VOA慢速英语:How Did Thanksgiving 'Turkey' Get its Name?(翻译)

The U.S. Thanksgiving holiday is symbolized by its traditional food, a large bird we call a turkey.But turkey is certainly not from Turkey.
美国的感恩节有一个象征，那就是一道传统食物—火鸡（一种大鸟）。但这个turkey（火鸡）并不是来自于国家Turkey（土耳其）。

In fact, its English name is based on one big mistake.We could say it is a case of mistaken identity.
事实上，这个英文名字的由来基于一个错误。可以说是张冠李戴的一个例子。

Let’s set the record straight.
让我们来澄清真相。

The word “Turkey” has meant “the land of the Turks” since ancient times.The word “turkey” as it refers to the bird first appeared in the English language in the mid-1500s.
自古代以来，Turkey一词就表示土耳其人的土地。它首次在英文中指代鸟，是在16世纪中期。

The misunderstanding over the word happened because of two similar-looking kinds of birds.
对这个词的误解来自于两只非常相像的鸟。

There is an African bird called the guinea fowl.It has dark feathers with white spots and a patch of brown on the back of its neck.Portuguese traders brought the guinea fowl to Europe through North Africa.
有一种非洲鸟叫珍珠鸡。深色的羽毛上有白色的斑点，脖子后还有一撮褐色的毛。葡萄牙商人将珍珠鸡经由北非带至欧洲。

This foreign bird came to Europe through Turkish lands.So, the English thought of the bird as a “Turkish chicken.”
这只外来的鸟经由土耳其人的土地来到欧洲。所以英语中称这种鸟是“土耳其鸡”。

When Europeans came to North America, they saw a bird that looked like the guinea fowl.This bird was native to the North American continent.
当欧洲人来到北美，他们看到一种鸟长得像珍珠鸡。这种鸟是北美大陆本土的鸟。

Orin Hargraves is a lexicographer, someone who writes dictionaries.Hargraves explains what happened.
欧林·哈格雷夫斯是一名词典编纂者，也就是编字典的人。他解释了当时发生了什么。

“Some Europeans saw an American turkey, thought that it was the guinea fowl,which at that time was called the ‘turkey cock,’ and so gave it the same name.”
“一些欧洲人看到美洲的火鸡，认为那就是珍珠鸡，当时珍珠鸡叫做土耳其鸡，所以也就将这个名字给了美洲的火鸡。”

Hundreds of years later, we continue to call this North American bird “turkey,”even though it has no connection at all with the country Turkey, or even with Europe.
几百年后，我们继续称北美的鸟为“turkey”，即便这种鸟和土耳其，甚至和欧洲没有丝毫关系。

But English is not the only language with interesting —and even questionable—names for this North American bird.
但不只是英文给北美的这种鸟取了有意思，甚至有疑问的名字。

The Turkish, for their part, call turkey “hindi,” the Turkish name for India.The reference to India probably comes from the old, wrong idea that the New World was in Eastern Asia.
土耳其人将火鸡称为hindi，和土耳其语的印度重名。和印度扯上关系有可能是来源于古老错误的一种观点：新大陆在东亚。

The French call it “dinde,” a name that also connects the bird to India.“Dinde” means “from India” in the French language.“Turkey” has similar names in several other languages.
法语称火鸡为dinde，也和印度有关。“Dinde”在法语中是指从印度而来。火鸡在其他几种语言中也有类似的名字。

So, what do they call this North American bird in India?In the Hindi language, “turkey” is “tarki.”
那么印度怎么称呼这种北美的鸟呢？在印度语中，火鸡是tarki。

But wait, there’s more.In Portuguese, the same bird is called “Peru,” after the South American nation.
等等，不止这些。在葡萄牙语中，这种鸟被称为Peru，以南美国家秘鲁命名。

Thanks to our VOA Learning English Facebook friends, we have a few more names for “turkey” to share with you.
得亏我们慢速英语Facebook上的朋友，我们能跟你分享更多关于火鸡的名字。

The Vietnamese word for the bird is “gà tay” or western chicken.Our Facebook friend Nguyen Duc explains that “local chicken is smaller than western chicken.”
越南语称火鸡为ga tay，意思是西方的鸡。Facebook上的朋友阮达解释说，“当地的鸡比西方的鸡个头小。”

A Facebook friend in Myanmar explained that the Burmese word for “turkey” is “kyat sin.”The name translates to “elephant chicken” in English.
缅甸的一位朋友说，缅甸语中火鸡是kyat sin。翻译成英文就是象鸡。

“That animal looks like a big chicken,” Zaw Myo Win explained.
“火鸡看起来像是一只个头很大的鸡，”梭莫闻解释道。

The Dari language name for the bird, “fel murgh” also translates to “elephant chicken.”
达里语将火鸡称为fel murgh，同样翻译为象鸡。

Abdulla Kawer explained to us that “here in Afghanistan this name represents the size of this delicious meal.”He adds that he thinks the descriptive name “elephant chicken” is “better than a country name.”
阿卜杜勒·阔尔解释说，“在阿富汗，这个名字表示这种美味可口的食物的大小。”他补充说将其称为象鸡，“比用国家名命名好”。

I’m Ashley Thompson.
艾希莉·汤姆森为您报道。