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kjy04b_20230521_f
400 400 THOMAS
Learning English with Thomas
2023.05.21
Asymptomatic - First encounter with Greek prefixes in English
初探英文希臘字根:Asymptomatic
Knowing the relationship between Greek roots and word formation in English 認識希臘字根與英文造字的關係 T : Thomas |M : Mickey   T: Hi Mickey! What are you up to?   M: I’m enjoying my afternoon tea here. Can you spare some time?   T: Oh, sure.   M: Ah Thomas, by the way, did you read the newspapers today? It’s reported: Despite the number of influenza confirmed cases is coming down, there should be quite a few invisible virus-carriers, those asymptomatic carriers. What does this word, asymptomatic mean?   T: It’s one of those English hybrid words with the Greek prefix - a-, meaning not, non, un, to negate the basic meaning of the word, which in this case asymptomatic actually means no symptoms.   M: It’s something new to me. Can you give me some examples?   T: Sure. I can think of the following, to start with: asymmetrical; atypical and even abnormal, where the ab is a variation of a.   M: Wow! I haven’t come across something like these.   T: Haha! It’s time you should read more books.   T:嗨 Mickey!你要做甚麼?   M: 我正在吃下午茶。你有時間嗎?   T: 哦,當然有。   M: 啊Thomas,順便問一下,你今天讀報了沒有?據報道: 儘管流感的確診病例數子正在下降,但應該有不少隱形帶菌者,即那些無症狀帶菌者。Asymptomatic這個詞是甚麼意思?   T: 它是帶有希臘語前綴 —— a- 英語混合詞之一,意思是not、non、un,以否定原詞的基本含義,在這種情況下, asymptomatic實際上意味著沒有症狀。   M: 這詞對我來說很新鮮。能給我一些例子嗎?   T: 當然可以。首先,我可以想到以下幾點:不對稱(asymmetrical);非典型的(atypical);冷漠(apathy);甚至異常(abnormal),其中ab是a的變體。   M: 哇!我從沒有接觸過這些詞。   T: 哈哈,你是時候要多看書了!  
kjy04b_20230402_f
400 400 THOMAS
Learning English with Thomas
2023.04.02
Revisiting the word “Philosophy”
再談 Philosophy
Knowing how English words are formed through examples of prefixes 通過例子去認識前綴(prefixes)在英文造詞之作用 T: Thomas, S: Sophia   T: Hi Sophia, what is your subject for today’s discussion? S: Last time through how my name is formed you helped me know more deeply about word roots. Thanks so much. Can I ask a bit more about how prefixes and suffixes function?   T: What are prefixes and suffixes? Parts of words that you find either at the beginning or at the end of the word. But these can’t stand alone, and most roots aren’t able to stand alone either. S: Can you give me some more examples? Now I only know how the word philosophy is formed, by putting two Greek roots together, like this, philo plus sophia, right?   T: Correct. Let’s have a couple of prefixes related to the roots making up the word philosophy. We may start with the root philo or phil first. Now, we can put phil and anthropo together and we’ll have philanthrophy, which means love of mankind。 S: Ah, I see. What else?   T: Well, we can have philharmonic, like Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, which means love of harmony in music. S: So philharmonic means that!   T: Yes, and there are more. Like the name Philip, which means love of horses, since phil means love and hippos means horses.   T: Hi Sophia, 今天你有甚麼課題,想一起討論﹖ S: 上次你通過我的英文名(Sophia),加深了我對詞根(roots)的認識,十分感謝你。今天,我可以了解多一點前綴及後綴的運用嗎﹖   T: 甚麼是前綴和後綴?英文單詞的開頭部分,就是前綴;單詞部分的結尾,就是後綴。不論前綴或後綴, 都是不能單獨存在,而且大多數詞根也不能單獨存在。 S: 你能給我一些例子嗎? 現在我只知道英文字哲學(Philosophy)是怎麼形成的,就是把兩個希臘詞根放在一起,像這樣,philo加sophia,對吧?   T: 對。讓我們談談一些與構成哲學這個詞的詞根相關的前綴。我們可以先看看詞根philo或phil。現在, 我們可以把phil和anthropo放在一起,我們就有了philanthrophy(慈善),意思是對人類的愛。 S: 啊,我明白了。還有甚麼?   T: 好吧,我們可以構成「管弦樂團」(philharmonic), 像香港管弦樂團( Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra),意味著熱愛音樂和諧。 S: 這就是 philharmonic 的意思!   T: 是的,還有更多。就像Philip這個名字,意思是對馬兒的鍾愛,因為phi的意思是愛,而hippos的意思是馬。  
