词汇大师(Wordmaster)--New Words

INTRO: As long has language has existed, it has been in a constant state of change, and as long there have been dictionaries lexicographers have been trying to keep up with those changes. James Donahower reports on the flood of new words entering the latest edition of a major U-S dictionary.

TEXT: A bumper¹ crop of new words and expressions has insinuated² itself into the English lexicon³ this year, words that Americans use regularly now, but that our word processing programs do not yet recognize: Taleban, weaponize, hawala, and burkha.

These particular words were brought to the linguistic⁴ forefront in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks. They are also among the new entries in the latest edition of the American Heritage College Dictionary. The dictionary's senior editor, Steve Kleinedler, says this is a recurring⁵ phenomenon.

KLEINEDLER: "In the history of the 20th century, there are certain events that are so powerful or so prominent or so newsworthy that they create language change. Watergate (the Nixon White House scandal of the 1970s, triggered by a break-in at Democratic Party offices in the Watergate complex in Washington) is a good example in that it gave us a productive suffix⁶, the '-gate' suffix, that is now readily applied⁷ to most political scandals. These events are not entirely⁸ common, but they do happen from time to time. The September 11th tragedy is probably, since the Kennedy assassination⁹, the single most horrific event that has locked the nation into a single cataclysmic event, causing people to focus on the same concepts at the same time."

As the world gravitates increasingly towards the use of the English language, many of these new terms will become familiar even to non-English speakers, according to David Barnhart. He is the editor of the Barnhart Dictionary Companion, a quarterly compilation¹⁰ of new words.

Many of the terrorist-attack-related entries are non-English in origin, as it happens, and will look and sound very much the same in other languages. But Mr. Barnhart says the most frequently used of these new entries, the term "nine-11", written numerically with a dash, will not be readily recognized in most of the world.

BARNHART: "Most people in the world write dates such as September 11th, '11 September.' So for many Europeans, for example, it is '11-9,' not '9-11.'"

Not all recent additions to the English lexicon are related to September 11th. Other new terms vying¹¹ for a place in English dictionaries, terms which may even be unfamiliar¹² to some Americans, include: "sports-rage," "chicken pox party," and "Enron-ese."

But Mr. Barnhart says some of the strangest new terms derive¹³ from the world of medicine.

BARNHART: "There are a bunch of medical terms that have come up, things like 'Dr. Strangelove Syndrome¹⁴.' In a person who is injured, one hand may start reacting violently to the other. It has been described as one hand attacking the other."

New words are born, old words die, and rarely-used words are launched into the spotlight¹⁵ by calamitous¹⁶ events, medical breakthroughs, or even new trends in music or fashion.

Mr. Kleinedler of the American Heritage Dictionary says one of the biggest waves of new terminology¹⁷ in the last half-century came only recently.

KLEINEDLER: "One of the largest influxes¹⁸ of words came from the technological¹⁹ revolution of the late 90's, with the Internet. Not only the technology, the bits and bytes that went into the Internet, but the whole sociological phenomenon that came from that. The chat rooms, the messages, and the instant messaging all spawned²⁰ a cyber culture that created dozens if not scores of new words."

So familiar are words like website, search engine, and Internet, that it is hard to believe they might one day disappear. But this is how language works. The only thing that is certain is that next year, lexicographers will be back at their desks, sifting²¹ through hundreds of new potential entries, and ridding dictionaries of obsolete²² ones.

For Voice of America, this is James Donahower in New York.

