Erin McKean: Go ahead, make up new words!

翻译人员: Jack Qiu 校对人员: Li Li

I'm a lexicographer.

我是一个词典编纂者

I make dictionaries.

我的工作是编词典

And my job as a lexicographer

而我作为一个词典编纂者，所要做的

is to try to put all the words possible into the dictionary.

就是尽可能的把所有的词语都加入到词典里边去

My job is not to decide what a word is; that is your job.

我不是来决定怎样的词算是一个词语 那些事是你们来决定的

Everybody who speaks English decides together

每个讲英语的人一起决定

what's a word and what's not a word.

怎样算一个词怎样不算一个词

Every language is just a group of people who agree to understand each other.

在每一种语言里就这么一帮人 同意理解对方

Now, sometimes when people are trying to decide whether a word is good or bad,

有时候当人们决定一个词的褒贬的时候

they don't really have a good reason.

他们并没有给出很好的理由

So they say something like, "Because grammar!"

所以他们经常说： “因为这是语法规定的！”

(Laughter)

（笑）

I don't actually really care about grammar too much -- don't tell anybody.

我并不太在乎语法... 可别告诉人

But the word "grammar," actually, there are two kinds of grammar.

但是“语法”这个词，实际上有两种语法

There's the kind of grammar that lives inside your brain,

一种是在你脑子固定形成的语法

and if you're a native speaker of a language

如果你以某一语言为母语

or a good speaker of a language,

或者你能流利地说某种语言

it's the unconscious rules that you follow when you speak that language.

是你在说那种语言时 所遵循的潜规则

And this is what you learn when you learn a language as a child.

这是你还是小孩子的时候学到规则

And here's an example:

这有一个例子

This is a wug, right?

这是个 WUG，对吧？

It's a wug.

这是个 WUG

Now there is another one.

现在又有一个（wug）

There are two of these.

那么这有两个这样的东西

There are two ...

有两个....

Audience: Wugs.

观众：Wugs

Erin McKean: Exactly! You know how to make the plural of wug.

Erin Mckean: 没错！你们知道如何用wug的复数了

That rule lives in your brain.

那是你们脑子里固定形成的规则

You never had to be taught this rule, you just understand it.

你从来没有被教过怎么用复数形式 你只是明白它的用法

This is an experiment that was invented by a professor at [Boston University]

这是在1958年一个叫 Jean Berko Gleason的

named Jean Berko Gleason back in 1958.

波士顿大学教授发明的一个实验

So we've been talking about this for a long time.

所以我们已经讨论了这事情很久了

Now, these kinds of natural rules that exist in your brain,

那么，这些在你脑子里形成的自然规则

they're not like traffic laws, they're more like laws of nature.

他们不像交通规则 他们更像是自然法则

And nobody has to remind you to obey a law of nature, right?

你不需要任何人提醒你去遵守自然法则，对吧？

When you leave the house in the morning, your mom doesn't say,

你早上出门的时候 你妈妈不会说，

"Hey, honey, I think it's going to be cold, take a hoodie,

“嘿，亲爱的 今天天冷穿件外套吧

don't forget to obey the law of gravity."

别忘了遵循万有引力哦”

Nobody says this.

没人这么说

Now, there are other rules that are more about manners than they are about nature.

而另外的一些规则更注重使用方法而非词本身

So you can think of a word as like a hat.

你可以把一个词想象成一顶帽子

Once you know how hats work,

一旦你知道怎么戴帽子

nobody has to tell you, "Don't wear hats on your feet."

没人会告诉你 “别往脚上穿啊”

What they have to tell you is, "Can you wear hats inside?

他们要告诉你的是 “你能在室内戴帽子么？

Who gets to wear a hat?

谁能戴帽子？

What are the kinds of hats you get to wear?"

能戴怎么样的帽子“

Those are more of the second kind of grammar,

这些更像第二类语法

which linguists often call usage, as opposed to grammar.

语言学家常说的用法，与语法相反

Now, sometimes people use this kind of rules-based grammar

有时候人们以规则型的语法

to discourage people from making up words.

来阻止人们造新词

And I think that is, well, stupid.

我觉得，这个挺愚蠢的

So, for example, people are always telling you,

比方说，人们总是告诉你

"Be creative, make new music, do art, invent things, science and technology."

“要有创造力，编新的音乐 创作艺术，发明新的科技

But when it comes to words, they're like,

但是在对待词语的时候

"Don't! No. Creativity stops right here, whippersnappers. Give it a rest."

”停！你的创意到此为止 你们这些自以为是的年轻人，一边凉快去“

(Laughter)

（笑）

But that makes no sense to me.

但是在我看来这说不通

Words are great. We should have more of them.

词语棒极了 我们应该有更多的词语

I want you to make as many new words as possible.

我要你们尽可能的创造出更多的新词

And I'm going to tell you six ways that you can use to make new words in English.

而且我将告诉你们六种造新词的方法

The first way is the simplest way.

第一种最简单

Basically, steal them from other languages.

其实就是从另一种语言里偷过来

["Go rob other people"] (Laughter)

[”抢别人的去“] （笑）

Linguists call this borrowing,

语言学家称之为外来词（借词）

but we never give the words back , so I'm just going to be honest

但是我们从来不把外来词还回去 所以我要老实和你们讲

and call it stealing.

称它为偷来的词

We usually take words for things that we like, like delicious food.

