正文
Why countries change names
为什么有的国家会改名？
No more Turkey? The country has had it with bad jokes likening it to an ugly, gobbling bird. The UN has accepted its request to be officially known as Türkiye in English, as it is in Turkish.
世上再无“土耳其（Turkey）”？这个国家已经受够了自己被比作一只狼吞虎咽的丑鸟（火鸡）的没品笑话。联合国也已通过土耳其方的请求，将其在英文中的名称正式改为 Türkiye，和土耳其语中的表述一致。
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The country may be unusual in the reason for changing its name, but it is hardly the only one to have done so. Why do countries change names?
土耳其改名的理由或许不同寻常，但它也绝非唯一一个这么做的国家。那么，为什么有的国家会改名呢？
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The most common reason is wanting to throw off the shackles of colonialism. Since the Second World War, scores of countries have become independent, and then re-christened cities, institutions and even themselves to reflect native cultures, often ditching European-imposed names that were fiercely disliked.
最常见的一个理由是，这些国家想摆脱殖民主义的桎梏。第二次世界大战后，大批国家实现独立，然后它们开始给城市、机构，甚至它们自己换名字，为的是彰显本土文化；同时，这么做也让这些国家摆脱了它们极其抵触的、欧洲殖民者强加给它们的名字。
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Rhodesia, which carried the moniker of the rapacious Cecil Rhodes, a British coloniser, changed its name to Zimbabwe upon majority black rule.
罗得西亚（国家名）这个名字就取自一位贪婪的英国殖民者的名字——塞西亚·罗兹；这里在黑人群体获得掌控权后便改名为了津巴布韦。
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This continued well after independence, as leaders sought to put their stamp on countries. Joseph-Desiré Mobutu changed his country's name from the Republic of Congo to Zaire in 1971. Ironically, Zaire was the Portuguese name of the Congo river.
这种改名的现象在各国取得独立后也继续存续了下去，因为领导者们也都想给国家打下自己的烙印。1971 年，约瑟夫-德西雷·蒙博托就将自己国家的名字由刚果共和国改为了扎伊尔。讽刺的是，扎伊尔是刚果河在葡萄牙语中的名字。
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Other countries have been motivated by brevity. Belarus was known as Belorussia when it was a Soviet Republic, but upon independence opted for the shorter name, harking back to the Kyivan Rus, a proto-state from which both it and Russia emerged.
其他国家改名则是出于简洁的需求。白俄罗斯（Belarus）在苏联时期被称为 Belorussia，而它在独立后选择了更为简短的名字，以示对基辅罗斯公国的怀念，白俄罗斯和俄罗斯都由基辅罗斯公国发展而来。
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If there is an overarching reason for all these, it is that countries and their leaders want to control national stories. The president of "Türkiye", the increasingly autocratic Recep Tayyip Erdogan, wants others to see his country as he sees it. But even he will struggle to control the English language.
要说这些国家改名最主要的一个原因，那就是它们和它们的领导人都想要掌控自己国家的叙事。Türkiye 总统雷杰普·塔伊普·埃尔多安就想要其他国家以他的眼光去看待 Türkiye，如今，他也愈显专制独裁。不过，即使是他，在控制英语（中土耳其的叫法）方面，也将苦苦挣扎一番。
主编：思瑶、Sophia
品控：思瑶、啾笛
审核：Sophia
Photo Credit：
AFP / ADEM ALTAN
重点词汇
have it
受够了
相关词汇：have（v. 允许，容忍）
英文释义：to have something without complaining
例句：I can't have people arriving late all the time.
例句：I can't have it. / I can't stand it / I can't bear it. / I'm just sick of it.（我受不了了。）
例句：I've had it. / I'm done with it. / I've had enough.（我受够了。）
liken … to …
把……比作……
近义词组：compare … to …
例句：The doctor likens his surgery to an artist conducting a symphony.
gobble
/ˈɡɑː.bəl/
v. 狼吞虎咽
英文释义：to eat something quickly and greedily
搭配短语：to gobble sth. up / down（狼吞虎咽地吃下某物；大量、快速地消耗某物）
例句：He gobbled down his lunch and hurried back.
例句：The mounting medical costs gobbled up their savings.
相关词汇：gobbling（adj. 狼吞虎咽的）
throw off sb. / sth. （throw sb. / sth. off）
甩掉、摆脱……；使人大吃一惊、迷惑不解
相关词汇：throw（v. 扔，抛，掷）
英文释义：to manage to get rid of somebody or something that is making you suffer or annoying you
搭配短语：to throw off your worries（摆脱烦恼）
搭配短语：to throw off an illness（摆脱疾病）
英文释义：to surprise or confuse somebody
例句：The sudden noise just threw me off completely.
例句：An early morning can throw off my entire day.
shackle
/ˈʃæk.əl/
n. 束缚，阻挠，羁绊；镣铐，枷锁
搭配短语：to throw off the shackles of sth.（摆脱……的桎梏、束缚）
近义词组：to get rid of / cast off / remove the shackles of sth.
colonialism
/kəˈloʊ.ni.ə.lɪ.zəm/
n. 殖民主义
相关词汇：colony（n. 殖民地）
派生词：colonial（adj. 殖民的）
搭配短语：colonial rule
派生词：colonist / coloniser（n. 殖民者）
scores of …
大量、许多……
相关词汇：score（n. 二十，约二十；得分）
搭配短语：a score of vehicles
英文释义：a large number of …
re-christen
/ˌriːˈkrɪs.ən/
v. 重新起名
相关词汇：christian（n. 基督徒 adj. 信奉基督教的 ）
相关词汇：christen（v. 给……起名；给……施洗礼）
英文释义：to give sb. baptism
例句：The child was christened Maria.
ditch
/dɪtʃ/
v. 抛弃，摆脱；把……扔进沟壕
词性拓展：ditch（n. 沟，渠）
英文释义：to throw into a ditch; to get rid of something
搭配短语：to ditch an old torn sweater（扔掉一件破旧的毛衣）
搭配短语：to ditch a plan（放弃一项计划）
搭配短语：to ditch class（逃课）
搭配短语：to ditch sb.（甩掉某人）
impose
/ɪmˈpoʊz/
v. 迫使，强加
搭配短语：to impose a ban on sth.
例句：The government imposed a ban on the retail sale of e-cigarettes.
搭配短语：to impose limitations / restrictions on sth.（强行限制、管控某事）
rapacious
/rəˈpeɪ.ʃəs/
adj. 贪婪的，贪得无厌的
英文释义：aggressively greedy
搭配短语：a rapacious exploitation policy
搭配短语：someone's rapacious appetite for fame and fortune
brevity
/ˈbrev.ə.t̬i/
n. 简洁，简练
相关词汇：brief（adj. 简洁的）
opt for …
选择……
相关词汇：opt（v. 选择，抉择）
例句：He opted to retire early.
例句：He opted for early retirement.
hark back to …
追忆过去，回顾往事
英文释义：to remember something from the past
例句：He's always harking back to how things used to be.
例句：The director's latest film harks back to the early years of cinema.
overarching
/ˌoʊ.vɚˈɑːr.tʃɪŋ/
adj. 首要的，最重要的；包罗万象的，影响一切的
相关词汇：arch（n. 拱顶）
相关词汇：overarch（v. 呈拱形横跨某地）
英文释义：all-embracing; most important
搭配短语：an overarching problem（首要问题）目标；an overarching goal（中心目标，最主要的目标）
autocratic
/ˌɑː.t̬əˈkræt̬.ɪk/
adj. 独裁的，专制的；专断的，专横的
搭配短语：an autocratic ruler
搭配短语：an autocratic style of management
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