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From the January 2010 Scientific American Mind

The Neural Advantage of Speaking 2 LanguagesBilingual people process certain words faster than others

By Melinda Wenner

The ability to speak a second language isn't the only thing that distinguishes bilingual people from

their monolingual counterparts-their brains work differently, too. Research has shown, for instance,that children who know two languages more easily solve problems that involve misleading cues. Anew study published in Psychological Science reveals that knowledge of a second language-evenone learned in adolescence-affects how people read in their native tongue. The findings suggest thatafter learning a second language, people never look at words the same way again.

Eva Van Assche, a bilingual psychologist at the University of Ghent in Belgium, and her colleaguesrecruited 45 native Dutch-speaking students from their university who had learned English at age 14

or 15. The researchers asked the participants to read a collection of Dutch sentences, some of whichincluded cognates-words that look similar and have equivalent meanings in both languages (such as"sport," which means the same thing in both Dutch and English). They also read other sentencescontaining only noncognate words in Dutch.

Van Assche and her colleagues recorded the participants' eye movements as they read. They foundthat the subjects spent, on average, eight fewer milliseconds gazing at cognate words than controlwords, which suggests that their brains processed the dual-language words more quickly than wordsfound only in their native language.

"The most important implication of the study is that even when a person is reading in his or hernative language, there is an influence of knowledge of the nondominant second language," VanAssche notes. "Becoming a bilingual changes one of people's most automatic skills." She plans to

investigate next whether people who are bilingual also process auditory language informationdifferently. "Many questions remain," she says.

Note: This story was originally printed with the title "Bilingual Brains"

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Le francais, comme l'italien, I' espagnol, le portugaiset le roumain (Romanian) est une langue romane(Romance language) derivee surtout du latin populaireparle par les Romains. 11y a plus de 2.000 ans, les

5 Rornains, avec leur chef Jules Cesar, ont fait laconquete de la Gaule, appelee aujourd'hui la France.Les Gaulois, qui etaient un peuple celtique, ontadopte la langue des Romains 'victorieux.

Pendant longternps, on a parle des dialectes dif-ID ferents dans les regions de France. C'est Ie dialecte

de I'Ile-de-Prance, ou se trouvait la cour des rois,qui est devenu la langue officielle du pays. Ontrouve encore aujourd'hui des traces de ces anciensdialectes. Le breton, par exemple, est une langue

15 celtique. Le francais a aussi emprunte beaucoup determes modernes a l'anglais, comme les mots club,detective, match, steak.jazz, parking, tunnel, in-terview et week-end.

La langue francaise est connue pour sa clarte de20 pensee et d'expression. Pour conserver et perfec-

tionner cette langue, le cardinal de Richelieu afondel'Academie francaise en 1635. Les membresde l' Academic sont appeles «les quarante immor-tels» et ils publient le dictionnaire officiel et la

25 grammaire de la langue francaise.

En Europe, on parle francais non seulement enFrance, mais aussi en Belgique, en Suisse et auLuxembourg. Le francais est devenu une des deuxlangues officielles du Canada ou il est parle princi-

30 palement dans la province de Quebec. Aux Etats-Unis, on parle encore francais en Louisiane. Lefrancais est aussi une des langues officielles del'O.N.u. (Organisation des Nations Unies).

Le francais est la langue officielle de plusieurs35 pays d' Afrique comme le Gabon, la Republique

centrafricaine et la Cote-d'Ivoire. Dans d'autrespays africains, comme le Maroc, la Tunisie etl'Algerie, c' est la langue d' enseignement (teaching)dans les eccles.

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FRANCE

Le francais a exerce une influence profonde sur 40

la langue anglaise. Cette influence est la con-sequence de l'invasion de l'Angleterre en 1066 par .Guillaume Ie Conquerant, due de Normandie.Apres cette conquete, Ie francais est devenu lalangue officielle de la cour royale, des nobles et de 45la justice en Angleterre. Beaucoup de mots francaisont he adoptes par la langue anglaise.Ainsi, certainsmots anglais ressemblent a des mots francais. Engeneral, Ie mot anglais et le mot francais sont de lameme origine.Voici quelques exemples de mots al- 50lies (cognates):

