为什么鹦鹉会说话？而猩猩却不会？

　　This is what a macaque monkey would sound like if it suddenly proposed

　　如果一只猕猴突然向你求婚的话  这就是它会发出的声音

　　"Wiii you marry me?"

　　“你愿意嫁给我吗?”

　　Yeah, I hate it too

　　是的 我也很讨厌这个声音

　　Let's play it again

　　让我们再播放一遍

　　"Wiii you marry me?"

　　“你愿意嫁给我吗?”

　　Now of course, that's not a real monkey

　　当然啦 现在这个不是真的猴子

　　it's a computer simulation that was part of a study on monkey vocal¹ tracts²

　　这是对猴子声道神经束做了部分研究 并最终通过计算机模拟出来的

　　And what it shows is that monkeys have a strikingly similar vocal structure to humans

　　研究表明 猴子和人类有着惊人的相似的声音结构

　　But despite all these similarities, they can't speak

　　但是尽管拥有这些相似之处 他们还是不会说话

　　So here's a question

　　所以问题来了

　　Compared to monkeys, birds are nothing like us

　　和猴子比起来 鸟类一点也不像我们

　　Yet this bird's talking to me right now

　　但现在这只鸟就在跟我说话

　　How?

　　这是为什么呢？

　　Birds don't have lips. They don't have teeth

　　鸟类没有嘴唇 它们也没有牙齿

　　their nose is totally different from ours

　　它们的鼻子结构也和我们的完全不一样

　　but they do have something we don't

　　但同时它们也具备我们没有的东西

　　They actually have a different kind of voice box than we do

　　事实上 它们有着和我们不一样的喉头

　　It's called a syrinx

　　它们的喉头 被称作是鸣管

　　This is Mya Thompson. She studies birds at Cornell University

　　这是米娅·汤普森 她在康奈尔大学进行研究鸟类的相关工作

　　They actually have two independent voice boxes

　　实际上 鸟类具有两个独立的鸣管

　　In birds, and in humans, the lower respiratory system is shaped sort of like an upside down slingshot

　　鸟类和人类的下呼吸系统一样 它的形状有点像一个倒置的弹弓

　　The top part is the trachea or windpipe and the bottom part is the lungs

　　上面的部分是气管 底部是肺

　　These two pieces move air in and out

　　这两个部分一起工作 使得空气能够循环进出

　　In humans, the voice box is called the larynx, and it's located above the trachea

　　人类的发声部位被称作是喉头 它位于气管上方

　　It contains vocal "folds" that vibrate when air flows through to produce sound

　　它包含了发声的“褶皱”  当空气流动时 通过振动来产生声音

　　And humans primarily shape that sound with their mouths

　　并且人类主要用嘴巴来塑造这个声音

　　But in birds the voice box is called the "syrinx"

　　但鸟类的喉头则被称作是鸣管

　　And it's at the bottom of the trachea

　　位于气管的底部

　　Instead of just sending air through vocal folds like we do

　　和人类直接让空气穿过声带来发声的方式不一样的是

　　birds actually control the muscles on the walls of the syrinx to shape and produce sound

　　实际上 鸟类是通过控制鸣管壁上的肌肉来塑造和发出声音的

　　Take a look at this cardinal³ as it sings

　　看看这只主红雀唱歌的样子

　　You can actually see that the noise comes directly from the chest

　　实际上 你可以看到它发出的声音直接来自于胸腔

　　The bird extends and shortens its neck and opens or closes its beak⁴ to refine the noise

　　然后通过伸展或缩短脖子 打开或关闭嘴巴来以细化声音

　　but most of the control is actually happening in the syrinx

　　但大多数对声音的控制 实际上发生在鸣管中

　　It's a powerful sound for such a small animal

　　对于这么小的动物来说 它们发出的声音实在是太有力量了

　　but that's not even the most impressive part

　　但这还不是最令人印象深刻的部分

　　Cardinals⁵ tend to make these "whoop⁶" notes

　　主红雀们往往会发出这种类似于大叫的声音

　　and they go by very very quickly

　　这种声音持续的时间非常非常短暂

　　They're able to produce more pitches than a piano in less than a tenth of a second

　　他们能在不到十分之一秒的时间里发出比钢琴更多的音高

　　They're actually switching from one side of the syrinx to another seamlessly

　　实际上 鸟类可以通过无缝切换控制鸣管的两边

　　to make this very very incredible span of pitches

　　来完成这段非常非常不可思议的音高跨越

　　The syrinx also lets some birds replicate⁷ sounds with astonishing accuracy

　　鸣管还能让一些鸟类以惊人的精确度来复制声音

　　For example, BBC Wildlife caught a lyrebird

　　举个例子吧 BBC的野生动物频道就曾发现一只野外的琴鸟

　　perfectly⁸ imitating a camera in the wild

　　它能够完美地模仿出照相机的声音

　　And of course, some of them imitate us

　　当然啦 有些鸟类还可以模仿我们的声音

　　Parrots are born communicators. From the start their brains are wired for speech

　　鹦鹉是天生的交流者 从一出生 它们的大脑就对语言有反应

　　So when they're first hatched, they're learning right away

　　所以当它们刚孵出来的时候 它们就开始学习了

　　and they're learning from everything around them

　　它们会学习周围一切东西发出的声音

　　But speaking human is no easy feat⁹

　　但要学会说人类的语言并非易事

　　We've got our vowels¹⁰ A - E - I - O - U

　　我们有五个元音 A - E - I - O - U

　　Our plosives "pocket"

　　有爆破音 像是“口袋”这个单词

　　And a variety of consonants¹¹ - that we even sometimes struggle to enunciate¹² clearly

　　还有各种辅音 有时甚至连我们自己都很难清晰地发出这些声音

　　Rural?

　　乡下的？

　　So to pull off such clarity in human speech

　　所以 如果想要清晰地说出人类的语言

　　parrots really show off their ability to manipulate their vocal tract

　　鹦鹉必须要展示出他们操纵声道的能力

　　Plosives, for example, require using our lips

　　举个例子 想要发出爆破音 就需要使用到我们的嘴唇

　　To make up for the lack of lips, parrots use something called esophageal speech

　　为了弥补嘴唇的缺失 鹦鹉会使用食管语

　　it's almost like burping that comes from within the trachea

　　这就像从气管里打嗝一样

　　The force of air replicates the plosive

　　将空气强行逼迫出食管 复制出了爆破音的效果

　　As for vowels, where we use our lips, tongue and jaw

　　至于元音 我们需要用到嘴唇 舌头和下颚

　　researchers have found that parrots move their tongues forward and backward

　　研究人员发现 鹦鹉通过前后移动它们的舌头

　　and adjust their beak opening to alter the sound

　　和调整嘴的开口来改变声音

　　It seems like they are the only birds that are actually using their tongue like humans do

　　它们似乎是唯一一种可以像人类一样

　　to shape the sound that's coming out

　　使用舌头来塑造发出的声音的鸟类

　　Parrots have a natural desire to communicate

　　鹦鹉有一种天生的交流欲望

　　In the wild they form strong bonds with their flocks

　　在野外 它们会和自己的族群建立起牢固的纽带

　　but in captivity

　　但被圈养起来后

　　the parrot forms a social bond with you and they want to communicate with you

　　鹦鹉就和你形成了一种社会联系 它们想和你进行交流

　　and they have the vocal anatomy to start mimicking you

　　它们用它们的发声结构来模仿你

　　When parrots live with us, we're their flock

　　当鹦鹉和我们生活在一起的时候 我们就是它们的族群

　　and they're determined to sing our song

　　所以它们决定用我们的"语言"