3_Lecture Three_The English Names.ppt

1、Lecture Three,The English Names (),The English full name (全名) consists of a persons first name (名字) and last name(姓氏). sometimes there is a middle name (中名) between the first name and the last name. The first name is a persons given name by his or her parents at some point after the birth of the chi

2、ld. It is also called a persons forename or personal name. The first name is informal, which is usually used among family members or close friends and colleagues. If we say we are all on first-name with John, it means we call him by his first name, which is a sign of a friendly informal relationship

3、. The common English given names are,John, Robert, Thomas, William, Alice, and so on. In Christian countries, the Christian name(教名) is often used for the first name. Soon after a child is born, it is christened(起教名). That is, the child is given a Christian name at a Christian religious ceremony lik

4、e baptism(洗礼，浸礼). A person is baptized(行洗礼，施浸礼) at baptism. In this Christian religious ceremony, someone is touched or covered with water to welcome them into the Christian faith and sometimes to officially name them. Traditionally, a child is given a Christian name by its god-father(教父) and god-mo

5、ther at baptism. So in Britain, a persons first name is also,called a baptismal name(教名). We may say the child was baptized or christened by the name of John or Mary. Parents often give their children names after the people in the Bible. Such biblical names as Adam, Abraham, Daniel, David, Paul and

6、Peter are first names, which are most commonly used. Mythology(神话) and literature have also contributed several first names. Classical Greek mythology provided Daphne(达芙妮), Phoebe(菲比), Cynthia(辛西娅), Hector(赫克托) and Jason(贾森). Other examples of first names influenced by literature include Beatrice an

7、d Claribel.,In modern times in the English-speaking countries there has been a strong trend towards using surnames(姓氏，姓) as given names, for example, Beverley, Bradley and Byan. The surnames themselves are from a variety of sources. There are also many vocabulary words, such as Jade, Summer and Hope

8、, which are used as given names. In the course of the evolution of the English language, the same first name may have had different pronunciations in different places due to the influence of various dialects and spellings. Therefore, some new forms of the first names have come into being. These new

9、forms have gradually developed to independent first names, which have the same,position as the original one. The stock of first names is further increased by variants of traditional names, such as Krystle from Crystal, and Katherine from Catherine. There are also many feminine forms(男性名字的女性形式) of ma

10、sculine names, for example, Jane from John, Alberta from Albert, and Roberta from Robert. This trend does not seem to happen the other way round. There are such first names as Ivan, which originated from Russian names. There are such first names as Louis, which originated from French names. There ar

11、e such first names as Carlos, which originated,from Spanish names. And there are such first names as Albert, Adolph, Carl and Karl, which originated from German names. To show endearment, people tend to use pet names(呢称). A pet name is a special name that people use to address a close friend or a fa

12、mily member. When people show their endearment for a child, they use the childs pet name, which is also called infant name or childhood name. They shorten mens names like Alfred into Alf; Alexander into Alec or Alex; David into Dave or Davy; Donald into Don; Edward into Ed, Eddy, Eddey or Eddie; Fre

13、derick into Fred, Freddy or Freddie; Harold into Harry; Michael into Mike; Richard into Dick; Robert into Bob or Bobby;,Samuel into Sam or Sammy; Thomas into Tom, Tommy or Tommie; and William into Bill, Billy or Billie. They shorten womens names like Elizabeth into Liz, Lizzy, Lizzie and Libby or Be

14、ss, Bessie, Bette, Betty, Beth and Betsy; and Catherine or Katherine into Cathy, Kate, Katy, Katie, Kay, Kathy and Kitty. In English, the suffix “-y” or “-ie” shows endearment. When some English first names are put together, they may have special meanings. “Tom, Dick and Harry” refers to “ordinary p

15、eople”. “Darby and Joan” means “a pair of happy aged couple”. To show endearment, people also tend to use nicknames(外号，绰号). A nickname is an informal,name for someone as a joke. Nicknames can be used to describe a persons physical significance, for example, Fatty for a fat boy, and Shorty for a shor

16、t man. A nickname can also be one altered from a persons real name(真名，实名), for instance, Hurry for Harry. A nickname can also be called a byname(别名，外号，绰号，化名). Some nicknames refer to certain part of people, which is different from others, for example, Heads, Neck, Legg, Foot and Shanks. These nickna

