第1段

La Gomera is one of the Canary Islands situated in the Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of Africa. This small volcanic island is mountainous, with steep rocky slopes and deep, wooded ravines, rising to 1,487 metres at its highest peak. It is also home to the best known of the world’s whistle ‘languages’, a means of transmitting information over long distances which is perfectly adapted to the extreme terrain of the island.

第1段：

拉戈梅拉是加那利群岛中的一座小岛，位于非洲西北海岸的大西洋上。这个小火山岛山势陡峭，岩石斜坡陡峭，深谷茂密，最高峰海拔1,487米。它也是世界上著名的口哨“语言”之一，是一种适应该岛极端地形的远距离信息传递方式。

第2段

This ‘language’, known as ‘Silbo’ or ‘Silbo Gomero’ – from the Spanish word for ‘whistle’- is now shedding light on the language-processing abilities of the human brain, according to scientists. Researchers say that Silbo activates parts of the brain normally associated with spoken language, suggesting that the brain is remarkably flexible in its ability to interpret sounds as language.
 

第2段：

据科学家称，这种被称为“西尔博”或“西尔博·戈梅罗”的“语言”现在正在揭示出人脑的语言处理能力。研究人员表示，西尔博激活了通常与口语相关联的大脑部分，这表明大脑在将声音解读为语言方面具有非凡的灵活性。

第3段

‘Science has developed the idea of brain areas that are dedicated to language, and we are starting to understand the scope of signals that can be recognised as language,’ says David Corina, co-author of a recent study and associate professor of psychology at the University of Washington in Seattle.

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华盛顿大学西雅图分校心理学副教授、最近一项研究的合著者大卫·科里纳表示：“科学已经发展出了一种关于专门用于语言的脑区的想法，我们开始了解到可以被识别为语言的信号的范围。

第4段

Silbo is a substitute for Spanish, with individual words recoded into whistles which have high- and low-frequency tones. A whistler – or silbador – puts a finger in his or her mouth to increase the whistle’s pitch, while the other hand can be cupped to adjust the direction of the sound. ‘There is much more ambiguity in the whistled signal than in the spoken signal’, explains lead researcher Manuel Carreiras, psychology professor at the University of La Laguna on the Canary island of Tenerife. Because whistled ‘words’ can be hard to distinguish, silbadores rely on repetition, as well as awareness of context, to make themselves understood.

第4段：

西尔博是西班牙语的替代品，将个别单词重新编码为具有高频和低频音调的口哨声。吹口哨者（或称为西尔巴多）用手指放在嘴里以提高口哨的音调，而另一只手可以捂住以调整声音的方向。研究负责人、坐落在特内里费岛拉鲁纳加那利群岛大学的心理学教授曼努埃尔·卡雷拉斯解释说：“与口语信号相比，口哨信号中存在着更多的歧义”。因为口哨“词”很难区分，吹口哨者依赖重复以及对语境的意识来使自己被理解。

第5段

The silbadores of Gomera are traditionally shepherds and other isolated mountain folk, and their novel means of staying in touch allows them to communicate over distances of up to 10 kilometres. Carreiras explains that silbadores are able to pass a surprising amount of information via their whistles. ‘In daily life they use whistles to communicate short commands, but any Spanish sentence could be whistled.’ Silbo has proved particularly useful when fires have occurred on the island and rapid communication across large areas has been vital.

第5段：

戈梅拉的吹口哨者传统上是牧羊人和其他与世隔绝的山区居民，他们创新的沟通方式使他们能够在最长10公里的距离内进行交流。卡雷拉斯解释说，吹口哨者能够通过他们的口哨声传递出令人惊讶的大量信息。他说：“在日常生活中，他们使用口哨来传达简短的命令，但任何西班牙语句子都可以通过口哨传达。” Silbo在岛上发生火灾时尤其有用，快速在大面积范围内进行沟通至关重要。

第6段

The study team used neuroimaging equipment to contrast the brain activity of silbadores while listening to whistled and spoken Spanish. Results showed the left temporal lobe of the brain, which is usually associated with spoken language, was engaged during the processing of Silbo. The researchers found that other key regions in the brain’s frontal lobe also responded to the whistles, including those activated in response to sign language among deaf people. When the experiments were repeated with non-whistlers, however, activation was observed in all areas of the brain.

