人们总说短信的出现是一种灾难。 We always hear that texting is a scourge.
这么说的原因是短信降低了人们的读写能力， The idea is that texting spells the decline and fall
或者至少是书面表达能力， of any kind of serious literacy, or at least writing ability,
这个问题影响着美国青年人 among young people in the United States
今天也变成了全球问题。 and now the whole world today.
事实上，这个说法是错误的， The fact of the matter is that it just isn't true,
而且人们很容易信以为真， and it's easy to think that it is true,
但是为了换一个角度来看待它， but in order to see it in another way,
为了将短信看作是实际上不可思议的， in order to see that actually texting is a miraculous thing,
而且不只是充满活力的事，也是不可思议的事， not just energetic, but a miraculous thing,
是一个我们正在经历的 a kind of emergent complexity
一个紧迫而复杂事情， that we're seeing happening right now,
我们就得回过头 we have to pull the camera back for a bit
好好想想语言究竟是怎么一回事， and look at what language really is,
这么看的话，我们可以说 in which case, one thing that we see
短信其实根本就不是书面文字表达。 is that texting is not writing at all.
为什么这么说呢? What do I mean by that?
从根本上说，如果我们想到语言， Basically, if we think about language,
语言已经存在了大概15万年， language has existed for perhaps 150,000 years,
至少也有8万年了， at least 80,000 years,
首先出现的是语音。人们彼此交谈。 and what it arose as is speech. People talked.
这个大概就是出于我们人类的本能。 That's what we're probably genetically specified for.
大多数情况下，这就是我们如何使用语言的。 That's how we use language most.
文字是在这之后很晚才产生的， Writing is something that came along much later,
正如我们在上一个演讲所看到的， and as we saw in the last talk,
对于文字是何时出现的还是有些小小的争议， there's a little bit of controversy as to exactly when that happened,
但是根据传统估算， but according to traditional estimates,
如果人类文明存在了24个小时， if humanity had existed for 24 hours,
那么文字是在晚上11点07分时产生的。 then writing only came along at about 11:07 p.m.
大家可见文字是最近才出现的。 That's how much of a latterly thing writing is.
所以首先是语音，然后文字作为一种技巧 So first there's speech, and then writing comes along
出现了。 as a kind of artifice.
大家不要误会，文字写作确实有它自己的优势。 Now don't get me wrong, writing has certain advantages.
当你写字的时候，因为这是一个有意识的过程， When you write, because it's a conscious process,
因为你可以回顾过去， because you can look backwards,
你可以用书面语言来完成一些说话时 you can do things with language that are much less likely
不会表达的事情。 if you're just talking.
比如，让我们看看爱德华·吉本（英国历史学家）在 For example, imagine a passage from Edward Gibbon's
“罗马帝国衰亡史”一书中的一段（取自第二十四章）， "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire:"
“整个战争持续了至少12小时， "The whole engagement lasted above twelve hours,
直到波斯人纷纷仓皇溃退， till the graduate retreat of the Persians was changed
其中表现最可耻的是 into a disorderly flight, of which the shameful example
他们的指挥官们以及苏雷纳斯(最高统帅）本人。“ was given by the principal leaders and the Surenas himself."
写的真的很美，但是，说实话，没人这么说话。 That's beautiful, but let's face it, nobody talks that way.
或者至少，如果真感兴趣的话也不该这样重复。 Or at least, they shouldn't if they're interested
这－ in reproducing. That --
（笑声） (Laughter)
不是人们平常说话时候的样子。 is not the way any human being speaks casually.
日常对话是非常不同的。 Casual speech is something quite different.
语言学家实际上已经指出 Linguists have actually shown
当我们在轻松的对话时， that when we're speaking casually in an unmonitored way,
我们每句话会用大概 we tend to speak in word packets of maybe
7到10个字。 seven to 10 words.
你会注意到这点，如果你有机会录下来 You'll notice this if you ever have occasion to record
自己或者一组人说话。 yourself or a group of people talking.
这就是语言对话的形式。 That's what speech is like.
语言对话更松散。也更简洁得多。 Speech is much looser. It's much more telegraphic.
和书面文字表达非常不同，它少了思考性。 It's much less reflective -- very different from writing.
