袁新民
如果还没有完整看过这“据说”是【检验美国高中生水平的100个单词】的朋友,先检验一下自己认识多少个,可先点击链接:http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4e8d2f290102e5m2.html。
希望在看过解析版后,最少能认识第一个词。
把kowtow作为第一个词,也是给大家增加信心的。
尽管只有100个词,但仍然可以找到最少15组同源词,也有含相同构词成分(如后缀-ous,-ate 等)的不少词。
词源解词必然会涉及音变知识,因前边博文里已经有这方面的内容,故涉及音变的主要在“点”。
1. kowtow/ˏkauˈtau;kaʊˋtaʊ/(来自汉语的koutou)
v . ~ (to sb/sth) toshow sb in authority too much respect and be too willing to obeythem 叩头;磕头;卑躬屈膝;唯命是从
We will not kowtow to thegovernment.
Europe/ˈjuərəp USˈjur-/(在来源上不确定,传统上一直同Europa“欧罗巴”联系在一起:腓尼基王Agenor阿革诺耳的女儿,被宙斯化作白牛劫到克里特,生下三个儿子。eur=eury宽,op脸,眼,Europa表示宽阔的脸庞、宽额或大眼睛的,作为欧洲大陆,本身的意思为“西”方或“日落”的地方→)
n.欧洲
European/juərəˈpɪən;ˏjʊrəˋpiən/(Europe欧洲,-an…的,属于)
a.欧洲的,欧洲人的
n.欧洲人
2. euro/juərəu/(来自Eurocurrency的缩写和变化,curr跑→移动→流动,-ency名词后缀;不断流动的东西→currency货币;通行,流行)
n. a unit ofmoney that can be used in most countries of the European Union欧元
Prices are given in pounds andeuros.
nanometer其实是“(矮)小”“米”, meter是“米”,音译“纳米”,nano代表“纳”,指的是10-9数量级(onebillionth),当然是很“小”了,nano中的o是连接字母,故nan代表“小”,而在普通词汇中,nan代表 little oldwoman,nun与nan比较,仅是元音字母发生变化。
nun/nʌn;nʌn/(来自后期拉丁语 nonna ‘an old woman’)
n.修女,尼姑
3. nanotechnology/ˌnænəutekˈnɔlədʒi US-noutekˈnɑː-/(nano代表nanometer,technology技术,即:any technology on thescale of nanometers →)
n.纳米技术
Despite the growing pains, many experts say nanotechnologyis catching on much faster than they had expected.
technology,text还有toilet都是简单词,它们都与一个词根tect同源。
text,techn, tect 编织,编造,造
印欧词根形式为*teks-,techn,tecton均为带后缀的形式。
architect里的tect其实是来自希腊语的tekton“木匠,建造者,制造者”,tect造→带后缀的形式tecton.
4.tectonic/tek'tɑnɪk/(tect造→带后缀的形式tecton木匠,建造者,制造者,-ic形容词后缀;属于和建造者、建筑有关的→)
a. 1. of or pertainingto building or construction; constructive; architectural建筑(学)的;构造的;
2. (geology) connected with the structure of the earth's surface【地质学】地壳构造的
...the tectonic plates ofthe Pacific region which are separating from the East PacificRidge.
tauto看起来是不是有些怪异?其实它来自希腊语 toauto ,其中的to是中性定冠词,意思是the,也与the同源。auto是“自己,自身”,tauto就是thesame
dialogue是两个人之间的“对话”,词根为log,还有apology里的log。lecture等含同源词根。
印欧词根*leg-“收集,说”对应lex“说”。
希腊语λογος(logos )表示:
1.话,话语;
2.谈话,对话;
3.字,词;
4.话题,主题;
5.原理,原则,准则,规律。
-logy表示:
1. …学,…论;2.说话,语词
所以不要仅限于知道-ology 是“…学”,要知道 -o- + -logy =-ology,而-logy与词根lect等紧密联系着。
也要明白为什么把nanotechnology,tautology, lexicon 要放在一起?