第6段：

研究团队使用神经影像设备对吹口哨者在听口哨和口语西班牙语时的大脑活动进行对比。结果显示，大脑的左颞叶（通常与口语相关联）在处理西尔博时被激活。研究人员发现，大脑额叶的其他关键区域也对口哨声做出了反应，包括对聋人手语的反应。然而，当实验被重复进行，非吹口哨者的大脑中观察到了所有区域的激活。

第7段

‘Our results provide more evidence about the flexibility of human capacity for language in a variety of forms,’ Corina says. ‘These data suggest that left-hemisphere language regions are uniquely adapted for communicative purposes, independent of the modality of signal. The non- Silbo speakers were not recognising Silbo as a language. They had nothing to grab onto, so multiple areas of their brains were activated.’

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科里纳说：“我们的结果提供了关于人类多样形式语言灵活能力的更多证据。这些数据表明，左半球语言区域在传达目的上是独特适应的，与信号的形式无关。非吹口哨者无法将西尔博识别为一种语言。他们没有任何依据，所以他们大脑的多个区域被激活。”

第8段

Carreiras says the origins of Silbo Gomero remain obscure, but that indigenous Canary Islanders, who were of North African origin, already had a whistled language when Spain conquered the volcanic islands in the 15th century. Whistled languages survive today in Papua New Guinea, Mexico, Vietnam, Guyana, China, Nepal, Senegal, and a few mountainous pockets in southern Europe. There are thought to be as many as 70 whistled languages still in use, though only 12 have been described and studied scientifically. This form of communication is an adaptation found among cultures where people are often isolated from each other, according to Julien Meyer, a researcher at the Institute of Human Sciences in Lyon, France. ‘They are mostly used in mountains or dense forests, ‘ he says. ‘Whistled languages are quite clearly defined and represent an original adaptation of the spoken language for the needs of isolated human groups.”

第8段：

卡雷拉斯表示，西尔博·戈梅罗的起源仍然不明确，但在西班牙在15世纪征服这些火山岛之前，北非起源的嘉纳利群岛土著已经有了一种口哨语言。口哨语言如今在巴布亚新几内亚、墨西哥、越南、圭亚那、中国、尼泊尔、塞内加尔以及南欧的一些山区小范围内仍然存在。据估计，仍有多达70种口哨语言在使用中，尽管仅有12种口哨语言得到了科学描述和研究。法国里昂人类科学研究所的研究员朱利安·梅耶表示，这种沟通形式是一种适应那些经常相互隔离的人群的文化遗产。“它们主要用于山区或茂密森林中，”他说。“口哨语言非常明确，并代表了被隔绝的人群对口语的原创性适应。”

第9段

But with modern communication technology now widely available, researchers say whistled languages like Silbo are threatened with extinction. With dwindling numbers of Gomera islanders still fluent in the language, Canaries’ authorities are taking steps to try to ensure its survival. Since 1999, Silbo Gomero has been taught in all of the island’s elementary schools. In addition, locals are seeking assistance from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). ‘The local authorities are trying to get an award from the organisation to declare [Silbo Gomero] as something that should be preserved for humanity,’ Carreiras adds.

第9段：

然而，随着现代通讯技术的广泛普及，研究人员表示，像西尔博这样的口哨语言正面临灭绝的威胁。由于流利掌握该语言的戈梅拉岛居民人数不断减少，加那利群岛的当局正在采取措施以确保其生存。自1999年以来，西尔博·戈梅罗已经在该岛的所有小学中教授。此外，当地人还在寻求联合国教科文组织的帮助。卡雷拉斯补充说：“当地当局正试图获得联合国教科文组织的奖项，以宣布（西尔博·戈梅罗）作为应该为人类所保护的东西。”