我们通常把我们喜欢的东西的那些词”偷“来 比如好吃的食物

We took "kumquat" from Chinese, we took "caramel" from French.

我们从中文那拿了”Kumquat“（金橘） 从法语那拿了”caramel“（焦糖）

We also take words for cool things like "ninja," right?

我们也把很酷的东西的词借来 比如说”忍者“，对吧

We took that from Japanese,

我们把它从日语那借了过来

which is kind of a cool trick because ninjas are hard to steal from.

这招挺酷的因为忍者很难偷

(Laughter)

（笑）

So another way that you can make words in English

那么另一种在英语中造词的方法

is by squishing two other English words together.

就是把两个英语单词合成一个词

This is called compounding.

称之为复合法

Words in English are like Lego:

英语单词就像乐高

If you use enough force, you can put any two of them together.

如果我们使足劲 就能把任意两个词合成一个

(Laughter)

（笑）

We do this all the time in English:

我们经常这么做

Words like "heartbroken," "bookworm," "sandcastle" all are compounds.

比如 “心碎”，“书虫”，“沙城”都是复合词

So go ahead and make words like "duckface," just don't make duckface.

所以去造些像“duckface”的词 只要不在自拍的时候做鸭脸就好

(Laughter)

（笑）

Another way that you can make words in English is kind of like compounding,

另一种方法有点像复合法

but instead you use so much force when you squish the words together

不过不同的是你把两个词“挤”成一个词时太用劲

that some parts fall off.

词的一部分掉了下来

So these are blend words,

这些就是并缀词

like "brunch" is a blend of "breakfast" and "lunch."

比如 “早午餐”是早餐和午餐的并缀

"Motel" is a blend of "motor" and "hotel."

“汽车旅馆”是“汽车”和“旅馆”的并缀

Who here knew that "motel" was a blend word?

谁在这知道“汽车旅馆”是个并缀词？

Yeah, that word is so old in English

对吧，这个词在英语里太久了

that lots of people don't know that there are parts missing.

很多人都不知道这个词的一部分消失了

"Edutainment" is a blend of "education" and "entertainment."

”娱教“是”教育“和”娱乐“的并缀

And of course, "electrocute" is a blend of "electric" and "execute."

当然还有，“触电”是“电”和“处决”的并缀

(Laughter)

（笑）

You can also make words by changing how they operate.

你也可以改变一个词的词性来造新词

This is called functional shift.

这称为功能转换

You take a word that acts as one part of speech,

你把一个词在这句话里的词性

and you change it into another part of speech.

在另一句话里换成另一种词性

Okay, who here knew that "friend" hasn't always been a verb?

那好，有谁知道“朋友”这个词并不一直是个动词

"Friend" used to be noun and then we verbed it.

“朋友” 曾是个名词然后我们把它变动词了

Almost any word in English can be verbed.

几乎所有的英语单词都能够变为动词

You can also take adjectives and make them into nouns.

你也可以把形容词变为名词

"Commercial" used to be an adjective and now it's a noun.

“commercial”（商业的）曾是个形容词 想在成了个名词（广告）

And of course, you can "green" things.

当然了，你还可以把它“绿化”了

Another way to make words in English is back-formation.

另一种方法是“逆成法”

You can take a word and you can kind of squish it down a little bit.

你可以把一个词缩短

So for example, in English we had the word "editor" before we had the word "edit."

比如说，英语里“edit”（编辑）一词出现前 我们只有“editor”（编者）

"Edit" was formed from "editor."

“edit”是从“editor”变过来的

Sometimes these back-formations sound a little silly:

有时候“逆成法”听上去挺可笑

Bulldozers bulldoze, butlers butle and burglers burgle.

推土机推土，管家看家，窃贼行窃

(Laughter)

（笑）

Another way to make words in English

另一种造词法

is to take the first letters of something and squish them together.

就是把某样东西的首字母拼在一起

So National Aeronautics and Space Administration becomes NASA.

所以美国国家航空航天局变成NASA

And of course you can do this with anything, OMG!

当然了什么词你都可以这么用，我的天！

So it doesn't matter how silly the words are.

所以这些词语多么可笑都无所谓 (臭虫赛车障碍)

They can be really good words of English.

他们能成为很棒的英语单词

"Absquatulate" is a perfectly good word of English.

“Absquatulate"是个好词

"Mugwump" is a perfectly good word of English.

“Mugwump”是一个很正常的英语词

So the words don't have have to sound normal, they can sound really silly.

所以这些词不用听上去正确 它们可以听上去很可笑

Why should you make words?

为什么你要编词呢？

You should make words because every word

你应该编词因为每个新编的词

is a chance to express your idea and get your meaning across.

是给你表达并传递你的意思的一个机会

And new words grab people's attention.

而且新词更受人关注

They get people to focus on what you're saying

它让人们更专注于你在说什么

and that gives you a better chance to get your meaning across.

这给你一个更好的机会表达你的意思

A lot of people on this stage today have said,

很多人在在这阶段说过

"In the future, you can do this,

未来，你可以做这

you can help with this, you can help us explore, you can help us invent."

你可以帮助我们，帮助我们研究和发明

你可以马上创造新词

You can make a new word right now.

English has no age limit.

英语没有年龄限制

Go ahead, start making words today,

从今天起创造新单词

send them to me, and I will put them in my online dictionary, Wordnik.

把它们寄给我 然后我会把它们放进我的网上词典Wordnik里边

Thank you so much.

谢谢大家

(Applause)

(掌声)