kjy04b_20230326_f
400 400 THOMAS
Learning English with Thomas
2023.03.24
Sophia’s choice of her study programme
Sophia 的升學選擇
Knowing the role of word roots in English through vocabulary formation 通過例子去認識詞根在英文造詞的角色 S : Sophia T: Thomas   T: Hello Sophia! So nice to bump into you here in the canteen. What are you doing here? S: Hi Thomas, I am considering taking up physiotherapy after graduating from DSE, or if I should study philosophy ?   T: Your name should guide you somewhat. In that case, you may consider going for philosophy, rather than physiotherapy. S: Why? What’s philosophy got to do with me?   T: The word philosophy in English is made up of two Greek roots – philo and sophia, which respectively mean love and wisdom. So, combining the two roots you’ll have              philosophia, that is philosophy in English, where the -y is a suffix and indicates a state or a condition, of being in love with wisdom! S: So, what is a root?   T: Roots are the basic part of any English word, and English has got plenty of roots from different languages, but mostly from Latin and Greek.     By the way, you know, getting to know quite a few such roots will take you a long way towards expanding your English vocab.   T: 好Sophia!很高興在食堂碰到你。你在這裡做甚麼? S: 嗨Thomas,我正在考慮中六畢業之後修讀物理治療,還是哲學﹖   T: 你的名字可以給妳一些指引。在這情況下,您可以考慮選擇哲學,而不是物理治療。 S: 為甚麼?哲學跟我有甚麼關係?   T: 英語中哲學一詞由兩個希臘詞根(Greek roots)組成——philo和Sophia,意思是愛和智慧。所以,結合這兩個詞根,你就會得到 philosophia,即英語中的philosophy,其中-y是一個後綴(suffix),表示一種狀態或條件,即愛上智慧! S: 甚麼是詞根?   T: 詞根是任何英語單詞的基本部分, 英語有很多來自不同語言的詞根, 但主要來自拉丁語和希臘語。順帶一提,你要知道,多了解這些詞根會對你在擴展英語詞彙方面大有幫助。    
kjy04b_20210327_s
400 400 FAMOUS_SAYING
Stories Behind Popular Sayings
2022.03.25
Achilles heel
Which is the weakest spot on our human body? Our eyes, throat, or feet? To Achilles, it was his heel which was the most vulnerable.  In Greek mythology, Achilles was the greatest warrior. When he was an infant, his mother Thetis, a goddess of the sea, took him to the river Styx, which had miraculous powers. To make Achilles immortal, Thetis held him by his heel and dipped him into the river. Achilles grew up to be physically invulnerable to attacks except for his heel, which was not touched by the magic waters.  The heroic Achilles won many battles. No one could defeat him until the Trojan War. He was killed by his enemy, the Trojan prince, who shot an arrow into his heel.  The idiom " Achilles heel " is used to describe a weakness in a person or system which can bring about failure, despite overall strength. For example,  He was good at Maths, but carelessness had always been his Achilles heel.  If we can find our enemy's Achilles heel, we might be able to defeat them.  我們人體最脆弱的部位在哪裡?我們的眼睛、喉嚨還是腳呢?對阿基里斯來說,他的腳踝就是最脆弱的部位。 在希臘神話中,阿基里斯是最偉大的戰士。當他是嬰兒的時候,他的母親、海洋女神特蒂斯,帶他到充滿非凡力量的冥河「斯堤克斯」去。為了使阿基里斯擁有不朽之身,特蒂斯抓住他的腳踝, 然後把他放入冥河裡浸泡。阿基里斯長大後,全身近乎刀槍不入,除了腳踝,因為腳踝不曾沾到神奇的河水。 英勇的阿基里斯戰勝了許多戰役。他直到特洛伊戰爭才被打敗。在這場戰爭中,他被敵人特洛伊王子用箭射中他的腳踝而死去。 「Achilles heel」這個習語用來形容一個人或制度雖然整體強大,其弱點卻足以導致一敗塗地。例如:  他擅長數學,但是粗心大意總是他唯一的致命弱點(Achilles heel)。 如果我們能夠找到我們敵人的死穴(Achilles heel),我們或能打敗他們。    捐款支持公教報  http://kkp.org.hk/donation