英語中12個月份詞源的來歷:發散記憶秒記N個詞

As the new yearstarts you might have recently bought a new diary or calendar andthought 『Where do these words come from?』 – at least that’s what Idid. There is also, of course, also the chance that you have beenmerrily scheduling in gym appointments and book clubs and all sortsof other details relating to New Year’s resolutions (have you keptyours so far?) but we』ll take the opportunity to add a resolutionto your list: learn where we got the names for all the months ofthe year. Spoilers: it’s a mixture of gods, rulers, andnumbers.

新的一年又開始了，也許你已經買了一本新的日記本或日曆本。你們可能有這樣的疑問：「這些月份的說法有什麼樣的由來呢「？——至少我有。當然，你們也有可能已經制定好新年計劃，比如：制定健身計劃，預定好社團以及其他和新年計劃有關的細節（你想好你的新年計劃了嗎？）。我們想藉此機會在你們新計劃列表上增添上這樣一項計劃：了解12個月份的來歷。先小小地透露一下：它們的來歷和神、統治者以及數字有關。

January

一月

January is namedafter the Roman god Janus, who presided over doors and thebeginning of the year (though this is, as you will discover, not asstraightforward as it seems). Indeed, Janus was usually depictedwith two faces looking backwards and forwards, as is oftencharacteristic of a new year; this also gave rise to the term Janusword for words that have two opposite meanings.

一月是以羅馬看守門戶的Janus命名的，他負責守門以及新一年的開端，儘管這樣，你會發現它似乎不止有一面。事實上，Janus常常以兩張望向相反方向的面孔示人，這也是新的一年所具備的特點：既要回顧過去，又要展望未來。這樣的形象又賦予了「Janus」具有相反含義的特性。

February

二月

February isultimately based on Latin februarius, from februa. In case that’snot helped things become clearer, februa was the name of apurificationfeast held on the 15th of this month. February is adivisive issue in modern pronunciation, with both Feb-yoo-ary andFeb-roo-ary being commonly heard.

二月形成於拉丁語「februarius」中的「februa」。考慮到大家可能還沒有明白它的意思，這邊再補充說明一下：「februa」是2月15日舉行的一個淨化盛宴的名字。現代人對February的發音持有不一樣的見解，主要有兩種讀法，第一種是Feb-yoo-ary，第二種是Feb-roo-ary。

March

三月

Which god gets aplanet and a month named after him? You』ve guessed it: Mars. Whyhim? As the Oxford English Dictionary notes, 『In ancient Romeseveral festivals of Mars took place in March, presumablyinpreparation for the campaigning season, since Mars was a god ofwar.』

哪位神靈擁有一個星球並有一個月份以它命名？你也許猜是「Mars」。為什麼是他呢？牛津英語(精品課)詞典裡標註道：在古羅馬，幾個和火星有關的節日都發生在三月，也許這些節日都和準備戰爭的活動有關，因為Mars是一位戰神。

April

四月

We know that theEnglish word April comes from the Latin Aprillis, the fourth monthof the ancient Roman calendar, but things are less clear afterthat. In Old English, April was also sometimes called Eastermonab,『Easter month』.

我們都知道英語單詞「April」來源於拉丁語「Aprillis」，在古羅馬的日曆上，這是第四個月，但之後的一些事情我們就不大知曉了。在古英語裡「April」有時也被稱為「Eastermonab」，意為：「復活月」。

May

五月

The month isconnected with the goddess Maia. Perhaps less well known now thanthe otherdeitieswith months named after them, Maia (in Greekmythology) was daughter of Atlas and mother of Hermes. She wasconsidered a nurturer and an earth goddess, which may explain theconnection with this springtime month. Although may is a commonmodal verb, the month and the word are unrelated.

五月和神靈Maia（瑪雅）有關。瑪雅也許沒有其他神靈為人們所熟知，在希臘神話中瑪雅是Atlas（阿特拉斯）之女和Hermes（愛馬仕）之母。她被認為是一位養育者和一位地球女神，這也解釋了May和春季月份的關係。may是一個情態動詞，但是月份的「May」和情態動詞的「may」是不相關的。

June

六月

Having concededone month to a Greek deity, we’re now back with the Romans: June isnamed after the ancient Roman goddess Juno, wife of Jupiter andgoddess of marriage and childbirth. June was also once sometimesknown as midsummer month.

