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Dog owners know that their dogs understand and answer commands such as "sit" and "stay."
狗主人都知道，他们的狗狗能听懂并响应“坐下”和“站住”等指令。
Many believe that dogs also understand words connected to their favorite objects.
许多人认为，狗狗还能听懂与它们最喜欢的物品有关的词语。
"Bring me your ball" will often result in exactly that.
“把你的球拿给我”这样的指令，往往能够得到确切的执行。
But science has had trouble determining whether dogs and other animals truly create a mental image in their minds when they hear the name of an object.
但是，科学界一直难以确定的是，当狗和其他动物听到一个物体的名字时，是否真的会在脑海中形成一个心理图像。
Such an action would suggest a deeper understanding of language, like the kind that humans have.
若能形成，则表明它们对语言有更深刻的理解，就像人类一样。
A new study in Hungary has found that beyond being able to answer commands like "roll over," dogs can learn to link words with exact objects.
匈牙利的一项新研究发现，狗除了能够响应像“翻滚”之类的指令外，还能学会将单词与确切的物体联系起来。
This is a relationship with language called referential understanding that has been unproven in dogs.
这种与语言的关系被称为“指代理解”，在狗身上尚未得到证实。
"When we are talking about objects, objects are external to the dogs, and dogs have to learn that words refer, they stand for something that is external to them," said Marianna Boros.
玛丽安娜·博罗斯（Marianna Boros）说：“当我们谈论物体时，物体对于狗来说是外在的，狗必须学会词语的指称，这些指称代表着外在的东西。”
She is a co-lead writer of the study.
她是这项研究的共同第一作者。
The study, which has been peer-reviewed, appeared recently in the science publication called Current Biology.
这项研究已通过同行评审，最近发表在名为《当代生物学》的科学刊物上。
It involved 18 dogs and a non-invasive EEG procedure using electrodes attached to dogs' heads to measure brain activity and record brain waves.
这项研究涉及18只狗，使用了一种非侵入性的脑电图程序。该程序通过连接在狗头上的电极来测量狗的大脑活动并记录脑电波。
Dog owners participating in the study would play an audio clip in which they said the name of their dog's toy — like "ball" or "frisbee" — and then they would show the dog an object.
参与研究的狗主人会播放一段音频，其中他们会说出狗的玩具名称，如“球”或“飞盘”，然后他们会向狗展示一个物体。
The researchers measured the dogs' brain activity when the object in the recording matched the object that was displayed and also when it differed.
研究人员测量了当录音中的物体与展示的物体相匹配时狗的大脑活动，以及当两者不同时狗的大脑活动。
"We expected that if a dog really understands the meaning of the object's word, it will expect to see that object.
“我们预计，如果狗真的理解了代表物体的单词的含义，它就会期待看到那个物体。
And if the owner shows a different one, there will be a so-called surprise reaction in the brain," Boros said.
而如果主人展示的是另一个不同的物体，狗的大脑中就会出现所谓的惊讶反应，”博罗斯说。
She added, "and this is exactly what we found."
她补充说，“而这正是我们发现的结果。”
The study found a different brain pattern when the dogs were shown an object that matched the word compared to when it did not.
研究发现，当狗看到与单词匹配的物体时和与之不匹配的物体时，大脑模式是不同的。
The finding suggests the animals created a mental image of an object based on hearing the word for it.
这一发现表明，狗会根据听到的单词在大脑中形成一个关于物体的心理图像。
Lilla Magyari, also a co-lead writer of the study, said that while other animals have been shown to have some degree of referential understanding of language, those animals have usually been highly trained to do so.
这项研究的共同第一作者利拉·马格亚里（Lilla Magyari）说，虽然已经证明其他动物对语言有一定程度的指代理解能力，但这些动物通常都是经过严格训练才做到的。
In dogs, she said, the findings show that such abilities appear to be inborn and require no special training or talent.
她说，研究结果表明，狗的这种能力似乎是与生俱来的，不需要特殊训练或天赋。
The study supports ideas about "language evolution which actually say that referential understanding is not necessarily unique to humans," added Magyari.
这项研究支持了“语言进化论”的观点，即“实际上，指代理解并不一定是人类独有的”，马格亚里补充说。
While the study has received praise, some experts have expressed doubt about its findings.
虽然这项研究受到了好评，但也有一些专家对研究结果表示怀疑。
Clive Wynne of Arizona State University said in a post on Facebook that he believes that all the study shows is that dogs respond to stimuli.
亚利桑那州立大学的克莱夫·温恩（Clive Wynne）在脸书上发帖说，他认为这项研究所显示的只是狗会对刺激产生反应。
Wynne does not believe the dogs understand the meaning of exact words.
温恩并不认为狗能理解确切词语的含义。
Scientists believe the first dogs began to be kept by humans up to 30,000 years ago.
科学家们认为，人类最早于3万年前开始饲养第一批狗。
The animals have lived closely alongside us ever since.
从那时起，这些动物就与我们亲密地生活在一起。
But whether dogs gain the ability to understand referential language during that evolution remains unclear.
但狗是否在进化过程中获得了理解指代性语言的能力，目前仍不清楚。
I'm John Russell.
约翰·拉塞尔为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
