内容简介

穿上 “jammies”，坐在 “telly” 前，再来几块 “choccy biccies”…… 可别以为这些听起来像 “咿呀学语” 的单词就不算英语！其实，它们都属于英语中的 “diminutives（爱称词）”，是人们在日常口语中用来称呼身边常见事物的昵称。听节目，跟主持人步理和 Georgie 一起学习几个在英国十分常见的单词爱称，并了解它们是如何从原先的单词变化而来的吧。

文字稿

（关于台词的备注: 请注意这不是广播节目的逐字稿件。本文稿可能没有体现录制、编辑过程中对节目做出的改变。）

Buli
大家好，欢迎收听 BBC 英语教学的 “你问我答” 节目。This is Question and Answer of the Week, where we answer your questions about English language, culture and life. I'm Buli and I'm here with Georgie. How are you?

Georgie
Hmm, I'm not feeling great today, Buli. But don't worry. I've got a choccy biccy in my bag that will cheer me up. And later, my plan is to put my jammies on, make myself a cuppa and stick the telly on. A perfect evening. How are you?

Buli
Georgie… what language are you speaking?

Georgie
I'm speaking English, Buli!

Buli
Hmm, OK. Well, I have a feeling we're going to learn some Britishisms. Shall we hear the question?

Georgie
Let's do it.

Question
British people have many nicknames for everyday stuff, which I find somehow very cute, like 'sarnie' for sandwich, 'telly' for TV. Are there any other commonly used ones like these that I should probably learn?

Buli
这位听众注意到，英语，特别是在英式英语中，人们会给不少日常生活中的小物件起 “小名”。比如，人们会把 “sandwich（三明治）” 叫做 “sarnie”。在本期节目中，我们就来介绍几个常见物品在英语中的 “爱称”。

Georgie
Are you sure you didn't write this question, Buli?

Buli
Ha! It does sound like something I would ask! I almost regret not mentioning it earlier myself, and I would really like to hear the answer! So, Georgie, what can you tell us?

Georgie
Well, what this listener is talking about here are called 'diminutives'. These are words shortened to sound cuter or more affectionate. 'Sarnie' is a cute, shortened name for 'sandwich'. 'Telly' is a shortened version of 'television'.

Buli
Right. 诸如 “sarnie（三明治）” 和 “telly（电视）” 等小词在英语中也被称为 “diminutives（爱称）”。在英语中，特别是在英国，人们会出于方便、简洁或对某些东西的喜爱而在称呼它们时使用简短的爱称。久而久之，一些朗朗上口的爱称就被保留了下来，并且这些爱称还往往有一定的变形规律。

For example, I can see here that we cut off the end of the word 'television' and 'sandwich', and add the /i:/ sound, either spelt with 'ie' or 'y' – 'telly' and 'sarnie'.

Georgie
Exactly. Now, do you remember when I said I had a 'choccy biccy' in my bag? What do you think that means?

Buli
Choccy biccy… I think 'choccy' means chocolate, but I'm not sure about 'biccy'.

Georgie
Biscuit! I've got a chocolate biscuit in my bag – a choccy biccy. We also sometimes shorten 'vegetables' to 'veggies'. Make sure to eat enough veggies!

Buli
If they are actually that cute, I will! 除了 “sarnie”，还有不少食物都有自己的爱称。比如，“chocolate（巧克力）” 会被称为 “choccy”，“biscuit（饼干）” 可以被称为 “biccy”，而 “vegetables（蔬菜）” 则经常被人们叫做 “veggies”。我们可以注意到，这些爱称通常只保留单词的前半部分，再加上 “ie” 或 “y” 等发长元音 /i:/ 的后缀。

Georgie, you also said you're going to put your 'jammies' on later. What does that mean? I hope you are not pouring jam all over yourself.

Georgie
Of course not! 'Jammies' is short for 'pyjamas'. As you can see, they don't all follow the rule of cutting off just the end of the word and adding the /i:/ sound. With this one, we cut off the first syllable too. 'Pyjamas' becomes just 'jammies'.

Buli
是的。除了上面提到的这些爱称，还有一些爱称并不完全符合同样的规律，比如十分常见的爱称 “cuppa（一杯茶）”。Georgie, what's a 'cuppa'? And why isn't it a 'cuppy'?

Georgie
'A cuppa' is short for 'a cup of tea'. That's because when we say 'a cup of tea' quickly, we don't pronounce the word 'of', it becomes a schwa sound – a cuppa tea.

Buli
Right. And then you just take off 'tea' at the end, and it becomes 'a cuppa'. I like it!

你正在收听的是 BBC 英语教学制作的 “你问我答” 节目。在本期节目中，我们正在学习英语里常见的 “diminutives（爱称）”。

Georgie
OK, Buli. Why don't you have a go with these diminutives then. Let's hear it.

Buli
OK. Well, I've been having far too many choccy biccies lately. I need to get more veggies in my diet. If I eat more veggies, I can reward myself with a cuppa in front of the telly.

Georgie
Great! OK. Now, time to recap.

Buli
英语母语者，特别是英国人，经常用 “diminutives（爱称）” 来称呼日常生活中的小物件。其中，大部分爱称都会保留原本单词的前半部分，再加上以长元音 /i:/ 结尾的后缀 “ie” 或 “y”。比如，“veggies（蔬菜）”、“choccy（巧克力）” 或者 “telly（电视）”。但也有一些爱称并不完全遵循这一规则，比如， “jammies（睡衣）” 就是 “pyjamas” 的爱称，而 “a cuppa” 则是 “a cup of tea” 的爱称。

Georgie
It's important to remember that while these are quite common in British English, they aren't necessarily common in other varieties.

And don't forget that if you have a question that you'd like us to answer, you can email us too at: questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk

Buli
你也可以通过微博向我们提问。我们的微博账号是“BBC英语教学”。Bye!

Georgie
Goodbye!