Today is Double Ten, the Republic of China’s National Day. America’s national day is July 4, known as Independence Day, commemorating the July 4, 1776 US Declaration of Independence from Britain. There is no British national day, although the monarch’s official birthday, marked in the UK since 1748, is sometimes seen as its national day. The official birthday is not the same as the monarch’s actual birthday, and it is celebrated in late May or early June, because the weather is nicer at that time of year in the UK.
After the US declared independence, the American lexicographer Noah Webster was keen to standardize American speech and spelling, and also cement the distinction between British English and American English. He did not invent most of the characteristically American spellings, such as removing the “u” in words like “color” or “favorite,” but he was instrumental in popularizing them, especially with his An American Dictionary of the English Language, published in 1828. As a spelling reformer, he preferred already existing alternative spellings, such as “color” or “center,” that better reflected the actual pronunciation. Not all of his suggested alternatives have been adopted, however: he used “cloke” for “cloak,” “tung” for “tongue”; “thum” for “thumb,” “wimin” for “women” and “steddy” for “steady,” for example.
(Paul Cooper, Taipei Times)
今天是雙十節──中華民國國慶日。美國的國慶是在七月四日,稱做「Independence Day」(獨立紀念日),以紀念美國在一七七六年七月四日宣布脫離英國而獨立。英國並沒有國慶日,雖然自一七四八年以來,英國有時會把君主的官方生日訂為國慶日。君主的官方生日並非其實際生日,而是在五月下旬或六月初來慶祝,因為英國每年這段時間的天氣比較好。
美國宣布獨立後,美國字典學家諾亞‧韋伯斯特便積極將美國的語音和拼寫標準化,並進一步將英式英文和美式英文之間的區別加以鞏固。大多數典型的美國拼寫──例如「color」(顏色)及「favorite」(最喜愛的),是將「colour」、「favourite」等字中的「u」刪除──並不是韋伯斯特發明的,但他是將美式拼寫普及化的推手,尤其是他出版於一八二八年的《美國英語詞典》。韋伯斯特是拼寫改革者,他偏好選用既存的、更能反映實際發音的拼寫方式,例如「color」或「center」(中間),而非英式的「colour」和「centre」。但並不是所有韋伯斯特的建議都被接受,他曾提出用「cloke」代替「cloak」(斗篷)、用「tung」代替「tongue」(舌頭)、用「thum」代替「thumb」(大拇指)、用「wimin」代替「women」(女人)、用「steddy」代替「steady」(穩定)等,但並未獲得採納。
(台北時報林俐凱譯)
Photo: EPA
照片:歐新社
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
It’s another school day with the same ritual. You wake up to your smartphone’s alarm, scroll through messages during your commute, and listen to your favorite playlist with your wireless earbuds between classes. These devices, integrated smoothly into your daily routine, certainly make life more convenient. However, where do these devices end up after you replace them? In fact, the issue of electronic waste is a growing global concern. According to the United Nations, in 2019 alone, we generated an astonishing 53.6 million tons of e-waste—an average of 7.3kg per person. Projections hint at the figure soaring to 110