Where do new words come from? - Marcel Danesi

譯者: Pao YuChen 審譯者: Helen Chang

Every year, about 1,000 new words are added to the Oxford English Dictionary.

每年，大約有一千個新詞彙 被寫進牛津英語詞典

Where do they come from,

這些詞彙是從哪裡來的呢？

and how do they make it into our everyday lives?

和我們日常生活有什麼關係？

With over 170,000 words currently in use in the English language,

目前，英語使用超過 17 萬條詞彙

it might seem we already have plenty.

似乎已經相當夠用

Yet, as our world changes,

但是，隨著世界仍不斷改變

new ideas and inventions spring forth,

新的想法和發明不斷湧出

and science progresses,

科學也不斷進步

our existing words leave gaps in what we want to express

現有的詞彙 與想表達的內容仍有差距

and we fill those gaps in several ingenious,

因此，人們用一些巧妙的

practical,

實際的

and occasionally peculiar ways.

和偶爾罕見的方式填補差距

One way is to absorb a word from another language.

方法之一是從其他語言吸收詞彙

English has borrowed so many words over its history

歷史上，英語早已借用許多詞彙

that nearly half of its vocabulary comes directly from other languages.

近乎半數詞彙直接來自其他語言

Sometimes, this is simply because the thing the word describes

有時，因為這些詞彙所描述的物體

was borrowed itself.

本身就是借來的

Rome and France brought legal and religious concepts,

羅馬和法國給中世紀英國 法律和宗教的概念

like altar and jury, to Medieval England,

像是祭壇和陪審團

while trade brought crops and cuisine,

貿易則帶來農作物和菜餚

like Arabic coffee,

像是阿拉比卡咖啡

Italian spaghetti,

義大利麵

and Indian curry.

印度咖哩

But sometimes, another language has just the right word

但有時，其他語言才有洽當的詞彙

for a complex idea or emotion,

解釋複雜的想法或情緒

like naïveté

像是，天真無邪

machismo,

男子氣概

or schadenfreude.

幸災樂禍

Scientists also use classical languages to name new concepts.

科學家也用古語替新概念命名

Clone, for example, was derived from the Ancient Greek word for twig

克隆，這個詞彙衍生自古希臘的小枝芽

to describe creating a new plant from a piece of the old.

描述從現存植物上創造出的新植物

And today, the process works both ways,

現今，借字這個方法彼此互通

with English lending words like software to languages all over the world.

英文就借出「軟體」這詞 為世界各種語言所用

Another popular way to fill a vocabulary gap

另一個廣泛使用填補差距的方法

is by combining existing words that each convey part of the new concept.

是結合各自傳達部分新概念的 現有的單詞成為新詞彙

This can be done by combining two whole words into a compound word,

這可以透過結合兩個完整的詞 變成一個複合字

like airport

像是「飛機」「場」

or starfish,

或是「海」「星」

or by clipping and blending parts of words together, like spork,

或是將詞彙去頭接尾，結合起來 像是「叉勺」

brunch,

「早午餐」

or internet.

「網路」

And unlike borrowings from other languages,

這方法不像從其他語言借字

these can often be understood the first time you hear them.

這些詞彙你第一次聽到即可理解

And sometimes a new word isn't new at all.

有時候新詞彙，毫無「新」意

Obsolete words gain new life by adopting new meanings.

過時的詞彙因採用「新意」 而重獲新生

Villain originally meant a peasant farmer, but in a twist of aristocratic snobbery

「Villain」最初指的是佃農 但是隨著貴族勢力扭轉

came to mean someone not bound by the knightly code of chivalry

意思變成不再受騎士精神約束

因此，也就成了「惡棍」

and, therefore, a bad person.

A geek went from being a carnival performer

「Geek」原本指「嘉年華的表演者」

to any strange person

之後轉為形容「任何奇怪的人」

to a specific type of awkward genius.

變成形容特定領域的「怪才」

And other times, words come to mean their opposite through irony,

其他時候，詞彙帶有反諷

metaphor,

譬喻

or misuse,

誤用

like when sick or wicked are used to describe something literally amazing.

像是用「病態」或「邪惡」 描述簡直太神奇的事物

But if words can be formed in all these ways,

但是，如果這些方式可以組成詞彙

why do some become mainstream while others fall out of use

為什麼有些成為主流 其他則無人使用

or never catch on in the first place?

或從來不曾流行過

Sometimes, the answer is simple,

有時，這問題很簡單

as when scientists or companies give an official name to a new discovery

科學家或企業想替新發現 正式命名

or technology.

或是新科技

And some countries have language academies to make the decisions.

部分國家有語言學術機構做出決定

But for the most part, official sources like dictionaries

但多數時候，官方資源像是辭典

only document current usage.

只記載目前所使用的詞彙

New words don't originate from above, but from ordinary people

新詞彙，並非源字辭典而是普通民眾

spreading words that hit the right combination

民眾口耳相傳精準結合的詞彙

of useful and catchy.

兼顧實用和朗朗上口的特性

Take the word meme,

像是詞彙「文化基因」

coined in the 1970s by sociobiologist Richard Dawkins

社會生物學家 Richard Dawkins 於 1970 年代提出

from the Ancient Greek for imitation.

從古希臘詞彙「模仿」之意衍生

He used it to describe how ideas and symbols propagate through a culture

他使用這詞描述想法和符號 在文化中傳播

like genes through a population.

就像是群體中的基因

With the advent of the Internet,

隨著網路世代降臨

the process became directly observable in how jokes and images

這個過程變得更為直接看得到

笑話或是圖片如何以光速普及全球

were popularized at lightning speed.

And soon, the word came to refer to a certain kind of image.

不久，那詞就被用來表示某種形象

So meme not only describes how words become part of language,

所以，文化基因不僅描述詞彙如何 變成語言的一部分

the word is a meme itself.

它本身就是文化基因

And there's a word for this phenomenon of words that describe themselves:

有個詞彙描述詞彙本身的現象

autological.

本意詞

Not all new words are created equal.

並非所有新詞彙的地位都一樣

Some stick around for millennia,

部分使用千年不變

some adapt to changing times,

部分隨時間改變

and others die off.

有些已經消失

Some relay information,

部分傳播資訊

some interpret it,

部分解釋資訊

but the way these words are created

但是，這些詞彙的創造

and the journey they take to become part of our speech

逐漸成為日常用語的一部分

tells us a lot about our world and how we communicate within it.

告訴我們許多世界故事 及我們如何在其中進行交流