音乐是人类共同的“语言”，但是不同地方的音乐，其风格也不一样。最近科学家发现，来自不同文化的音乐，还是有着很多共通之处。
Humans may share a 'musical grammar'
by Theresa Machemer
No matter where you are, a bop is a bop. Whether a melody makes people get up and dance, soothes（抚慰） their sadness, fall in love, or lull（使放松） them to sleep, similar rhythms and tones make music a universal language, as the saying goes. Now, there might be science to back it up.
bop /bɒp/ n. 随着音乐起舞
melody /ˈmelədi/ n. 旋律
sadness /ˈsædnəs/ n. 悲伤、难过（由sad加后缀-ness变成名词）
rhythm /ˈrɪð(ə)m/ n. 节奏、韵律
tone /təʊn/ n. 音调
universal /ˌjuːnɪˈvɜːs(ə)l/ adj. 普遍存在的、广泛使用的
saying /ˈseɪɪŋ/ n. 格言、谚语
back something up 证明某事、证实某事
A team of researchers find that not only is music universal but also that similar songs are used in similar contexts around the world, according to a study published in the journal Science.
researcher /rɪˈsɜːtʃə(r)/ n. 研究者（由research加上表示人的后缀-er）
context /ˈkɒntekst/ n. 情境、背景
publish /ˈpʌblɪʃ/ v. 发表
journal /ˈdʒɜːn(ə)l/ n. 期刊
To better understand the similarities in music that could provide insight into its biological roots, the researchers focused on music with lyrics. They started by looking at ethnographic（民族学的） descriptions of music in 315 cultures worldwide, all of which featured vocal music, before analyzing musical recordings from 60 well-documented cultures.
similarity /ˌsɪmɪˈlærəti/ n. 相似、相似性（由similar加后缀-ity变成名词）
insight /ˈɪnsaɪt/ n. 洞见、深刻理解
biological /ˌbaɪəˈlɒdʒɪk(ə)l/ adj. 生物的（由biology加后缀-ical变成形容词）
roots /ruːts/ n. 根源
focus on 聚焦于、专注于
lyrics /ˈlɪrɪks/ n. 歌词
worldwide /ˌwɜːldˈwaɪd/ adv. 世界范围地、全世界地
feature /ˈfiːtʃə(r)/ v. 以…为特征
vocal /ˈvəʊk(ə)l/ adj. 人声的、唱歌的
analyze /ˈæn(ə)laɪz/ v. 分析
document /ˈdɒkjument/ v. 详细记录
The team used a combination of methods – including machine learning, expert musicologists（音乐学家） and 30,000 amateur listeners from the United States and India – to analyze a public database of music.
combination /ˌkɒmbɪˈneɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 组合（由combine加后缀-ation变成名词）
amateur /ˈæmətə(r)/ adj. 业余的
listener /ˈlɪs(ə)nə(r)/ n. 听者（由listen加上表示人的后缀-er）
database /ˈdeɪtəbeɪs/ n. 数据库
In one part of the study, online amateur listeners were asked to categorize random music samples as lullabies（催眠曲）, dance songs, healing songs, or love songs. Dance songs were the easiest to catch. In other parts of the study, the music samples were annotated（批注） by listeners and transcribed（转写） into a musical staff, which is a form of musical notation（符号系统） in Western cultures. When this data was fed to a computer, it was able to tell different kinds of songs apart at least two-thirds of the time.
categorize /ˈkætəɡ(ə)raɪz/ v. 分类、归类（由category加后缀-ize变成动词）
random /ˈrændəm/ adj. 随机的
sample /ˈsɑːmp(ə)l/ n. 样本
heal /hiːl/ v. 治愈
staff /stɑːf/ n. 五线谱
form /fɔːm/ n. 形式
data /ˈdeɪtə/ n. 数据
feed /fiːd/ v. 把…放进机器
tell apart 分辨
Basically, the team found that humans share a "musical grammar," explains the study's lead author Samuel Mehr, a psychologist at Harvard University. "Music is built from similar, simple building blocks the world over," he says.
basically /ˈbeɪsɪk(ə)li/ adv. 基本上、本质上（由basic加后缀-ally变成副词）
grammar /ˈɡræmə(r)/ n. 语法
psychologist /saɪˈkɒlədʒɪst/ n. 心理学家（由psychology加上表示人的后缀-ist）
building block 组成部分
the world over 遍及全世界
"Music is something that has bedeviled（困扰） anthropologists（人类学家） and biologists since Darwin," says Luke Glowacki, an anthropologist at Pennsylvania State University and a co-author on the paper. "If there were no underlying principles of the human mind, there would not be these regularities."
biologist /baɪˈɒlədʒɪst/ n. 生物学家（由biology加上表示人的后缀-ist）
Darwin 达尔文（进化论的奠基人）
co- 前缀，意思是共同
paper /ˈpeɪpə(r)/ n. 论文
underlying /ˌʌndəˈlaɪɪŋ/ adj. 隐含的、潜藏的
principle /ˈprɪnsəp(ə)l/ n. 原理、法则
regularity /ˌreɡjuˈlærəti/ n. 规律性、规则性（由regular加后缀-ity变成名词）
Critics have questioned the use of machine learning algorithms（算法） and Western notation because of the biases that come with both. Ethnomusicologist（民族音乐学家） Elizabeth Tolbert of John Hopkins' Peabody Institute, who wasn't involved in the study, says that the research team "may be over-interpreting their results" by searching for common patterns in such a diverse variety of music.
critic /ˈkrɪtɪk/ n. 批评者、反对者
question /ˈkwestʃən/ v. 质疑
bias /ˈbaɪəs/ n. 偏向
over- 前缀，表示过度
interpret /ɪnˈtɜːprɪt/ v. 解读
pattern /ˈpæt(ə)n/ n. 模式
diverse /daɪˈvɜːs/ adj. 多样性的
Co-author Manvir Singh, a cognitive and evolutionary anthropologist at Harvard University, says that the music database is open-access. "We'd be glad for anyone to test our conclusions using an alternative method," he says.
cognitive /ˈkɒɡnətɪv/ adj. 认知的
evolutionary /ˌiːvəˈluːʃ(ə)n(ə)ri/ adj. 进化的（由evolution加后缀-ary变成形容词）
open-access 指公开给所有人访问的
conclusion /kənˈkluːʒ(ə)n/ n. 结论
alternative /ɒlˈtɜːnətɪv/ adj. 可供选择的、可替代的
（如果您发现某些行的最后一个单词被分成两半了，请把您使用的浏览器升级到最新版本就能正常显示了。）
网友评论