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英语中数字的词根

 


本期谈谈使用频率较高的数字,其中包含了一些有用的词根,记住之后可以举一反三地学习。

1. One

One 这个单词不只是出现在英语中,通过元音变化可以变成其他语言中的“一”,比如:

德语:ein(‘o’ 变 ‘ei’,去‘e’。)
冰岛语:einn
瑞典语:en(‘o’ 变 ‘e’。)
荷兰语:een
法语:un,une(u = o)
西班牙、意大利语:uno,una(u = o, a = e),UNO 牌就是在最后一张牌需要喊出 “uno” 因此而得名。

Uni- 和 mono- 在英语中作为前缀,也表示“一”。

Unicycle,独轮车
Unicorn,独角兽
Unilateral,单边的
Unicellular,单细胞的

Monopoly(mono “一”,poly “卖”),一个人卖 \Rightarrow 垄断。
Monotone(tone,音调),一个音调 \Rightarrow 单调的(可表示函数单调性monotonicity)。

2. Two

Twin,twain,twice 都是与 “two” 直接相关的单词。

还有两个前缀可以表示“二”,bi- 和 di-

Bi-

Binary,二进制
Bliateral,双边的
Bicycle,二轮车
Bipedal,双足行走的,ped表示“足”,al 表形容词(p = f,t = d,发音类似故相等,参考格林定律)
Bilingual,两种语言的,lingua 表舌头,language 也由 lingua 变化而来

Di-

Dioxide,二氧化物
Diphthong,双元音
Duo,双人的
Double,双倍的
Deuce(deu = di,ce 表名词),平局,特指在 tennis 和 table tennis 等比赛中,出现需要连续赢两次的平手,比如网球的 40:40,乒乓球的10:10等。

注:这里 w 算作半元音,所以也可以元音变化。参考这篇文章

第一,我们称字母w和y为半元音字母,是因为这两个字母既可以用在音节的开头做辅音字母使用,又可以用在音节的末尾当元音使用。如,wet,water中的w在音节的开头元音字母前,它就是辅音字母,而few,now中的w在音节的末尾与其它元音字母构成字母组合发一个元音,few的发音是/ fju: /,now的读音是/ nau /。因此字母w的发音就相当于元音/u:/或 /u/ 。由此可见字母w既可以做元音字母使用,又能做辅音字母使用,所以称它为半元音字母。又如,字母y在yes,you等单词中在音节开头元音字母前起辅音字母作用;而y在fly,city这类单词中在音节的末尾辅音字母后,用来构成音节,起元音字母作用。由此可见,字母Y既可以做辅音字母使用,又可以当元音字母使用,所以称它为半元音字母。

第二,我们称音素/ j /和/ w /为半元音音素有两个原因。一是因为这两个音是由两个半元音字母发出来的。字母y在单词中作为辅音字母在音节的开头时发/ j /这个音,字母w在单词中作为辅音字母在音节的开头时发/ w /这个音。二是因为/ j /和/ w /这两个音素发音的特点介于元音和辅音之间。它们发音时一半特征属于辅音,气流通过口腔时受阻,但又非常快速滑向后面的元音,属于半受阻。而另一方面它们的发音又有一半符合元音特征,元音发音时气流通过口腔时通畅,而这两个音属于半通畅状态,发/j /音时双唇向两边伸展或成扁平形,舌位和口型和元音/ i: /相似,而发/w/音时双唇收元、收小并向前突出,唇形与舌位与元音/u:/相似。因此可见,这两个音素被称为半元音是很有道理的。

3. Three

Three 可以简化为 tri(h 不发音省略,元音变化 ee = i),作为前缀“三”。

Tricycle,三轮车
Triple,三倍的
Triplet,三胞胎中的一个
Tripod,三脚架,pod = ped = foot,与 上文的 Bipedal 同理
Triangle,三角形
Trilingual,三种语言的
Trigonometry,三角学,其中 gon = angle,比如美国的五角大楼( The Pentagon,penta = five),ufc 中的八角笼(The Octagon,Oct = eight)

4. Four

Four 的前缀有 quad-,quart-,tetra-(比较少见)。

Quad-

Quadruple,四倍的
Quadruplet,et 是小词后缀,表示四胞胎中的一个
Quadrilateral,四边形

Quart-

Quarter,四分之一,一刻钟,一季度
Quartile,四分位的,类似的还有 Percentile(百分位),统计学中专业术语,概率论必须弄明白的知识点,这里不多做解释了
Quarterback,橄榄球中的四分卫,为什么叫这个名字可以参考这个问题

Tetra- 很少遇到,有印象就好

Tetrapod,四足动物,pod = foot
Tetrad,意为 a group or set of four,麦克卢汉有个理论(Tetrad of media effects)就包含这个单词

