英语词汇colonel的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

colonel. An honorary title in the American South, as are ma- jor and general, since the 18th century. William Faulkner ex- plained it this way: “Jefferson, Mississippi, the whole South for that matter, was still full at that time of men called General or Colonel or Major because their fathers or grandfathers had been generals or colonels or majors or maybe just privates, in Confederate armies, or who had contributed to the campaign funds of successful state governors” (The Town, 1957). The un- official title of respect is also used in an ironic or joking sense. The confusing pronunciation of colonel is due to several errors. Colonel comes from the Italian colonello, which meant “the of- ficer who led ‘a little column’ of soldiers at the head of a regi- ment.” This became the French colonelle, meaning the same. So far, so good. But the French word became corrupted to coronel in Spanish through faulty pronunciation and was introduced into England in this form. Until the 17th century the word was spelled and pronounced coronel, and then its spelling was changed to the current colonel. Yet despite the efforts of teach- ers and pronouncing dictionaries, people refused to pronounce the word colonel. Early habits were too great to overcome and they continued to pronounce it like coronel, the experts finally giving up and accepting this as the standard pronunciation.

词汇	colonel
词源	colonel. An honorary title in the American South, as are ma- jor and general, since the 18th century. William Faulkner ex- plained it this way: “Jefferson, Mississippi, the whole South for that matter, was still full at that time of men called General or Colonel or Major because their fathers or grandfathers had been generals or colonels or majors or maybe just privates, in Confederate armies, or who had contributed to the campaign funds of successful state governors” (The Town, 1957). The un- official title of respect is also used in an ironic or joking sense. The confusing pronunciation of colonel is due to several errors. Colonel comes from the Italian colonello, which meant “the of- ficer who led ‘a little column’ of soldiers at the head of a regi- ment.” This became the French colonelle, meaning the same. So far, so good. But the French word became corrupted to coronel in Spanish through faulty pronunciation and was introduced into England in this form. Until the 17th century the word was spelled and pronounced coronel, and then its spelling was changed to the current colonel. Yet despite the efforts of teach- ers and pronouncing dictionaries, people refused to pronounce the word colonel. Early habits were too great to overcome and they continued to pronounce it like coronel, the experts finally giving up and accepting this as the standard pronunciation.
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