所以因为我们经常看到写出来的语言， So we naturally tend to think, because we see language
我们就很自然地认为，那就是语言， written so often, that that's what language is,
但实际上语言是言语对话。这是两个不同的事物。 but actually what language is, is speech. They are two things.
当然，随着历史的演进， Now of course, as history has gone by,
在言语对话和书面文字表达之间有些交集 it's been natural for there to be a certain amount of bleed
也是很自然的事情。 between speech and writing.
比如说，在以前一个遥远的时代， So, for example, in a distant era now,
当一个人作演讲，说起话来像在写作一样， it was common when one gave a speech
是很平常的事情。 to basically talk like writing.
我的意思是那种你在一部老电影里看到的演讲， So I mean the kind of speech that you see someone giving
人们会清一下喉咙，然后说： in an old movie where they clear their throat, and they go,
“啊喝，女士们，先生们，” "Ahem, ladies and gentlemen," and then they speak
然后，他们会用一种和现在说话完全不同的方式讲下去。 in a certain way which has nothing to do with casual speech.
这种讲话很正式。它使用像刚才吉本式的长句子。 It's formal. It uses long sentences like this Gibbon one.
基本上，它就是书面表达式的讲话，再比如， It's basically talking like you write, and so, for example,
我们这些天因为一部电影（《林肯》2012年） we're thinking so much these days about Lincoln
都在谈论林肯。 because of the movie.
葛底斯堡演说并不是影片的重点。 The Gettysburg Address was not the main meal of that event.
在这之前的两个小时，爱德华·埃弗里特的演讲， For two hours before that, Edward Everett spoke
说实话，没有办法打动现在的我们 on a topic that, frankly, cannot engage us today
而且当时也效果甚微。 and barely did then.
问题的关键是听他 The point of it was to listen to him
书面表达式的演讲。 speaking like writing.
普通人得站着听两个小时。 Ordinary people stood and listened to that for two hours.
这在当时是非常平常的事情。 It was perfectly natural.
这就是过去人们的演讲风格，正式得就像写作一样。 That's what people did then, speaking like writing.
那么，如果你可以说话像在写作， Well, if you can speak like writing,
很自然的你也许会想要 then logically it follows that you might want to also
有时进行说话式的书面表达。 sometimes write like you speak.
问题就在传输媒介上， The problem was just that in the material,
过去很难支持这种动手的表达活动， mechanical sense, that was harder back in the day
原因就在传输媒介无法满足这个需求。 for the simple reason that materials don't lend themselves to it.
用手写基本上是不可能的， It's almost impossible to do that with your hand
除了速记外，但这又局限了交流。 except in shorthand, and then communication is limited.
用手写打印机也非常困难， On a manual typewriter it was very difficult,
即使我们有了电子打印机， and even when we had electric typewriters,
或者电脑键盘，事实是 or then computer keyboards, the fact is
即便你可以轻松飞快的打字来跟得上说话的速度， that even if you can type easily enough to keep up
或多或少，你也需要你的谈话对象能 with the pace of speech, more or less, you have to have
快速的看到你的信息。 somebody who can receive your message quickly.
一但你在口袋里有了能接受这个信息的装置， Once you have things in your pocket that can receive that message,
你就有条件来 then you have the conditions that allow
像说话一样打字了。 that we can write like we speak.
这时短信就出现了。 And that's where texting comes in.
所以，短信在结构上非常松散。 And so, texting is very loose in its structure.
没有人在写短信的时候在乎大写字母或者标点， No one thinks about capital letters or punctuation when one texts,
话说回来，你在说话的时候也会想到这些东西吗？ but then again, do you think about those things when you talk?
不, 那么为什么要在写短信的时候这样做呢？ No, and so therefore why would you when you were texting?
除了与用手操作的书面文字表达有关外， What texting is, despite the fact that it involves
短信其实就是一种“指语”。 the brute mechanics of something that we call writing,
这就是短信。 is fingered speech. That's what texting is.
现在我们可以像说话一样打字。 Now we can write the way we talk.
这是非常有趣的事情， And it's a very interesting thing, but nevertheless
尽管人们很容易认为短信的出现象征着一种倒退。 easy to think that still it represents some sort of decline.
