英文字背後的歷史

我是vocabulary.com的愛好者, 這個網站提供以選擇題的方式記憶單字的服務, 在這之前我是用道單辭本的功能來記錄新的單字. 這篇主要是分享一個有趣的想法.

我在台灣學習英文的過程, 幾乎一律都是以死背來記憶新單字. 雖然還是有英語教師利用自己獨特的方法來幫助記憶單辭, 例如鍵盤記憶法, 這在本質上與死背相同, 還有故事記憶法, 我記得我在補習班時有個老師大致上是這麼教sentimental的, 有一天, 有個在異鄉賣饅頭的老頭沿路叫賣,喊著sen*ti*men*tal 山東饅頭, 喊者喊著突然很想在山東的老家. 所以sentimental山東饅頭的意思是為了過去的事情感到感傷.  不只好笑, 我同時也牢牢記住了這個單詞. 這個補習班老師是利用, sentimental的中文諧音來創造一個虛構的故事.

同樣可以讓讀者以聯想的方式背單字, Vocabulary.com 的單詞解說欄中, 不只告訴讀者單詞定義, 有些字還會具體的解說單辭背後的故事, 準確一點的說, 應該是單辭的歷史與由來. 這裡指的歷史不是你在Google輸入英文單詞看到的使用頻率圖表, 而是這個單詞大約是哪個時代被創造出來的. 了解這些單詞的歷史背景, 有幾項好處, 提高學習英語的興趣, 非常多的英文單詞都是擷取自各種各樣不同的語言, 再轉變為與英文相近的發音與文法, 透過學習有趣的歷史而幫助學生加深對單詞的印象. 以下是幾個例子:


Tautology is useless restatement, or saying the same thing twice using different words. “Speedy sprint" is a tautology because sprint already means "speedy running."

The noun tautology originates from the Greek , meaning “repeating what is saiword tautologosd.” "From the public view's perspective" is a tautology in which the words perspective and view repeat the same idea. In the study of logic, a tautology is a statement that is necessarily true under any interpretation. "It will snow tomorrow, or it will not snow tomorrow" is an example. No argument here — it's true any way you look at it.

Tautology 是源自於一個希臘單詞 Tautologos，在希臘文裡意思為重複相同的話，學過邏輯學的人應該有點印象,　邏輯學裡Tautology代表一個論述在任何情況下都為真，例如＂明天將會下雪或者不會下雪＂，一個日常生活中可以理解為理所當然的廢話．

If you're one of those people who believe there's nothing worth believing in, your doctrine is nihilism. In philosophy, nihilism is the complete rejection of moral values and religious beliefs.
It is such a negative outlook that it denies any meaning or purpose in life. In political theory, nihilism is carried to an even greater extreme, arguing for the destruction of all existing political and social institutions. The term nihilism was borrowed from German Nihilismus, since the doctrine was developed by the German philosopher Friedrich Jacobi. The German word is formed from Latin nihil "nothing" plus the suffix –ismus "a doctrine or theory."

NIhilism的中文翻譯是虛無主義, Nihilism是源自於德文 Nihilismus 因為這個字是由一個德國哲學家所創造的. 虛無主義的意思是, 完全的拒絕主流道德價值與宗教信仰.

Hemoglobin is a hemoprotein in blood that helps transport oxygen, and it gives blood its red color.
Hemoglobin is the short version of the medical word haemato-globulin, which means something like "blood grains" in Greek. Like many medical terms also derived from the Greek, this one was first used in the 19th century. A doctor doing blood tests might be measuring the levels of hemoglobin in your bloodstream.

Hemoglobin的中文翻譯是血紅蛋白, 源自於希臘文 haemato-globulin. 這兩個希臘字的原意是血-粒. 上述的英文中, 告訴讀者一個有趣的事, 大部分的英文醫療詞彙都是源自於希臘文. Hemoglobin是我們血液中的一個成分, 幫助傳輸氧氣, 少了它我們的血液就不會是紅色的.

雖然這些單字的使用頻率不高, 不過那只是因為我太懶惰所以沒有花很多時間去查一些比較實用的單字做為例子. 重點我想講的是如果老師可以教導學生單詞背後的歷史與故事, 不只讓被單詞更有趣, 由此了解英語的歷史與語言發展的脈絡比死背要有趣太多了.