美国知识科普：美国的州名从何而来

People who visit the United States sometimes wonder how the states got their names.

访问美国的人们常常想知道各个州的名称是从何而来的。

Some of the most interesting names came from American Indian (印第安人) languages.For example, Illinois was named for the Indians who used to (过去常常) live in that part of the country. In their language, Illinois means "Brave (勇敢的) Men". Connecticut means "At the Long River Mouth" in the language of the Indians who used to live there.

一些最有趣的名字来源于(美州)印第安人的语言。例如伊利诺州是因过去住在这一带的印第安人而得名的。在他们的语言中伊利诺是"勇士"的意思。康乃狄格(州)在过去住在那里的印第安人的语言中,表示"在长河的河口"。

Twenty-five of the states have Indian names, but other names were taken from different languages.

有25个州用印第安人的名称命名,另外一些州的名字则从别的语言中得来。

Georgia and Pennsylvania have names which were taken from the Latin (拉丁语的) language.

乔治亚和宾夕法尼亚洲的名字源于拉丁文。

Florida and Colorado were named by Spanish (西班牙) people.

佛罗里达和科罗拉多是由西班牙人命名的。

States like New Hampshire and New Jersey were named after (以…命名) places in England.

像新罕布什尔和新泽西这样的州名是按英国的地名命名的。

The two newest states have names which did not come from any of those languages.

最新的两个州的名字不是来自于那些语言。

Hawaii got its name from a word in the Hawaiian language which means "homeland" (家乡).

夏威夷是按夏威夷语中的一个词命名的,意思是"家乡"。

Alaska was named by the Russians, from whom Alaska was bought in 1867.

阿拉斯加州是1867年从俄国人手里买来的,而它的名字也是由俄国人命名的。

ulture can often be traced to popular movies, television shows, music stars and sports figures. pop culture is also promoted by business and advertising. the most common examples of american pop culture appear among high school and college students. trends set by famous personalities quickly become part of young people's lifestyles. american pop culture has spread around the world. one major reason for its popularity is that english is a universal language. english is the language of diplomacy, international business and transportation. since language and culture go together, learning english means becoming aware of english-speaking cultures. also, america is a world leader in movies, music and magazines. the kind of american culture communicated in those media is pop culture. finally, pop culture is easy to package and to export. for that reason, it is easy to "sell" to the world. (at a cafe in paris, france) pierre: i just saw an advertisement for that recent american movie "the pelican brief". sounds interesting. want to go see it with me? jean: i don't think so. i've got too much to do. besides, all of this american influence really bothers me. everybody's going to see american movies, listening to american rock music and eating american fast food. pierre: oh, come on. don't be such a grouch. people just want to find out what america is all about. the movies i've seen make american lifestyles seem exciting. maybe we could learn a few things from them. jean: learn a few things! yeah, sure. we'll learn how to be american and forget how to be french. if we follow american ways, it's going to change our own culture. americans will be the winners, and we'll be the losers. pierre: now, wait a minute. you're forgetting that we have a global economy now. if we want to do business with americans, we have to understand their culture. jean: if american culture is michael jackson, mickey mouse and mcdonald's, i don't want to understand it. many people assume that american pop culture is what america is all about. does pop culture reflect the true culture of america? yes and no. pop culture does represent a portion of american society-especially urban young people that are tuned in to the media. but american pop culture is faddish and ever-changing. it is an artificial and superficial picture of america. if you want to learn about real american culture, you'll have to go a little farther than mcdonald's.