17、mes became surnames later. There are also other examples relating to a persons physical characteristics, like Barefoot, Broadhead, Bullhead, Chaffin(meaning “bald”), Garnham (meaning “moustache”), redhead,Sheepshanks, and Vidler (meaning “face of a wolf). And the above-mentioned nicknames also turne

18、d into surnames later. Bobby is a common nickname for policeman, especially one regarded as friendly and helpful, for example when controlling traffic or giving directions to a passer-by. The word often occurs in such phrases as “the British bobby” which means the British police force, and “the bobb

19、y on his beat” which means a policeman making a regular patrol of a district on foot or by bicycle. The nickname originated from Sir Robert Peel, the British Home Secretary who founded the Metropolitan Police Force in 1828. Sometimes, nicknames show contempt. For instance, “bumpkin” or,“country bump

20、kin” as a nickname, has a derogatory sense, referring to country folk who are foolish. The Scots are called “Jock” which is a Scottish form of “Jack”, itself a general name for a Scot. The Scots are also called “Mac” whose meaning is “a fellow”, used informally to address a man whose name is unknown

21、. Taffy is a nickname for a Welshman, deriving from the supposed Welsh pronunciation of Dafydd, a common Welsh forename. Dafydd is the Welsh from of the English name David. Paddy is an informal name for an Irishman. It comes from St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland(爱尔兰守护神) and the common Irish

22、forename Patrick.,圣帕特里克节有些具代表性的象征，例如：通常有着三片心形叶子连在一起的酢浆草 (Shamrocks) 和传说中的绿衣老矮人 (Leprechauns) 。圣者帕特里克利用三片心形叶子的酢浆草，来向当时的爱尔兰人解释宗教上三位一体 (Holy Trinity) 天父、圣婴及圣灵的重要教义。因此酢浆草就成了爱尔兰的象征，到了现在更以发现四叶的酢浆草为幸运的象征。另外绿衣老矮人是爱尔兰传说故事中的角色，他们是仙子制鞋的鞋匠，身高约二呎行动快速的小精灵，他们很喜欢和人们恶作剧，像是把人们两只鞋子的鞋带绑在一起，害人们一站起来就跌倒；传说中这些精灵将 一罐罐的黄金藏在树

23、洞中，想要寻找黄金的人们，会在夜晚循着鞋匠精灵的锤子声，找到他们并要他们说出藏金的地点；曾有个人抓住一个精灵，也找到树洞中的黄金，那个人先用红手帕在树上做个记号，准备回去带工具再来挖黄金，谁知再回来后根本找不到那棵藏金的树，原来小精灵把所有的树都绑上了红手帕.！,Mick is a nickname for Michael, a common Irish given name. As a nickname for an Irishman, it is often taken to be offensive. John Bull(约翰牛) is a personification of Engl

24、and and the English people, originally represented in a political satire entitled the History of John Bull(1712) by John Arbuthnot as a bluff, kind-hearted bull-headed farmer. By 1773, Boswell(鲍斯威尔) was referring to Dr. Johnson (约翰逊爵士) “much of a John Bull; a blunt, true-born Englishman”. John Bull

25、has now got a derogatory sense, referring to a typical Englishman, especially one considered to dislike foreigners. Uncle Sam (山姆大叔)is an expansion of U.S.,which is an abbreviation of United States. Uncle Sam represents the U.S. Government and also the American nation or the American people. It is o

26、ften shown in pictures as a man wearing a top hat with stars on it, a tailcoat, and striped trousers.,The Englishman call a Frenchman “Frog” as a nickname, which is usually taken to be offensive. The last name is a persons family name or surname, which is common to all members of the family. It is f

27、ormal and often used on official occasions or with people you do not know well. The first name can be used as an informal form of address. But the family name is often used with a form of address before it. Usually it cannot be used as a form of address. English family names have their origins. Engl

28、and was mainly a rural society in the Middle Ages. There were no large cities. Some groups of people live within the walls of a castle or nearby. Some others,lived in small villages. The people had only one name. and the number of different names was not large. The popular names were John, Robert, T