.FRAN<;AIS ANGLAIS FR.AN<;AIS

livremainmomsnezpenserseulVIe

ANGLAIS

anneecampagnechiendormirfaible£leurhiver

annualcampaigncaninedormitoryfeeblefloristhibernate

librarymanualminusnasalpensivesolitudevital

55

L'anglais a egalement emprunte beaucoup 60

d'expressions au francais, comme:

a la carte term used in dining when items are orderedindividually from the menu

bon voyage "Have a good trip."coup d'etat violent overthrow of a government 65

deja vu sense of already having seen or heard some-thing

demitasse small cup-of bl~ck coffiede rigueur prescribed by custom; properencore repeat peiformance 70

esprit de corps enthusiastic group spiritfaux pas social blundergourmet person who knows and appreciatesfine foodnom de plume pen name assumed by an authorrendezvous meeting place, appointment 75

R.S. V. P. (rryondez, s'il vous plaIt) "Please reply."sabotage malicious destruction of property .tete-a-tete private conversation between two people

. t.: ~ . ' .

.I::'jfjidioma conocido como espafiol es realmente el~, _~dla:no, la lengua del reino de Castilla, que se

convirtio en el idioma nacional de Espaiia y ilego:;tNuevo Mundo con 10$ conquistadores. La pro-n\Ulciacion del espafiol de America se parece a lade .Aridalucia y las Islas Canarias, donde no hay

·"difeiencias entre la c (en ce 0 ci), la z y Ia s.El espafiol es una lengua romance, 0 sea que es

derivada del latin vulgar que hablaban 10s romanos'iii?: 10 cuando llegaron a la Peninsula Iberica. Otras

'. lenguas que se hablan en Espana son e1 vasco, elcataIan y el gallego. El vasco 0 vascuence es unalengua de origen caucisico con influencias celti-cas. Se habla en el Pais Vasco, una region en el

J5 . norte de Espana. El catalan y el gallego son lenguasromances que derivan del latin. Se hablan en las re-giones de Cataluiia y Galiciarespectivament'e. Encatalin, sobre todo, hay una rica tradicion literaria.

En el castellano se notan, ademas del Iatin, in-20 fluencias de 10s otros pueblos que vivieron en la

peninsula. La menores la de 10s visigodos, porqueestes aprendieron elIatin vulgar. Hay menos de uncentenar de palabras en espafiol de origenvisigodo, y la mayoria son nombres propios como

25 Fernando, Rodrigo y Alvaro. Los griegos con-tribuyeron mas-vocabulario, aunque muchas de laspalabras de origen griego llegaron al espafiol atraves del latin. Estas se pueden reconocer ficil-mente porque tienen las mismas rakes en ingles.

30 Algunos ejemplos son la filosofla,la geornetrfa,.laquhnica, la 16gica,el alfabeto, la arit-metica, Iadernocracia, el teatro, eldrag6n, elpoerna, el.problema y elprograma,

De todos 105 pueblos invasores, 105 arabes, que, 35 estuvieron en Espana por ocho siglos, fueron 10s

que mas palabras contribuyeron al espafiol. Mas de4.000 palabras del espafiol de hoy fueron adaptadasdel arabe. Entre ellas estan el arroz, el azucar,azul, elajedrez, el alcohol; el algodon, el al-

40 calde, el aIgebra, ojala y el rnarfil.

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( ESPANAr:

En America, palabras indigenas enriquecieronel espafiol, Elvocabulario adoptado depende de lasculturas y dialectos indigenas de cada region. Deesos dialectos hay todavia dos que se hablan hoy endia extensamente: el guarani en el Paraguay yen el 45nordeste de la Argentina y el quechua en el Peru,Bolivia y zonas del Ecuador y de Chile. Estos dosdialectos han influido sobre todo en el espafiol delas regiones donde se hablan, pero hay palabras quehan trascendido fronteras y se usan universalmente 50como la papa, la pantpa y el condor, de origenquechua, y el animas, el jaguar (0 yaguar), eltapir y Ia tapioca, del guarani. Ademas, armidiomas indigenas que ya no sehablan, como el de10s azrecas, contribuyeron muchas palabras al es- 55pafiol, Algunas de estas han pasado al ingles, comoel tornate, el cacao, el chocolate, el chicle, elchile, el' aguacate y el coyote.

