杏吧原创

Why study the language of olfaction?
There are centuries-old ideas that humans have evolved to be visual or auditory creatures, and that our senses of smell, taste and touch just aren鈥檛 as important any more. We鈥檙e looking to see whether that鈥檚 reflected in different languages as well.

Are there languages which excel at describing smells?
Speakers of the 鈥� found throughout the Malay Peninsula 鈥� are particularly good at expressing olfactory experiences. For the Jahai group, for example, who live a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, we found that smell was as easy to talk about as colour 鈥� unlike in English.

How many smell words do the Jahai use?
They have about 12 that describe specific smell characteristics. These are words that can only be used for smells. For example, a term pronounced 鈥減l鈥檈ng鈥� is used for fresh blood, raw meat, mud, stagnant water, fresh fish, otters, some species of toad鈥� These are different kinds of objects, but there seems to be a smell quality common to them.

What鈥檚 a good smell-specific word in English?
A term in English that really picks up on a specific kind of smell quality is 鈥渕usty鈥� 鈥� something like when you open a door that鈥檚 been closed for a long time, or maybe the smell of old books.

How good are English speakers at articulating what they smell?
We gave Jahai speakers and English speakers the same smell and asked them to describe it. Jahai speakers were quick and consistent. With English speakers, nearly everybody gave a different and lengthy description for the same smell. For the smell of cinnamon, for example, one participant went on and on, like 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how to say it鈥� and 鈥淚 can鈥檛 get the word鈥� and 鈥渓ike that chewing gum smell鈥� and finally 鈥淏ig Red gum鈥�. It was hard for most English speakers to identify even the common smell of cinnamon.

Why do English speakers struggle when the Jahai don鈥檛?
Perhaps it鈥檚 because the Jahai live in a tropical rainforest, where smells are simply more salient. But there seems to be something culturally different, too: people in the West seem to do everything they can to get rid of smells, and in many contexts odour is a taboo topic. This might be linked to changes in our smell environment since the industrial revolution. If you read stories from the UK or France from before the revolution, there鈥檚 sewage in the streets and people are using perfume to cover up body odour. These days, we do everything we can to sanitise our environment.

What lessons do you draw from your cross-cultural studies of smell?
Our work with the Jahai is exciting because it shows us that we have the potential to experience our environment in so many different ways. It makes you rethink your way of being in the world.

This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淧utting whiffs into words鈥