“tingo”的意思-英語聽寫雜志

“tingo”的意思—英語聽寫雜志

TheMeaningOfTingo

ByChrisRose

IrecentlyfoundabookbythewriterAdamJacotdeBoinodcalledTheMeaningOfTingo.AsanativespeakerofEnglish,Iwasabitconfused.Ihadneverheardofthisword“tingo”,andwascuriousaboutthetitleofthebook.

AsIsoonfoundout,evenifyouarenotanativespeaker,thengoingtoyourdictionaryandlookinguptheword“tingo”willnothelp.Infact,youprobablywon’tfindtheword“tingo”thereatall,andnotleastbecauseofthefactthat“tingo”isnotanEnglishword.“Tingo”,itseems,isoneofverymanywordswhichcannotbetranslatedintoEnglish–oratleastoneofthosewordswhichareverydifficulttotryandtranslateintoEnglish,orevenintoyourownnativelanguage.

ThebookTheMeaningofTingoisakindofdictionary,butperhapsadictionaryyouwillnotfindusefulinthesamewaythatyourusualdictionaryis.TheMeaningofTingoisalistofwordsfromlanguagesallovertheworldwhichhaveveryspecific,nottosayveryunusual,meanings.

Englishisalanguagethathasalwaysbeenomnivorous,takingwordsfromotherlanguagestoenrichitsownvocabulary.EnglishhastakenthewordspyjamasfromHinditodescribethelooseclothesyoumaywearwhenyougotobed,croissantfromFrenchtodescribeaparticularkindofsweetbreadroll,orcatastrophefromGreektodescribeaparticularlybadevent,orangstfromGermantodescribeaparticularmixtureoffearandanger.AndthesearejustafewofthemanyexamplesofwordsthatEnglishhasmadeitsown.

However,itisinterestingtolookatwordsthatevenagreedylanguagesuchasEnglishhasnot(atleastyet)madeitsown.

Japanese,forexample,mayhavegivenusmangatodescribeaparticularstyleofcomicbook,buttheEnglishhavenotyetadoptedtheusefulexpressionkataharaitai-laughingsomuchthatyourstomachhurts.TheJapanese,itseems,havemanysuchusefulwords–anotheroneforexample,isbakku-shan-agirlwhoappearsprettyfrombehindbutnotfromthefront.Haveyoueverwantedtosaythatinmerelyoneword?Nowyoucan.

AswellasJapanese,itseemsthatGermanisalsoausefullanguage.Germanoftenmakes“compoundwords”–oneormorewordsjoinedtogethertomakeanewword.Putzfimmel,forexample,isamaniaforcleaningwhileBackpfeifengesichtapparentlydescribesthekindoffacethatpeoplewanttohit.

JacotdeBoinod’sbookisnotonlyamusing,but,heclaims,showsthatwayinwhichalanguageisinextricablylinkedtothecultureinwhichitisspoken.Isitreallytrue,then,thatinGermanytherearealotofpeoplewhohavefaceswhichotherpeoplewanttopunch?OrthatJapanhasmorethanitsshareofofbakku-shan?Thereadermaynotatfirstbeconvincedbythis,butwhenyoureadthatHawaiianshave108wordsforsweetpotato,65forfishingnetsand47forbanana(simplybecauseinHawaiithereareindeed108differentkindsofsweetpotato,65fishingnetsand47differenttypesofbanana),itmakesmoresense.Albaniansarefamousfortheirmoustaches–andindeedtheAlbanianlanguagecontains27differentwordsfor“moustache”-madh,forexample,isabushymoustache,poshtisamoustachehangingdownattheendswhileafshesisalongmoustachewithshorthairs.PeoplefromHollandandBelgiumappeartobemorefun-loving.Dutchhasaworduitwaaien-“walkinginwindyweatherforfun”,whilepeopleintheNetherlandsapparentlyoftengotoplimpplampplettere.Whataretheydoing?Justthinkaboutthesound–theyareskimmingstonesonwater.

Moreevidenceofthislinkbetweenlanguageandculturecanbeseeninthewordswhichdifferentlanguageshaveforjobswhichexistonlyintheircultures.Someofthesejobsareprettyunusual:akoshatnikinRussianisadealerinstolencats,whileSpanishspeakersincentralAmericaoftenhavetoworkwithanaviador-agovernmentemployeewhoonlyshowsuponpayday.

So,whatexactlydoes“tingo”meanthen?Well,tofindthatout,you’lljusthavetofindthebook.No,notreally!It”sfromthePascuenselanguageofEasterIsland,meaning“toborrowobjectsfromafriend”shouse,onebyone,untilthere”snothingleft“.

POSTSCRIPT

Somereviewersofthebookhavesaidthatitcontainsanumberofmistakes.Forexample,theetymology,orexplanationofwherewordscomefrom.Theyhavealsosaidthatmanydefinitionslackexplanation,whichsuggeststhathisresearchisreallyquitesuperficial.Perhapsmostimportantly,onereviewernotedthatdeBoinodwritesthattheword“papa”isusedtomean“father”in70%ofalllanguagesintheworld.Thisseemsinteresting,