我们看到短信在结构上的松散， We see this general bagginess of the structure,
缺乏一定的规则， the lack of concern with rules and the way that we're used to
和我们习惯在黑板上学习的方式不同， learning on the blackboard, and so we think
我们就想当然的认为出问题了。 that something has gone wrong.
这么想也很自然。 It's a very natural sense.
但事实上，它其实是 But the fact of the matter is that what is going on
自然而然产生的，并具有一定的复杂性。 is a kind of emergent complexity.
这就是我们在这种“指语”上看到的。 That's what we're seeing in this fingered speech.
为了更好的理解它，我们想要看到的是， And in order to understand it, what we want to see
在这种新的“语言”中， is the way, in this new kind of language,
它其实是具有一种新的结构。 there is new structure coming up.
比如说，在短信里有这样一个习惯用语， And so, for example, there is in texting a convention,
就是LOL。 which is LOL.
我们通常认为LOL的意思是 Now LOL, we generally think of
“捧腹大笑”。 as meaning "laughing out loud."
当然，从理论上看，它确实是这个意思， And of course, theoretically, it does,
如果我们看看过去的一些短信， and if you look at older texts, then people used it
人们确实用它来表示笑的很开心。 to actually indicate laughing out loud.
但是对于现在的短信，或者 But if you text now, or if you are someone who
你很注意短信从根本上是怎么出现的， is aware of the substrate of texting the way it's become,
你就会注意到LOL you'll notice that LOL
不再意味着“捧腹大笑”了。 does not mean laughing out loud anymore.
它已演变成某种更微妙的东西。 It's evolved into something that is much subtler.
这是一段真实的短信对话 This is an actual text that was done
它是由一个20出头的姑娘 by a non-male person of about 20 years old
在前不久写的。 not too long ago.
第一句：“顺便说一句，我喜欢你用的字体。” "I love the font you're using, btw."
朱莉: "lol 谢谢 谷歌邮箱现在变得好慢" Julie: "lol thanks gmail is being slow right now"
如果大家想想看，这可不好笑。 Now if you think about it, that's not funny.
也没有人在笑。（笑声） No one's laughing. (Laughter)
但是，这个字（lol)却在那里， And yet, there it is, so you assume
你会认为这可能就是打错了。 there's been some kind of hiccup.
然后苏珊说“lol，我知道，” Then Susan says "lol, I know,"
再一次，真让人“捧腹大笑”。 again more guffawing than we're used to
这可不是我们一般遇上这样麻烦事的态度。 when you're talking about these inconveniences.
朱莉接着说，“我刚给你发了封邮件。” So Julie says, "I just sent you an email."
苏珊：“lol,我收到了。” Susan: "lol, I see it."
非常有趣的两个人，如果这是LOL的真实意思的话。 Very funny people, if that's what LOL means.
朱莉说，“最近怎么样？” This Julie says, "So what's up?"
苏珊：“lol,我得写一篇10页的作文。” Susan: "lol, I have to write a 10 page paper."
这么看的话，她可不开心。 She's not amused. Let's think about it.
LOL是以一种特别的方式被使用的。 LOL is being used in a very particular way.
它代表着感同身受，代表着某种无奈妥协。 It's a marker of empathy. It's a marker of accommodation.
我们语言学家称之为“口头禅”。 We linguists call things like that pragmatic particles.
任何口语都有这些词语。 Any spoken language that's used by real people has them.
如果你会说日语的话， If you happen to speak Japanese, think about
想想你在很多句子后面加上的那个“ne”字。 that little word "ne" that you use at the end of a lot of sentences.
如果你听现在的年轻黑人说话， If you listen to the way black youth today speak,
想想这个词“yo”的使用。 think about the use of the word "yo."
这都够写学术论文的了， Whole dissertations could be written about it,
说不定人们已经开始写了。 and probably are being written about it.
LOL已经逐渐演变成了一个口头禅。 A pragmatic particle, that's what LOL has gradually become.
这就是人们使用语言的一种方式。 It's a way of using the language between actual people.
另外一个例子是“slash.”（斜线符号） Another example is "slash."
看看这个句子，"我们要去一个派对 Now, we can use slash in the way that we're used to,
同时（slash)来扩展一下人脉" along the lines of, "We're going to have
slash这里连接派对和扩展人脉两个活动。 a party-slash-networking session."
