Can you imagine giant pandas baa like sheep to say "I love you" and warble a cheerful "I do" when wooed by a suitor, and bark like a dog when they are furious?
你能想象熊貓說“我愛你”時是“咩咩咩”，說“我愿意”時像鳥叫，而說“我很生氣”時又像狗叫嗎？

Researchers there have decoded 13 different kinds of giant panda vocalizations in a surprising new insight into the private life of the reclusive creatures.
長期從事大熊貓人工繁育的中國保護大熊貓中心的專家們研究發現，大熊貓至少會用13種不同的聲音來表達不同的意思，而“破譯”了這些“貓言貓語”無疑將幫助專家們進一步了解大熊貓生活習性和心理，走進他們的世界。

The China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda has been working on a panda linguistics project since 2010. Scientists first made recordings of pandas at the center, vocalizations between cubs and adults in various situations, such as when they were eating, mating, nursing, fighting and so on, said Zhang Hemin, head of the center. Then they collected a large amount of data on pandas' voices and activities, and analyzed the voiceprints. "We managed to decode some panda language and the results are quite interesting," Zhang said.
中國保護大熊貓研究中心主任、臥龍自然保護區管理局局長張和民介紹，在2010年，來自音樂之鄉奧地利維也納的專家和中心合作，已經通過錄音和頻譜分析，破譯了部分大熊貓的語言密碼，聽懂了它們在采食、求偶、照顧寶寶等不同情景下的“喜怒哀樂”。近年來，中心繼續與其他國內外的學術研究機構合作繼續“破譯”工程，到目前已初見成效。

Panda cubs can barely vocalize at all except to say things like "Gee-Gee" (I'm hungry), "Wow-Wow" (Not happy!) or "Coo-Coo" (Nice!).
專家們發現，剛出生的熊貓寶寶和人類寶寶一樣，基本只能發出“吱吱”、“哇哇”和“咕咕”這三種簡單的叫聲。一般情況下“吱吱”表示“我餓了”，“哇哇”表示“我不爽了”，而“咕咕”則是表示愉悅和舒適感受時發出的滿意叫聲。

"Adult giant pandas usually are solitary, so the only language teacher they have is their own mother," the researcher said. When they grow a little, cubs learn how to express themselves by roaring, barking, shouting, squeaking, bleating and chirping.
而熊貓在成長過程中也和人類一樣要跟著母親“學說話”，耳濡目染，它們慢慢地就會學會吼叫、吠叫、嗷叫、嘶叫、咩叫等叫聲。

"If a panda mother keeps tweeting like a bird, she may be anxious about her babies. She barks loudly when a stranger comes near," Zhang said. The barking can be interpreted as "getting out of my place", according to the researcher. Pandas can be as gentle as a lamb when they are "in love". Male pandas baa all the time when they are wooing their lovers. The females respond with constant tweeting if they feel the same.
比如，熊貓媽媽如果發出“咩咩”聲，那可能是在尋找她的寶寶，飼養員需要適時提供幫助；而當大熊貓們發出“汪汪”的吠叫聲時，則千萬不要靠近他們，因為那表示他們很憤怒，想要打架或是威脅對方不要進入自己的領地。而在春季發情季節，熊貓還會使用自己獨特的“戀愛語言”。雄性熊貓會發出咩叫聲，那可是在用“甜言蜜語”向自己心上人求愛。被俘獲芳心，墜入愛河的雌性熊貓就會發出“唧唧”“喳喳”的類似鳥鳴聲，害羞回應。

"Trust me. Our researchers were so confused when we began the project that they wondered if they were studying a panda, a bird, a dog, or a sheep," Zhang said.
“我們的工作人員也會開玩笑問大熊貓到底是羊、是狗還是鳥啊？”張和民說。

The center plans to continue the study and is looking forward to the creation of a panda translator that could use high-tech voice recognition technology. "If we can understand their language, it will help us protect the animal, especially in the wild," he said.
他表示，熊貓語言學的研究還將繼續，如能夠破譯更多熊貓語言，甚至發明“翻譯器”，那將有助于飼養員更好地理解熊貓各種聲音的準確含義，也將有利于更科學地飼養、保護大熊貓，甚至能幫助大熊貓提高自然交配成功率。

（注：本文部分內容為編譯）

Vocabulary

baa: 咩咩叫
warble: 以顫音說；鳥囀似地講
vocalization: 發聲，發音；發聲法
voiceprint: 聲紋；語音特征波紋；語音聲譜
bleat: 咩咩叫

（來源：新華網 編輯：丹妮）