Why We Must Save Dying Tongues為什么必須挽救瀕危語言

Over the past century alone， around 400 languages—about one every three months—have gone extinct， and most linguists estimate that 50% of the world’s remaining languages will be gone by the end of this century （some put that figure as high as 90%， however）.

僅僅在過去的一個世紀里，就有約400種語言滅絕，也就是大約每三個月就有一種語言徹底消失。大多數語言學家預測，到本世紀末，全球現存的語言中，有半數將不復存在（也有語言學家認為這一比例可能高達90%）。

Endangered tongues

瀕危語言

UNESCO’s Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger lists 576 as critically endangered， with thousands more categorised as endangered or threatened. The highest numbers occur in the Americas. If measured in proportion to population， however， then Australia holds the world record for endangered languages. When Europeans first arrived there， 300 aboriginal languages were spoken around the country. Since then， 100 or so have gone extinct， and linguists regard 95% of the remaining ones as being on their last legs1.

聯合國教科文組織的“世界瀕危語言地圖”將576種語言列為“極度瀕危”，另有數千種語言被歸為“瀕危”或“面臨威脅”。從瀕危語言的數量來看，美洲位居首位。不過，如果從人口比例的角度衡量，那么澳大利亞的語言瀕危情況才是“世界之最”。歐洲人初抵澳大利亞時，那里上上下下有300種土著語言。自那時起，已有約100種語言滅絕，而且語言學家估計，剩余語言種類的95%也瀕臨滅絕。

But does it matter whether a seemingly obscure language spoken by a few people in one isolated corner of the world goes out of existence？

但是，如果一門語言看上去晦澀難懂，只在某個與世隔絕的角落里有寥寥可數的使用者，那么它是否走向滅亡真的重要嗎？

Some people argue that language loss， like species loss， is simply a fact of life2 on an ever-evolving planet. But counter arguments are abundant. “We spend huge amounts of money protecting species and biodiversity， so why should it be that the one thing that makes us singularly human shouldn’t be similarly nourished and protected？” says Mark Turin， an anthropologist and linguist at Yale University.

有些人認為，語言消亡如同物種滅絕，不過是個無法避免的事實罷了，畢竟地球在不停演化。對此觀點，反對的聲音很多。耶魯大學的人類學家兼語言學家馬克·圖林質疑道：“我們在保護物種和生物多樣性方面投入了大量資金，那么為我們人類賦予特性的語言為何不應得到同樣的滋養和保護呢？”

What’s more， languages are conduits of human heritage. Writing is a relatively recent development in our history （written systems currently exist for only about one-third of the world’s languages）， so language itself is often the only way to convey a community’s songs， stories and poems. “How many other traditions are out there in the world that we’ll never know about because no one recorded them before the language disappeared？” says Peter Austin， a professor of field linguistics at the University of London.

此外，語言還是傳承人類傳統的渠道。由于書面文字在人類歷史中出現得相對較晚（全球現存的語言中，僅有約三分之一擁有書寫系統），因此語言本身往往是傳播某個族群特有歌謠、故事和詩歌的唯一途徑。倫敦大學的田野語言學教授彼得·奧斯汀發問：“這世上還有多少傳統因為在其所用語言消失之前無人進行記錄而永遠不為人知？”

Languages also convey unique cultures. Cherokee3， for example， has no word for goodbye， only “I will see you again”. Likewise， no phrase exists for “I’m sorry”. On the other hand， it has special expressions all its own. One word—oo-kah-huh-sdee—represents the mouth-watering， cheek-pinching delight experienced when seeing an adorable baby or a kitten. Without the language， the culture itself might teeter， or even disappear.

語言還承載著獨特的文化。例如，切羅基語中沒有“再見”一詞，只有“我還會見到你”的說法；也沒有表示“我很抱歉”的詞組。不過，切羅基語自有其特殊的表達，如oo-kah-huh-sdee一詞專門用于形容看到可愛的寶寶或貓咪時，那種欲罷不能地想輕捏其臉頰的愉悅感受。若失去這門語言，其中的文化可能也會搖搖欲墜，甚至不復存在。

Wealth of wisdom

智慧的財富

Another argument mirrors that of biodiversity conservation. Just as ecosystems provide a wealth of services for humanity—some known， others un-acknowledged or yet to be discovered—languages， too， are ripe with possibility. They contain an accumulated body of knowledge， including about geog-raphy， zoology， mathematics， navigation， astronomy， pharmacology， botany， meteorology and more. In the case of Cherokee， that language was born of thousands of years spent inhabiting the southern Appalachia Mountains. Cherokee words exist for every last berry， stem， frond and toadstool in the region， and those names also convey what kind of properties that object might have—whether it’s edible， poisonous or has some medicinal value. “No culture has a monopoly on human genius， and we never know where the next brilliant idea may come from，” says David Harrison， chair of the linguistics department at Swarthmore College， and co-founder of the non-profit Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages. “We lose ancient knowledge if we lose languages.”

