Thu, Apr 30, 2020 page15

• English etymologies: The origins of ‘anachronism’ 英語字源學：「時代錯置」的起源

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  The final episode of the HBO series Game of Thrones was full not only of plot holes but also, apparently, worm holes in the fabric of the space-time continuum. How else could you explain the presence of plastic water bottles by the feet of Samwell Tarly and Ser Davos during the council scene? Of course, it was simply a mistake on the set, an anachronism of plastic bottles in a world closer in technology to Medieval Europe.

  The word anachronism (something out of harmony with a specified time) first came into use in English in the 1640s, shortly after the Medieval period came to a close. It comes from the Latin anachronismus, from the Greek word anakhronismos (meaning “referring to the wrong time”), combining the Greek for ana (against) and khronos (time). In English, it originally meant “an error in computing time or finding dates”; it didn’t take on the current meaning until later. This usage was first recorded in 1816.

  The Latin affix “chrono” bequeaths us many English words referring to the correct sequence of time. A chronograph (such as a clock or watch), from 1831, means a “precise time-measuring device,” and combines chrono- (time) and -graph (instrument for recording). The phrase “chronological order” (arranged in order by time) was first attested in 1754. A “chronicler” is a person or publication that records time and events.

  

  The table in Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper is an example of an anachronism: this kind of table would have been unknown at the time and place the Last Supper happened.達文西《最後的晚餐》中之餐桌，即為時代錯置的例子：在最後的晚餐所發生之當時與當地，並不曉得有這樣的桌子。

  Photo: Wikimedia Commons 照片：維基共享資源

  (Paul Cooper, Taipei Times)

  HBO影集《冰與火之歌：權力遊戲》的最後一集，不僅充滿情節漏洞，且顯然還有穿梭時光的蟲洞，打破時空的連貫性。不然該如何解釋在遴選新君王場景中，擺在山姆威爾‧塔利和戴佛斯．席渥斯腳邊的塑膠水瓶？當然，這只是片場犯的錯，在拍片技術建構出的中世紀歐洲，所發生的塑膠瓶的時代錯置。

  「anachronism」（時代錯置，與某個時間不一致）一詞，最早在英文中使用是在一六四○年代，也就是中世紀結束後不久。這個字來自拉丁文「anachronismus」，由希臘文「anakhronismos」（意為「所指的是錯誤的時間」）而來，結合了希臘文的「ana」（違反）和「khronos」（時間）。「anachronism」在英文中的原意是「推斷時間或查找日期時出錯」，後來才有了現今「時代錯置」的含義，此用法最早有記錄是在一八一六年。

  拉丁詞綴「chrono」演變出許多英文字流傳下來，這些字皆有正確的時間順序之意。「chronograph」（計時器，例如時鐘或錶）一字，自一八三一年起，便意指「精確的時間測度裝置」，是由「chrono」（時間）與「graph」（記錄用的儀器）組合而成。片語「chronological order」（按時間順序排列），首見於一七五四年。「chronicler」（編年史家）一字，則是指記錄時間與事件的人或出版品。

  （台北時報林俐凱譯）
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