Larger Communities Create More Systematic Languages群体越大，语言越系统

凯蒂·伯顿 陈伟济

An experiment that asked different sized groups to invent a new language has revealed that community size plays an important role in determining the type of language that develops. 一項实验让人数不同的几个小组发明一种新语言，结果表明，群体规模对新语言的类型有重要影响。

The differences between the 6，800 or so languages that currently exist in the world are remarkable. From Cantonese， in which a speaker must perfect six different tones each of which change the meaning of a single word， to Georgian， in which verb endings vary not just according to the tense or plurality （as in English）， but in up to 200 other ways. Grammatical and morphological systems vary hugely. What is the source of this linguistic diversity？ And why might some languages be so much harder to learn than others？

Many researchers have dedicated their time to answering these questions. In particular， extensive research has been carried out into the effect of the physical environment on the development of language. As one theory has it， languages typically spoken in very dry and cold climates （Siberia， for example） tend not to involve tonal distinctions between words （as is the case in Cantonese）—the simple reason being that it is harder to precisely control the vocal cords in dry environments.

Now research is being carried out into the role of social environments in language development. Limor Raviv， a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen is working on this topic. In a recent study， she sought to answer one social question in particular—does the size of a community affect the development of a new language？

To find out the answer， Raviv designed an experiment in which two groups—one with four participants and one with eight—were set the task of creating a new language to describe the same set of 23 simple scenes. Within each group a ‘speaker would see one of four shapes moving in some direction on a screen and type in nonsense words to describe the scene （both its shape and direction）. The ‘listener would then guess which scene the other person was referring to， by selecting one of eight scenes on their own screen. Participants received points for every successful interaction.

Raviv discovered that community size did indeed affect the outcome. In the main， the larger groups created languages with more systematic grammars than the smaller ones. For example， one large group created the term ‘wowo-ik to refer to a specific shape moving up and right， and used ‘wowo-ii to refer to the same shape moving straight up. A regular system like this made it easier to predict the meaning of new labels （so ‘mop-ik meant a different shape going up and right）.

It has already been noted in previous studies that this phenomenon—in which languages spoken in larger communities typically have more systematic grammatical structures—exists. For example， English， now one of the worlds most widely spoken languages， is structurally quite simple when compared to many others. While it might have a large vocabulary， its grammatical structure is relatively easy to follow and even irregularities are still grouped in systematic ways.

Previous hypotheses as to why this might be the case have sought to identify some kind of external influence. One suggestion has been that larger groups have more adult second-language learners who， if the pressure is big enough， result in the simplification of a language. But Raviv now has another theory more directly related to the original community size in which the language developed.

‘I believe that you may get this effect just because the language is spoken by a bigger community and because it passes through more minds， she says. ‘The language evolves in a context where more people need to negotiate about it， to reason about it， and theres more contact with strangers. So we hypothesise that languages that develop in bigger communities evolve to be more systematic to accommodate the difficulty in communicating with more people that you know less about. Highly elaborate structures that really rely on intimate familiarity between every member of the group just cant hold in a big community.

There are clear advantages to the type of systems typically developed by large communities， she argues. ‘It really allows productivity and flexibility. So even two strangers that have never interacted before about something theyve never seen before can immediately use their language and understand each other. They dont need any prior negotiation.

Raviv is now taking this study further and attempting to teach the newly-created languages to other participants in order to verify whether more structured languages really are easier to learn. In doing so she may be able to challenge a widely held assumption—that all languages are similarly easy to acquire. ‘Actually， some studies suggest that this is not the case， she says. ‘Some languages are harder to learn， even for children. For example， Danish is considered to be a really hard language for children to learn and there is evidence that they master some features much later than speakers of other languages， even related ones such as Norwegian or Swedish.

