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

《牛津英語(yǔ)詞典》把我們當(dāng)代常用的2000個(gè)單詞的誕生歸功于莎士比亞。 

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.

曼徹斯特的一些語(yǔ)言學(xué)家卻發(fā)現(xiàn)痞子阿姆（Eminem）和倫敦音樂(lè)人Akala等說(shuō)唱歌手在創(chuàng)作歌詞、散文方面其實(shí)比這位16世紀(jì)詩(shī)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.

專家們通過(guò)研究說(shuō)唱音樂(lè)歌詞發(fā)現(xiàn)，對(duì)說(shuō)唱歌手而言，創(chuàng)作傳統(tǒng)押韻和復(fù)雜押韻作品簡(jiǎn)直小菜一碟，就像他們的第二本能。

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

該項(xiàng)研究由曼徹斯特大學(xué)語(yǔ)言專業(yè)三年級(jí)學(xué)生露易斯·米德?tīng)栴D主持開(kāi)展。

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

研究的歌詞包括痞子阿姆的《說(shuō)唱之神》，Akala的《莎士比亞》以及公眾之?dāng)常≒ublic 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?tīng)栴D發(fā)現(xiàn)，莎士比亞和濟(jì)慈（John Keats，18世紀(jì)英國(guó)詩(shī)人）長(zhǎng)于創(chuàng)作押韻對(duì)偶詩(shī)句以及傳統(tǒng)詩(shī)歌，現(xiàn)今的說(shuō)唱歌手則長(zhǎng)于重組歌詞使它更押韻。 

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

他們會(huì)采用難度更高的所謂“半韻”，傳統(tǒng)作家認(rèn)為這種根本算不上押韻。

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《莎士比亞》里的歌詞“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（轉(zhuǎn)世）和naked（赤裸）不是傳統(tǒng)押韻對(duì)偶句采用的韻腳，但放在歌詞里還算押韻。

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?tīng)栴D解釋道：“說(shuō)唱音樂(lè)豐富的詞匯量，流行的半韻和獨(dú)特的句型結(jié)構(gòu)，超過(guò)傳統(tǒng)、直接押韻對(duì)偶句的使用，這證明了說(shuō)唱明星的成功在于他們不假思索創(chuàng)作押韻歌詞的能力。

‘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’.

“我的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，這些音樂(lè)人在70%以上的時(shí)間里都用半韻，比如hop-rock，而不是傳統(tǒng)的cat-mat?！?/p>

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

專家們表示一般人在寫(xiě)作時(shí)不會(huì)自覺(jué)使用不完全押韻，但該研究發(fā)現(xiàn)這個(gè)能力對(duì)于說(shuō)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?tīng)栴D繼續(xù)道：“在痞子阿姆《說(shuō)唱之神》這首歌里，他吹噓自己的押韻能力道'但對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)像臺(tái)電腦那樣說(shuō)唱一定是我的基因使然（But for me to rap like a computer must be in my genes）'這句歌詞證明了我的觀點(diǎn)：說(shuō)唱不受他的意識(shí)控制?！?/p>

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

“我認(rèn)為說(shuō)唱音樂(lè)對(duì)押韻的使用比任何類型的音樂(lè)流派更復(fù)雜，說(shuō)唱音樂(lè)的歌詞讀起來(lái)就像詩(shī)歌?！?/p>

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.

曼徹斯特大學(xué)研究人員表示，早前在該領(lǐng)域的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)說(shuō)唱音樂(lè)人和莎士比亞的用詞有極大的相似性。

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，紐約數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)科學(xué)家馬特·丹尼爾斯選取了35000個(gè)嘻哈和說(shuō)唱歌詞，同時(shí)選擇了莎士比亞戲劇、赫爾曼·梅爾維爾的《白鯨》中的前35000個(gè)詞，來(lái)比較其中獨(dú)特字眼的數(shù)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（說(shuō)唱歌手），使用了7392個(gè)獨(dú)特字眼，排在末位的是DMX（說(shuō)唱歌手），有3214個(gè)獨(dú)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.

莎士比亞用了5170個(gè)獨(dú)特字眼，和Beastie Boys（說(shuō)唱歌手）以及Outkast（說(shuō)唱歌手）不相上下，而梅維爾的使用的更多，有6022個(gè)獨(dú)特字眼。在他之上僅有Kool Keith，GZA，Aesop Rock三人。 

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

這說(shuō)明當(dāng)今的說(shuō)唱音樂(lè)人比文學(xué)巨匠詞匯量更大。 

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

語(yǔ)言學(xué)講師溫德?tīng)枴そ痃瓴┦勘硎荆骸奥兑姿沟难芯繋椭覀兝斫馕覀兊拇竽X如何運(yùn)作以及理解聲音?！?/p>

‘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.’

“該研究打開(kāi)了多種研究道路，”我們可以從中發(fā)現(xiàn)為什么一些韻尾比其他的聽(tīng)起來(lái)更自然，為什么有些發(fā)音不完全押韻中的效果比其他詞更好?！?/p>

Vocabulary

adept at：擅長(zhǎng)

prose：散文

rhyme：押韻

rhyming couplets：押韻對(duì)句

（譯者：呂玲蔚SCNU  編輯：Helen）