里族，

They live in Pormpuraaw at the very west edge of Cape York. What's cool about Kuuk Thaayorre is, in Kuuk Thaayorre, they don't use words like "left" and "right," and instead, everything is in cardinal directions: north, south, east and west. 

他们住在波姆浦洛， 那是约克角半岛的西部边缘。 库克萨优里族很酷的一点是， 在库克萨优里语中，他们 不用「左」、「右」这些字， 一切都是用基本的方向： 北、南、东、西。 

And when I say everything, I really mean everything. You would say something like, "Oh, there's an ant on your southwest leg." Or, "Move your cup to the north-northeast a little bit." 

我说「一切」，真的就是指一切。 你可能会说这样的话： 「喔，在你的脚的 西南方有一只蚂蚁。」 或「把你的杯子向北北东移一点。」 

In fact, the way that you say "hello" in Kuuk Thaayorre is you say, "Which way are you going?" And the answer should be, "North-northeast in the far distance. How about you?"

事实上，在库克萨优里语中， 说「哈囉」的方式是： 「你要去哪个方向？」 而回应应该是： 「北北东的远方。 你呢？」

So imagine as you're walking around your day, every person you greet, you have to report your heading direction.

所以，想象一下 你当天走到任何地方， 你问候每一个人时， 都得要报告你朝什么方向前进。

But that would actually get you oriented pretty fast, right? Because you literally couldn't get past "hello," if you didn't know which way you were going. In fact, people who speak languages like this stay oriented really well.

但那会让你很快速确定方位，对吧？ 因为如果不知道 你在朝什么方向前进， 你就说不出「哈囉」。 事实上，说这类语言的人， 都一直很有方向感。

They stay oriented better than we used to think humans could. We used to think that humans were worse than other creatures because of some biological excuse: "Oh, we don't have magnets in our beaks or in our scales." 

他们的方向感比我们认为人类能办到的程度更好。 我们以前认为人类这方面比其他生物更糟，是因为某种生物借口： 「我们的鸟喙或鳞片里面 没有内建的磁铁。」 

No; if your language and your culture trains you to do it, actually, you can do it. There are humans around the world who stay oriented really well.

不对；如果你的语言 和你的文化训练你去做， 你其实能办到。 世界上有些人类的方向感非常好。

And just to get us in agreement about how different this is from the way we do it, I want you all to close your eyes for a second and point southeast.

为了让大家能够了解 我们的做法上有多大的差异， 我想请大家闭上眼睛一下子， 请指出东南方。

Keep your eyes closed. Point. OK, so you can open your eyes. I see you guys pointing there, there, there, there, there ... I don't know which way it is myself --You have not been a lot of help.

眼睛别张开。指出来。 好，可以张开眼睛了。 我看到大家指向那里、 那里、那里、那里… 我自己也不知道是哪一边---你们实在也没帮上忙。

So let's just say the accuracy in this room was not very high. This is a big difference in cognitive ability across languages, right? Where one group -- very distinguished group like you guys -- 

姑且就说在这间房间中的 正确率没有很高。 不同语言中的认知能力 差别很大，对吧？ 一个族群──非常 卓越的族群，比如各位--

doesn't know which way is which, but in another group, I could ask a five-year-old and they would know.There are also really big differences in how people think about time. 

不知道哪边是哪个方向， 但到了另一个族群， 我去问五岁的小孩，他们也会知道。大家对于时间的思考方式也有很大的差异。 

So here I have pictures of my grandfather at different ages. And if I ask an English speaker to organize time, they might lay it out this way, from left to right. 

这里是我祖父的照片， 他在照片中的年龄都不同。 如果我请说英语的人 依据时间来整理， 他们可能会这样排列， 从左到右。 

This has to do with writing direction. If you were a speaker of Hebrew or Arabic, you might do it going in the opposite direction, from right to left.

这与书写的方向有关。 如果你说希伯来语或阿拉伯语， 你可能会用反方向， 从右到左。

But how would the Kuuk Thaayorre, this Aboriginal group I just told you about, do it? They don't use words like "left" and "right." Let me give you hint. When we sat people facing south, they organized time from left to right. 

