我們名字背後的故事 ⏲️ 6分鐘英語：英語精讀講義

Six Minute English from the BBC.

BBC六分鐘英語。

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

大家好，這裡是BBC英語教學的六分鐘英語。

I'm Neil.

我是Neil。

And I'm Beth.

我是Beth。

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

名字能告訴我們很多關於一個人的資訊。

Many names have meanings.

許多名字都有特定的含義。

Paul, for example, means humble,

比如，Paul（保羅）意思是謙遜，

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

而Anna（安娜）這個名字源於希伯來語，意思是優雅。

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

我們的名字是我們身分的重要組成部分。

If you hear someone shout your name in the street,

如果你在街上聽到有人大喊你的名字，

you automatically turn to look.

你會本能地回頭看。

But names also reveal cultural and family connections,

但名字也揭示了文化和家庭的連結，

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

這讓我們對自己的歷史和在世界上的位置有了歸屬感。

In this program,

在本期節目中，

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

我們將認識一位作家，她的名字結合了她身分中截然不同的兩面，

one English and the other Indian. 文法

一面是英國的，另一面是印度的。

Sheela Banerjee was born in Hayes, West London 文法

Sheela Banerjee（希拉·班納吉）出生在西倫敦的Hayes（海斯），

to parents from the East Indian state of Bengal.

父母來自印度東部的Bengal（孟加拉邦）。

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

我們將聽到關於Sheela對她名字和家族歷史的研究。

And as usual,

像往常一樣，

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

我們也會學習一些有用的新詞彙。

But first,

但首先，

I have a question for you, Neil.

Neil，我有一個問題要問你。

As every parent knows, 表達脈絡

正如每位父母所知，

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

為孩子取名字並不容易。

Names go in and out of fashion, 慣用語

名字的流行趨勢總是在變，

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

一年裡很受歡迎的名字很快就會變得過時。

So,

那麼，

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

去年英國最受歡迎的女嬰名字是什麼？

Was it A, Florence,

是A，Florence（弗洛倫斯），

B, Olivia,

B，Olivia（奧利維亞），

or C, Amelia?

還是C，Amelia（阿米莉亞）？

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.

我們稍後會在節目中揭曉答案。

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

Sheela Banerjee的名字源於20世紀50年代她父母從英屬印度到西倫敦的旅程。

Here, she tells BBC Radio 4 program Word of Mouth

在這裡，她告訴BBC廣播四台的《Word of Mouth》（口耳相傳）節目，

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

對這段旅程的反思是如何啟發了她的新書《What's in a Name》（名字裡有什麼）的，

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

這本書將她自己的人生故事與歷史和政治交織在一起。

As soon as I started thinking about it, 文法

「我一想起這件事，

you know, this name Sheela,

你知道，Sheela這個名字，

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

也就是，你知道，作為一個住在Hayes名叫Sheela的七歲女孩，

this very typical English name,

這個非常典型的英國名字，

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

你知道，那個名字是幹什麼的呢……

If you start to pull at that,

如果你開始抽絲剝繭，

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

這些線索就會把你引向我孟加拉父母移民到這裡的這段故事，

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

也就是戰後從殖民地到這個國家的大規模移民，

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

而Banerjee這個名字包含了所有關於殖民主義和種姓制度的故事。」

Her parents wanted their daughter to feel safe in London,

她的父母希望她們的女兒在倫敦感到安全，

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

所以他們給了她一個典型的英國名字：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.

它顯示了特定類型的人或事物的常見特徵。

It's a good example of that type.

它是該類型的一個好例子。

She may have had a typical English name, 文法

她可能有一個典型的英國名字，

but with dark skin and hair,

但有著黑皮膚和黑頭髮的Sheela，

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

看起來並不像一些人想像中典型的英國女孩。

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

為了更多地了解自己的文化，

Sheela started to pull the threads behind her family story. 慣用語

Sheela開始順藤摸瓜，尋找她家族故事背後的線索。

Pulling the threads is an idiom,

抽絲剝繭（Pulling the threads）是一個慣用語，

meaning to investigate deeper into something,

意思是更深入地調查某事，

revealing the hidden connections behind it.

揭示其背後隱藏的關聯。

What Sheela discovered was a story of mass migration, 講解

Sheela發現的是一個關於大規模移民（mass migration）的故事，

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

即歷史上大群人從一個地理區域移動到另一個地理區域的時期。

Mass migrations have happened throughout history.

