標(biāo)題: 揭秘美式英語(yǔ)中字母“U”缺失的來(lái)龍去脈 [打印本頁(yè)] 作者: 柳葉眉的柳葉刀 時(shí)間: 2016-2-19 15:39 標(biāo)題: 揭秘美式英語(yǔ)中字母“U”缺失的來(lái)龍去脈 When my American editor asked me to research why Brits spell their words with so many extra‘u’s，I immediately knew he had it all wrong,。 As a British journalist,，it‘s perfectly obvious to me that we have the correct amount of ‘u’s，and that American spelling has lost its vowels along the way,。
當(dāng)我的美國(guó)編輯讓我研究一下為什么英國(guó)人拼寫(xiě)的單詞多了那么多“u”時(shí),，我立刻意識(shí)到,，他完全搞錯(cuò)了。作為一名英國(guó)記者,，我認(rèn)為我們的拼寫(xiě)顯然是正確的,，是美國(guó)人的拼寫(xiě)在演化過(guò)程中逐漸失去了元音字母。
“Color,，” “honor,，” and “favor” all look quite stubby to me — they‘re positively crying out to be adorned with a few extra ‘u’s。
在我看來(lái),，“color”（顏色）,、“honor”（榮譽(yù)）和“favor”（喜愛(ài)）這些單詞的形態(tài)都十分短粗，它們迫切需要添加幾個(gè)“u”來(lái)修飾,。
But it turns out that the “o（u）r” suffix has quite a confused history,。 The Online Etymology Dictionary reports that -our comes from old French while -or is Latin。 English has used both endings for several centuries,。 Indeed,，the first three folios of Shakespeare‘s plays reportedly used both spellings equally。
但事實(shí)上,，“o（u）r”這個(gè)后綴的發(fā)展脈絡(luò)并不清晰,。據(jù)在線(xiàn)詞源詞典稱(chēng)，“-our”源自古法語(yǔ),，而“-or”源自拉丁語(yǔ),。英語(yǔ)使用這兩個(gè)后綴都已有幾百年歷史。實(shí)際上,，據(jù)說(shuō)在莎士比亞戲劇集的前3個(gè)對(duì)開(kāi)本版本中,，這兩種拼寫(xiě)出現(xiàn)的次數(shù)一樣多。
But by the late 18th and early 19th centuries,，both the US and the UK started to solidify their preferences,，and did so differently。
但在18世紀(jì)末至19世紀(jì)初,，美國(guó)和英國(guó)都開(kāi)始強(qiáng)化其語(yǔ)言偏好,，并且以不同的方式,。
The US took a particularly strong stand thanks to Noah Webster,，American lexicographer and co-namesake of the Merriam-Webster dictionaries。 Webster was a language reformer and,，as Merriam-Webster.com notes,，the creator of a dictionary in 1806 that attempted to rectify some of the inconsistencies he observed in English spelling。 He preferred to use the -or suffix and also suggested many other successful changes,，such as reversing “re” to create “theater” and “center,，” rather than “theatre” and “centre,。”
因?yàn)槊绹?guó)詞典編纂者諾厄·韋伯斯特（《梅里厄姆-韋伯斯特詞典》就部分得名于他）的緣故,，美國(guó)的立場(chǎng)尤其鮮明,。 韋伯斯特是一位語(yǔ)言改革家，據(jù)《梅里厄姆-韋伯斯特詞典》網(wǎng)站介紹,，他曾嘗試在其編纂并于1806年出版的詞典中修正他所看到的英語(yǔ)拼寫(xiě)不一致,。韋伯斯特 更喜歡使用“-or”這個(gè)后綴，他還提出了許多其他的成功建議,，例如將“re”改為“er”,，由此將“theatre”（劇院）和“centre”（中 心）變?yōu)椤皌heater”和“center”。
However,，other Webster proposals,，such as changing “tongue” to “tung，” “women” to “wimmen,，” “island” to “iland,，” and “thumb” to “thum” were ultimately rejected。
但韋伯斯特的另一些建議最終沒(méi)有被采納,，例如將“tongue”（舌頭）改為“tung”,，將“women”（女性）改為“wimmen”，將“island”（島嶼）改為“iland”,，將“thumb”（拇指）改為“thum”,。
Meanwhile in the UK， Samuel Johnson wrote A Dictionary of the English Language in 1755,。 Johnson was far more of a spelling purist than Webster,，and decided that in cases where the origin of the word was unclear，it was more likely to have a French than Latin root,�,！癢e have few Latin words，among the terms of domestick use,，which are not French,，”wrote Johnson。 And so he preferred -our to -or,。
與此同時(shí),，在英國(guó)，1755年塞繆爾·約翰遜編纂了 《英語(yǔ)詞典》,。在追求拼寫(xiě)的純正性方面,，約翰遜的要求遠(yuǎn)高于韋伯斯特。他認(rèn)為，在詞源不明的情況下,，源于法語(yǔ)比源于拉丁語(yǔ)的可能性更大,。約翰遜寫(xiě)道：“就 國(guó)內(nèi)使用的詞匯來(lái)說(shuō)，源自拉丁語(yǔ)而不是法語(yǔ)的詞匯極少,�,！彼裕矚g使用“-our”,。
“I have endeavoured to proceed with a scholar‘s reverence for antiquity,，and a grammarian’s regard to the genius of our tongue，”he wrote,。 As such,，he “attempted few alterations�,！�
他寫(xiě)道：“我努力以學(xué)者對(duì)古文字的敬畏和語(yǔ)法學(xué)家對(duì)我們語(yǔ)言特征的尊重來(lái)進(jìn)行這項(xiàng)工作,。”因此,，他“極少?lài)L試改變”,。
So while the UK chose to preserve linguistic roots，the US opted to modernize spelling,。 And if you‘re wondering which country got it right,，the answer is，well,，neither,。 Language is constantly evolving，and the US and UK simply went their different linguistic ways,。
所以,，英國(guó)選擇保留語(yǔ)言的來(lái)源，而美國(guó)選擇對(duì)拼寫(xiě)進(jìn)行現(xiàn)代化改造,。如果你想知道哪個(gè)國(guó)家做得對(duì),，答案是，沒(méi)有對(duì)錯(cuò)之分,。語(yǔ)言在不斷演變,，美國(guó)和英國(guó)只是選擇了不同的語(yǔ)言道路。（劉白云譯自美國(guó)石英財(cái)經(jīng)網(wǎng)站1月17日文章）
Olivia Goldhill
奧利維婭·戈德希爾(參考消息網(wǎng))