莎翁语言造诣不如说唱歌手？

The Oxford English Dictionary credits William Shakespeare with coining up to 2,000 words we use today.

《牛津英语词典》把我们当代常用的2000个单词的诞生归功于莎士比亚。 

But linguists from Manchester have found that rappers, such as Eminem and London-based Akala, are actually more adept at creating lyrics and prose than the 16th century poet.

曼彻斯特的一些语言学家却发现痞子阿姆（Eminem）和伦敦音乐人Akala等说唱歌手在创作歌词、散文方面其实比这位16世纪诗人更游刃有余。

By studying rap lyrics, the experts said that traditional and complex rhyming comes so easy to hip-hop artists, the skill is almost 'second nature' to them.

专家们通过研究说唱音乐歌词发现，对说唱歌手而言，创作传统押韵和复杂押韵作品简直小菜一碟，就像他们的第二本能。

The research was led by Louise Middleton, a third-year linguistics student at Manchester University.

该项研究由曼彻斯特大学语言专业三年级学生露易斯·米德尔顿主持开展。

Lyrics were taken from Eminen's 'Rap God' and Akala's 'Shakespeare', as well as tracks by Public Enemy.

研究的歌词包括痞子阿姆的《说唱之神》，Akala的《莎士比亚》以及公众之敌（Public Enemy）的歌曲。

Ms Middleton found that while Shakespeare and poet John Keats, as examples, may have had a better style when it came to rhyming couplets and more traditional verse, modern rappers excel at rearranging sentences to make them fit.

米德尔顿发现，莎士比亚和济慈（John Keats，18世纪英国诗人）长于创作押韵对偶诗句以及传统诗歌，现今的说唱歌手则长于重组歌词使它更押韵。 

This includes creating so-called half rhymes, which are typically much harder to create because traditionalists view them as incorrect.

他们会采用难度更高的所谓“半韵”，传统作家认为这种根本算不上押韵。

For example, in Akala's Shakespeare track, he raps: ‘Its William back from the dead/But I rap bout gats [guns] and I’m black instead/ It’s Shakespeare, reincarnated/Except I spit flows and strip hoes [prostitutes] naked.’

比如，Akala在《莎士比亚》里的歌词“Its William back from the dead/But I rap bout gats [guns] and I’m black instead/ It’s Shakespeare, reincarnated/Except I spit flows and strip hoes [prostitutes] naked."

Reincarnated and naked aren't traditional rhyming couplets but sound similar enough for them to work for the purposes of the song.

Reincarnated（转世）和naked（赤裸）不是传统押韵对偶句采用的韵脚，但放在歌词里还算押韵。

Ms Middleton explained: ‘The high vocabulary score and high prevalence of ‘imperfect’ half rhymes and unique sentence structure, over and above the use of more traditional and deliberate rhyming couplets, show that rap music proves the theory that [its] biggest stars find their success in their ability to rhyme subconsciously.

米德尔顿解释道：“说唱音乐丰富的词汇量，流行的半韵和独特的句型结构，超过传统、直接押韵对偶句的使用，这证明了说唱明星的成功在于他们不假思索创作押韵歌词的能力。

‘My research found that more than 70 per cent of the time, artists used half-rhyme, such as ‘hop-rock’, rather than traditional rhymes like ‘cat-mat’.

“我的研究发现，这些音乐人在70%以上的时间里都用半韵，比如hop-rock，而不是传统的cat-mat。”

Experts said imperfect rhymes do not typically come naturally when writing, but the study said the skill is 'second nature' for popular rap artists.

专家们表示一般人在写作时不会自觉使用不完全押韵，但该研究发现这个能力对于说唱歌手而言是“第二天性”。 

‘In Eminem’s track ‘Rap God’, he boasts of his rhyme skill saying: ‘But for me to rap like a computer must be in my genes’ which proves the point made by my research - that rapping is outside his conscious control,' continued Ms Middleton.

米德尔顿继续道：“在痞子阿姆《说唱之神》这首歌里，他吹嘘自己的押韵能力道'但对我来说像台电脑那样说唱一定是我的基因使然（But for me to rap like a computer must be in my genes）'这句歌词证明了我的观点：说唱不受他的意识控制。”

‘I think that hip-hop has the most sophisticated use of rhyme of any genre and when written down it reads just like poetry.

“我认为说唱音乐对押韵的使用比任何类型的音乐流派更复杂，说唱音乐的歌词读起来就像诗歌。”

Manchester University said previous studies in the field have explored the similarities between the vocabulary of popular hip-hop artists with the words of Shakespeare.

曼彻斯特大学研究人员表示，早前在该领域的研究发现说唱音乐人和莎士比亚的用词有极大的相似性。

Last year, New York-based data scientist Matt Daniels analysed 35,000 lyrics hip-hop and rap lyrics, and compared the number of unique words to those used in the first 35,000 words of Shakespeare's plays and Herman Melville's Moby Dick.

去年，纽约数据库科学家马特·丹尼尔斯选取了35000个嘻哈和说唱歌词，同时选择了莎士比亚戏剧、赫尔曼·梅尔维尔的《白鲸》中的前35000个词，来比较其中独特字眼的数量。

In top spot was Aesop Rock who used 7,392 unique words, while DMX sat at the opposite end of the scale with 3,214 unique words.

排在首位的是Aesop Rock（说唱歌手），使用了7392个独特字眼，排在末位的是DMX（说唱歌手），有3214个独特字眼。

Shakespeare sat at 5,170 unique words alongside Beastie Boys and Outkast, while Melville scored higher at 6,022 words only beaten by Kool Keith, GZA and Aesop Rock.

莎士比亚用了5170个独特字眼，和Beastie Boys（说唱歌手）以及Outkast（说唱歌手）不相上下，而梅维尔的使用的更多，有6022个独特字眼。在他之上仅有Kool Keith，GZA，Aesop Rock三人。 

This suggested rappers today have a larger vocabulary than literary scholars.

这说明当今的说唱音乐人比文学巨匠词汇量更大。 

Dr Wendell Kimper, Lecturer in Linguistics, said: ‘Louise’s research helps us to understand how our brains process and understand sounds.

语言学讲师温德尔·金珀博士表示：“露易斯的研究帮助我们理解我们的大脑如何运作以及理解声音。”

‘It opens up other avenues of research which could allow us to find out why some kinds of rhyme come more naturally than others and why some kinds of sounds work better as imperfect rhymes than others.’

“该研究打开了多种研究道路，”我们可以从中发现为什么一些韵尾比其他的听起来更自然，为什么有些发音不完全押韵中的效果比其他词更好。”

Vocabulary

adept at：擅长

prose：散文

rhyme：押韵

rhyming couplets：押韵对句

（译者：吕玲蔚SCNU  编辑：Helen）