Name: 鸚鵡到底是如何模仿人類說話的？ (Why parrots can talk like humans)
Uploaded: 2022-05-10T21:01:20.000Z
Duration: 4 min 22 s

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

這是獼猴在忽然求偶時的聲音。

Uh, yeah, I hate it too. Let's play it again.

沒錯，我也討厭這聲音，我們再放一次。

Now, of course, that's not a real monkey; it's a computer simulation that was part of a study on monkey vocal tracts.

當然，剛剛的聲音不是真正的猴子，而是由電腦模擬出的，這是研究猴子聲道的一部分。

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

這證明了猴子有和人類極為相似的發聲結構。

But despite all these similarities, they can't speak.

儘管有這麼多相似處，牠們還是不會說話。

Compared to monkeys, birds are nothing like us.

比起猴子，鳥類的結構與我們完全不同。

Birds don't have lips, they don't have teeth, their nose is totally different from ours, but they do have something we don't.

鳥類沒有嘴唇、牙齒，牠們的鼻子也與我們完全不同，但牠們有某種我們沒有的東西。

They actually have a different kind of voice box than we do that's called a syrinx.

事實上，鳥類的喉頭和我們完全不同，並稱之為鳥鳴管。

This is Mya Thompson, she studies birds at Cornell University.

她是在康乃爾大學研究鳥類的米亞．湯普森。

They actually have two independent voice boxes.

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

在鳥類和人類中，呼吸系統下半部的形狀有點像是顛倒的彈弓。

The top part is the trachea, or windpipe, and the bottom part is the lungs; these two pieces move air in and out.

頂部是氣管，或嗓門，而底部是肺臟，這兩部分將空氣吸入和呼出。

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

在人體中，喉頭稱為喉部，位於氣管上方。

It contains vocal folds that vibrate when air flows through to produce sound, and humans primarily shape that sound with their mouths.

其中包含聲帶，當空氣通過會產生振動，並發出聲音，人類主要利用嘴巴來發出那種聲音。

But in birds, the voice box is called the "syrinx", and it's at the bottom of the trachea.

但在鳥類中，喉頭稱為「鳥鳴管」，位於氣管底部。

Instead of just sending air through vocal folds like we do, birds actually control muscles on the walls of the syrinx to shape and produce sound.

鳥類不僅像我們一樣用聲帶傳送空氣，牠們是用鳥鳴管壁上的肌肉來形成和發出聲音。

Take a look at this cardinal as it sings.

來看一下這隻北美紅雀的鳴叫。

You can actually see the noise coming directly from the chest.

你可以看到牠是直接從胸腔發聲。

The bird extends and shortens its neck and opens or closes its beak to refine the noise, but most of the control is actually happening in the syrinx.

這隻鳥利用伸長和縮短脖子、打開或闔上嘴，來讓改善叫聲，但大多數的控制都是在鳥鳴管中。

It's a powerful sound for such a small animal, but that's not even the most impressive part.

對這麼小的動物來說，這是個強而有力的聲音，但這還不是最讓人驚訝的部分。

Cardinals tend to make these "whoop" notes and they go by very, very quickly.

北美紅雀能輕易發出這種「嗚」的叫聲，而且牠們的聲音速度非常非常快

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

他們能在不到十分之一秒的時間內，發出比鋼琴高音階還高的音。

They're actually switching from one side of the syrinx to another seamlessly to make this very, very incredible span of pitches.

牠們是從鳥鳴管的一側連續切換到另一側，來達到這種非常驚人的音階。

The syrinx also lets some birds replicate sounds with astonishing accuracy.

鳥鳴管也讓一些鳥類以驚人的準確度來複製聲音。

For example, BBC Wildlife caught a lyrebird perfectly imitating a camera in the wild.

例如，BBC Wildlife拍攝到一隻野生琴鳥完美模仿相機的聲音。

And then, of course, some of them imitate us.

當然，有些鳥類還會模仿我們。

From the start, their brains are wired for speech.

從一開始，牠們的大腦就對言語有反應。

So, when they're first hatched, they're learning right away, um, and they're learning from everything around them.

因此，當牠們剛孵出時，就會馬上從周圍的一切事物中學習。

但學人類說話可不是容易的技巧。

我們的母音有：A、E、I、O、U。

And a variety of consonants that we even struggle to enunciate clearly: Rural.

而且我們甚至很難清晰地發出各種子音：農村的。

So, to pull off such clarity in human speech, parrots really need to show off their ability to manipulate their vocal tract.

為了清楚發出人類的話語，鸚鵡確實展現出操縱聲道的能力。

舉例來說，破裂音需要用到我們的嘴唇。

To make up for the lack of lips, parrots use something called esophageal speech; it's almost like burping that comes from within the trachea.

為了彌補沒有嘴唇，鸚鵡會使用食道語言，就像是來自氣管內的打嗝。

As for vowels, where we use our lips, tongue, and jaw, researchers have actually found that parrots move their tongues forward and backward, and adjust their beak opening to alter the sound.

至於母音，我們要用到嘴唇、舌頭，和下巴，研究人員發現，鸚鵡會將牠們的舌頭往前或往後移動，並調整鳥嘴的開合來改變聲音。

And it seems like they are the only birds that are actually, um, using their tongue like humans do to shape the sound that's coming out.

鳥類中似乎只有鸚鵡會像人類一樣使用舌頭來形成發出的聲音。

Parrots have a natural desire to communicate.

In the wild, they form strong bonds with their flocks, but in captivity...

牠們在野外會與鳥群形成密切的關係，但養在籠子裡...

The parrot forms a social bond with you, and they want to communicate with you, and they have the vocal anatomy to start, uh, mimicking you.

鸚鵡會和你形成情感聯繫，牠們想和你溝通，而且牠們會從發聲結構開始模仿你。

When parrots live with us, we're their flock, and they're determined to sing our song.

鸚鵡和我們一起生活時，我們就是牠們的同伴，牠們會想唱我們的歌。

So, in this video, I showed you some of the physiology that lets birds produce sounds.

在這影片中，我介紹了鳥類發聲的一些生理學。

But I wanted a quick and easy way to show you some of the interesting background research on the neurology that allows some of them to speak.

但我想用快速又簡單的方式，告訴你們一些關於讓鳥類說話的神經學基礎研究。

So, I created a website with Wix, where I've compiled a bunch of extras, including research and related content that gets you inside the brains of these animals.

因此我用 Wix 設立了一個網站，我在那收集了很多額外的資料，包括讓你深入了解這些動物大腦的研究及相關內容。

It's a super easy way to make a website, so click on the link below to make your own.

這是製作網站的超簡單方法，馬上點擊下方連結來做自己的網站。

Wix doesn't directly impact editorial, but their support does make videos like this one possible, so go check them out.

Wix不會直接影響編輯，但有他們的支援確實可以做出這樣的影片，所以去看看吧！