英语话题写作:How Do You Actually Understand Language

编者按：在英语写作中，常出现关于语言的写作，不同国家的语言是不同的，同一个国家也有不同的语种，我们来看一看用英语怎么理解语言吧。

Blocko: Beep Boop Bop, Zero Zero One Zero One.

Oh, my bad.

I meant to say, “Hey there, welcome to Life Noggin.”

Isn’t it awesome that you can hear, see, and feel words, and get an understanding of what someone is trying to tell you? I love words, especially ones like soliloquy, kumquat, Ronkonkoma. Words are just a part of this wonderful thing called language and I’m super curious where language comes from in the brain. We’re gonna find out with the help of my good friend, Reina Scully.

Reina Scully: Hello!

Blocko: First off, what is language?

Language is the expression of human communication through which things like beliefs, behaviors, and knowledge can be shared, explained, or experienced. It’s based on a system of conventionally-used signs, sounds, gesture, or marks that can convey meaning within some sort of group or community. As such, language is a little different from speech, which is more simply just a verbal means of communication.

Reina Scully: But, where does language come from in the brain? To help us figure it out, let’s look at what happens when you hear a word and want to say it yourself.

Generally, to speak the heard word, the information must first get to your primary auditory cortex. Your posterior speech area comes into play, including Wernicke’s area, which we’ll talk about more later. The information travels to Broca’s area and eventually ends up in your motor cortex so you can say the word yourself.

It’s similar for speaking a word that you read, but your primary visual cortex is involved. Wernicke’s area seems to be super important to your comprehension of sounds and language, as damage to it can lead to something called Wernicke’s aphasia, where a person can lose the ability to understand language. They can often still speak clearly, but what they say is often confusing and empty of content. This is typically referred to as “word salad”.

Blocko: Broca’s area seems important to language as well, but more so on the end of generating articulate speech. When it’s damaged, it can lead to Broca’s aphasia, which can make it harder for a person to speak. They can typically still comprehend language, but have difficulty replying in ways that are coherent or grammatically correct.

Beyond these parts of the brain, language might also have something to do with a gene called FOXP2. This gene appears to be essential for the development of the speech and language regions in your brain and it seems to influence language development. Mutations in this gene can even lead to language and speech disorders.

Reina Scully: And to all my bilingual friends out there, I’ve got some pretty cool news for you. A recent study found that language shapes how the brain perceives time and that people who speak two languages fluently can think about time differently depending on the language context. It’s evidence on how language can creep into our senses. What language you speak might also have an impact of what’s going on inside your brain.

For instance, some believe that speakers of Japanese think differently than other languages, particularly more Western ones. However, if true, it seems a little unclear if the potential differences are due to the languages themselves or more so due to culture.

Blocko: It sure is interesting how many different languages there are in the world! Let me know the ones you know down in the comment section below! Bonus points if you can speak robot.

Reina Scully: Or Japanese!

Blocko: Make sure you check out Reina’s channel on YouTube! Not only is she an amazing friend of mine, but she makes incredible videos about Japanese culture and all the events going on in her life. So if wanna watch more, check out Reina’s channel, and tell her Blocko sent you!

As always, my name is Blocko. This has been Life Noggin. Don’t forget to keep on thinking!

公众号：英语学习