英文欣赏之人生感悟 （117）英国人的姓氏 British Surnames
British Surnames
英国人的姓氏
The men and women of Anglo-Saxon England normally bore one name only.
英国的安格鲁撒克逊人无论男女通常只有一个名字。
Distinguishing epithets were rarely added.
有区别作用的称号很少加在他们的名字后。
These might be patronymic, descriptive or occupational.
这样的描述性词语可能源于父名，描述性词语或职业，
They were, however, hardly surnames.
但在过去这些词语很少被当作姓氏。
Heritable names gradually became general in the three centuries following the Norman Conquest in 1066.
在诺曼底人在1066年征服英格兰后的三个世纪中，可继承的名字才逐渐被人们广泛使用。
It was not until the 13th and 14th centuries that surnames became fixed,although for many years after that,the degree of stability in family names varied considerably in different parts of the country.
直到13,14世纪姓氏才稳定下来，尽管在此后的许多年里，姓氏的稳定性在英国不同的地区各不相同。
British surnames fall mainly into four broad categories:
英国人的姓氏主要可以分为四大类:
patronymic, occupational, descriptive and local.
一是源于父名，二是源于职业，三是源于描述性词语，再有就是源于地方名字。
A few names, it is true, will remain puzzling:
的确，仍然有少数名字是令人费解的，
foreign names, perhaps, crudely translated,adapted or abbreviated;or artificial names.
或许是由于外国人名在翻译，改造，缩写的时候过于粗拙，也许是因为这些名字是人们另造出来的。
In fact, over fifty per cent of genuine British surnames derive from place names of different kinds,and so they belong to the last of our four main categories.
事实上，在真正的英国人姓氏中，超过50%源于各种各样的地名，也就是属于以上所说类别的最后一类。
Even such a name as Simpson may belong to this last group,and not to the first,had the family once had its home in the ancient village of that name.
即使辛普森这样的一个名字也可能是属于最后一类，而并非属于第一类，如果这个家庭曾经在一个叫这个名字的古老的村庄安过家。
Otherwise, Simpson means the son of Simon,as might be expected.
否则的话，如人们所料，辛普森的意思就是西蒙之子。
Hundreds of occupational surnames are at once familiar to us,or at least recognisable after a little thought:
几百个职业姓氏对我们来说都是很熟悉的，或者至少稍加思考就可以辨认出来。
Archer, Carter, Fisher, Mason, Thatcher, Taylor,to name but a few.
比如阿彻，卡特，费希尔，梅森，撒切尔，泰勒等。
Hundreds of others are more obscure in their meanings and testify to the amazing specialisation in medieval arts, crafts and functions.
另外还有数百个职业姓氏在意思上要更加模糊，也证明了中世纪的艺术，技艺和工种等具有惊人的专业性，
Such are Day,and Walker.
如戴和沃克。
All these vocational names carry with them a certain gravity and dignity,which descriptive names often lack.
所有职业姓氏都带着一定的庄重和尊严，而这是那些描述性的名字都缺乏的。
Some, it is true, like Long, Short or Little, are simple.
不错，像朗，肖特或者利特尔这些姓氏很简单。
They may be taken quite literally.
这些名字可以按照字面去理解，
Others require more thinking:their meanings are slightly different from the modern ones.
但另外一些名字就需要人们思考一番，因为它们的意思跟现代的意思不一样。
Black and White implied dark and fair respectively.
布莱克和怀特分别暗含着皮肤黝黑和皮肤白皙的意思。
Sharp meant genuinely discerning, alert, acute rather than quick-witted or clever.
夏普的意思是明察秋毫般的机敏和锐利，而不是反应快或聪明。
Place-names have a lasting interest since there is hardly a town or village in all England that has not at some time given its name to a family.
人民一直对地名感兴趣，因为在英格兰几乎没有一个城镇或村庄的名字没有被人民用来做他们的姓氏，
They may be picturesque, even poetical;or they may be pedestrian, even trivial.
这些名字可能让人感到诗情画意，也可能感到平庸甚至卑微。
Among the commoner names which survive with relatively little change from old-English times are Milton and Hilton.
那些比较常见，从古英语时期流传至今变化甚少的名字有:米尔顿和希尔顿。
1.family name 姓
In mongolia, the given name is more important than the family name, and commonly used.
在蒙古，名比姓还要重要，比较使用的也更加频繁。
In western countries, people don’t usually talk about “given names” and “family name.”
在西方国家，人们通常不说取的名字和姓。
2.fall into 分成；掉进，陷入；堕入
Can nuclear weapons fall into the wrong hands?
核武器有可能落入坏人之手吗？
The most suspicious arians may even fall into depression.
最忧心忡忡的羊儿们可能甚至陷入消沉。
3.derive from 由…起源；取自
That includes the stem cells themselves, which derive from “ur” stem cells found in embryos.
而干细胞则是来自胚胎中的“ur”干细胞。
One answer is the indirect benefit that investors derive from addressing the economic risks of global warming.
答案之一是间接的好处，投资者从处理全球变暖的经济风险中得到好处。
4.belong to 属于
Kashmir cannot belong to both india and pakistan.
克什米尔地区无法既属于印度又属于巴基斯坦。
Those who belong to christ don’t live in fear of condemnation.
属基督的人就不生活在对被定罪的惧怕之中。