我们通常这么使用这个字。 That's kind of like what we're at.
今天Slash这个字用在年轻人的短信里 Slash is used in a very different way
却有非常不同的意思。 in texting among young people today.
它被用来转换话题。 It's used to change the scene.
比如说，这个萨莉说， So for example, this Sally person says,
“我想找个伴儿来陪我” "So I need to find people to chill with"
然后，杰克说，“哈哈” － and Jake says, "Haha" --
你也可以写一篇关于“哈哈”的论文，但是我们没有时间聊它了 － you could write a dissertation about "Haha" too, but we don't have time for that —
“哈哈，所以你自己去？为什么？” "Haha so you're going by yourself? Why?"
萨莉说：”是今天夏天在纽约的项目。“ Sally: "For this summer program at NYU."
杰克：”哈哈。Slash（对了），我正在看这个视频， Jake: "Haha. Slash I'm watching this video with suns players
太阳队的球员正试着用一只眼投篮。“ trying to shoot with one eye."
这个Slash在这里很有趣。 The slash is interesting.
我都不知道杰克这之后到底在说些什么， I don't really even know what Jake is talking about after that,
但是大家注意到他在转换话题。 but you notice that he's changing the topic.
这看上去很平常， Now that seems kind of mundane,
但是想想我们的现实生活， but think about how in real life,
如果我们在谈话中想转换话题， if we're having a conversation and we want to change the topic,
有很多很好的方式。 there are ways of doing it gracefully.
你不会随便地单刀直入。 You don't just zip right into it.
你会拍拍大腿然后若有所思的看着远方， You'll pat your thighs and look wistfully off into the distance,
或者你会说，“嗯......”来假装你在思考着， or you'll say something like, "Hmm, makes you think --"
但实际上－ when it really didn't, but what you're really --
（笑声） － (Laughter) —
实际上你正在试图切换话题。 what you're really trying to do is change the topic.
你没有办法在短信里这么做， You can't do that while you're texting,
所以在这个交流媒介里产生了各种转换话题的方法。 and so ways are developing of doing it within this medium.
任何口语都有语言学家称作的 All spoken languages have what a linguist calls
一个或者两到三个的新信息标记词（话题转换词）。 a new information marker -- or two, or three.
短信用这个slash（斜线）作为一个新信息产生的标记。 Texting has developed one from this slash.
于是我们有了这些充满活力的新语言结构， So we have a whole battery of new constructions
然而人们还是很容易的认为， that are developing, and yet it's easy to think,
还是有问题。 well, something is still wrong.
它（短信）缺乏某种结构。 There's a lack of structure of some sort.
它不像华尔街日报上使用的语言 It's not as sophisticated
那么有深度。 as the language of The Wall Street Journal.
实际上， Well, the fact of the matter is,
看看这个人在1956年写的， look at this person in 1956,
那时短信还没有出现， and this is when texting doesn't exist,
“我爱露西”（美国50年代当红肥皂剧）还在热播。 "I Love Lucy" is still on the air.
“很多人都不会拼写字母或者背乘法口诀表，” "Many do not know the alphabet or multiplication table,
也不会按照语法写作－“ cannot write grammatically -- "
我们以前就听到这种抱怨， We've heard that sort of thing before,
并不仅仅在1956年。1917年，康涅狄格州的教师也这样。 not just in 1956. 1917, Connecticut schoolteacher.
1917年，这是我们都认为的 1917. This is the time when we all assume
写文章没的说的时代， that everything somehow in terms of writing was perfect
因为“唐顿庄园”（当时英国的热播剧） because the people on "Downton Abbey" are articulate,
里的人物各个都伶牙俐齿的。 or something like that.
然而，“整个国家里的每一所学院都应感到羞愧， So, "From every college in the country goes up the cry,
我们的新生不会拼写，也不会点标点。“ 'Our freshmen can't spell, can't punctuate.'"
诸如此类的言论。我们还可以再往前看。 And so on. You can go even further back than this.
这是1871年的哈佛大学校长。 It's the President of Harvard. It's 1871.
那个时代还没有电力。人们还都有三个名字。 There's no electricity. People have three names.
”糟糕的拼写， "Bad spelling,
不正确以及毫不优美的书面表达。“ incorrectness as well as inelegance of expression in writing."
