2019年经济学人 词汇意义的变化(1)

 

Books and Arts

来源于《图书与艺术》版块

Johnson

约翰逊语言专栏

In the beginning is the word

太初有道之词意变化

Changing the meaning of a word is hard but not impossible

改变词的意思很难，但并非不可能

“Misogyny” seems a straightforward¹ word. In dictionaries, it is “hatred² of women”. In its etymology³ are the Greek verb misein, to hate, and gyne, women. The word, like the sentiment, has been around for a long time. Euripides, an ancient Greek playwright⁴, was called a misogynes, or woman-hater. (“Well, in his tragedies, yes,” his peer Sophocles is said to have quipped, “but in bed at any rate he was a philogynes.”) The first known use of “misogynist” in English is from 1620—by a female group counter-attacking against a screed⁵ called “The Arraignment⁶ of Lewd⁷, Idle, Froward [sic], and Unconstant Women”.

“Misogyny（厌女症）”这个词似乎很直白。字典里的解释为“hatred of women（憎恶女性）”。这个词的词源来源于希腊语动词“misein（恨）”和“gyne（女性）”。这个词和它所表达的情感一样，已经存在很长一段时间了。古希腊剧作家欧里庇得斯被称为“misogynes”或“woman-hater”（两词均意为“厌女者”）。“在他的悲剧中，是的，”据说他的同行索福克勒斯曾如此打趣道，“但无论如何，他在床上是个爱女性的人.”“厌女症”在英语中的首次使用是在1620年，当时一个女性团体反击一篇名为《对淫荡、懒散、乖戾和不稳定女性的传讯》的文章。

In fact, very few interesting words are quite so stable. As they are used, their meanings drift. Furthermore, they need not remain true to their etymological⁸ roots, a belief known to linguists⁹ as the “etymological fallacy”. The word “person”, for instance, comes from the Latin for “mask”; the word “tragedy” may derive¹⁰ from the Greek for “goat-song”. Over time, words evolve.

事实上，很少有有趣的词能如此稳定。当词汇被使用时，意思会发生变化。此外，它们不必忠于词源学的根源，语言学家将这种认知称为“词源学谬误”。例如，“person”一词来自拉丁语，意为“面具”；“悲剧”一词可能源于希腊语，意为“山羊之歌”。随时间的推移，词汇含义也不断演变。

Much of that process is random¹¹. But it is also possible to make a conscious effort to shift how a word is used. One such bid is under way for “misogyny”. For decades, feminists¹² have expanded its connotations beyond the idea of “hatred of women”. Recently Kate Manne, a philosopher at Cornell University, has become the voice of that campaign. She thinks the notion of a hatred for all women deep in the psychology¹³ of some men is philosophically¹⁴ untestable. In any case, few men, she says, really hate all women. Instead of misogyny meaning something men feel, she says it should designate something women face.

这个过程大部分是随机的。但有意识地改变一个词的用法也是有可能的。“misogyny（厌女症）”就是这样一个例子。几十年来，女权主义者将其内涵扩展到“憎恨女性”之外。最近，康奈尔大学哲学家凯特?曼恩成为了这场运动的代言人。她认为，在一些男性的心理深处，对所有女性的憎恨是哲学上无法验证的。她表示无论如何，很少有男人真的恨所有的女人。她说，“厌女症”不是指男性的感觉，而是指女性所面临的问题。

1 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

2 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

3 etymology   

n.语源；字源学

参考例句：

• The hippies' etymology is contentious.关于嬉皮士的语源是有争议的。
• The origin of OK became the Holy Grail of etymology.OK的出典成了词源学梦寐以求的圣杯。

4 playwright   

n.剧作家，编写剧本的人

参考例句：

• Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
• The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。

5 screed   

n.长篇大论

参考例句：

• The screed tired the audience.那篇冗长的演说使听众厌烦了。
• The pro-whaling screed was approved by a much thinner margin:33 votes to 32.关于捕鲸的冗长决议是以33票对32票的微弱差数通过的。

6 arraignment   

n.提问，传讯，责难

参考例句：

• She was remanded to juvenile detention at her arraignment yesterday. 她昨天被送回了对少年拘留在她的传讯。 来自互联网
• Wyatt asks the desk clerk which courthouse he is being transferred to for arraignment. 他向接待警员询问了马宏将在哪个法庭接受传讯。 来自互联网

7 lewd   

adj.淫荡的

参考例句：

• Drew spends all day eyeing up the women and making lewd comments.德鲁整天就盯着女人看，说些下流话。
• I'm not that mean,despicable,cowardly,lewd creature that horrible little man sees. 我可不是那个令人恶心的小人所见到的下流、可耻、懦弱、淫秽的家伙。

8 etymological   

adj.语源的，根据语源学的

参考例句：

• The etymological closeness of the Sanskrit and English words is striking. 梵语和英语的词源的连结性是如此地惊人。 来自互联网
• But the Chinese have often ignored this etymological hint. 但中国人经常忽略这一词根上隐含的意义。 来自互联网

9 linguists   

n.通晓数国语言的人( linguist的名词复数 )；语言学家

参考例句：

• The linguists went to study tribal languages in the field. 语言学家们去实地研究部落语言了。 来自辞典例句
• The linguists' main interest has been to analyze and describe languages. 语言学家的主要兴趣一直在于分析并描述语言。 来自辞典例句

10 derive   

v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自

参考例句：

• We derive our sustenance from the land.我们从土地获取食物。
• We shall derive much benefit from reading good novels.我们将从优秀小说中获得很大好处。

11 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

12 feminists   

n.男女平等主义者，女权扩张论者( feminist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Only 16 percent of young women in a 1990 survey considered themselves feminists. 在1990年的一项调查中，只有16%的年轻女性认为自己是女权主义者。 来自辞典例句
• The organization had many enemies, most notably among feminists. 这个组织有许多敌人，特别是在男女平等主义者中。 来自辞典例句

13 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

14 philosophically   

adv.哲学上；富有哲理性地；贤明地；冷静地

参考例句：

• He added philosophically that one should adapt oneself to the changed conditions. 他富于哲理地补充说，一个人应该适应变化了的情况。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Harry took his rejection philosophically. 哈里达观地看待自己被拒的事。 来自《简明英汉词典》