Mark Twain once wrote: "This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred and sixty-four." Twain's referring to the first day of April or, as it's often known, April Fools' Day. While the first day of the fourth month of the year is sure to bring plenty of shenanigans (will you be the perpetrator or the victim?), what isn't so certain is where the month's name originated.
馬克·吐溫曾經寫道：「四月一日，是讓我們想起其餘的364天自己是什麼樣子的日子。」這句話說的就是四月的第一天，也就是我們所熟知的「愚人節」。雖然四月的第一天一定會有很多惡作劇(不知道你是整蠱者還是受害者?)，但四月為什麼叫做April卻不是那麼明確。
How did April get its name?
四月為什麼叫做April?
April goes way back. Before January and February were added to the end of the year by King Numa Pompilius around 700 BC, April was already the second month of the Roman calendar year (March was the first). Around 450 BC, April was rearranged into the fourth slot, and was assigned 29 days. With the introduction of the Gregorian calendar by Pope Gregory XIIII in 1582, an extra day was added, and even though it took Mother Goose awhile to standardize the rhyme, we've been able to count on "30 days hath April" ever since.
回溯四月。大約在公元前700年，國王努馬•龐皮利烏斯將一月和二月添加到一年的最後，在這之前，四月就已經是羅馬年曆的第二個月了(第一個月是三月)。公元前450年前後，四月被安排到第四個月份，同時被安排了29天。隨著教皇格裡高利十四世1582年引入格里高利曆，四月才又增加了一天。儘管《鵝媽媽童謠》花了一段時間來規範押韻，我們之後也才能得以「四月都三十」來記誦月份。
But being confident about the origin of a word that's been around since before 700 BC isn't so simple. There are a few common theories behind April's naming. One is that the name is rooted in the Latin Aprilis which is derived from the Latin aperire meaning "to open" – which could be a reference to the opening or blossoming of flowers and trees, a common occurrence throughout the month of April in the northern hemisphere. Another theory holds that since months are often named for gods and goddess, and since Aphrilis is derived from the Greek "Aphrodite," one can conclude that the month was named for the Greek goddess of love (the goddess that the Romans called Venus)! Even now, April is a popular name.
但是搞清楚這個公元前700年前詞彙的來源並非易事。對於四月命名的來源，眾說紛紜。其一是四月(April)取自拉丁詞語"Aprilis"，"Aprilis"的詞源為"aperire"，意為「開」，代表著北半球四月花草樹木的開放。還有一個說法就是「月份神源論」，既然很多月份都以神祇命名，既然Aphrilis來源於阿弗洛狄忒，那麼就有人說這一月份是隨著希臘愛情女神(在羅馬神話中就是女神維納斯)而命名的。到現在April也還是個很受歡迎的名字!
And as if it weren't enough to have it's own mystery, April also adds to another origination story. Around the 5th century AD, the Anglo-Saxons referred to April as Oster-monath or Eostre-monath, a reference to the goddess Eostre, whose feast was celebrated during the month. The Venerable Bede, a monk from the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter, believed this gave root to the word Easter – which is most often observed during the month of April.
但似乎這些說法都無法給予四月神秘感，因此關於四月還有一個起源故事。公元5世紀左右，安格魯撒克遜人將四月視為俄斯特月或厄俄斯特月，這源於女神厄俄斯特(Eostre)，人們在四月為其舉辦節日以示慶祝。來自諾森伯蘭聖彼得修道院的尊者比德認為，復活節(Easter)也來源於女神厄俄斯特。這一節日也是四月最常見的節日。
April's derivation will remain a story full of maybes, but we don't see this month going anywhere soon. What do you think linguists will be discussing when April is 3000 years old?
四月的起源故事還有很多種可能，但關於此並不會有很快的進展。你認為四月誕生3000年後，語言學家會如何討論這一問題呢?