"說韓文的大象"

一隻南韓的孤單大象找到方法和照顧牠的人「說話」。

人們預期卡通和電影裡的動物有說話和溝通的能力，但在現實裡他們卻不這樣預期。這是因為牠們天生沒有像人類一樣可以掌控聲帶、發出適當聲音的能力。有些動物，像是大象，甚至沒有嘴唇，其對組成字彙來說相當重要。但到韓國的愛寶樂園旅遊一趟，你就能遇見一隻會說韓文的動物。

22歲的大象高施克因其模仿人聲的獨特能力而驚艷了眾人。牠能夠說「你好」和「不要」等韓文字。成長期間身為愛寶樂園唯一一隻大象，牠只有訓練員和飼育員與牠作伴。隨著人們和牠的關係加深，溝通的需要也因此加重。高施克接著設計出一種方式來模仿聽到的字音，牠用鼻子形成聲帶，以發出正確的音高和音調。雖然，這些字聽者很容易就能理解，訓練員卻不確定牠是不是真的知道自己在說什麼。一位研究員補充：「高施克似乎主要是用這些發聲來和人們建立關係，而不是真的明白它們的意思。」

(Life) An Elephant that Speaks Korean

A lonely elephant in South Korea has found a way to talk to its caretakers.

People expect animals to be able to speak and communicate in cartoons and movies but they dont expect it in reality. This is because they dont have the natural ability to control their vocal cords the way humans do to produce the appropriate sounds. Some animals, like the elephant, dont even have lips, which are important for forming words. But take a trip to the Everland Zoo in Korea and you can meet an animal who can speak Korean.

Koshik, a 22-year-old elephant, shocked everyone with his unique ability to mimic human sounds. He is able to say Korean words like annyong (hello) and aniya (no). Being the only elephant in Everland Zoo while growing up, he only had his trainers and caretakers for companionship. As the bond between the men and the animal grew, the need to communicate also grew. Koshik then devised a way to mimic the words he hears by using his trunk to manually shape his vocal cords to form the correct pitch and tone. Although, the words could easily be understood by listeners, the trainers arent sure if he knows what he is saying. A researcher added that Koshik mainly seems to be using these vocalizations as a way of bonding with people, rather than for their meaning.

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