影視娛樂：The World of Avatar 電影: 阿凡達（英語聽力）

影視娛樂：The World of Avatar 電影: 阿凡達（英語聽力）ZT




An Alien Language 外星人的語言

The blockbuster film Avatar has been a smash hit at the box office in the UK and around the world, becoming the fastest film ever to earn $1bn (7bn yuan) in ticket sales.

But as well as being an entertaining feast for the eyes, the sci-fi epic also introduces movie-goers to a brand new language invented especially for the film.

The movie is set on an alien planet called Pandora which is inhabited by many strange species. The most humanoid of the planet's inhabitants are the Na'vi, and it is the struggle between the Na'vi and human interlopers that forms the core narrative of the film.

The film has been released in 2D and 3D versions

In order to add authenticity to his vision of an alien race the film’s director James Cameron asked a professor of linguistics from the University of Southern California to invent a language for the Na'vi.

Professor Paul Frommer worked with James Cameron for four years to build upon the original 30 words or so that the director had already come up with for the language.

According to Professor Frommer, the most important aspect of the Na'vi language was that it could be articulated.

"This is an alien language but obviously it has to be spoken by human actors," Professor Frommer told the BBC, "it has to be sounds that human beings are comfortable producing."

The language currently has a lexicon of around 1000 words but Professor Frommer hopes to expand it in possible sequels to the film and in video games.

The professor hopes that one day his creation will become as sophisticated as the Klingon alien language from the Star Trek films.

"There's a translation of Hamlet into Klingon," says Professor Frommer.

"If anything happened like this with Na'vi I'd be delighted."

Glossary 詞匯表 (收聽發音, 請單擊英語單詞)

• blockbuster 熱門電影
• smash hit非常受歡迎的
• feast for the eyes視覺大餐
• sci-fi epic科幻史詩
• inhabited 居住
• species 種類，種族
• humanoid 具有人類特點的
• interlopers 入侵者
• core narrative主要故事
• add authenticity增加真實性

• alien race外星人
• linguistics 語言學
• come up with想出
• articulated 發音
• lexicon 詞匯
• sequels 續集
• sophisticated 高水平的
• Klingon 克林貢帝國 （星際迷航中虛構的一個好戰外星種族）
• Star Trek星際大戰
• Hamlet 哈姆雷特