Chapter 105 Customs, Language and Culture

"I can say that our ancestors have never died. The spark of their souls is thinking in our brains through daily language habits. Language and culture have always connected us with our ancestors. This connection is always more important than Blood is stronger."

When Ingrid said these words, it was one day in February 2029.

Xiang Shan just finished his vacation and returned from Peiping. He was holding a tablet in his hand and was reading the news.

Since the classification level of "Ramo Special Project" has been gradually lowered, some electronic equipment can already be brought into the park. Xiangshan didn't subscribe to news specifically, but the current chat software has its own news pop-up window. He occasionally glanced at me.

In the corner of the office area, Ingrid and Kanbaru were chatting with Yawgmoth.

Yawgmoth came here to ask questions about "Chinese".

"Hey, friends from the Republic over there?" Ingrid picked up a small ball of paper and threw it over: "This dear friend is here to learn your mother tongue, don't you want to say a few words?"

Xiangshan turned his attention away from the news article titled "The Republic is working in many ways to promote the establishment of the Pacific Rim Agricultural Community" and raised his hands: "I'm sorry, I am an engineering student. Inga [Inga, Ingrid] Ingrid's nickname] You are much better at this language than I am. I am very unprofessional in this area."

Due to a joint project currently underway, a group of linguists, including Ingrid, simply opened an office area in the Engineering Research Center to study "something" together.

Yawgmoth is using his spare time to learn Chinese on his own. Although the misunderstanding has long been resolved, according to Yawgmoth himself, learning this language was not because of Xiangshan's joke last year. He did have such an idea.

It should be said that he had thought this way several years ago. But I was busy with work at the time.

And now, with a group of colleagues who are native speakers of the language and some of the best linguists in the world, there's no reason not to seize this opportunity.

Since a year ago, he, Kanbaru Zun, and Xiangshan became the first batch of scholars to come into contact with "Ogun", so he also gained a little reputation among the scholar group. This seemed to open up Yawgmoth's social circle.

Of course, this is the same for Xiangshan.

And Ingrid has always been generous.

But Yawgmoth is still troubled: "I feel that my learning efficiency is too low. Although I have memorized many articles, I still feel that I cannot use this language freely."

Ingrid shrugged: "This is indeed a difficult question, Yog. Did you know that there are many second language learners who cannot use this second language as proficiently as their native language throughout their lives? , and some learners can achieve this level very easily.”

"Unfortunately, there is no statistically convincing enough survey to indicate the proportion of these two types of people in the population."

Having said this, Ingrid felt a little regretful: "This is really a pity. To be honest, there is really very little funding available in this field."

Kanbaru seemed to be touched and sad: "The travel expenses for field research are never enough..."

Linguistics is really the legendary "aristocratic profession". The investment is high, the output is low, and even if you don’t have any capital at home, it’s not enough to waste.

Yawgmoth did not follow the lead of the two linguists, but was thinking: "Is this difference caused by some kind of genetic expression? Is there any evidence that this 'second language acquisition ability' is hereditary?" "

Ingrid shrugged: "This is a question worth studying, but you also have to apply for funding."

Xiangshan closed the news window and raised his head again: "But not everyone needs a second language now..."

"No, the ultimate goal of our study of the process of second language acquisition is to infer how the 'first language' and 'mother tongue' are acquired by us. What it ultimately solves is the problem of the mechanism of 'language acquisition' itself. "

"From a purely linguistic perspective, it pursues 'universal grammar.' From a neuroscience perspective, it explores the brain's mechanism for inputting, storing, and processing information. And from a cultural perspective, it It includes the interaction between people and social culture.”

Ingrid took a sip of tea.

Kanbaru Takashi said: "But I still reserve my opinion on this point. I have investigated many ancient languages ​​in Africa, the area where humans originated. I cannot feel the 'universality' you mentioned from the process of learning these languages. Grammar'. There's always something you can't imagine in their language."

"Personal opinion." Ingrid raised her eyebrows: "Do you have any recommended papers? Yukoru-kun [タケル, the pronunciation of "Zun"]"

Yawgmoth mused: "I thought the whole thing about 'Universal Grammar' would be obvious."

Kambara-san had some differences: "What do you think?"

"Hmm...for example, in all languages ​​in the world, the pronunciation of 'mother' contains the sound 'ma'?"