還有一種觀點與保護生物多樣性的理念十分相似。生態系統給予人類諸多禆益，其中有些已為人知，有些則未受重視或仍待發現。同樣，語言也蘊藏著無限可能。語言包含大量累積下來的知識體系，涉及地理學、動物學、數學、航海學、天文學、藥理學、植物學、氣象學等諸多領域。以切羅基語為例，這門語言源自阿巴拉契亞山脈南部居民數千年的生活實踐。當地的每一種漿果、根莖、葉子、毒菌都有專門的切羅基語名稱，而這些名稱還表示出了它們可能具有的特性，如是否可食用、是否有毒、是否具備藥用價值。“沒有哪種文化能夠獨占人類的智慧，我們永遠不知道下一個奇思妙想可能來自哪里。”斯沃斯莫爾學院語言學系主任、非營利性組織“瀕危語言振興協會”的聯合創始人戴維·哈里森說，“一旦失去語言，我們就失去了古老的知識。”

Finally， languages are ways of interpreting the world， and no two are the same. As such， they can provide insight into neurology， psychology and the linguistic capacities of our species. “Different languages provide distinct pathways of thought and frameworks for thinking and solving problems，” Harrison says. Returning to Cherokee， unlike English it is verb rather than noun-based， and those verbs can be conjugated in a multitude of ways based on who they are acting upon. It’s a much more precise way of dealing with the world than English. “There’s a misconception that these languages are simple just because many are unwritten，” Turin says. “But most have incredibly complex grammatical systems that far exceed that of English.”

最后，語言是理解世界的方式，而且每一種語言都是獨一無二的。正因如此，語言能為我們深入研究神經學、心理學和人類的語言能力提供視角。哈里森指出：“不同的語言為思考和解決問題提供了不同的思路和框架。”還是以切羅基語為例，這種語言與英語不同，以動詞而非名詞為基礎，其動詞可以根據作用對象的不同產生出豐富多樣的詞形變化。用這種語言應對世界比用英語精確得多。“很多語言沒有書寫系統，有些人就誤以為它們非常簡單。”圖林說，“其實這些語言大多擁有遠比英語繁復精細的語法系統。”

Scramble to save

爭分奪秒挽救語言

For all of these reasons， linguists are scrambling to document and archive the diversity of quickly disappearing languages. Their efforts include making dictionaries， recording histories and trad-itions， and translating oral stories. “If there’s really good documentation， then there’s a chance that these languages could be revitalised in the future even after they cease to be spoken，” Turin says.

鑒于上述原因，語言學家們爭分奪秒地記錄和存檔各種正在迅速消失的語言。他們所做的努力包括編撰詞典、記錄歷史和傳統、將口述故事轉寫成文字。圖林指出：“如果記錄工作做得好，即便無人再使用，這些語言未來也仍有機會獲得新生。”

Without speakers or persons interested in revitalising them， however， these efforts are like “preserving languages as museum artefacts”， says Salikoko Mufwene， a linguist at the University of Chicago， who grew up speaking Kiyansi， a language spoken by a small ethnic group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

然而，如果沒有人使用，或者沒有人致力于復興瀕危語言，那么用薩利科科·穆夫文的話說，語言學家們所做的努力不過是“將語言像博物館藏品那樣保存”。穆夫文是芝加哥大學的語言學家，自幼說基揚西語，這是剛果民主共和國一個少數民族使用的語言。

There are also a few examples of languages being revived even after actually going extinct. By the 1960s， the last fluent Miami language speakers living in the American Midwest had passed away. Thanks largely to the efforts of one interested member of the Miami Nation tribe， however， the language is now taught at Miami University in Ohio. “The Miami Nation asked， what if the experts are wrong？ What if the language is only sleeping， and we can awaken it？” says Bernard Perley， an anthropologist at the University of Wisconsin， Milwaukee. “They changed the rhetoric from death to life.”

也有幾個語言在滅絕后又被復活的例子。20世紀60年代，美國中西部最后幾位能夠流利使用邁阿密族語言的人去世了。不過，多虧邁阿密族部落一位熱心成員的努力，如今這種語言得以在俄亥俄州的邁阿密大學傳授。“邁阿密族問，如果專家錯了呢？如果邁阿密族語言只是暫時沉睡，而我們可以喚醒它呢？”威斯康星大學密爾沃基分校的人類學家伯納德·珀利說，“他們扭轉了語言消亡的說辭，賦予了語言重生的希望”。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者；單位：中山大學）

1 be on one’s last legs〈習語〉瀕臨死亡；奄奄一息。

2 a fact of life〈習語〉生活的（不快）現實。" 3 北美原住民切羅基族使用的兩種官方語言之一（另一種是英語），也是杜瓦聯合部落的官方語言。