人類語言起源於非洲!?
Using sophisticated analysis of hundreds of languages, the researchers have managed to trace back their beginnings to the same place and the same time. 在對於近百種語言做了複雜的分析之後，這些語言的開端被研究者們追溯到了同一個地方的同一時期。
They now believe that language may have been one of the "tools" that boosted humanity and led to the colonisation of the whole planet. 現在他們相信，語言也許已經成爲人類發展以及整個地球殖民化的工具之一。
"We think that this language was a stepping stone in civilisation which led to better co-ordination and co-operation that might have led us to expand," said Dr Quentin Atkinson, at the University of Auckland and Oxford University. Atkinson博士在奧克蘭大學、牛津大學說：“我們認爲，這種語言是文明中的一個進身之階，它引導我們更好的去協調、合作以及發展。”
"It could have also led to competition that would have given us a push." 它可能也已經導致了競爭，但正是這競爭，爲我們的發展助了一臂之力。
Dr Atkinson analysed 504 languages to see how many phonemes – particular sounds – they contained. Atkinson博士分析了504種語言以得出它們包含了多少的音素-特殊的聲音。
To his surprise he found a direct correlation between the age of the civilisation and the number of phonemes in its language. 他驚奇的發現，一個文明它歷史的悠久度以及其語言中所包含的音素數量之間有着一個直接的聯繫。
So while many African languages had more than 100 phonemes, Hawaiian language had as few as 13. English, French and German had about 45 each. 所以，許多非洲語言有100多種音素，夏威夷語言只有13種，而英語、法語以及德語各自有大致45種音素。
The analysis, which used the World Atlas of Language Structure as the main resource, relies on the theory that older civilisations have picked up more linguistic diversity as they age – from genes to language. 以語言結構的世界地圖集爲主要來源的分析是以這樣一個理論爲基礎的：古老文明隨着時間的推移，從基因到語言積累到的更多的語言多樣性。
It then used this to extrapolate back the origins of language to Africa. 由此推斷出語言的發源地爲非洲。
It pinpointed the time as around 150,000 years ago as this was when cave art – one of the earliest forms of communication – began. 此研究指出，發源時間爲15萬年以前，因爲此時正是洞穴藝術，也就是最早的交流方式開始的時間。
It is thought that early man then left Africa around 80,000 years go – taking with him some of the diversification but not all of it. 研究認爲，非洲的早期人類在大約8萬年前離開非洲，並帶走了一部分的語言。
In general, the areas of the globe that were most recently colonised incorporate fewer phonemes into the local languages whereas the areas that have hosted human life for millennia still use the most phonemes, the report concluded. 報道總結指出，一般而言，那些最近被殖民的地區更少的將語素併入到當地語言中，然而，在那些人類存在了幾千年的地方，最多的語素仍在被運用着。
"The evidence suggests that there was a single origin of language rather than a number that happened independently," said Dr Atkinson. Atkinson博士說：這些證據暗示了我們，語言的源頭只有一個，而不是各自獨立發展的。
"I was pretty surprised." 我感到非常的驚訝。
The research is published in the journal Science. 此研究發表於科學雜誌上。
