美國(guó)的州名從何而來(lái)？

People who visit the United States sometimes wonder how the states got their names. Some of the most interesting names came from American Indian (印第安人) languages.

訪問(wèn)美國(guó)的人們常常想知道各個(gè)州的名稱(chēng)是從何而來(lái)的。一些最有趣的名字來(lái)源于(美州)印第安人的語(yǔ)言。

For example, Illinois was named for the Indians who used to (過(guò)去常常) live in that part of the country. In their language, Illinois means "Brave (勇敢的) Men". Connecticut means "At the Long River Mouth" in the language of the Indians who used to live there.

例如伊利諾州是因過(guò)去住在這一帶的印第安人而得名的。在他們的語(yǔ)言中伊利諾是"勇士"的意思。康乃狄格(州)在過(guò)去住在那里的印第安人的語(yǔ)言中,表示"在長(zhǎng)河的河口"。

Twenty-five of the states have Indian names, but other names were taken from different languages. Georgia and Pennsylvania have names which were taken from the Latin (拉丁語(yǔ)的) language. Florida and Colorado were named by Spanish (西班牙) people. States like New Hampshire and New Jersey were named after (以…命名) places in England.

有25個(gè)州用印第安人的名稱(chēng)命名,另外一些州的名字則從沒(méi)的語(yǔ)言中得來(lái)。喬治亞和賓夕法尼亞洲的名字源于拉丁文。佛羅里達(dá)和科羅拉多是由西班牙人命名的。像新罕布什爾和新澤西這樣的州名是按英國(guó)的地名命名的。

The two newest states have names which did not come from any of those languages. Hawaii got its name from a word in the Hawaiian language which means "homeland" (家鄉(xiāng)). Alaska was named by the Russians, from whom Alaska was bought in 1867.

最新的兩個(gè)州的名字不是來(lái)自于那些語(yǔ)言。夏威夷是按夏威夷語(yǔ)中的一個(gè)詞命名的,意思是"家鄉(xiāng)"。阿拉斯加州是1867年從俄國(guó)人手里買(mǎi)來(lái)的,而它的名字也是由俄國(guó)人命名的。