2016年12月大学英语四级听力在线练习(81)思维导图

TheU.S.Thanksgivingholidayissymbolizedbyitstraditionalfood,alargebirdwecallaturkey.ButturkeyiscertainlynotfromTurkey.

Infact,itsEnglishnameisbasedononebigmistake.Wecouldsayitisacaseofmistakenidentity.

Let’ssettherecordstraight.

Theword“Turkey”hasmeant“thelandoftheTurks”sinceancienttimes.Theword“turkey”asitreferstothebirdfirstappearedintheEnglishlanguageinthemid-1500s.

Themisunderstandingoverthewordhappenedbecauseoftwosimilar-lookingkindsofbirds.

ThereisanAfricanbirdcalledtheguineafowl.Ithasdarkfeatherswithwhitespotsandapatchofbrownonthebackofitsneck.PortuguesetradersbroughttheguineafowltoEuropethroughNorthAfrica.

ThisforeignbirdcametoEuropethroughTurkishlands.So,theEnglishthoughtofthebirdasa“Turkishchicken.”

WhenEuropeanscametoNorthAmerica,theysawabirdthatlookedliketheguineafowl.ThisbirdwasnativetotheNorthAmericancontinent.

OrinHargravesisalexicographer,someonewhowritesdictionaries.Hargravesexplainswhathappened.

“SomeEuropeanssawanAmericanturkey,thoughtthatitwastheguineafowl,whichatthattimewascalledthe‘turkeycock,’andsogaveitthesamename."

Hundredsofyearslater,wecontinuetocallthisNorthAmericanbird“turkey,”eventhoughithasnoconnectionatallwiththecountryTurkey,orevenwithEurope.

ButEnglishisnottheonlylanguagewithinteresting--andevenquestionable--namesforthisNorthAmericanbird.

TheTurkish,fortheirpart,callturkey“hindi,”theTurkishnameforIndia.ThereferencetoIndiaprobablycomesfromtheold,wrongideathattheNewWorldwasinEasternAsia.

TheFrenchcallit“dinde,”anamethatalsoconnectsthebirdtoIndia.“D’Inde”means“fromIndia”intheFrenchlanguage.“Turkey”hassimilarnamesinseveralotherlanguages.

So,whatdotheycallthisNorthAmericanbirdinIndia?Well,intheHindilanguage,“turkey”is“tarki.”

Butwait,there’smore.InPortuguese,thesamebirdiscalled“Peru,”aftertheSouthAmericannation.

ThankstoourVOALearningEnglishFacebookfriends,wehaveafewmorenamesfor“turkey”tosharewithyou.

TheVietnamesewordforthebirdis“gàtây”orwesternchicken.OurFacebookfriendNguyenDucexplainsthat“localchickenissmallerthanwesternchicken.”

AFacebookfriendinMyanmarexplainedthattheBurmesewordfor“turkey”is“kyatsin.”Thenametranslatesto“elephantchicken”inEnglish.

“Thatanimallookslikeabigchicken,”ZawMyoWinexplained.

TheDarilanguagenameforthebird,"felmurgh"alsotranslatesto“elephantchicken.”

AbdullaKawerexplainedtousthat“hereinAfghanistanthisnamerepresentsthesizeofthisdeliciousmeal.”Headdsthathethinksthedescriptivename“elephantchicken”is“betterthanacountryname.”

I’mAshleyThompson.

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