大規模移民在歷史上一直都有發生。

In the 1950s and 1960s,

在20世紀50年代和60年代，

many South Asian families, including Sheela's,

許多南亞家庭，包括Sheela家，

migrated west to cities in the UK. 用詞

向西移民到了英國的城市。

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

但這只是一半的故事。

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

Sheela的姓氏Banerjee反映了她在東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

在那裡，姓氏能很大程度上說明一個人的社會地位或種姓。

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

下面是Sheela在BBC廣播四台《Word of Mouth》節目中的進一步解釋。

It is an Indian name,

「這是一個印度名字，

but actually it's not my real name.

但其實這不是我真正的名字。

You've got names like Banerjee, 語氣意圖

像Banerjee（班納吉）、

Mukherjee, Chatterjee,

Mukherjee（慕克吉）、Chatterjee（查特吉）這些名字，

which, you know, nowadays people hear over here.

你知道的，現在人們在這裡經常聽到。

But Banerjee,

但是Banerjee，

is an Anglicized form of my original name, 用詞

是我原來名字的英語化形式，

which would have been Bandyopadhyay 文法

我本來的名字應該是Bandyopadhyay（班迪奧帕迪亞）。

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

這是英國人去那裡時被改掉的一個名字，

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

呃，因為他們基本上就是懶得去發這個音，或者發不出這個音。

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

對我來說，這一直是一個非常複雜的名字，

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

因為這標誌著我們，你知道，曾是殖民地的臣民。

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

所以這是一個背負起來十分棘手的名字。」

Sheela's surname is actually pronounced Bandyopadhyay.

Sheela的姓氏實際上發音為Bandyopadhyay。

But during colonial times,

但在殖民時期，

the name became Anglicized.

這個名字被英語化（Anglicized）了。

It was changed to sound more English.

它被改得聽起來更像英語。

This happened a lot.

這種事經常發生。

The surnames Chattopadhyay became Chatterjee,

姓氏Chattopadhyay變成了Chatterjee，

and Mukhopadhyay became Mukherjee,

Mukhopadhyay變成了Mukherjee，

either because the British rulers couldn't pronounce them 文法

要麼是因為英國統治者發不出那些音，

or because they couldn't be bothered.

要麼是因為他們懶得去發音（couldn't be bothered）。

They didn't make the effort. 片語搭配

他們不願意花這個力氣。

Sheela feels her Anglicized surname has always been tricky,

Sheela覺得她這個被英語化的姓氏一直很棘手（tricky），

difficult to use,

很難使用，

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

因為它與殖民主義和壓迫聯繫在一起。

Ironically, 表達脈絡

諷刺的是，

it was London,

正是倫敦，

the capital of the British Empire,

這個大英帝國的首都，

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

在現代成了來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.

是時候揭曉你問題的答案了，Beth。

What was the most popular girls' name in 2022?

2022年最受歡迎的女孩名是什麼？

I guessed it was Olivia.

我猜是Olivia。

Which was the correct answer.

這是正確答案。

In 2022,

在2022年，

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

Olivia連續第六年成為最受歡迎的女孩名，

and was given to 3,649 baby girls. 文法

有3,649名女嬰被取了這個名字。

Okay,

好的，

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

讓我們回顧一下本期節目的詞彙，

starting with typical,

從typical（典型的）開始，

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

包含特定類型的人或事物最常見的特徵。

If you pull the threads of something,

如果你pull the threads of something（順藤摸瓜/抽絲剝繭），

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

你就是更深入地調查它，以找到背後隱藏的故事。

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

Mass migration（大規模移民）是一大群人從一個地方到另一個地方的歷史性移動。

If something is Anglicized,

如果某物是Anglicized（英語化）的，

it's changed to sound or appear English.

它就被改變成聽起來或看起來像英語的。

If you can't be bothered to do something,

如果你can't be bothered（懶得去）做某事，

you don't make the effort to do it.

你就是不想費力氣去做它。

And finally,

最後，

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.

它就是難以處理且需要謹慎對待的。

Once again, 表達脈絡

再一次，

our six minutes are up.

我們的六分鐘時間到了。

Goodbye for now.

先說到這裡。

Bye.

再見。

Six Minute English from the BBC.

BBC六分鐘英語。