科学家破译大熊猫13种语言密码

 　　Can you imagine giant pandas baa like sheep to say "I love you" and warble a cheerful "I do" when wooed by a suitor, and bark like a dog when they are furious?

　　你能想象熊猫说“我爱你”时是“咩咩咩”，说“我愿意”时像鸟叫，而说“我很生气”时又像狗叫吗？

　　Researchers there have decoded² 13 different kinds of giant panda vocalizations in a surprising new insight into the private life of the reclusive creatures.

　　长期从事大熊猫人工繁育的中国保护大熊猫中心的专家们研究发现，大熊猫至少会用13种不同的声音来表达不同的意思，而“破译”了这些“猫言猫语”无疑将帮助专家们进一步了解大熊猫生活习性和心理，走进他们的世界。

　　科学家破译大熊猫13种语言密码

　　The China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda has been working on a panda linguistics³ project since 2010. Scientists first made recordings⁴ of pandas at the center, vocalizations between cubs⁵ and adults in various situations, such as when they were eating, mating, nursing, fighting and so on, said Zhang Hemin, head of the center. Then they collected a large amount of data on pandas' voices and activities, and analyzed⁶ the voiceprints. "We managed to decode¹ some panda language and the results are quite interesting," Zhang said.

　　中国保护大熊猫研究中心主任、卧龙自然保护区管理局局长张和民介绍，在2010年，来自音乐之乡奥地利维也纳的专家和中心合作，已经通过录音和频谱分析，破译了部分大熊猫的语言密码，听懂了它们在采食、求偶、照顾宝宝等不同情景下的“喜怒哀乐”。近年来，中心继续与其他国内外的学术研究机构合作继续“破译”工程，到目前已初见成效。

　　Panda cubs can barely vocalize at all except to say things like "Gee-Gee" (I'm hungry), "Wow-Wow" (Not happy!) or "Coo-Coo" (Nice!).

　　专家们发现，刚出生的熊猫宝宝和人类宝宝一样，基本只能发出“吱吱”、“哇哇”和“咕咕”这三种简单的叫声。一般情况下“吱吱”表示“我饿了”，“哇哇”表示“我不爽了”，而“咕咕”则是表示愉悦和舒适感受时发出的满意叫声。

　　"Adult giant pandas usually are solitary⁷, so the only language teacher they have is their own mother," the researcher said. When they grow a little, cubs learn how to express themselves by roaring, barking, shouting, squeaking⁸, bleating⁹ and chirping¹⁰.

　　而熊猫在成长过程中也和人类一样要跟着母亲“学说话”，耳濡目染，它们慢慢地就会学会吼叫、吠叫、嗷叫、嘶叫、咩叫等叫声。

　　"If a panda mother keeps tweeting like a bird, she may be anxious about her babies. She barks loudly when a stranger comes near," Zhang said. The barking can be interpreted as "getting out of my place", according to the researcher. Pandas can be as gentle as a lamb when they are "in love". Male pandas baa all the time when they are wooing their lovers. The females respond with constant tweeting if they feel the same.

　　比如，熊猫妈妈如果发出“咩咩”声，那可能是在寻找她的宝宝，饲养员需要适时提供帮助；而当大熊猫们发出“汪汪”的吠叫声时，则千万不要靠近他们，因为那表示他们很愤怒，想要打架或是威胁对方不要进入自己的领地。而在春季发情季节，熊猫还会使用自己独特的“恋爱语言”。雄性熊猫会发出咩叫声，那可是在用“甜言蜜语”向自己心上人求爱。被俘获芳心，坠入爱河的雌性熊猫就会发出“唧唧”“喳喳”的类似鸟鸣声，害羞回应。

　　"Trust me. Our researchers were so confused when we began the project that they wondered if they were studying a panda, a bird, a dog, or a sheep," Zhang said.

　　“我们的工作人员也会开玩笑问大熊猫到底是羊、是狗还是鸟啊？”张和民说。

　　The center plans to continue the study and is looking forward to the creation of a panda translator that could use high-tech¹¹ voice recognition technology. "If we can understand their language, it will help us protect the animal, especially in the wild," he said.

　　他表示，熊猫语言学的研究还将继续，如能够破译更多熊猫语言，甚至发明“翻译器”，那将有助于饲养员更好地理解熊猫各种声音的准确含义，也将有利于更科学地饲养、保护大熊猫，甚至能帮助大熊猫提高自然交配成功率。

　　Vocabulary

　　baa: 咩咩叫

　　warble: 以颤音说；鸟啭似地讲

　　vocalization: 发声，发音；发声法

　　voiceprint: 声纹；语音特征波纹；语音声谱

　　bleat: 咩咩叫

1 decode   

vt.译（码），解（码）

参考例句：

• All he had to do was decode it and pass it over.他需要做的就是将它破译然后转给他人。
• The secret documents were intercepted and decoded.机密文件遭截获并被破译。

2 decoded   

v.译（码），解（码）( decode的过去式和过去分词 )；分析及译解电子信号

参考例句：

• The control unit decoded the 18 bits. 控制器对这18位字进行了译码。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Scientists have decoded the dog genome. 科学家已经译解了狗的基因组。 来自辞典例句

3 linguistics   

n.语言学

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• Linguistics is a scientific study of the property of language.语言学是指对语言的性质所作的系统研究。

4 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

5 cubs   

n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lioness guarding her cubs 守护幼崽的母狮
• Lion cubs depend on their mother to feed them. 狮子的幼仔依靠母狮喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。

8 squeaking   

v.短促地尖叫( squeak的现在分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者

参考例句：

• Squeaking floorboards should be screwed down. 踏上去咯咯作响的地板应用螺钉钉住。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Can you hear the mice squeaking? 你听到老鼠吱吱叫吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 bleating   

v.（羊，小牛）叫( bleat的现在分词 )；哭诉；发出羊叫似的声音；轻声诉说

参考例句：

• I don't like people who go around bleating out things like that. 我不喜欢跑来跑去讲那种蠢话的人。 来自辞典例句
• He heard the tinny phonograph bleating as he walked in. 他步入室内时听到那架蹩脚的留声机在呜咽。 来自辞典例句

10 chirping   

鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The birds,chirping relentlessly,woke us up at daybreak. 破晓时鸟儿不断吱吱地叫，把我们吵醒了。
• The birds are chirping merrily. 鸟儿在欢快地鸣叫着。

11 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。