En este siglo, al surgir 10s Estados Unidos comopotencia economica mundial, y debido tambien a 60la proximidad geografica, muchas palabras del in-gles ban pasadoa formar parte del espafiol familiar,Tenemos, por ejemplo, muchas palabras impor-tantes como el fUtbol, el beisbol, el basketball, elmatch, el jogging 0 footing, el vag6n, el film, 65el flash, el rock, el jazz, 10sjeans, el sueter, el picnic,el sandwich, el report, y el test entre otros. Hay quedestacar tambien algunos verbos del ingles muyusados como parquear y chequear. De las nuevastecnologias, el espafiol ha adquirido del ingles pal- 70abras como la computadora y el disco 0 el disquet yverbos como salvar, printear y chatear entre otros.

Aunque nos -referimos en general al «idiomaespafiol», existen difer-eocias de uso y vocabularioen 105varios paises en que 10 hablan. La situacion 75es semejante a Ia del ingles de Ios Estados Unidos yel de Inglaterra, con la diferencia que el espafiol sehabla en diez y nueve paises autonomos, en PuertoRico y en Ias grandes comunidades hispanas de 10sEstados Unidos. 80

3 convertirse eo to become27 a traves de through

50 trasceoder fronteras to spread beyond borders59 at snrgir Ios Estados Unidos when the U.S. emerged

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THE DOLPHIN WAS COMMONPLACE Frequently dolphinsescorted the vost merchant fleets which were required to bringa steady flow of food and consumer goods to Rome.

. 2 I DOLPlUN LATIN RBADElR

·1 A Boy and a DolphinMany thousands of people have admired the dolphins that leap

for fish at Marineland in Florida. In ancient times, the dolphin orporpoise (delphinus) was greatly loved for its beauty, intelligence,and affection for man. The Romans often portrayed the dolphin intheir art' and in their literature. The following is only one of manystories the Romans told to show the love of dolphins for young people.

Delphinus, animal semper bellum et clarum, a viris non fugit,quod eOsut alienos non timet. In undis habitat et ad naves (ace.pl.) saepe venit et circum eas laetus liidit, quod vires ut arnicashabere cupit. Itaque nautae semper delphinos amant.

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E . lnter a famous dolphzn.

5 Postquam Romani sub imperium Augusti ceciderunt.rdelphinusqui intra Lucrinum lacurn habitabat, puerum amare incepit, Nampuer, filius viri pauperis, ex Baiana oppido circum Lucrinumlacum ad oppidum Puteo16s cotidie vadebat in liidum. Hie legereet scribere discebat. Prope liidum meridic puer delphinum saepe

10 vocabat et "Simo;' ("Snub-Nose") appellabat et ei fragmentapanis dabat, quem ad Iiidum ob longam viam portabat, Itaquedelphinus puerum amavit. Saepe, ubi puer clamavit, delphinus adeum ex aqua alta procedebat et panem (ace. sing.) e dextraceleriter capiebat,

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VOCABULARY AND NOTES

It is assumed that any word not treated under the Vocabulary and Notes hasalready been learned by the student. All words marked with an asterisk occurfrequently in Latin authors, and therefore should be carefully learned.

2. "ut, as"alienus, -a, -um, foreign, strange (alien)"'navis,navis, t., ship (navy)3. liido, -ere, liisi, !tisum, I play (illu-sion)6. Lucrinus, -a, -um, of Lucrinus, LakeLucrinus was a small lake connected tothe waters of the Mediterranean Seanear the city of Naples ."'Iacus, Iacas, m., lake (lacustrine)7~ "'pauper (gen., pauperis), poor (pauper)

Balanus, -a, -um, of Baiae. Balae(Balarum, f. pl.) and Puteoll (Puteolo-rum, m. pl.) were seaport towns in theneighbourhood of Lacus Lucrinus8. *cotidie, daily (quotidian)9. *meridHls, -ei, m., noon, mid-day(meridian); meridle is abl. of time when10. fragmentum, -i, n., piece, fragment11. panis, -Is, m., bread (companion)quem: 'which'; the relative pronounhere refers to panls.12. c1iimo,1. I shout (c1amour)

Student Life I 3

Who needs a school bus?15 Tandem delphinus amicus ad amicum puerum accessit, et

postquam puerf dicere visus est, "Tibi licet ascendere," laetumamicum in tergo accepit. Deinde per magnum lacum cotidie adIiidum et riirsus domum eum portabat. Quamquam delphinustrans un,cIas celeriter volavit, tamen puer iniuriam non timuit,

20 quod semper cum diligentia puerum parvum in tergo tollebat, inaqua servabat, in ora deponebat.