Shen Yuanzun was stunned for a moment, then turned around, his shoulders shaking twice.

He must be laughing.

Ingrid also furrowed her beautiful eyebrows and shook her head: "Jog, this is not 'universal grammar'. And this is a misunderstanding."

"Really?" Yawgmoth was very surprised.

"There are only a few sounds that babies can easily make. They are nothing more than the sounds 'ma''ba''pa''mu''i''o'. The sounds of babies calling their parents, of course, also come from these sounds. A combination of sounds. The characteristics of infant pronunciation are nasal consonants m, n or stops p, b, t, d plus the vowel a." Ingrid said: "In Georgia, the word 'mama' is used In the northern part of the Republic, there are also ethnic minorities who call their fathers with words pronounced 'ama'. There are also many ethnic groups who use words pronounced 'ba''da' to call their mothers."

Kanbaru nodded and said that this was indeed the case: "It is indeed a narrow prejudice to think that all languages ​​in the world use 'ma' to refer to mother - it should be said that the mechanism of 'universal grammar' mentioned by Ingrid , closer to 'why do humans combine these sounds into words for father and mother?' Of course it's not accurate. This is a quite complicated question."

Xiangshan was a little curious: "We still have titles like 'mother' over there, right? We used them until a few decades ago."

Ingrid rolled her eyes: "The back-nasal vowel 'iang' is not something that infants and young children can pronounce. Your ancestors also called mothers 'ma'. In ancient Chinese, the word 'mother' was not used at all. It means 'mother'. This word refers to all 'females' - both young and old. Until the Song Dynasty, 'little lady' was still a normal term for young girls."

"It's just that the word 'girl' appeared in the Yuan Dynasty, which replaced the original meaning of 'mother' as 'young woman'. So the word became an honorific for older generations or older married women."

Xiang Shan scratched his head: "That 'girl's' aunt..."

"It is very likely that it comes from a Mongolian word with a pronunciation close to 'hu hen'. The remains of this word are still preserved in Russian and some Eastern European languages." Ingrid explained: "If you have read "Liao Zhai Zhi" You should know that when "Niang" is used as a personal name, it still retains the meaning of "young girl". In Japan, which did not become a Mongolian-ruled area, this important meaning is preserved even more whole."

Yawgmoth thought: "Is this inference too far-fetched? Is there any other explanation?"

"Oh, this... let's do an experiment." Ingrid leaned down, searched under the office desk, found a green folder, tore it open, and folded it into a hat. She handed the hat to Yawgmoth: "Put it on and observe the reactions of your two friends."

Yawgmoth didn't know why, so he put the hat on his head and looked up.

Xiang Shan was lying on the table, his expression twisted and his shoulders shaking. But Shen Yuanzun didn't know why.

Yawgmoth looked this way, then that.

After a few seconds, Kanbaru-san showed an expression of sudden realization.

"What Xiang was thinking just now was nothing more than 'This is how these two people are related', 'Is Yingjia so high behind her back?' or 'This joke is not appropriate but it is still funny.'" Ingrid With a playful expression: "By the way, I would like to emphasize that this is just an experimental project."

Yawgmoth took off the hat on his head: "What principle is this?"

"In the Yuan Empire in East Asia, male relatives of women working in the custom industry were required to wear green headscarves. However, the Yuan Empire was blocked by the ocean and did not include Japan under its rule." Ingrid said: "Look, Xiang could understand in an instant that although Kanbaru knew a little Chinese, it probably took him a while to realize what I was doing - but at this time he probably understood what the 'experiment' I was talking about was."

"That brutal empire - Mongolia, its iron hoofs from the 12th to 13th centuries AD still echo in the language today. These are the scars it brought to the world. These scars are still alive."

"Sometimes what you are thinking about is not necessarily yourself, but a set of cultural symbols, a set of narrative patterns, and a set of discourse systems that you have accepted. These concepts infected by 'language' stir in your neurons. .it’s them that’s thinking.”

"I can say that our ancestors have never died. The spark of their souls is thinking in our brains through daily language habits. Language and culture have always connected us with our ancestors. This connection is always more important than Blood is stronger."

Xiang Shan grinned: "It sounds like the undead."

This statement was too idealistic and not to his liking.

"Who says it's not?" Ingrid shrugged: "In Saussure's divine realm, we have met those long-forgotten ancestors countless times. They may be gods and heroes, or they may be undead. "