5. tautology/tɔːˈtɔlədʒɪ;tɔˋtɑlədʒɪ/(tauto相同的,-logy说话,语词)
n. a statement in which you say the samething twice in different words, when this is unnecessary, forexample 'They spoke in turn, one after the other.'同义反复;赘述
'The money should be adequate enough' is an exampleof tautology.
6. lexicon/ ˈleksɪkən; US -kɔn;ˋlɛksɪkɑn/(lex(is) 说话,措辞,词语,-ic形容词后缀,对应希腊语的-ikos,lexicon来自希腊语lexikos的中性,即最后的-on属于语法变化带来的;属于词语的→)
n. 1. technical all thewords and phrases used in a language or that a particular personknows (某语言或学科、某人或群体使用的)全部词汇
2. a list of words on a particular subject or ina language in alphabetical order(某学科或语言的)词汇表
3. a dictionary, especially one of an ancientlanguage, such as Greek or Hebrew(尤指希腊语或希伯来语等古代语言的)词典,字典
Chocolate equals sin in most people'slexicon.
acute little baby里的cute来自acute,包括acid在内,都含有词根:
ac尖
印欧词根形式为*ak-。
7.acumen/ˈækjumen/(ac尖→带后缀的形式acu削尖,变锋利,敏锐,-men名词后缀;理解、判断等尖锐、敏锐→)
n. [U] the ability to understand and judge thingsquickly and clearly 敏锐; 精明;聪明
The firm'ssuccess is largely due to Brannon's commercialacumen.
化学符号O大家都知道吧?很多酸中都含有“氧”,AntonieLaurentLavoisier当初认为氧存在于所有酸中,oxygen的字面意思是“产生(gen)酸(oxy)的物质”,酸acid的词根ac与氧oxygen里的oxy为同源词根
oxide/ˈɔksaɪd; ˋɑksaɪd/(来自法语oxygene=oxygen+ acide=acid,氧和另一种元素或基团的化合物→)n. 氧化物
8. oxidize/ˈɔksɪdaɪz/(oxide=oxide,-izetreat or combine with使与…结合)
vt. (technical) to combine or to make sth combinewith OXYGEN, especially when this causes metal to become coveredwith RUST(使)氧化;(使)生锈(因氧化而形成)
Aluminium is rapidly oxidized inair.
Theoriginal white lead pigments have oxidized andturned black.
university里有vers。
advertise即“做广告”就是要使注意力“转向”某事。
Converse(匡威)这个品牌取自于创办人Marquis M.Converse先生的姓氏,
Converse即康弗斯,含义是“皈依者(convert)”,就是完全(con-)虔诚地“转”(vers)向某一宗教组织,词根vers和vert 都是“转”。
9. incontrovertible/ˏɪŋkɔntrəˈvɜːtəbl/(in-不,contro-=contra-反对,vert转,controvert转向相反→持有相反的观点→反驳,就…展开争论;-ible可…的;不可反驳的→)
a. definitely true and impossible to beproved false无可争辩的,不容置疑的,无可辩驳的
There is nowincontrovertible evidence that thegovernment is violating the agreement.
10.vortex/ˈvɔːteks;ˋvɔrtɛks/(是vertex的变体,即vort=vert转,-ex名词后缀;风、水等旋转得很快形成的→)
n.(pl 复数作 ~es 或 -tices / -tɪsiːz;-tɪˏsiz/)
1. (technical) a mass of air,water, etc. that spins around very fast and pulls things into itscentre(风或水形成的)旋风,旋涡
2. (literary) a verypowerful feeling, force or situation that you cannot avoid orescape from: (感情或局势的)旋涡
I was sucked into avortex of despair.
