朗文英语听力教程2Unit-1-What’s-in-a-Name听力原文

Unit1What’sinaName?TEACHER:Goodmorning,everybody.Goodmorning,Felipe,Monica,Theo,...andIcan’trememberyourname.STUDENT1:Patricia.TEACHER:Right,Patricia.Thoseareallbeautifulnames,andthat’sourtopictoday—names.Namesareaculturaluniversal.Thismeanseveryoneusesnames.Aperson’snamecantellusabitaboutaperson’sfamily.Today,we’llbeginbylookingatfirstnamesandhowpeoplechoosenamesfortheirchildren.Andthenwe’lltalkaboutfamilynames,andlookatthedifferentcategoriesoffamilynames.AlthoughthescopeofthelecturetodayisEnglish-languagenames,wecanusethesameapproach,youknow,tolookatnamesfromanyculture.Let’stakeabrieflookatfirst,orgiven,names.Thereareseveralwaysparentschoosethefirstnamefortheirchild.Thefirstwayisbyfamilyhistory.Parentsmaychooseanamebecauseitispassedfromgenerationtogeneration;forexample,thefirstbornsonmightbenamedafterhisfatherorgrandfather.Althoughfamilynamesarealsopassedtodaughters,itisusuallyasamiddlename.Adding“junior”or“thesecond”—forexample,WilliamParkerthesecond—isonlydonewithboys’,notwithgirls’names.Thesecondwayparentschooseanameisafterafamilymemberorfriendwhohasdiedrecently,oraftersomeonetheyadmire,likeawell-knownleaderorafamousmusician.AlthoughmostEnglishfirstnamesmeansomething,forexample,“Richard”meanspowerfuland“Ann”meansgrace,nowadaysmeaningisnotthemainreasonpeopleselecttheirbaby’sname.Thethirdwayistoprovidea“push”forthechild.Parentswanttochooseanamethatsoundsvery“successful.”Astrongnamemighthelptheminthebusinessworld,forexample.Ortheymightchooseanamethatworksforeithergender,likeTaylororTerry.So,giventhesethreemethods,whatisthemostcommonwayparentschooseaname?Manyparentschooseanamesimplybecausetheylikeit,orbecauseit’sfashionableorclassic.Fashionsinnameschangejustastheydoinclothes.Onehundredyearsago,manynamescamefromtheBible—namessuchasDaniel,andAnna,andHannahandMatthew.Then,fiftyyearsago,Biblicalnameswentoutoffashion.Nowadays,namesfromtheBiblearebecomingpopularagain.Similarly,parentsoftenchooseclassicnames,namesthatwerepopularin1900,1950,andarestillpopularnow.ClassicnamesforboysincludeThomas,David,Robert,andMichael.Andforgirls:Anna,Elizabeth,Emily,andKatherine,justtonameafew.They’reclassic.Theynevergooutofstyle.Let’slookattheoriginoflastnames,alsocalledfamilynamesorsurnames.Researchershavestudiedthousandsoflastnames,andthey’vedividedthemintofourcategories.Thecategoriesare:placenames,patronymics,addednames,andoccupationalnames.Arecentsurveyshowedthatofthe7,000mostpopularnamesintheUnitedStatestoday,43percentwereplacenames,32percentwerepatronymics,15percentwereoccupationalnames,and9percentwereaddednames.Thefirstcategoryisplacenames.Placenamesusuallyidentifiedwhereapersonlivedorworked.SomeonenamedJohnHilllivednearahill,forexample,andtheRiversfamilylivednearariver.IfyouhearthenameEmmaBridges,...whatimagedoyousee?Doyouseeafamilythatlivesnearabridge?Ifyoudo,yougettheidea.Thesecondcategoryispatronymics.That’sP-A-T-R-O-N-Y-M-I-C-S.Apatronymicisthefather’sname,plusanendinglikeS-E-NorS-O-N.Theendingmeansthatachild,aboy,isthesonofhisfather.ThenamesRobertson,Petersen,andWilsonarepatronymics.RobertsonissonofRobert,PetersenissonofPeter,andsoon.Thethirdcategoryisaddednames.Linguistssometimescallthiscategory“nicknames,”butwhenmostofusheartheword“nickname,”wethinkofaspecialnameafriendoraparentmightuse.Theword“nickname”isactuallyanoldEnglishwordthatmeansanadditionalname,anaddedname.SoI’llusetheterm“addedname.”Thiscategoryoflastnamesisfunbecausethenamesusuallydescribedaperson.Reed,Baldwin,andBiggsareexamples.Reedwasfrom“red”forredhair.Baldwinwassomeonewhowasbald,someonewhohadlittleornohair.AndBiggs?STUDENT2:Someonebig?TEACHER:Yeah,someonebig,right.Now,ifwelookaroundtheroom,wecouldprobablycomeupwithsomenewlastnames,like,uh,CurlyorStrong.Now,thefourthcategoryisoccupationalnames.Theoriginofthefamilynamewastheperson’soccupation.ThemostcommonexamplesofoccupationalnamesstillusedtodayareBaker(someonewhobakesbread),Tailor(someonewhosewsclothes),Miller(someonewhomakesflourforbread),andSmith....Now,SmithisactuallythemostcommonnameinthewesternEnglish-speakingworld.ThenamecomesfromanOldEnglishword,smite,that’sS-M-I-T-E,whichmeanstohitorstrike.Intheolddays,asmithmademetalthingsfordailylife,liketools.Everytownneededsmiths.What’sinterestingisthatmanylanguageshaveafamilynamethatmeansSmith.InArabicit’sHaddad,H-A-D-D-A-D.InSpanishit’sHerrera,H-E-R-R-E-R-A.InItalianit’sFerraro,F-E-R-R-A-R-O.AndinGermanit’sSchmidt,spelledS-C-H-M-I-D-T.Allthesenamesmeansmith.Thoughnamesmaytellussomethingaboutsomeone’sfamilyhistory,youneedtokeepinmindthattheymaynottellusmuchatallaboutthepresent.Forexample,there’susuallynotmuchconnectionbetweentheoriginofthenameandthepersonwhohasitnow.TakethenameCook,forinstance.ApersonnamedCooktodayprobablydoesn’tcookforaliving.Also,manypeoplechangetheirnamesforvariousreasons.LotsofpeoplewhohavemovedtotheUnitedStateshavechangedtheirnamestosoundmoreAmerican.Thishappenslessnowthaninthepast,butpeoplestilldoit.Peoplealsousepennamesorstagenamestogivethemselvesaprofessionaladvantage.Forexample,thewriterSamuelClemensusedthepennameMarkTwain,an