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I’m going to pause here. For those of you who aren’t familiar with historical linguistics, it’s a little like archaeology.
我要在这里暂停一下。对于那些不熟悉历史语言学的人来说，这有点像考古学。
But instead of excavating through dirt, a linguist separates layers of a language to uncover the different stages of evolution. And that’s what Anvita decided she was going to do.
但语言学家不是在泥土中挖掘，而是将语言进行分层，揭示语言演变的不同阶段。这就是安维塔决定要做的事情。
Subseqently, I reached the Andaman Islands with—fully equipped with my gear for deciding, deciphering the, you know, the unknown language in 2005.
后来，为了破译这种未知的语言，我在2005年带着全套装备到达了安达曼群岛。
She stayed with people she had met, including Nao Junior, and collected more than 150 Great Andamanese names for different fish species and 109 for birds.
包括奈绪·朱尼尔在内的一些她遇到的人陪伴着她，收集了150多个不同鱼类的大安达曼语名称和109个不同鸟类的大安达曼语名称。
But Anvita still couldn’t understand the grammar and the linguistic structure of this language family.
但安维塔仍然无法理解这个语系的语法和语言结构。
It was unlike anything she had ever encountered before.
这和她以前遇到的任何语言都不一样。
So British officials, while figuring out that the Andamanese languages were a little bit like chain links, in that neighboring tribes could understand each other, had also failed to understand it.
英国官员虽然发现安达曼人的语言有点像环链结构，邻近部落的人们可以相互理解，但英国官员也没能理解这种语言。
This fancy comparative lexicon published by a British military administrator in 1887 didn’t help, either.
一位英国军事管理人员在1887年出版的这本复杂的比较词典也没有帮助。
Then Abbi had what she thought was an innocuous conversation with Nao Junior.
安维塔·阿比与奈绪·朱尼尔进行了一场她认为无伤大雅的谈话。
I asked him to tell me the word for blood.
我让他告诉我血液这个词语。
He looked at me as if I were an utter fool..., but I resisted.
他看着我，好像我是个十足的傻瓜，但我进行反抗。
He said, “Tell me where it is coming from.”
他说：“告诉我血液是从哪里来的。”
I replied, “From nowhere,” because I just wanted the word, meaning just one word: blood.
我回答：“不知从何而来。”因为我只想要表达血液这个意思的词语。
He got irritated. And he repeated his sentence.
他被激怒了。他又重复了一遍他的话。
He says, “Where did it come from, tell me?”
他说：“告诉我，血液是从哪里来的?”
So I just made up, and I said, “On the finger....”
我就编造说，“在手指上......”
The moment I said that, he immediately said, “Oh, that will be called ongtei.”
我刚说完他就立刻说：“哦，血液这个字叫‘ongtei’。”
And then he rattled off several words for blood on different parts of [the] body.
然后他滔滔不绝地说了几个表示身体不同部位血液的词语。
If the blood emerged from the feet or legs, it was otei.
如果表示从脚或腿流出的血液，这个词语就是“otei”。
If it’s internal, it was etai—it was a clot on the skin, it was ertei.
如果表示体内血液，这个词语就是“etai”；如果表示皮肤上的血块，这个词语就是“ertei”。
Something as basic as a noun changed forms because of its location.
像名词这样的基本词汇会因为所处位置不同而变化形式。
Basically, Anvita realized that the entire grammatical structure of this ancient language family changed depending on the zones of the body.
基本上，安维塔意识到这个古老语系的整个语法结构会随着身体的区域而变化。
I realized that it was changing its form several times because every word every open-class word, as we know in grammar, was prefixed by some of the body division markers.
我意识到词语的形式改变了好几次，因为每个开放词类中的单词，正如我们在语法中所知道的, 都有一些身体部位标记作为前缀。
