Mysteries of vernacular: Lady - Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel

字源探秘：Lady - Jessica Oreck 與 Rachael Teel

譯者: Geoff Chen 審譯者: Marssi Draw

Mysteries of vernacular:

字源探秘：

Lady,

Lady

woman.

女士

Lady is tied to a number of words

Lady 這一詞

that seem at first glance

乍看上去與一些字源無關，其實不然

etymologically unrelated.

She traces her roots back

它的字根來自於

to the Old English words hlaf,

古英語單詞 Hlaf

which referred to a loaf of bread

意謂一條麵包

and is the direct ancestor of our modern word loaf,

它是我們現代單詞 Loaf 和 Daege

and daege,

的直系祖先

which meant maid

意指女傭

and is the root of our word dairy,

它也是 Dairy 這字的字根

the place where the dairymaid works.

意指「擠奶人工作的地方」

Together, hlaf and daege became hlafdige,

Hlaf 和 Daege 組合在一起便成了 Hlafdige

literally loaf maid,

字面上的意義為「麵包女傭」

or, more figuratively, kneader of bread.

或者，它也可以喻指「揉麵包工人」

As early as the ninth century,

早在第九世紀時

hlafdige was the name for a mistress of servants,

Hlafdige 其實是一位 政府公務員的情婦的名字

or the female head of the household.

它或指一位女戶主

The Old English word for a male head of household

在古英語中，男戶主為

was hlafweard,

Hlafweard

a compound of hlaf, loaf,

一個混合了 Hlaf、Loaf

and weard,

和 Weard 的字

which meant keeper

它意指「守護者」

and is the word of modern words

它也是現代詞語

like ward and warden.

Ward (病房) 和 Warden (典獄長) 的字根

Both hlafweard, the breadwinner,

這兩位 Hlafweard (養家的人)

and hlafdige, the bread kneader,

和 Hlafdige (揉麵包工人)

came to be titles of respect,

合在一起，便成了一個敬稱

referring to citizens of higher social standing.

意指一位擁有更高社會地位的公民

Through a process known as syncopation,

通過一種叫切分音的過程

both words lost their internal sounds

這兩個字失去其內部音節

to become lord and lady, respectively.

分別成了 Lord 和 Lady

Though still an expression of courtesy,

雖然它們仍然得以用來表達禮貌

lady has since moved

自那時起，Lady 這敬語

down the ladder of social standing

踏下社會地位的臺階

and is now often used

現在人們常常就只是

to mean simply a woman.

用它來稱呼一個女人