"Mother tongue" is not a coincidental phrase - people have long imagined that the close bond between mother and child meant that children acquire language from their mothers, not their fathers.

But a new study has found that the opposite may be true - and the reason is often down to violent invasion.

Scientists investigated male and female genetic markers from several thousand communities to study patterns of prehistoric language transmission.

They found that what language is spoken by a community largely depends on the arrival of men, whether through the migration of pioneering farmers or military invasion.

"When the parents have different linguistic backgrounds, it may often be the language of the father which is dominant within the family group." Prof Renfrew and Cambridge colleague Dr Peter Forster reported their findings in the journal Science.

One of the most striking examples of the pattern was evident in New Guinea, said the scientists. In prehistoric times, colonising Polynesians encountered resident Melanesians in New Guinea and the neighbouring Admiralty islands. Today, the New Guinea coast contains pockets of Polynesian-speaking regions separated by areas where Melanesian is spoken.

Dr Forster said: "Whether in European, Indian, Chinese or other languages, the expression 'mother tongue' and its concept is firmly embedded in popular imagination - perhaps this is the reason why for so many years the role of fathers, or more likely, specific groups of successful males, in determining prehistoric language switches has not been recognised by geneticists."



据英国《每日邮报》9月20日报道，"母语"并不是一个偶然出现的短语组合--人们长久以来都认为母亲和孩子之间紧密的联系意味着孩子的语言得自母亲，而并非父亲。


但是一个新的调查研究表明，结果也许正好相反--而原因通常可追究到暴力入侵。

科学家调查了数千个群落中男女的遗传标记，用以研究史前语言传输的模式。


他们发现一个群落说什么样的语言很大程度上取决于男人的进驻，无论这些人是移居的垦荒农民还是军事入侵者。

"当父母双方具有不同的语言背景时，通常父亲的语言会在家庭中占据主导地位。"兰菲教授和他在剑桥的同事彼得•福斯特博士在《科学》杂志上报道了他们的这一发现。


科学家们说，这种模式最突出的例证之一显然是在新几内亚。在史前时代，殖民者波利尼西亚人在新几内亚和邻近的金钟岛遭遇了原著民美拉尼西亚人。现如今，新几内亚海岸存在着部分被美拉尼西亚语区分割开来的波利尼西亚语区。



福斯特博士说："无论是在欧洲语言、印度语、汉语还是其他语言中，'母语'这一表达和它的概念都深深根植于人们通常的想象中--也许这就是为什么这么多年以来，父亲的角色，或者更确切的说是特定的成功男性群体，在史前语言转换的决定性作用一直没有被遗传学家所认可的原因。"

• phrase [freiz] n.短语；词组；措词 (初中英语单词)
• acquire [ə´kwaiə] vt.求得，获得，学得 (初中英语单词)
• violent [´vaiələnt] a.强暴的；猛烈的 (初中英语单词)
• female [´fi:meil] a.女(性)的 n.女人 (初中英语单词)
• spoken [´spəukən] speak的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
• arrival [ə´raivəl] n.到达；到达的人(物) (初中英语单词)
• journal [´dʒə:nəl] n.日记；日报；杂志 (初中英语单词)
• striking [´straikiŋ] a.显著的，明显的 (初中英语单词)
• evident [´evidənt] a.明显的，明白的 (初中英语单词)
• european [juərə´pi:ən] a.欧洲的 n.欧洲人 (初中英语单词)
• indian [´indiən] a.印度的 n.印度人 (初中英语单词)
• concept [´kɔnsept] n.概念；观念；思想 (初中英语单词)
• firmly [´fə:mli] ad.坚固地，稳定地 (初中英语单词)
• imagination [i,mædʒi´neiʃən] n.想象(力) (初中英语单词)
• community [kə´mju:niti] n.团体；社区；公众 (高中英语单词)
• invasion [in´veiʒən] n.入侵；侵害；侵犯 (高中英语单词)
• linguistic [liŋ´gwistik] a.语言的；语言学的 (高中英语单词)
• cambridge [´keimbridʒ] n.剑桥 (高中英语单词)
• resident [´rezidənt] a.居住的 n.居民 (高中英语单词)
• specific [spi´sifik] a.具体的；特有的 (高中英语单词)
• migration [mai´greiʃən] n.迁移；移居 (英语四级单词)
• dominant [´dɔminənt] a.统治的；占优势的 (英语四级单词)
• colleague [´kɔli:g] n.同事，同僚 (英语四级单词)
• prehistoric [,pri:hi´stɔrik] a.史前的 (英语六级单词)
• transmission [trænz´miʃən, træns-] n.传送；播送；发射 (英语六级单词)
• guinea [´gini] n.几尼(英国旧金币) (英语六级单词)