易麗君

關(guān)于《阿凡達》中納美人講的納美語的來源,大家至今還不太清楚。本期我們將一起揭開納美語的誕生之迷。詹姆斯?卡梅隆(James Cameron)為提升《阿凡達》故事的真實性,找到了語言學(xué)家,專為納美人創(chuàng)造了一種自己的語言。南加州大學(xué)的語言學(xué)教授保羅?弗朗莫(Paul Frommer)就是創(chuàng)造納美語的人。

The linguistics expert(語言學(xué)專家) from the University of Southern California(南加州) is the brains behind the language used by James Camerons 10-foot-tall alien tribe(外星人部落) in the much-anticipated science fiction epic(科幻小說史詩), Avatar.

南加州大學(xué)的語言學(xué)專家是詹姆斯?卡梅隆導(dǎo)演的科幻小說史詩《阿凡達》中的十英尺高的外星人語言的創(chuàng)造者。

“James Camerons production department(制作部門) at Lightstorm Entertainment was looking for a linguist(語言學(xué)家) that would be able to help him develop an alien language,” explains Professor Frommer.

“在Lightstorm工作室,詹姆斯?卡梅隆的制作部門正在尋找可以幫助他開發(fā)外星人語言的語言學(xué)家?！备ダ誓淌谡f道。

“At that time, it wasnt even called Avatar—it was Project(計劃) 880—but the e-mail was forwarded(發(fā)送) to me and I saw it and jumped on it. I was very excited about it. A week or two later, I was called in for a talk.”

“那時,這部電影還不叫《阿凡達》——而叫Project 880。我收到了卡梅隆Lightstorm 工作室的郵件,看了后,我感到非常興奮。一兩個星期后,我被他們邀請過來一起談?wù)摯耸??！?/p>

The language enthusiast(愛好者) managed to persuade Cameron that he was the man to create a functioning language for a story the director had dreamt up a decade earlier.

這位語言愛好者極力勸說卡梅隆他是能為這個故事創(chuàng)造功能語言的最佳人選,而且這也是導(dǎo)演十年以來的愿望。

“I spent wonderful 90 minutes with Jim and at the end of it he shook my hand and said‘welcome aboard” says Professor Frommer.

“我和吉姆暢談了一個半小時后,導(dǎo)演握著我的手說道‘歡迎加入”,弗拉莫教授說。

The pair worked together for four years to develop the Navi language(納美語). The director had already come up with about thirty words, for the characters names and body parts. But he was looking to the professor to give the language an authentic(真實的) but exotic feel(異星球情調(diào)). Whats more, it had to be a language that could be articulated(可說).

此后,弗朗莫教授和卡梅隆花了四年時間一起開發(fā)納美語。導(dǎo)演在創(chuàng)意之初,腦中就已經(jīng)有了大約三十個納美語單詞的設(shè)想,弗朗莫將其擴展出一套完整的語言,聽起來即有異星球情調(diào),又有真實感,還可讀可記。

“This is an alien language but obviously(明顯地) it has to be spoken by human actors,” explains Professor Frommer. “It has to be sounds that human beings(人類) are comfortable(舒服的) producing.”

弗朗莫教授解釋道:“雖然這是一種外星語言,但仍然需要人類演員來演繹,因此必須要容易發(fā)音?！?/p>

It is an unique(獨特的) language, with its own syntactic(句法) and grammatical(語法) rules. Its creator says some of Camerons original(最初的) words had “a vaguely(模糊地) Polynesian(波尼西亞) feel”. Others have suggested that it sounds like German(德語) or Japanese.

納美語有自己獨特的句法和語法,創(chuàng)造者說最初的那些單詞聽起來有點波利尼西亞語的感覺,也有人覺得它們聽起來像德語或日語。

As well as creating the language, Professor Frommer taught the actors how to speak it.“I met with each of the seven principal(主要的) actors who use the language beforehand(事先). I helped them with the pronunciation(發(fā)音).”“I also created some sound files, MP3 files. I guess some of them downloaded them onto their iPods so they could listen to them at the gym.”

在影片拍攝的過程中,弗朗莫一直在攝制組中,教扮演外星人的7位主要演員講納美語。他還將發(fā)音錄成MP3文件,讓演員們可以在閑暇時邊聽邊學(xué)。

The language currently runs to about a thousand words. It does not have a huge vocabulary, but Professor Frommer is still working at it. He is also still trying to master his own language.

截至目前,納美語大約有1000個單詞,詞匯量不是很大,全球能夠掌握其語法的人只有弗朗莫一人,而且就算他本人也仍然在學(xué)習(xí)如何更流暢地說納美語。

“I wish I could speak it fluently,” he says. “As for who at this point understands the grammar and such, I think probably Im the only one. I wish that eventually that might not be the case.”

他說:“我希望我能流暢地說納美語。”“如果說誰能懂納美語的語法,我想我可能是唯一的一個。我希望最終這種語言能夠發(fā)揚光大。”

In fact, one day, Professor Frommer hopes Navi will match Klingon(克林貢語), as the “gold standard” alien language.

事實上,弗朗莫教授希望納美語能夠比拼“克林貢語”(《星際迷航》中的外星語言,也是除了世界語之外最完善的人造語言,甚至Google搜索都有克林貢語版本。)

“Theres a translation of Hamlet into Klingon,” says Professor Frommer. “There are Klingon clubs that meet all over the world. “If anything happened like this with Navi, Id be delighted.”

弗朗莫教授稱:“你可以找到克林貢語譯本的《哈姆雷特》”?！叭蛞灿写罅康目肆重曊Z俱樂部。而且如果納美語也能發(fā)展成這樣,我肯定會非常高興?！?/p>