但库克萨优里族， 我刚刚和各位说的 原住民族群，会怎么做？ 他们没有「左」和「右」这些字。让我提示各位。 当我们让他们面向南方时， 他们会把时间从左向右排。

When we sat them facing north, they organized time from right to left. When we sat them facing east, time came towards the body. What's the pattern? East to west, right? So for them, 

当我们让他们面向北方时， 他们会把时间从右向左排。 当我们让他们面向东方时， 时间的方向朝向他们的身体。 模式是什么？ 由东向西，对吧？ 所以，对他们而言， 

time doesn't actually get locked on the body at all, it gets locked on the landscape. So for me, if I'm facing this way, then time goes this way, and if I'm facing this way, then time goes this way. I'm facing this way, time goes this way -- 

时间完全不会被身体限制住， 时间是和地景绑在一起的。对我来说，当我面向这边， 时间就朝这个方向， 当我面向这边，时间就朝这个方向。 面向这边，时间就朝这个方向--

very egocentric of me to have the direction of time chase me around every time I turn my body. For the Kuuk Thaayorre, time is locked on the landscape. It's a dramatically different way of thinking about time.

非常自我中心，每当我转身， 也让时间的方向跟着我转。 对库克萨优里族， 时间和地景绑在一起。 这是非常不同的时间思考方式。

Here's another really smart human trait. Suppose I ask you how many penguins are there. Well, I bet I know how you'd solve that problem if you solved it. You went, "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight." 

还有个很聪明的人类技俩。 如果我问各位，这里有几只企鹅？ 我打赌我知道各位是 如何解答这个问题的。 你会用：「一、二、三、 四、五、六、七、八。」

You counted them. You named each one with a number, and the last number you said was the number of penguins. This is a little trick that you're taught to use as kids. You learn the number list and you learn how to apply it. 

你用数的。 你给毎一只一个号码， 你说出的最后一个号码， 就是企鹅的数目。 这是个小计俩，你小时候 就有人教你用了。 你学到了数字表， 你学到了如何应用它。 

A little linguistic trick. Well, some languages don't do this, because some languages don't have exact number words. They're languages that don't have a word like "seven" or a word like "eight." 

小小的语言计俩。 有些语言并不会这样做， 因为有些语言并没有代表数字的字。 这些语言并没有像「七」这样的字， 也没有「八」。

In fact, people who speak these languages don't count, and they have trouble keeping track of exact quantities. So, for example, if I ask you to match this number of penguins to the same number of ducks, you would be able to do that by counting. 

事实上，说这些语言的人不会计数， 他们无法记得确实的「量」。 比如，如果我请各位 把刚才企鹅的数目 对应到同样数目的鸭子， 你可以靠计数的方式做到。

But folks who don't have that linguistic trait can't do that.Languages also differ in how they divide up the color spectrum -- the visual world. Some languages have lots of words for colors, some have only a couple words, "light" and "dark." 

 但语言没有这项特征的人就没办法。语言也有不同的方式来区别色谱── 视觉世界。 有些语言中有很多颜色的字， 有些语言只有几个字， 「亮」和「暗」。 

And languages differ in where they put boundaries between colors. So, for example, in English, there's a world for blue that covers all of the colors that you can see on the screen, but in Russian, there isn't a single word. 

不同语言也有不同的颜色界线。 比如，在英文中就有蓝色的世界， 包含荧幕上的所有这些颜色， 但在俄语中，就没有单一个字。

Instead, Russian speakers have to differentiate between light blue, "goluboy," and dark blue, "siniy." So Russians have this lifetime of experience of, in language, distinguishing these two colors. 

说俄语的人，得要去区别 浅蓝色「goluboy」， 和深蓝色「siniy」。 所以俄国人一生当中都会在语言上 把这两种颜色区别开来。

When we test people's ability to perceptually discriminate these colors, what we find is that Russian speakers are faster across this linguistic boundary. They're faster to be able to tell the difference between a light and dark blue. 

当我们测试大家在感知上 区别这些颜色的能力时， 我们发现，在各语言中，说俄语的人 会比较快做出区隔。 他们比较快就能辨别出浅蓝色 和深蓝色的差异。

And when you look at people's brains as they're looking at colors -- say you have colors shifting slowly from light to dark blue -- the brains of people who use different words for light and dark blue will give a surprised reaction as the colors shift from light to dark, 

去观察正在看着颜色的人的大脑── 比如颜色缓慢地从 浅蓝色转换到深蓝色── 用不同的字来说浅蓝色 和深蓝色的人，他们的大脑 在颜色从浅蓝色转换到 深蓝色时，会有惊讶的反应， 

as if, "Ooh, something has categorically changed," whereas the brains of English speakers, for example, that don't make this categorical distinction, don't give that surprise, because nothing is categorically changing.

就像：「喔，改变类别了。」 而，比如说英文的人，他们的大脑 就不会做类别的区分， 就不会有惊讶， 因为没有类别上的改变。

Languages have all kinds of structural quirks. This is one of my favorites. Lots of languages have grammatical gender; every noun gets assigned a gender, often masculine or feminine. And these genders differ across languages. 

