Haneda International Airport, next to the coffee shop in the international terminal.
Kanbaru-san handed a cup of macchiato coffee to Xiangshan's hand rather embarrassedly: "You come here, I can only treat you to a cup of coffee. Double milk foam, double syrup - I remember you don't like it
It’s bitter, right?”
"It's not a rare visit. I've traveled all over the world in recent years, and you don't have to act like a host. Maybe I'm more familiar with Haneda Airport's international terminal than you are." Xiangshan bit his straw.
, mouthing towards the Kanhara mother and daughter not far away: "It's over there, is it okay?"
"It's just a child making trouble." Kambara-san said this, but the expression on his face was not relaxed at all.
After leaving the "Rama Project", Kanbaru Zun returned to the World Institute of Minority Languages (SIL). It was just that the timing of his return was unlucky and he did not catch up with the African fieldwork organized by SIL. In addition, he had also been in Rama before.
He had been working on the project for several years, so the institute gave him some free time.
After getting relatively free time, Kanbaru returned to his hometown, a small town in Fukuoka. There he organized the inspiration he had gained from brainstorming with the world's top linguists over the years. [These contents are also work, so
Strictly speaking this is not a holiday]
During this period, Kambara-san got married.
At that time, Xiangshan, who was still tinkering with the extraterrestrial spacecraft in the Rama project, heard that Kanbaru-san was on a blind date with a high school classmate under the arrangement of his parents, and they fell in love at first sight. This Mrs. Kanbara lived two blocks away from Kanbaru-san's parents' house.
distance.
Within a few years, Kambara-san even had a child.
However, it wasn't until the girl was more than four years old [that is, in 2035] that Xiang Shan had time to visit this old friend.
"I do have to criticize you, A-Zun." Xiangshan sipped his coffee and said, "The origin of mankind is very important, and so is the future of mankind - your daughter is a part of the 'future of mankind'. You are her
Dad, only you can bear this responsibility."
Kambara took a sip of black coffee: "It's just that, my job is not something that 'anyone can take on.' There are never enough researchers willing to go to Africa to do fieldwork. And Africa... this place has been exploited by the world.
.It is in crisis all the time. The speed of research and organization of language can never keep up with the speed of language extinction."
"That's true." Xiang Shan nodded: "It's a great thing. But you don't just have to tell me, you have to tell that little girl. If the truth can be explained, I think she will
Proud of being my father."
The look in the corners of Kambara-san's eyes suddenly dimmed: "This. Although I have told her many times, as for the child, the parents are the most important thing. Forcing her to understand 'all human beings' is not good for her.
It's a bit cruel to say it. And my wife. I feel very sorry for her."
Xiang Shan shook his head: "I think you two have a good relationship."
Kambara-san showed a smile: "Well, maybe it's because I have learned too many primitive languages. When Miku saw me, she thought I was...'too frank to be Japanese.' She said she was very
I like this. Those simple and straightforward words that lack advanced rhetoric seem to have taken root in my soul. She also likes what I do. She always sends me off to the plane with a smile.
I’m also very proud of my wife.”
Xiang Shan didn't speak. It wasn't that he didn't want to speak, but he was looking for an opportunity to speak.
And Kambara-san started talking. He seemed to want to complain about the current situation.
He really felt that he was very sorry for his wife. In the fourteen years of marriage, except for the first two years, he spent three quarters of each year in Africa. And a large part of the remaining time was spent in Africa.
SIL passed.
It was fine before Kotonoha went to elementary school. Mrs. Kanbara could still live in the United States with her daughter. But Kanbaru's parents wanted their granddaughter to still be able to speak Japanese as her native language, so Kotonoha stayed in elementary school in Japan.
When talking about this, Xiang Shan's eyes lit up and he took out a form from his briefcase: "By the way, A-Zun, take a look at this thing. Don't worry, I won't cheat you."
"'Proof of Genetic Correlation of Second Language Acquisition Ability' volunteer registration form?" Kanbara-chan was a little confused: "Second language acquisition...heredity...this? Ah! That's that!"
Many years ago, he had a conversation with Yawgmoth and Ingrid.
There are huge differences in human "second language acquisition" abilities. Some people throughout their lives are unable to use their second language to the same level as their native language, while some people can reach this point naturally - such as Ingrid
Excellent people like Germany can learn a new language in just two weeks.
"Xiao Yanye, I remember, also understands English and Japanese, two completely different languages, right?" Xiang Shan said: "But she grew up in a bilingual environment from the beginning... I don't know if it counts as second language acquisition.