Sed tandem puer primum fuit aeger, deinde e vita discessit.Maestus delphinus, qui amicum petere non destitit, ad. notumoppidum semper veniebat. Itaque is quoque, ubi puerum non

25 lnvenlt, ob deslderium exspiravit.(Adapted from Pliny the Elder, Natural History, ix, 8)

Such accounts as the above have not gained much belief in moderntimes. But in recent years there have appeared many articles in leadingmagazines and several scholarly books which encourage us not tounderesttmate the dolphin. One scholar tells us of a New Zealand

.girl's experience: "The fondness of dolphins, or at least of one dolphin,for playing with children and carrying them for rides, even though

.short ones, is authentically reported. At Opononi in New Zealand aporpoise, named Opo by the people of the community, attracted greatcrowds by his friendliness. to swimmers, especially children. Jill Baker,thirteen years old, was an especial favorite and enjoyed. rides as wellas duet swimming. . . . When 0po was stranded and died, the com-munity of Opononi went into public mourning." CH. C. Montgomery,C.J. 61.1,313)

16. visus est: 'was seen', 'seemed'"'ascendl), -ere;: ascendl, ascensum,climb, mount (ascend)

·17 •• tergum, -Y, n., back (tergiversation)18. ·riirsus, back again"'domum, home, homeward (domestic)19. "'volo,I., 1 fly (volatile)"'InUirla, -ae, j., hurt, injuryll. "'ora, -ae, [., coast, shore22. "'aegerlllegra, aegrum, sick (aegrotat)23. .n6tus, .-a, -um, known, familiar(notify)24. =qucque, also25. deslderiUm, -I, n., longing·usptrO; 1., I breathe out {my last), die(expire) .

A COIN OF THE CITY TARAS

4 / DOLPHIN LATIN READER

r.

2 The Persistence of Peter AbelardPeter Abelard (in Latin, Petrus Baalardus) was a brilliant philo-

~opherand teac?er who lived about 850 years ago in France. In fact, hisl~tellectualbrilll~nceand his love lor a young lady named Heloise madeh~m many ene"!le-s.Not least of these enemies was the king of Francehimseli, accordzng to the following story composed by lames of Vitryabout 200 years after the death of Peter Abelard ..

This is one of a number 01 tales, exempla, 'written by James lorpreachers to use in their sermons. '

~ex Franciae, ut audivi,· fuit irae plenus ~ontra clarummag~strum P~trum _Baalardum, qui Parisius Iegebat, et Petrumvetuit l~~(~ m terra sua. Itaque Petrus ascendit in arborem altam

5 prc:p~ ClVlatem. Max multi discipuli Parisienses postquam eumpetrverunt, .m~gistri lectienes sub arbore audieb~t.

d_~ed ub,: re~ de _palatio v,idit multos discipu16s qui sub arborese e ~nt, QUId hoc est?" inquit. "Cur ibi sedent?" Servu -spondit: "Sunt clerici,' qui magistrum Petrum audiunt " Itaq s r:erat -r-t . "D- d _ . . ue rex

1 a us. uc a me Petrum rnagistrurn."

The Spirit of the Law?10 D . d - . ."C- .~m e re,:c,ub: r.?agl~t~rad eum accessit, celeriter clamavit:

ur Ita_a~~a~ fUlSti?Te in terra mea legere prohibui. Cur dea:bo:e _legI!ti? _ ~e~rus respondit: "Domine, postquam me ro-hib'::lSti:,=.le%l l~. terra tua, sed legi in aere." Tum "&olidocere, inqutt rex, In terra mea vel in aere rneo."

15 . ~ed _Petrus ~cendit in navem et de navi docebat turbasdiscipulorum, Deinde rex, ubi vidit multos discipul6s qui in ripa

VOCABULARY AND NOTES

1. "'rex, regis, m.j king (regal)Francia, -ae, j., France .Z. Parisius: freely, 'in Paris'I~e.bat: 'used to read aloud,' i:e., 'lectur-ed In a classroom.3. "suus, Sua, suum, his, her (FrenchSOIl) ,

'ar~or, arboris, t.; tree (arboretum),!. Civitas, chitlitis, i., state; city (city)disclpulus, -1. m., pupil (disciple)

5. 1~¢Ones:'lectures'; ace. pi.6•.paIiltium, -I, n., palace

7: "sedel), -ere, sedJ, sessum, 15it (ses-sion)8. clerlcus, -I, m., student (clerical)9. *irlitus, -a, -um, angryl~. "audlix tgen., audlicls), bold, auda-CIOUS; audlix is a third decI. adj.