want除了“要”,还有“缺乏,缺少”的意思,词根wan就表示“缺”,“缺”失了就有“空”。
wan(t), van,vain, vac 空,缺
印欧词根形式为*(e)wa-n-“离开,离弃,用完,耗尽”,所以派生词的意思为“被离弃的,缺乏的,空的”。词根为vac,wan 等是 wa, va 等带后缀或扩展的形式。
记得有人区分不了vacation和vocation,其实二者最大的区别在词根,词根vac是“空,缺”,空出的一段时间就是vacation。
11. vacuous/ˈvækjuəs/(vac空,u=-uus形容词后缀,vacu就是拉丁语vacuus空的,-ous有…特性的;头脑里空的→)
a. (formal) showing no sign ofintelligence or sensitive feelings 无知的;空洞的; 无意义的
a vacuousremark/question/expression/smile
Male models are not always sovacuous as they are made out to be.
vanish中的也是van空,当然还有vain:
12. evanescent/ˏiːvəˈnesnt; US ˏev-;ˏɛvəˋnɛsnt/(e- out, van空,-esce开始,-ent形容词后缀;开始变空即消失的→)
a. (literary) disappearing quickly fromsight or memory: (fml 文) 瞬间即逝的;迅速遗忘的
Talk is evanescent, writingleaves footprints.
“完全(con-)”“信任(fid)”别人或自己的才是confident“自信的”和“确信的”,因为“信任”才有了fiancé(未婚夫)和fiancée(未婚妻),当然还有faith。
Fidius是罗马信用之神。
fid, fed, faith信任
13. diffident/ˈdɪfɪdənt; ˋdɪfədənt/(dif-=dis-‘away’ 分离,缺乏,fid信任,-ent形容词后缀;缺乏对自己信任的→)
a. ~ (about sth) not having muchconfidence in yourself; not wanting to talk about yourself缺乏自信的;胆怯的;羞怯的
You shouldn't be so diffidentabout your achievements - you've done reallywell!
14.fiduciary/fɪˈdjuː.ʃi.ə.ri/(fid信任→拉丁语fiduci(a)信任、信赖,-ary与…有关的(人))
a. relating to the responsibility to lookafter someone else's money in a correct way:信托的;信用的;(尤指)受信托的,受信托的
n. Fiduciary is used to talk about thingswhich relate to a trust, or to the people who are in charge of atrust.(尤指财产)受信托人(或公司)
They have a case against their directors for breachof fiduciary duty.
中古英语里,head的拼写是heved,古英语的拼写是heafod,古高地德语是houpit, 现代德语是Haupt。
Capital是“首都”,而词根capit就是“头”,它与head的同源关系能看出来吗?
15. precipitous/prɪˈsɪpɪtəs;prɪˋsɪpətəs/(pre-前,cipit头,-ous有…特性的;头向前即头向下扔、抛下的、头朝下摔下去的地方的→)
a. 1. verysteep, high and often dangerous: 险峻的;陡峭的
2. suddenand great 突然的,骤然的,急剧的
3. done veryquickly, without enough thought or care 草率的,仓促的,贸然的
The stock market'sprecipitous drop frightened foreigninvestors.
a precipitousmarriage.
capitulate/kəˈpɪtʃuleɪt; kəˋpɪtʃəˏlet/(capit头,-ul=-ule 小,capitul小头→章,节,题头或标题;-ate使形成;使形成即起草投降协议的章节→)
v. ~ (to sb/sth)1. 屈服,屈从;2. 投降
16. recapitulate/ˏriːkəˈpɪtʃuleɪt;ˏrikəˋpɪtʃəˏlet/(re- 再,capit 头,-ul=-ule 小,capitul小头→章,节,-ate使形成;再以章或节叙述→再次重复要点→)
v.(formal) ~ (on sth) ~ sth to repeat orgive a summary of what has already been said, decided, etc:扼要重述;概括
Let's just recapitulate theessential points.
Let me just recapitulate (on) whatwe've agreed so far.