语言有各种结构上的变化。 这是我的最爱之一。 许多语言在文法上都有性别； 每个名词都有被指派一种性别， 通常是男性或女性。 在不同语言，这些性别也不同。

So, for example, the sun is feminine in German but masculine in Spanish, and the moon, the reverse. Could this actually have any consequence for how people think? 

比如，在德文，太阳是女性， 但在西班牙文则是男性， 月亮刚好相反。 这有没有可能影响人的思考方式？

Do German speakers think of the sun as somehow more female-like, and the moon somehow more male-like? Actually, it turns out that's the case. 

说德文的人是否会用比较女性的方式来想太阳？ 比较男性的方式来想月亮？ 结果发现，的确是如此。

So if you ask German and Spanish speakers to, say, describe a bridge, like the one here -- "bridge" happens to be grammatically feminine in German, grammatically masculine in Spanish -- 

比如，如果你请说德文的人和说西班牙文的人描述一座桥， 就像这里的桥--「桥」在德文文法中要用女性， 在西班牙文则要用男性--

German speakers are more likely to say bridges are "beautiful," "elegant" and stereotypically feminine words. Whereas Spanish speakers will be more likely to say they're "strong" or "long," these masculine words.

说德文的人在形容桥时 比较会用「漂亮的」、「优雅的」， 或其他刻板印象上是形容女性的字。 而说西班牙文的人比较有可能会说 桥很「坚固」或「长」， 这些是男性用字。

Languages also differ in how they describe events, right? You take an event like this, an accident. In English, it's fine to say, "He broke the vase." In a language like Spanish, 

在描述事件时，不同语言 也很不一样，对吧？ 比如像这样的事件，一个意外， 在英文，可以说「他打破了花瓶。」 在比如西班牙文， 

you might be more likely to say, "The vase broke," or, "The vase broke itself." If it's an accident, you wouldn't say that someone did it. In English, quite weirdly, we can even say things like, "I broke my arm." 

你比较有可能会说「花瓶破了」， 或「花瓶自己破了」。如果它是个意外， 就不会说是有人做的。 在英文，挺奇怪的， 我们甚至会说像这样的话： 「我弄断了我的手臂。」 

Now, in lots of languages, you couldn't use that construction unless you are a lunatic and you went out looking to break your arm -- and you succeeded. If it was an accident, you would use a different construction.

在许多语言中， 你不会用那种句法结构， 除非你是疯子， 然后你跑出去想办法 把你的手臂弄断--且你成功了。 如果是意外，你就会 用不同的句法结构。

Now, this has consequences. So, people who speak different languages will pay attention to different things, depending on what their language usually requires them to do. 

这是会造成不同结果的。 说不同语言的人 会把注意力放在不同的地方， 就看他们说的语言需要他们怎么做。 

So we show the same accident to English speakers and Spanish speakers, English speakers will remember who did it, because English requires you to say, "He did it; he broke the vase." 

如果我们让说英文的人和说西班牙文的人看到同样的意外，说英文的人会记得是谁做的， 因为英文要求你说： 「是他做的；他打破了花瓶。」

Whereas Spanish speakers might be less likely to remember who did it if it's an accident, but they're more likely to remember that it was an accident. They're more likely to remember the intention. 

而说西班牙文的人 比较不会记得是谁做的， 如果是意外的话， 但他们比较会记住这是一件意外。 他们比较会记住意图。 

So, two people watch the same event, witness the same crime, but end up remembering different things about that event. This has implications, of course, for eyewitness testimony. It also has implications for blame and punishment. 

所以，两个人看同样的事件， 目击同样的犯罪， 最后却会记得该事件中不同的细节。 当然，在目击证人证词方面， 这是值得深思的。 在责怪和惩罚时， 也应该想想这一点。

So if you take English speakers and I just show you someone breaking a vase, and I say, "He broke the vase," as opposed to "The vase broke," even though you can witness it yourself, you can watch the video, 

如果是说英文的情况， 我刚让你看到有人打破了花瓶， 我说：「他打破了花瓶」 而不是说：「花瓶破了」， 即使你自己可以亲眼看见， 你可以看监视影片， 

you can watch the crime against the vase, you will punish someone more, you will blame someone more if I just said, "He broke it," as opposed to, "It broke." The language guides our reasoning about events.