 

1 bumper   

n.(汽车上的)保险杠；adj.特大的，丰盛的

参考例句：

• The painting represents the scene of a bumper harvest.这幅画描绘了丰收的景象。
• This year we have a bumper harvest in grain.今年我们谷物丰收。

2 insinuated   

v.暗示( insinuate的过去式和过去分词 )；巧妙或迂回地潜入；（使）缓慢进入；慢慢伸入

参考例句：

• The article insinuated that he was having an affair with his friend's wife. 文章含沙射影地点出他和朋友的妻子有染。
• She cleverly insinuated herself into his family. 她巧妙地混进了他的家庭。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 lexicon   

n.字典，专门词汇

参考例句：

• Chocolate equals sin in most people's lexicon.巧克力在大多数人的字典里等同于罪恶。
• Silent earthquakes are only just beginning to enter the public lexicon.无声地震才刚开始要成为众所周知的语汇。

4 linguistic   

adj.语言的，语言学的

参考例句：

• She is pursuing her linguistic researches.她在从事语言学的研究。
• The ability to write is a supreme test of linguistic competence.写作能力是对语言能力的最高形式的测试。

5 recurring   

adj.往复的，再次发生的

参考例句：

• This kind of problem is recurring often. 这类问题经常发生。
• For our own country, it has been a time for recurring trial. 就我们国家而言，它经过了一个反复考验的时期。

6 suffix   

n.后缀；vt.添后缀

参考例句：

• We add the suffix "ly" to make the adjective "quick" into the adverb " quickly ".我们在形容词“ quick”后加“ly” 构成副词“quickly”。
• It described the meaning of suffix array and also how to built it.它描述的含义，后缀数组以及如何建立它。

7 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

8 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

9 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

10 compilation   

n.编译，编辑

参考例句：

• One of the first steps taken was the compilation of a report.首先采取的步骤之一是写一份报告。
• The compilation of such diagrams,is of lasting value for astronomy.绘制这样的图对天文学有永恒的价值。

11 vying   

adj.竞争的；比赛的

参考例句：

• California is vying with other states to capture a piece of the growing communications market.为了在日渐扩大的通讯市场分得一杯羹，加利福尼亚正在和其他州展开竞争。
• Four rescue plans are vying to save the zoo.4个拯救动物园的方案正争得不可开交。

12 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。

13 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。

14 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

15 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

16 calamitous   

adj.灾难的，悲惨的；多灾多难；惨重

参考例句：

• We are exposed to the most calamitous accidents. 我们遭受着极大的灾难。 来自辞典例句
• Light reveals the subtle alteration of things, the sly or calamitous impermanence or mortal life. 事物的细微变动，人生的狡猾，倏忽无常，一一都在光中显露出来。 来自辞典例句

17 terminology   

n.术语；专有名词

参考例句：

• He particularly criticized the terminology in the document.他特别批评了文件中使用的术语。
• The article uses rather specialized musical terminology.这篇文章用了相当专业的音乐术语。

18 influxes   

n.大量涌入( influx的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Such rapid influxes of sediment probably overwhelm the bottom dwellers in an area. 沉积物如此迅速的汇集可能把这一地区的海底生物全部淹没了。 来自辞典例句
• Conduction,Convection and radiation can bring heat influxes. 计算过程考虑了核热沉积以及热传导、热辐射、对流引起的换热过程。 来自互联网

19 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

20 spawned   

（鱼、蛙等）大量产（卵）( spawn的过去式和过去分词 )； 大量生产

参考例句：

• The band's album spawned a string of hit singles. 这支乐队的专辑繁衍出一连串走红的单曲唱片。
• The computer industry has spawned a lot of new companies. 由于电脑工业的发展，许多新公司纷纷成立。

21 sifting   

n.筛，过滤v.筛( sift的现在分词 )；筛滤；细查；详审

参考例句：

• He lay on the beach, sifting the sand through his fingers. 他躺在沙滩上用手筛砂子玩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I was sifting the cinders when she came in. 她进来时，我正在筛煤渣。 来自辞典例句

22 obsolete   

adj.已废弃的，过时的

参考例句：

• These goods are obsolete and will not fetch much on the market.这些货品过时了，在市场上卖不了高价。
• They tried to hammer obsolete ideas into the young people's heads.他们竭力把陈旧思想灌输给青年。