29、homas and William for men, and Alice for women. Some biblical names as Adam, Abraham, Daniel, David, Paul and Peter, came later. In a typical medieval village where there lived not many people, there might be only five or ten Johns, a similar number of Williams and might be two or three Roberts or T

30、homases. So it became necessary to distinguish people of identical names from one another. If two villagers were talking about a person called John, misunderstanding would arise if each had a different John in mind. Distinctions often needed to,be made between this John and that John. So qualificati

31、ons were added, as in imaginary bits of conversation like these: 1) A: A horse stepped on Johns foot. B: John from the hill? A: No, John on the dale. 2) A: John got a baby yesterday. B: John the son of William? A: No, John the son of Robert. 3) A: John will get married. B: John the smith? A: No, Joh

32、n the tailor.,4) A: John fell off the horse. B: John the long? A: No, John the bald. In the rush of conversation the little, unimportant words could drop out or be slurred over so that John from the hill became John hill, and the other persons could be John dale, John Roberts son, John Williams son,

33、 John smith, John tailor, John long and John bald, or John ballard which means the bald one. The capital letters that we now associate with surnames are only scribal conversations introduced later on. Distinctions like those illustrated in the conversations were a step toward surnames. Gradually,peo

34、ple had a second name, like Hill or Robertson, and the second name became part of their full names. When the second name was fixed and hereditary in an individual family and passed down from one generation to the next, it became a surname. Many English surnames fall into the following categories: 1)

35、 Place names: Atwater, Brook, Byroade, Bywater, Bywood, Dale (meaning “valley”), Dunlop (meaning “muddy hill”), Fields, Goosey (meaning “goose island”), Hill, Lake, London, Marsh, Moor, Sotheby (meaning “south in the village”), Westby/Westerby (meaning “western farm”) 2) Partonyms: Addison (son of A

36、dam), Anderson (son,of Andrew), Donaldson, Gibson, Jackson, Jameson, Johnson, Josephson, Richardson, Robertson, Robinson, Samuelson, Thomason, Williamson, Wilson 3) Occupational names: Baker, Barber, Bond, Butcher, Carpenter, Clark/Clerk, Cook, Cooper, Fisher, Goldsmith, Hunter, Miller, Plummer, Pot

37、ter, Priest, Smith, Tailor/Taylor, Thatcher 4) Original nicknames (most of which are personal descriptions or physical features): Armstrong, Bald, Ballard, Biggs, Grant, Little, Long, Longfellow, Short, Small Gradually, such patronymic surnames, that is, surnames from patronyms, as Richardson, Robin

38、son,Samuelson, Thomason and Williamson were respectively shortened into Richards, Robins, Roberts, Samuels, Thomas and Williams. So we know Richard, Robin, Robert, Samuel and William are all first names while Richards, Robins, Roberts, Samuels and Williams are all family names. From above examples,

39、we can also see Thomas happens to be either a personal name or a family name. an interesting patronymic surname is Widdowson or Widdow(e)s, which means “son of the Widow” or “son of the Widower”. The prefix “Fitz-” and the suffix ”-ing” both mean “the son of”. So, Fitzgerald (meaning “son of Gerald”

40、), Fitzjames (meaning “son of James), Golding (meaning “son of Gold”), Wilding (meaning “son of Wild”) and,Willing (meaning “son of Will”) are all partonymic surnames. The suffixes “-kins”, “-kens” and “-pot” can be used in surnames as double diminutives (小词) in the sense of “the son of the son of”,

41、 so Tomkins is “the son of Little Thomas”, and Wilkins is “the son of Little William”. Similarly, Dickens is “the son of Little Dick”, while Philpot is “the son of little Philip”. It is interesting to find out that there are some English family names relating to colour terms such as Black, Brown/Bro

42、wne, Green/Greene, Grey/gray and White. Actually, Black and Brown were originally nicknames describing the ancestors hair that was black or brown. Likewise, White was originally a,nickname describing the ancestors face that was white. Some animals names are also used to describe a persons character

43、or physical features, for example, Bird, Bull, Eagle, Fish, Fox and Wolf. There are also relevant English family names derive from animal names such as Bird, Bull (meaning “strong and willful”), Eagle/Eagles, Fish, Fox, Lamb (meaning “tamely”), Vidler, and Wolf/Wolfe. In English, there are such fami