他可是在说那些为了上大学 And he's talking about people who are otherwise
作了充分准备的人。 well prepared for college studies.
我们再往前看。 You can go even further back.
1841年，一个久违的督学官非常失望， 1841, some long-lost superintendent of schools is upset
因为他早已经注意到人们 because of what he has for a long time "noted with regret
“对文字本源的完全忽视”等等等等。 the almost entire neglect of the original" blah blah blah blah blah.
或者大家可以直接跳转回公元63年。 － （笑声） Or you can go all the way back to 63 A.D. -- (Laughter) --
有个可怜人不喜欢人们 and there's this poor man who doesn't like the way
说拉丁语的方式。 people are speaking Latin.
实际上，他正在控诉的是日后形成的法语。 As it happens, he was writing about what had become French.
所以，总有－（笑声）（掌声） － And so, there are always — (Laughter) (Applause) —
总会有人为这些事情担心 there are always people worrying about these things
但是地球似乎并没有因此停止旋转。 and the planet somehow seems to keep spinning.
所以，我对当今的短信的看法是 And so, the way I'm thinking of texting these days is
我们正在经历一种由年轻人发展出的 that what we're seeing is a whole new way of writing
新的书写方式， that young people are developing,
同时他们也在使用他们正常的书面表达写作技巧， which they're using alongside their ordinary writing skills,
这意味着他们可以两者兼修。 and that means that they're able to do two things.
补充证据就是拥有双语能力 Increasing evidence is that being bilingual
对认知的发展是有利的。 is cognitively beneficial.
这在精通两种方言上同样适用。 That's also true of being bidialectal.
如果你会用两种方言写作的话，这也是千真万确的。 That's certainly true of being bidialectal in terms of your writing.
所以短信实际上是一个平衡之举的佐证 And so texting actually is evidence of a balancing act
当然，年轻人们是在无意识的这样使用短信的， that young people are using today, not consciously, of course,
但这是他们语言能力的一种扩展。 but it's an expansion of their linguistic repertoire.
非常简单。 It's very simple.
如果一个1973年的人 If somebody from 1973 looked at
看着1993年一个学生宿舍信息栏， what was on a dormitory message board in 1993,
俚语等习惯用语 the slang would have changed a little bit
会跟“爱情故事”（70年代美国热播剧）时代有些不同， since the era of "Love Story,"
但是他们会看明白那个信息栏上的内容。 but they would understand what was on that message board.
我们让1993年的那个人－这可不算太久远， Take that person from 1993 -- not that long ago,
那还是“比尔和泰德历险记”（1989年美国电影）时代， this is "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" -- those people.
我们让这些人读 Take those people and they read
现在20岁年轻人写的一段短信。 a very typical text written by a 20-year-old today.
他们应该通常连一半的内容都猜不出来 Often they would have no idea what half of it meant
因为我们的年轻人已经发展出了一种 because a whole new language has developed
新的语言，它是通过在孩子们的 among our young people doing something as mundane
小设备上的看似平常的敲敲打打 as what it looks like to us when they're batting around
中演变出来的。 on their little devices.
总结一下，如果我可以穿越到未来， So in closing, if I could go into the future,
如果我去到2033年， if I could go into 2033,
我会问的第一个问题就是大卫·西蒙拍没拍 the first thing I would ask is whether David Simon
“火线”（美国HBO剧集）的续集。 had done a sequel to "The Wire." I would want to know.
我真的会问这个的 And — I really would ask that —
我还会想知道“唐顿庄园”到底发生了什么。 and then I'd want to know actually what was going on on "Downton Abbey."
这是第二个问题。 That'd be the second thing.
第三个问题就是， And then the third thing would be,
请给我一叠16岁姑娘们 please show me a sheaf of texts
写的短信， written by 16-year-old girls,
因为我想知道这个语言 because I would want to know where this language
已经发展成什么样子了， had developed since our times,
更好的就是我可以把这些短信发给现在的大家和我 and ideally I would then send them back to you and me now
我们就可以研究研究这个当下正在发生着的 so we could examine this linguistic miracle
语言奇迹。 happening right under our noses.
非常感谢。 Thank you very much.
（掌声） (Applause)
谢谢大家。 （掌声） Thank you. (Applause)