Typhoon
台风,1550s来源于希腊语中的typhon“violent storm, whirlwind, tornado”后来在1580s,时有被解释为“violent hurricane of India or the China Seas”不要因为violent hurricane就认为typhoon比hurricane牛,事实上真正的限定词是of India or the China Seas。因为typhoon和hurricane在物理上没啥区别,唯一的区别就是发源地不一样,比如在中国东南的就是typhoon,在墨西哥湾的就叫做hurricane,就像咱们最近常说的飓风艾琳,因为在美国东南,如果字啊中国东南就该叫做台风艾琳了。该词是有一个叫做Hickock的翻译官从一个威尼斯商人从意大利到东印度群岛的航海日志里翻译出来的。下面给出该日志的原文:
“concerning which Touffon ye are to vnderstand, that in the East Indies often times, there are not stormes as in other countreys; but euery 10. or 12. yeeres there are such tempests and stormes, that it is a thing incredible, but to those that haue seene it, neither do they know certainly what yeere they wil come. ["The voyage and trauell of M. Caesar Fredericke, Marchant of Venice, into the East India, and beyond the Indies"]”
比较有趣的是我们说的台风taifung是来自于广东话的(contonese),然后这个词从广东话流传到印度变成了toofan,接着又进入了英语当中。