44、ly names as Bush, Cherry, and Wood, which are relating to plant names. There are English family names relating to monarchy and peerage, such as King, Queen, Prince, Duke, Marquis, Earl/Earle, Viscount and Baron.,In Britain, Jones is a familiar surname. There are a great number of people whose family

45、 name is Jones. When people refer to a certain type of people, they often use Jones to represent the special kind of people, which may not be annoying. For instance, when people want to criticize those who compete with their neighbors socially, especially by buying the same expensive new things that

46、 they buy, they use the expression “to keep up with the Joneses”(与邻居/朋友攀比). This expression is used in a derogatory sense. Besides, people sometimes say “Mrs. Jones room”(女卫生间) as a euphemism to refer to “ladies room”.,The English Names (),The order of the Chinese names is just the other way round.

47、Chinese family names or surnames go before the given names of forenames. Some English-speaking people have a middle name between their first and last names. The middle name can be considered as the second of a persons given name or forename. With a middle name, a person can distinguish himself or he

48、rself from another person in the family who happens to have the same first name. take George Bernard Shaw for example. Bernard is the middle name. Occasionally, a person may have two middle names. In the case of Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, who was the former British Prime Minster, Leonard

49、 and Spencer are his two middle,names. A middle name can be given by the first name of a persons father or mother, or a close relative like the persons uncle or aunt. A middle name can also be given at random, for instance, after a famous person appearing the newspaper or on television. In written f

50、orm, people tend to use the abbreviation of their first and middle names for convenience. But they retain the full form of their family names. The British people usually acronymize their first name, or their first and middle names. For example, Margaret Hilda Thatcher, the former British Prime Minis

51、ter, can be shortened into M. Hilda Thatcher, or M. H. Thatcher in written form. The,American people acronymize their middle name only. For example, Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th American President, can be called Ronald W. Reagan for short. The second name is a persons last name, plus the middle na

52、me which goes before the last name. The initials of a person are the set of capital letters, which represent the persons full name in order. For instance, if a mans full name is John Bernard Robertson, his initials will be J. B. R. And in this case, J. B. R. stands for John Bernard Robertson. A sing

53、le initial can be the first letter of a persons first name. For example, we may address Mr. John Smith as Mr J. Smith in written from, by using the initial of his first,name. An alias(别名) is a name by which a person is called at other times, in other places, or on other occasions. It can be a false

54、name used by a person who is doing something criminal. For instance, Peter Smith alias John Simpson, means Peter Smith who is also called John Simpson. His real name is Peter Smith, but he sometimes goes by the alias of John Simpson. Many writers or authors write under a pen name(笔名) which is an ass

55、umed name. its French way of saying is nom de plume. Pen names or pseudonyms are names used or taken by writers instead of their real names. O. Henry is the pen name of William Sydney Porter. George Eliot is the pen name of,Mary Ann Evans. Mark Twain is the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens. Very

56、 often people know the writers by their pen names rather than by their real names. An English name may denote a persons social or family background. Sometimes when you first get acquainted with a stranger and know his name, you may guess his background from his name. This is very important in public

57、 relations, which may help you to shorten the distance between you and your new acquaintance. Those names beginning with Mac or Mc are usually Scottish surnames. For instance, McArthur, MacDonald. McMichael. Or McMillan my well be the surname of a,Scot or of a person whose ancestor was from Scotland

58、. Actually, “mac” is the Gaelic for “son of”. So, MacDonald originally had the meaning of “the son of Donald”, just like the surname Donaldson which originally had the meaning of “the son of Donald”. Also, McMichael originally had the meaning of “the son of Michael”, just like the surname Michaelson

59、 or Michaels which originally had the meaning of “the son of Michael”. Other familiar surnames of Scottish origin include Campbell, Fraser and Steward/Stewart/Stuart. Since the Irish language is also Gaelic, there are some Irish surnames also beginning with Mac or Mc. For instance, McCarthy, MacMahon, McMullan, or McNamara may well be the surname of an Irishman or,of a person whose ancestor was from Ireland. All names beginning with O are Irish surnames. O means “son of”. For instance OBrien, OCasey or ONeil/ONeill/ONiel can be the