None of this， Raviv makes very clear， makes any one language better than another. ‘All languages are equally good at expressing a message， she says. But experiments such as these might just help us to understand why we speak the way we do and why learning some languages fills us with much more fear than others.           ■

世界上現存6800多种语言，它们之间的差别十分明显，如粤语和格鲁吉亚语。说粤语必须精通六种不同的音调，对同一个字来说，一种音调有一个意思;格鲁吉亚语中，动词词尾不仅有时态或复数（如英语）的变形，还有其他多达200种变化。语言的语法和形态体系差异很大。语言的这种多样性源自什么？为什么有些语言比其他语言难学得多？

许多研究人员已投入时间来解开这些疑问，特别是在物理环境对语言发展的影响方面，开展了大量研究。有一种理论认为，通常在非常干燥寒冷的气候下（如西伯利亚）使用的语言，字词间往往没有像粤语那样的音调差异，原因很简单，干燥环境下，更不容易准确控制声带。

有关社会环境对语言发展的影响，目前正在开展研究。马克斯·普朗克心理语言学研究所（位于荷兰奈梅亨）研究员利莫尔·拉维夫正在研究这个课题。在最近的一项研究中，她试图回答一个特别的社会问题——群体规模会影响新语言的发展吗？

为了找到答案，拉维夫设计了一个实验。实验分两组，一组有四名参与者，另一组有八名;要求这两组成员创造一种新语言来描述相同的23个简单场景。每一组的“说者”会看到屏幕上四个形状中的一个朝某个方向移动，然后输入无意义的单词来描述看到的场景（包括形状和方向）。“听者”则要猜测“说者”所描述的场景，在自己屏幕上的八个场景中选择一个作为答案。参与者的每一次成功互动都会获得积分。

拉维夫发现，群体规模的的确确会影响结果。大体上，比起人数少的小组，人数多的小组创造的语言语法更为系统。例如，一个人数多的小组创造了术语wowo-ik来指代向右上方移动的特定形状，使用wowo-ii来指代向正上方移动的同一形状。像这样有规则的系统更容易预测新词语的含义（mop-ik便意味着向右上移动的另一种形状）。

先前的研究便已注意到这种现象的存在：规模大的群体所说的语言通常具有更系统的语法结构。英语就是一例，作为目前世界上使用最广泛的一大语言，与许多其他语言相比，其结构非常简单。尽管英语可能词汇量很大，但其语法结构相对容易理解，即使是不规则的部分，仍然可以系统地分门别类。

至于为什么可能是这种情况，以往的假设一直试图找出某种外部影响。其中一种说法是，大的群体有更多第二语言的成人学习者，一旦影响够大，语言就会被简化。现在，拉维夫提出了另一种理论，该理论直接涉及语言发展之初的群体规模。

“我认为之所以可能有这种效应，只是因为使用语言的群体更庞大，因为语言历经了更多人的思考。”她说，“在更多人需要用语言进行协商、推理，并且和陌生人有更多往来的环境下，语言才会逐步发展。所以我们提出这样的假说：为解决与更多不甚了解的人进行交流的困难，越庞大的群体造就的语言越系统。高度复杂的结构十分依赖群体每个成员间的高度熟悉，完全不适用于庞大的群体。”

她认为，通常由庞大群体发展起来的语言体系具有明显优势。“这类语言利于产出、富有弹性。即使是对未知事物未曾有过交流的两个陌生人，也能立即使用语言沟通并相互理解。他们不需要任何事先的协商。”

目前，拉维夫正在进一步研究，尝试向其他参与者教授新造的语言，以验证结构化更强的语言是否真的更容易学习。此举也许会质疑人们广泛认可的观点——所有语言的习得都一样容易。“实际上，有些研究表明情况并非如此。”她说，“即使是对于孩子，有些语言也比较难学。例如，丹麦语被认为是儿童很难学会的语言。有证据表明，他们掌握某些语言特征的时间比说其他语言的儿童晚得多，即使与挪威语或瑞典语等相似的语言比，也是如此。”

拉维夫明确指出，这些都不能说明某种语言比另一种语言更好。她说：“在传递信息上，所有语言不相上下。”但这样的实验或能帮助理解我们自身说话方式形成的原因，以及为什么学习某些语言会比学习其他语言让我们畏惧得多。”      □

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖者;单位：广东科学院）