prank calling my friends. But, some people claim to be stuck with a foreign accent. Is

跟電話另一頭的朋友惡作劇。不過有些人認為這和語言干擾有關

that a thing?

真的是這樣嗎？

Hello communicators, Lissette here for DNews. A mother of two who lives in the UK seems

大家好，我是DNews的莉賽特，有位擁有2位兒女的英國母親

to confuse a lot of people. If you saw her in a supermarket, you’d probably guess she

似乎讓很多人覺得迷惑。如果你在超級市場看到她，你或許會猜測

was a local, that is, until you hear her speak. Some people think she’s French, others German,

她是當地人，除非她開口說話。有些人認為她是法國人、德國人

Italian, and yet others even Japanese! She just doesn’t sound British. People can’t

義大利人或甚至是日本人！她的口音不像是英國腔，人們也不敢肯定

seem to agree on what accent she has, but they are certain she is speaking in an foreign accent.

她講話是有哪種口音，但他們能確認的就是她有不同於英國腔的腔調

The thing is, she’s never lived anywhere but the UK, so what’s going on here? Is

奇妙的是，她除了英國並沒有在其他國家居住過，這到底是怎麼回事？

she faking it?

難道她是假裝這樣的嗎？

Well, she told a Professor at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, “I’m not

於是她向一位在奧蘭多的中央佛羅里達大學教授訴說她的情況

trying to be foreign. I’m just trying to be me.” Turns out, she’s telling the truth.

「我並沒有想讓人認為我是外國人，我只是想做我自己而已」由此可見，她說的是事實

In March 2006 she began involuntarily slurring her words and in the matter of days, her voice

在2006年3月，她在不知不覺中說話開始含糊不清，數日之後

had completely changed. Doctors were baffled. But, after numerous tests and observations,

她的聲音就完全改變了，醫生覺得很困惑，不過在幾次的檢驗和觀察之後

she found out that she is one of the more than 140 reported cases of people suffering

她發現她是得了一個超過140個病例

from a condition called Foreign Accent Syndrome or FAS.

名為外國口音綜合症的病症

Foreign accent syndrome is a motor speech disorder in which a person’s intonation

外國口音綜合症是一種運動性言語障礙致使人的語調

and stress patterns are altered. The way they compose phrases and sentences is also affected.

和重音型態改變，他們組成詞組和句子的方式也會跟著受到影響

This causes them to be perceived as non-native speakers of their mother tongue. In the UK

這造成他們在說母語時就像外國人一樣，關於英國

woman’s specific case, her funny accent was a result of cerebral vasculitis - basically

媽媽的那個特殊案例，她那奇特的口音被檢查出源自於腦血管炎

this means that her brain was not receiving enough oxygen in areas responsible for language.

也就是說她的大腦因氧氣不足導致影響了腦部言語方面的運作

But, other types of brain injuries can cause people to have Foreign Accent Syndrome too.

不過，其他的腦部損傷也有可能讓人罹患外國口音綜合症

Another British woman woke up with a Chinese sounding accent after having a severe migraine.

另外一位英國女性在嚴重偏頭痛後醒來時說話竟有中文腔調

Yet others, have sounded differently since birth. A Dutch boy can’t help but speak

也有例子是自出生就有的狀況，一個荷蘭小男孩不由自主地

in what sounds like a French or Mediterranean accent. Before him, all known cases of Foreign

說著一口像是法國或是地中海民族的腔調，在他之前，大眾對

Accent Syndrome were associated with brain damage, so his case tells scientists there

外國口音綜合症的認知是在大腦損傷後才會有病症，所以這個小男孩的例子

may also be a genetic component involved. This is why Dr. Johan Verhoeven from City

讓科學家知道這也許是和基因遺傳有關，這也是為什麼倫敦城市大學的教授約翰·范霍文

University London and his team decided to investigate what was going on. By using single

和他的研究團隊決定要著手調查研究這個案例，利用

emission CT scans, they found that his brain had significantly less blood flow to certain

單一光子發射電腦斷層掃描，他們發現這個荷蘭小男孩的大腦裡部分區域的

areas compared to other people. They saw reduced flow to the prefrontal cortex in the left

血流量相較於其他人而言特別地少，在他的左半球前額葉皮層也發現

hemisphere, which makes sense because this area is associated with speech. But, they

有血流量減少的現象，而這個部分是負責控制言語能力的，他們

also found that he had less blood flow to the right side of his cerebellum. This area

還檢查出他的右小腦也是如此，而這個區域

is usually not associated with speech - it’s thought to be more strongly linked to body

並不是控制語言的而是身體的

movement. So this finding tells researchers that perhaps the cerebellum is also involved

運動機能，而這項研究結果顯示也許小腦

with cognitive functions - like producing speech.

也和認知功能有關，例如像是語言認知

People who develop these so called accents are obviously not faking it. It’s a real

從事這類研究的研究者表示口音是沒辦法假裝的，是很真實的

thing. That being said, calling their condition Foreign Accent Syndrome is a bit of misnomer

東西，所以說，使用『外國口音綜合症』這一詞是有些用詞不當

that may contribute to some people’s skepticism. Nonetheless, for people with FAS, speaking

也有一些人對此抱持著懷疑的態度。雖然如此，這些患有外國口音綜合症的人

this way is not a matter of choice. It’s just what it is - like a speech impediment.

他們講話的腔調並非出自意願，就像言語障礙一樣

One speech impediment that is a bit controversial is the lisp. Check out my episode on why some

其中最具爭議的就是口齒不清，可以參考我之前的一部視頻是關於

people have lisps here.

為什麼有些人會口齒不清

Do you have a favorite accent? Share your thoughts in the comments and remember

你有特別喜歡的口音嗎？和我們分享你的想法吧

to subscribe so you never miss an episode of DNews. Thanks for watching.

別忘了要訂閱隨時鎖定我們DNews，謝謝您的收看