我们名字背后的故事 ⏲️ 6分钟英语：英语精读讲义

Six Minute English from the BBC.

BBC六分钟英语。

Hello, this is Six Minute English from BBC Learning English.

大家好，这里是BBC英语教学的六分钟英语。

I'm Neil.

我是Neil。

And I'm Beth.

我是Beth。

Names tell us a lot about a person. 短語搭配

名字能告诉我们很多关于一个人的信息。

Many names have meanings.

许多名字都有特定的含义。

Paul, for example, means humble,

比如，Paul（保罗）意思是谦逊，

and the name Anna originated from a Hebrew word meaning graceful. 短語搭配

而Anna（安娜）这个名字源于希伯来语，意思是优雅。

Our name is an important part of our identity. 短語搭配

我们的名字是我们身份的重要组成部分。

If you hear someone shout your name in the street,

如果你在街上听到有人大喊你的名字，

you automatically turn to look.

你会本能地回头看。

But names also reveal cultural and family connections,

但名字也揭示了文化和家庭的联系，

which give us a sense of our history and our place in the world. 短語搭配

这让我们对自己的历史和在世界上的位置有了归属感。

In this program,

在本期节目中，

we'll be meeting a writer whose name combines two very different sides of her identity, 短語搭配

我们将认识一位作家，她的名字结合了她身份中截然不同的两面，

one English and the other Indian. 語法

一面是英国的，另一面是印度的。

Sheela Banerjee was born in Hayes, West London 語法

Sheela Banerjee（希拉·班纳吉）出生在西伦敦的Hayes（海斯），

to parents from the East Indian state of Bengal.

父母来自印度东部的Bengal（孟加拉邦）。

We'll be hearing about Sheela's research into her name and family history. 短語搭配

我们将听到关于Sheela对她名字和家族历史的研究。

And as usual,

像往常一样，

we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.

我们也会学习一些有用的新词汇。

But first,

但首先，

I have a question for you, Neil.

Neil，我有一个问题要问你。

As every parent knows, 表達脈絡

正如每位父母所知，

choosing your child's name isn't easy. 語法

为孩子起名字并不容易。

Names go in and out of fashion, 習語

名字的流行趋势总是在变，

and a name that was popular one year soon becomes old-fashioned. 用詞

一年里很受欢迎的名字很快就会变得过时。

So,

那么，

what was the most popular name for baby girls in the UK last year?

去年英国最受欢迎的女婴名字是什么？

Was it A, Florence,

是A，Florence（弗洛伦斯），

B, Olivia,

B，Olivia（奥利维亚），

or C, Amelia?

还是C，Amelia（阿米莉亚）？

Hmm, I'll guess it was Olivia.

嗯，我猜是Olivia。

Okay, Neil.

好的，Neil。

We'll find out the answer later in the program.

我们稍后会在节目中揭晓答案。

Sheela Banerjee's name came out of her parents' journey from British India to West London in the 1950s. 短語動詞

Sheela Banerjee的名字源于20世纪50年代她父母从英属印度到西伦敦的旅程。

Here, she tells BBC Radio 4 program Word of Mouth

在这里，她告诉BBC广播四台的《Word of Mouth》（口口相传）节目，

how reflecting on this journey inspired her new book, What's in a Name, 短語搭配

对这段旅程的反思是如何启发了她的新书《What's in a Name》（名字里有什么）的，

which blends her own life story with history and politics. 短語搭配

这本书将她自己的人生故事与历史和政治交织在一起。

As soon as I started thinking about it, 語法

“我一想起这件事，

you know, this name Sheela,

你知道，Sheela这个名字，

which is, you know, as a seven-year-old girl living in Hayes called Sheela, 語法

也就是，你知道，作为一个住在Hayes名叫Sheela的七岁女孩，

this very typical English name,

这个非常典型的英国名字，

you know, what's that name doing then... 語氣意圖

你知道，那个名字是干什么的呢……

If you start to pull at that,

如果你开始抽丝剥茧，

the threads lead you to the story of my Bengali parents' migration over here

这些线索就会把你引向我孟加拉父母移民到这里的这段故事，

to mass migration from the colonies after the war to this country, 文化背景

也就是战后从殖民地到这个国家的大规模移民，

and then Banerjee contains all these stories about colonialism and caste. 文化背景

而Banerjee这个名字包含了所有关于殖民主义和种姓制度的故事。”

Her parents wanted their daughter to feel safe in London,

她的父母希望他们的女儿在伦敦感到安全，

so they gave her a typical English name, Sheela. 用詞

所以他们给了她一个典型的英国名字：Sheela。

If something is typical,

如果某事是典型的（typical），

it shows the usual features of a particular type of person or thing.

它显示了特定类型的人或事物的常见特征。

It's a good example of that type.

它是该类型的一个好例子。

She may have had a typical English name, 語法

她可能有一个典型的英国名字，

but with dark skin and hair,

但有着黑皮肤和黑头发的Sheela，

Sheela didn't look like some people's image of a typical English girl. 文化背景

看起来并不像一些人想象中典型的英国女孩。

wanting to find out more about her culture, 短語動詞

为了更多地了解自己的文化，

Sheela started to pull the threads behind her family story. 習語

Sheela开始顺藤摸瓜，寻找她家族故事背后的线索。

Pulling the threads is an idiom,

抽丝剥茧（Pulling the threads）是一个习语，

meaning to investigate deeper into something,

意思是更深入地调查某事，

revealing the hidden connections behind it.