'" meus, mea, meum, my (French mon)13. "'tuus, tua, tuum, your (Fre~eh ton)"iliir, ilerls, m., air '14. "vel, or16. "'ripa, -ae, t-, bank (of a stream)

Student Lite / 5

HELOisE AND ABELARD These portroits were co:ved ~nthe capitol of a pillar In the guard-room of the Conclergerlecithe prison In Paris where Marie' Antoinette wos detolnebefore her execution.

fiiiminis sedebant, "Quid hoc est?" inquit. ,-Servus respondit:"Magister Petrus ibi discipulos regit." _T~~ =.pos~q~~D;:m~dgistrum in palatium venire c~m m~gna ~ra CO~gl~elliot.. .QUI_

20 tii facis? Te prohibui legere In terra_me~_v~};? aere. ~lbl hennon. licuit, hodie non licet, eras .no~ hce~I~~. Se~ UbI_Pet:.u~respondit, "Neque in terra, neque In aere le~:, s.ed ~ a,~ua tua~rex risit et hiimanus esse tncepit: "Vicisti me, . illqUI~ pos,~hocubique in Francia, in terra mea vel in aere vel ill aqua lege.

(Adapted from James of Vitry, Exempla)

17. "'fiumen, fiflminis, n., river18. .rego, -ere, rexY, rectum, I rule,guide, direct .22. "'neque ••• neque, n,cither ... nor

23. "'rideo, -ere, risi, rlsum, I laugh (de-ride)

24. =ublque, everywhere (ubiquitous)

6 / DOLPHIN LATIN READER

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i' 3 Euclides and Socrates

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Teachers through the centuries have always employed every meansto encourage their students to study. The philosopher Taurus was noexception: in the following story he relates a tale about. a pupil of thecelebrated teacher Socrates, namely Euclides, who lived in Megara nearAthens, Greece, about the year 400 B.C.

Taurus, philosophus clams, philosophiae studere discipuloscupiebat.Itaque rabulam de Buclide Socratico saepe dicebat."Athenienses," inquit Taurus,' "oppidi Megarorum elves nonamabant. Itaque eos in oppidd Athenis esse decreto vetuerunt:

5 'Vobis non licet hiic venire; si vds inveniernus in hoc oppido,poena erit mars!' Euclides, incola Megarorum, ante hoc decretumsemper in oppidum Athenas vadebat et S6cratem audiebat. Haquepost decretum, 'Quid Iaciam?' inquit; 'non iam mihi licet Socra-tern videre et audire.' Sed Euclides sic facere cdnstituit: tunica

10 longa et palla amictus ut femina, in oppidum Athenas sub nocteme dome ad Socratem vadebat, Itaque per partem (ace.) noctisverba Sdcratis cotidie audiebat; turn ante Iilcem ad oppidumMegara rfirsus veniebat milia passuum viginti, Sed nunc," inquitTaurus, "philosophi celeriter currunt ad fares discipulorum qui

15 multam peciiniam habent, et ibi sedent, quod discipuli omnevinum noctis non edormiverunt."

(Adapted from Aulus Gellius, Attic Nights, VII, 10)

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VOCABULAR.Y AND NOTES

1. pbilosophus, -i, m., philosopher, a'lover of wisdom'*stude6, -ere, studu], with dat., I studyz. Socraticus, -I, m., a Socratic, a dis-ciple of Socrates '(Socratic)3. Atheniensis, Athewensis, m., anAthenian .Megara, Megarorum, n. pl., Megara, atown in Greece situated about twentymiles from Athens."elvis, -is; m., (civium), citizen (civil)*Athense, Atbenarum, j. pl., Athens4. "'decretum, -i, n., decree6. "'mors, mortis, t-. death (mortal)9. "'tunica, -se, i., tunic

10. palla, -ae, j., cloak, wrapamictus, -a, -um, clothed, wrappedabout*nox, noctls, t.. (noctium), night; subnoctem: 'at nightfall'11. "'pars, partis, t.. (partium), part12. "lux, lucis, i., light, daylight13. 1UJ1ia passuum vlginti: 'twenty miles';lit. 'twenty thousands of paces'.14. *foris, -Is, t., a door15. "ornnis, omnis, omne, all (omnipo-tent); omnis is a third decI. adj.16. *vlnum, -i, n., wineedormio, -Ire, ~dormrvi, 'edormltum, Isleep off (dormitory)

Student Lite / 7