声音在水下传播的很好，但是有一些声音从空气中传到水中却有一定的困难。为什么是元音能很好的传播而不是辅音呢？



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选材／校对／翻译：hqj5715
Every spoken sound is actually a combination of different sounds, some high, some low. Even though we don't notice the different sounds, the way they're combined is what gives each spoken sound its own character. In general, consonants contain a lot more higher-pitched sounds than vowels. Those are sounds made of faster, smaller sound waves. Compared to consonants, vowels are mostly made of low pitches. In other words, of larger, slower sound waves. When small sound waves hit the uneven surface of the water, they get scattered in all directions like ping-pong balls landing on a rough road. The much larger, lower-pitch waves aren't affected as much by the little water-waves because they hit a much wider area on the water's surface. If we think of a small sound wave as a little ping-pong ball on a rough surface, a larger sound wave is more like a big basketball, which is less affected by little bumps on the road. Unlike balls bouncing on a road, sound waves pass through the water. But like the basketball, the large waves come through with less distortion. That's one reason why when you listen underwater to someone up above, you won't hear the consonants with their high-pitched sounds and short sound waves.
每一个说出的声音实际上都是不同声音的集合。一些音调低，一些音调高。即使我们并不注意这些不同的声音，但是这些声音的结合方式是每一个说话者的声音都有自己的特点。 一般来说，辅音比元音具有较高的音调。这些声音由比较快的，小的声波，相对于辅音来说，元音大部分由低音组成。换句话说，他们是由长的、低得声波组成。 当小的声波撞击到不平的水面，他们像乒乓球落在不平整的道路上一样像所有的方向分散。这些长的、低音调的声波不会因为水面的波浪受太大的影响，因为他们与水面接触的范围比较大。 如果我们把小的声波看成粗糙平面上的小乒乓球的话，较长的声波则像一个大的篮球，篮球受到路面上小的碰撞是影响较小。不像球碰到地面弹起一样，声波可以穿过水面。 但是像篮球一样，波长较长的声波穿透水面时弯曲较小。这也是当你在水下听水上人交谈是，你不能听到具有较高音调较小波长的辅音的原因。