5. Five

五的前缀有两个

Quint-

Quintessence,第五物质

古代希腊哲学家认为世间除了常见的水、火、土、气等四种物质外,还存在第五种物质。这种物质是万物之精华,构成了天体,并弥漫在所有其他物质中。亚里斯多德将这种物质命名为“以太”(ether)。拉丁语将这种物质称为quinta essentia(第五物质)。该词经由法语进入英语后,拼写改为quintessence。中世纪的炼金术士致力于提炼这种物质,认为它能治百病,并且具有长生不老的功效。现在,该词一般用来比喻“精华、精髓、典范”。

Quintuple,五倍的

Penta-

Pentagon,五角大楼,上文已经提到过
Pentacle,五角星(不是五角形)
Penta Kill,五杀,玩过英雄联盟的肯定不陌生 ^_^

6. Six

六有两个前缀,sex-(e = i,所以 sex- 是“六”),hex-(h 是一个变化灵活的字母,有时候可以替换其他字母,这里 h = s),两个前缀用的很少,这里不举例了。

7. Seven

同 Six,Seven也有 sept-,hept-两个前缀,pt 经过辅音变化成了 ven,于是 sept -> seven。

月份中 September 就是取自 Sept 组成的单词,至于为什么九月与“seven”有关系,参见这个答案

古罗马历把March作为1月,October和December本来就是古罗马历里的8月和10月。罗马的历法传说是罗马的建城者罗慕路斯(Romulus)制定的,一共有10个月,一共360天(一说304天):

  1. Martius
  2. Aprilis
  3. Maius
  4. Iunius
  5. Quintilis (拉丁语quintus:第五)
  6. Sextilis (拉丁语sextus:第六)
  7. Septembris (拉丁语septem:七)
  8. Octobris (拉丁语octo:八)
  9. Novembris (拉丁语novem:九)
  10. Decembris (拉丁语decem:十) (1~4月都是以神祇命名)

也有说法认为罗慕路斯的历法实际上有12个月(在Decembris后加上了Ianurarius和Februrarius)。但无论如何,前十个月的顺序我们可以确定,正如上文列举的那样。

但因为罗慕路斯的历法非常不准,每个月的天数相差太远(有的月份不足20天,而有的达到了35天之多),他的继任者努玛(Numa)调整了罗马的月份,加入了Ianurarius和Februrarius(认为罗慕路斯历法有12个月的人认为他只是调整了原来的顺序),把罗马历法改成了这样:

  1. Ianuarius
  2. Februarius
  3. Martius
  4. Aprilis
  5. Maius
  6. Iunius
  7. Quintilis (五)
  8. Sextilis (六)
  9. Septembris (七)
  10. Octobris (八)
  11. Novembris (九)
  12. Decembris (十) 括号里的数字表示月份的字面意思。现在可以看到7月之后的月份都在字面意思上和实际意思上相差了两个月,这就是英文里的“错位现象”的来源。

后来凯撒和奥古斯都分别把自己出生的月份Quintilis和Sextilis改成了自己的名字Iulius和Augustus,也就是我们所称的“儒勒历”(来自于凯撒的名字Iulius),但没有修正其他的月份名。儒勒历后来经过格里高利十三世教皇的修正成为了我们现在使用的“格里高利历”,但也没有修改月份的名字,所以拉丁语里的“错位”也保留了下来。

8. Eight

Oct- 是八的前缀,其中 ei = o,c = g(发音相同),h 省略,t 不变。

Octogon,八角形,八角笼
Octopus,八爪鱼

与 cuttlefish(墨鱼)和 squid(鱿鱼)有区别,个人的分辨方式是 cuttle 是 bag、sack 的意思,墨鱼有个墨袋。squid 来自于 squirt(喷射),因为它在快速移动时只能以喷射的方式直线后退。更多的细节可以参考这个回答

October,十月,与八有关。
Octogenarian,八十多岁的人,gen = ten(t = g)

9. Nine

non- 和 nov- 两个前缀,如 Nonagenarian 和 November。

10. Ten

Dec-,可能是这样变化的 d = t,n、c辅音变化。

Decathlon,十项全能,谐音“迪卡侬”(一个运动品牌),athlon 就是运动,同源单词 athlete,运动员。
Decimeter,分米,十厘米。
December,十二月
Decade,十年
Decaliter,十升

100. Hundred

Centi-

Centimeter,厘米
Centipede,百足虫
Century,一百年

1000. Thousand

Milli-

Millennial,一千年,enn = year。Anniversary,一周年,ann 也是年。
Millipede,千足虫,ped = foot。Pedal,踏板。

Kilo-

Kilogram
Kilometer

最后说几个数字 million,billion,trillion。

Milli = thousand,“on” 是augmentative suffix(大词后缀,类似的单词还有lagoon,lake + on = lagoon,e = o,k 变 g),所以可以理解为增大版的 thousand,那么在 thousand 后再加上三个零,于是成了一百万。

Billion = bi + milli + on。两个千加上大词后缀,bi 和 mi 合并,m省去,最后就是九个零 billion。

Trillion 和 quadrillion 依此类推即可。

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