介紹了一位希臘神靈，現在我們繼續講講羅馬的神靈。「June」是以古羅馬神靈「Juno」命名的。朱諾是Jupiter（丘比特）之妻，掌管著婚姻和生育分娩的事務。六月一度被認為是仲夏月。

July

七月

The first monthin the calendar named after a real person, July was named in honourof Julius Caesar after his death in 44 BC, July being the month ofhis birth. Before it was renamed, the month was known as Quintilis(borrowed into English as Quintile), which means 『fifth』. If you』vebeen counting, you』ll know that July isn’t the fifth month: we』llcome on to that when we reach September and October.

這是第一個以人名命名的月份，「July」的命名是為了紀念JuliusCaesar（裘裡斯凱撒），他於公元前44年去世，七月正好是他出生的月份。在這個月份更名之前，它叫做「Quintilis」，英語中即為「Quintile」，意為「第五」。如果你會數數的話，你會發現，「July」並不是第五個月份。關於這個問題，等我們提到「September」和「October」的時候再解釋。

August

八月

Following suit,in 8 BC, the month Sextilis (『sixth』) was renamed after Augustus,the first Roman emperor, who had died six years earlier. Augustushimself was given this title when he became emperor, havingpreviously been known as Octavian. It came from the Latin augustusmeaning 『consecrated, venerable』 which gave rise to the Englishadjective august, 『respected and impressive』.

同樣地，在公元前8世紀，Sextilis(『sixth』)這個月更名了，以羅馬第一位帝王Augustus（奧古斯都）命名。他於公元前8世紀前六年去世。奧古斯都在他成為帝王的那一天起也更名為「August，之前他叫做「Octavian」（屋大維）。這個詞來源於拉丁語「augustus」，意為「神聖的，值得尊敬的」，這也就賦予了英譯詞彙「august」（這裡作為形容詞）「值得尊敬的」的意思。

September

九月

Septemberfollows on from Quinitlis and Sextilis, in that it comes from theLatin septem, 『seven』. As with those (and the rest of thecalendar), the numbering is a bit off now: September was originallythe seventh month in an ancient Roman ten-month calendar, whichstarted with March.

「September」之所以在「Quinitlis」和「Sextilis」之後，因為它來源於拉丁語「septem」，這裡是第七的意思。這樣的話，算上日曆本裡剩下的月份，我們現在有點混亂了。「September」起初在古羅馬10個月的日曆中是排第七個的，那個10個月的日曆中，第一個月份是「March」。

October

十月

More of thesame: octo is the Latin for 『eight』, for that ten month calendar.Two months were added to the end of the calendar year around 713BC, and the beginning of the year was moved to 1 January in 153BC.

同樣地，「octo」在拉丁語中是「eight」（八）的意思，因為那個10個月的日曆。大約在公元前713年的時候，日曆的最後加上了兩個月，在公元前153年的時候，一年的開始從一月份計算了。

November

十一月

The patterncontinues: November comes from novem, 『nine』. November is also,we’re afraid, used 『with allusionto November’s position at the endof the year, and to the characteristic greyness, gloominess, etc.,associated with it in the northern hemisphere』. The earliest knownexample of this allusive use comes from Jane Austen’s posthumouslypublished novel Persuasion.

同上：「November」來自「novem」，在古羅馬日曆中位於第9個月。我們覺得「November」同樣也暗指它處在年末，具有灰暗，晦暗的意思，通常和北半球有關。這個暗指性地用法最早出現在簡奧斯汀死後出版的小說《說服》。

December

十二月

And we finishoff the year with December, from decem, 『ten』. The month also comeswith a brace of adjectives: Decemberish and Decemberly, the latterof which can also be used as an adverb. And there you have it: awhole calendar year of etymologies to see you through the whole of2016.最後我們來講講「December」，來源於「decem」，最初指的是十月。這個詞還有一些形容詞形式：「Decemberish」和「Decemberly」，後者還可以作為副詞。好了，這就是和2016年所有月份的有關的典故來源了。