你可以看这件关于花瓶的罪行， 你会惩罚某个人多一些， 你会责怪他多一些， 若我说「他打破了它」， 而不是「它破了」。 语言会引导我们对于事件的推理。

Now, I've given you a few examples of how language can profoundly shape the way we think, and it does so in a variety of ways. So language can have big effects, like we saw with space and time, 

我已经举了几个例子， 说明语言如何能 深深形塑我们的思考方式， 而影响的方法有很多种。 所以，语言的影响可能很大， 就像刚才空间和时间的例子，

where people can lay out space and time in completely different coordinate frames from each other. Language can also have really deep effects -- that's what we saw with the case of number. 

大家在排列空间和时间时， 用完全不同的坐标架构。 语言的影响也可能很深── 可参考计数的例子。

Having count words in your language, having number words, opens up the whole world of mathematics. Of course, if you don't count, you can't do algebra, you can't do any of the things that would be required to build a room like this 

在你的语言中有计数的字词， 有数字的字词， 就能打开整个数学的世界。 当然，如果你不会计数， 你不会做代数， 你就完全做不到象是建造这间房间这一类的事情，

or make this broadcast, right? This little trick of number words gives you a stepping stone into a whole cognitive realm.Language can also have really early effects, what we saw in the case of color. 

也无法做这场转播，对吧？ 数字字词的小小计俩， 能给你一个垫脚石， 进入认知的国度。语言的影响也可能很早， 也就是颜色的例子。

These are really simple, basic, perceptual decisions. We make thousands of them all the time, and yet, language is getting in there and fussing even with these tiny little perceptual decisions that we make. 

这些是很简单、基本、感知的决策。 我们随时都在做几千个这样的决策， 而语言也有介入其中， 去扰乱我们这些非常小的感知决策。 

Language can have really broad effects. So the case of grammatical gender may be a little silly, but at the same time, grammatical gender applies to all nouns. 

语言的影响也可能很广。 文法性别的例子虽然可能有点可笑， 但同时，文法性别 是用在所有名词上的。

That means language can shape how you're thinking about anything that can be named by a noun. That's a lot of stuff.And finally, 

那意味着，语言能形塑你如何思考 任何能用名词来命名的事物。 那数量很惊人。我最后举的例子，

I gave you an example of how language can shape things that have personal weight to us -- ideas like blame and punishment or eyewitness memory. These are important things in our daily lives.

说明语言能形塑对我们 有个人意义的事物── 象是责怪及惩罚这类想法， 或是目击证词。 这些都是日常生活中的重要事物。

Now, the beauty of linguistic diversity is that it reveals to us just how ingenious and how flexible the human mind is. Human minds have invented not one cognitive universe, but 7,000 -- there are 7,000 languages spoken around the world. 

语言多样性之美在于它能向我们揭示 人类心智是多么巧妙和有弹性。 人类心智发明出了不只一个 认知宇宙，而是七千个── 全世界的语言有七千种。

And we can create many more -- languages, of course, are living things, things that we can hone and change to suit our needs. The tragic thing is that we're losing so much of this linguistic diversity all the time. 

我们还能创造更多── 当然，语言是活的， 我们可以去磨它、改变它， 来符合我们的需求。 可惜之处在于，我们在不断失去语言的多样性， 

We're losing about one language a week, and by some estimates, half of the world's languages will be gone in the next hundred years. 

我们大约一周会失去一种语言， 依据一些估计， 在接下来的一百年， 世界上的语言有一半会不见。 

And the even worse news is that right now, almost everything we know about the human mind and human brain is based on studies of usually American English-speaking undergraduates at universities. 

更糟的消息是，现在，几乎所有我们对于人类心智和人类大脑的知识都是来自于针对说英文的美国大学生 所做的研究。 

That excludes almost all humans. Right? So what we know about the human mind is actually incredibly narrow and biased, and our science has to do better.

那就几乎排除了所有人类，对吧？ 所以我们对于人类心智的了解，其实是非常狭隘且有偏见的， 我们的科学得要做得更好才行。

I want to leave you with this final thought. I've told you about how speakers of different languages think differently, but of course, that's not about how people elsewhere think. It's about how you think. 

最后，我想留下一点让各位思考。 我已经告诉各位，说不同语言的人 如何有不同的思考方式， 但重点并不是其他地方的人怎么想， 重点是你怎么想。

It's how the language that you speak shapes the way that you think. And that gives you the opportunity to ask, "Why do I think the way that I do?" "How could I think differently?" 

重点是你说的语言 如何形塑出你的思考。 那就给了你一个机会，可以问： 「我为何会用我这种方式思考？」 「我要如何用不同方式思考？」

And also, "What thoughts do I wish to create?"Thank you very much.

还有， 「我想要创造出怎样的想法？」非常谢谢。