But as long as she learns another language and can use it freely, then it will definitely be fine! You are still father and daughter, so it is suitable for you to participate in such a project."
Kambara-san showed a nostalgic expression: "At that time, I thought that this project would not be possible in a hundred years."
"The reality is that we have money now. After Yog succeeded in betting his life, as long as we prove that 'this direction may be closely related to human progress', a large number of organizations or wealthy people will send us money!" Xiangshan said with a smile: "
According to Yingjia, research on second language acquisition is actually the study of the underlying mechanism of language. If you want to directly input the thinking in the brain into the computer, you have to understand the language function of the brain."
"Now all major countries are actively cooperating. Many scholars who use their second language as their mother tongue and their children who have studied abroad are the experimental subjects we want to strive for. You can use dozens of African languages freely, naturally
It is also an important observation object.”
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Kanhara-san said cheerfully: "If you carry equipment to preserve blood samples, I can draw a tube of blood for you now. But Yanye... I need to talk to my wife
Let’s discuss it.”
He fully trusts the research institutions under Yawgmoth and believes that the privacy of his genetic information will not be used elsewhere.
"Now, how can this be possible? I originally came here to take a look." Xiang Shan smiled: "When I have time, I took my whole family to travel to the Republic and donated the genetic samples."
Kambara-san smiled and said: "It's really good to have money. When Yog brought up this topic, Yingjia and I were crying about poverty. Now we can start such a willful project... It's great."
Xiang Shan nodded: "Yes, yes, I have abundant funds here and free projects - man, look, do you want to come here to lead a project?"
Kambara-san was stunned for a moment and then smiled: "Let me tell you, you are already a rich man who can be featured in the "Asahi Shimbun". How could you not even be able to afford a special plane? Why did you come all the way to block me?"
"There is really no special plane." Xiang Shan shrugged: "After all, it is the organization that is rich, not me personally. I also have an assistant and a bodyguard with me. The assistant comrade helped me go through the formalities, and Mr. Bodyguard, look outside.
You should be able to see someone wearing a black hat. It’s true that I came here on the spur of the moment after seeing SIL’s information. There are some things I think it would be more serious to say face to face.”
Shen Yuanzun nodded: "That's great. It's also pretty good."
"Our project really needs someone who understands the 'original appearance' of language. Yingjia said, this person must be you." Xiang Shan said: "You are familiar with many languages. These languages have not been affected by rhetoric, history, and religion.
Layer decoration. Yingjia feels that deep in your mind, there is definitely a unique understanding of language. With you joining us, we may really be able to develop a brain-computer interface in our lifetime."
Lord Kambara lowered his head: "This, please let me think about it."
"Of course, you don't have to refuse now..."
"I'd better refuse."
"Ah..." Xiang Shan was confused: "In terms of treatment."
Lord Kambara lowered his head: "It's not about treatment. Not at all. I'm very happy that you can think about me and my daughter. Xiang, I'm really happy."
"So what's the problem?"
Kanbaru asked in reply: "I heard that in order to protect a kind of scaly-horned gastropod snail, you went through many parties and successfully got the United States to sanction a mining company with an administrative order?"
Xiang Shan shook his head: "I just reasonably explained the potential value of those scaly-horned gastropod snails and the possible potential value of submarine crater mining, and then compared them. That's all. And there is also 'Ogun'
'This flag can be pulled. Anyone in that position can do such a thing."
"I heard that Yog's ex-wife once fought in the United States for the right to exist for those hydrothermal creatures. But there was almost no result. In any case, this is still very powerful." Kanbaru smiled and shook his head: "I think
, my mood now is the same as hers back then. However, it is too difficult to slow down the death of African languages."
"While I'm sleeping, an old man may die in Africa. When this old man dies, he also takes away a vocabulary left behind thousands or even tens of thousands of years ago. The old man's descendants have become accustomed to using English and French.
Or other Indo-European languages to express the meaning of this ancient word - when I think about this, I feel the same as the biologists who watch the mining companies destroy the habitats of rare species and obliterate the evidence of evolution for petty profits.
.”
"You can say that if I don't study those ancient African languages, there will still be other people studying them. But..." Shen Yuanzun sighed: "Language is not a constant objective existence, it only exists within the subject.
time. It will become less and less. This is not a project of 'there will always be a chance to study it in the future'. This is a project of 'if we don't seize the time to save it now, there will be no chance in the future'."
"If you hadn't stopped that mining company, I'm afraid Yog wouldn't have had the chance to study those little snails."