Why is there a "b" in doubt? - Gina Cooke

爲什麽英文 doubt (懷疑) 裡頭有個「b」? - Gina Cooke

Translator: Andrea McDonough Reviewer: Bedirhan Cinar

譯者: Geoff Chen 審譯者: Regina Chu

People often think the word "doubt" spelling is a little crazy

人們常常認為「doubt（懷疑）」 這字的拼法有點瘋狂，

because of the letter "b".

因為裡頭的字母「b」。

Since it doesn't spell a sound,

由於它不發音，

most folks can't figure out what it's doing there.

大多數人不知道它是幹什麼用的。

But in spite of what most of us learn in school,

然而，儘管我們在學校已被教導

sound is <i>never</i> the most important aspect

發音永遠不是

of spelling an English word.

拼寫英語單詞時 所需的最重要面向，

A word's meaning and history need to come first.

我們必須首先考慮 一個詞彙的歷史和含義。

To doubt means to question,

「懷疑」意謂著「詢問」、

to waver,

「躊躇」、

to hesitate.

「猶豫不決」。

As a noun, it means uncertainty or confusion.

作為一個名詞，它指的是 一種困惑或不確定性。

The present-day English word "doubt"

現今的英文單詞「懷疑」

started as a Latin word, "dubitare".

源於拉丁詞「dubitare」，

It first moved from Latin into French

在它首次從拉丁語轉變為法語時，

where it lost both its "buh" sound and its letter "b".

它失去了字母「b」和「buh」的音，

And then it came into English in the 13th century.

接著在十三世紀時，它轉變為英語。

About 100 years later,

大約一百年後，

scribes who wrote English but also knew Latin,

懂英語也懂拉丁語的經學家

started to reinsert the "b" into the word's spelling,

開始將「b」重新植入這個詞，

even though no one pronounced it that way.

即便當時沒人這麼發音。

But why would they do this?

但為何他們這麼做呢？

Why would anyone in their right mind

為什麼有人會把 一個不發音的字母

reinsert a silent letter into a spelling?

重新植入一個詞彙中呢？

Well, because they knew Latin,

嗯，因為他們懂拉丁文。

the scribes understood that the root of "doubt" had a "b" in it.

經學家知道「懷疑」的字根有個「b」。

Over time, even as fewer literate people knew Latin,

隨著時間的推移， 即使更少的識字人懂拉丁文，

the "b" was kept because it marked important,

「b」一直存在在那兒， 因為它被認為是重要的，

meaningful connections to other related words,

它被認為是一個有意義的連接詞， 並且聯繫著其他相關的詞彙，

like "dubious" and "indubitalbly,"

比如說「可疑的（dubious）」 和「不容置疑地（indubitalbly）」，

which were subsequently borrowed into English

隨後英文借用同一個拉丁字根「dubitare」。

from the same Latin root, "dubitare".

隨後英文借用同一個拉丁字根，「dubitare」。

Understanding these historical connections

瞭解這些歷史的關聯

not only helped us to spell "doubt,"

不僅幫助我們拼寫「懷疑（doubt）」，

but also to understand the meaning

同時也幫助我們理解

of these more sophisticated words.

這些更為複雜詞彙的含義。

But the story doesn't end there.

但故事並非到此為止，

If we look even deeper,

如果我們更深地探究它，

we can see beyond the shadow of a doubt,

我們可以理解在這個懷疑（doubt）之外

just how revealing that "b" can be.

「b」是多麼深具啓發性。

There are only two base words in all of English

在所有英語中，

that have the letters "d-o-u-b":

只有兩個基本詞有「d-o-u-b」的拼寫：

one is doubt,

其中一個是 doubt（懷疑）、

and the other is double.

而另一個是 double（雙）。

We can build lots of other words

我們可以由此

on each of these bases,

建立許多其他詞彙，

like doubtful

and doubtless,

比如 doubtful （令人懷疑的）、

doubtless（無疑的）、

or doublet,

或 doublet（成對物）、

and redouble,

redouble（加倍）、

and doubloon.

和 doubloon（達布隆: 古西班牙雙金幣）。

It turns out that if we look into their history,

事實證明，如果我們回顧它們的歷史，

we can see that they both derive

我們便知道它們都源於

from the same Latin forms.

同一拉丁文形式。

The meaning of double,

double（雙重）的意義——

two,

兩個——

is reflected in a deep understanding of doubt.

反映了對懷疑的深刻理解。

See, when we doubt,

看，當我們懷疑時

when we hesitate,

當我們猶豫時，

we second guess ourselves.

我們批評、糾正自己（second guess ourselves）。

When we have doubts about something,

當我們懷疑某事時，

when we have questions or confusion,

當我們遇到問題或感到困惑時，

we are of two minds.

我們猶疑不定（of two minds）。

Historically, before English began

從歷史上看，在英語開始

to borrow words from French,

從法語那兒借字前，

it already had a word for doubt.

英文已經有了懷疑這詞。

That Old English word was "tweogan,"

在古英語中，這單詞是 「tweogan」，

a word whose relationship to "two"

「懷疑（tweogan）」與「兩個（two）」之間的關聯性

is clear in its spelling as well.

在拼寫上也很明白地顯示出來。

So the next time you are in doubt

所以，當下次你對

about why English spelling works the way it does,

英文的拼寫方式感到懷疑（in doubt）時，

take a second look.

再仔細瞧瞧第二次（take a second look），

What you find just might make you do a double-take.

也許之後你便會恍然大悟（double-take）了。