揭示其背后隐藏的联系。

What Sheela discovered was a story of mass migration, 講解

Sheela发现的是一个关于大规模移民（mass migration）的故事，

periods in history when large groups of people moved from one geographical area to another.

即历史上大群人从一个地理区域移动到另一个地理区域的时期。

Mass migrations have happened throughout history.

大规模移民在历史上一直都有发生。

In the 1950s and 1960s,

在20世纪50年代和60年代，

many South Asian families, including Sheela's,

许多南亚家庭，包括Sheela家，

migrated west to cities in the UK. 用詞

向西移民到了英国的城市。

But this is just one half of the story. 表達脈絡

但这只是一半的故事。

Sheela's family name Banerjee reflects her roots in the Bengali culture of East India, 短語搭配

Sheela的姓氏Banerjee反映了她在东印度孟加拉文化的根基，

where surnames tell a lot about a person's social status or caste. 文化背景

在那里，姓氏能很大程度上说明一个人的社会地位或种姓。

Here's Sheela explaining more to BBC Radio 4 program Word of Mouth.

下面是Sheela在BBC广播四台《Word of Mouth》节目中的进一步解释。

It is an Indian name,

“这是一个印度名字，

but actually it's not my real name.

但其实这不是我真正的名字。

You've got names like Banerjee, 語氣意圖

像Banerjee（班纳吉）、

Mukherjee, Chatterjee,

Mukherjee（慕克吉）、Chatterjee（查特吉）这些名字，

which, you know, nowadays people hear over here.

你知道的，现在人们在这里经常听到。

But Banerjee,

但是Banerjee，

is an Anglicized form of my original name, 用詞

是我原来名字的英语化形式，

which would have been Bandyopadhyay 語法

我本来的名字应该是Bandyopadhyay（班迪奥帕迪亚）。

And it's a name that was changed by the British when they went over there, 語法

这是英国人去那里时被改掉的一个名字，

uh, because they really basically couldn't be bothered to pronounce it or couldn't pronounce it. 習語

呃，因为他们基本上就是懒得去发这个音，或者发不出这个音。

And for me, it's always been a very mixed name 講解

对我来说，这一直是一个非常复杂的名字，

because it signifies that we were, you know, colonial subjects. 文化背景

因为这标志着我们，你知道，曾是殖民地的臣民。

And so it's a tricky name to be carrying around. 用詞

所以这是一个背负起来十分棘手的名字。”

Sheela's surname is actually pronounced Bandyopadhyay.

Sheela的姓氏实际上发音为Bandyopadhyay。

But during colonial times,

但在殖民时期，

the name became Anglicized.

这个名字被英语化（Anglicized）了。

It was changed to sound more English.

它被改得听起来更像英语。

This happened a lot.

这种事经常发生。

The surnames Chattopadhyay became Chatterjee,

姓氏Chattopadhyay变成了Chatterjee，

and Mukhopadhyay became Mukherjee,

Mukhopadhyay变成了Mukherjee，

either because the British rulers couldn't pronounce them 語法

要么是因为英国统治者发不出那些音，

or because they couldn't be bothered.

要么是因为他们懒得去发音（couldn't be bothered）。

They didn't make the effort. 短語搭配

他们不愿意花这个力气。

Sheela feels her Anglicized surname has always been tricky,

Sheela觉得她这个被英语化的姓氏一直很棘手（tricky），

difficult to use,

很难使用，

because of the association with colonialism and oppression. 短語搭配

因为它与殖民主义和压迫联系在一起。

Ironically, 表達脈絡

讽刺的是，

it was London,

正是伦敦，

the capital of the British Empire,

这个大英帝国的首都，

that in modern times became the destination for migrants from all over the world. 短語搭配

在现代成了来自世界各地移民的目的地。

Okay,

好了，

it's time to reveal the answer to your question, Beth.

是时候揭晓你问题的答案了，Beth。

What was the most popular girls' name in 2022?

2022年最受欢迎的女孩名是什么？

I guessed it was Olivia.

我猜是Olivia。

Which was the correct answer.

这是正确答案。

In 2022,

在2022年，

Olivia remained the most popular girls' name for the sixth year in a row 短語搭配

Olivia连续第六年成为最受欢迎的女孩名，

and was given to 3,649 baby girls. 語法

有3,649名女婴被起了这个名字。

Okay,

好的，

let's recap the vocabulary from this program 表達脈絡

让我们回顾一下本期节目的词汇，

starting with typical,

从typical（典型的）开始，

containing the most usual features of a particular type of person or thing.

包含特定类型的人或事物最常见的特征。

If you pull the threads of something,

如果你pull the threads of something（顺藤摸瓜/抽丝剥茧），

you investigate it more deeply to find the hidden stories behind it.

你就是更深入地调查它，以找到背后隐藏的故事。

Mass migration is the historical movement of large groups of people from one place to another.

Mass migration（大规模移民）是一大群人从一个地方到另一个地方的历史性移动。

If something is Anglicized,

如果某物是Anglicized（英语化）的，

it's changed to sound or appear English.

它就被改变成听起来或看起来像英语的。

If you can't be bothered to do something,

如果你can't be bothered（懒得去）做某事，

you don't make the effort to do it.

你就是不想费力气去做它。

And finally,

最后，

if something is tricky,

如果某物是tricky（棘手的/微妙的），

it's difficult to manage and requires careful use.

它就是难以处理且需要谨慎对待的。

Once again, 表達脈絡

再一次，

our six minutes are up.

我们的六分钟时间到了。

Goodbye for now.

先说到这里。

Bye.

再见。

Six Minute English from the BBC.

BBC六分钟英语。