星座英語:漢語中的西方星座

　　編者按：星座用英語怎么說呢?西方人對星座的解釋各有不同，在漢語中的西方星座也是很巧妙的，一起來看一看星座英語吧。

　　Everybody in China knows their Chinese zodiac sign. These are the twelve animals that represent different birth years. Also, a lot of people in China are becoming interested in the Western zodiac. It's both useful and fun to discuss these signs with your Chinese friends.

　　Let's find out how to talk about star signs in Chinese!

　　白羊 (báiyáng) litteraly means "White Sheep". It’s an easy phrase to remember and the character 羊 looks similar to the Aries symbol.

　　金牛(jīnniú) literally means "Golden Bull". In Greek mythology, Taurus was identified with Zeus. The character 金(jīn) was used in the translation to acknowledge the importance of Zeus.

　　雙子 (shuāngzǐ) literally means "twins" in Mandarin. The name of this sign is also very easy to remember.

　　巨蟹 (jùxiè) literally means “giant crab” in Mandarin. Traditionally, the constellation of Cancer was identified with the crab from Greek mythology that Hercules crushed and placed in the sky.

　　獅子(shīzi) literally means “lion” in Mandarin.

　　處女(chǔnǚ) literally means “virgin” in Chinese language.

　　秤(chèng) means "scale" in Mandarin. 天秤(tiānchèng) can be understood as “the scale in heaven”.

　　蝎(xiē), also 蝎子(xiēzi), means scorpion in Mandarin. 天蝎(tiānxiē) can be understood as “the scorpion in heaven”. The general name of 蝎子(xiēzi) was not used because it reminds people of the venomous creature. To make it sounds more comfortable, 天 was added before the scorpion.

　　射手(shèshǒu) means “archer” in Mandarin. In some versions, Sagittarius is translated into 人馬座(rén mǎzuò) as well, due to the shape of half man and half horse. 人 means human and 馬 means horse.

　　The Mandarin translation 摩羯(mójié) comes from Makara in Hindu mythology, which is a sea-creature. It is depicted as half terrestrial animal in the frontal part (stag, deer, crocodile, or elephant) and half aquatic animal in the hind part (usually a fish or seal tail).

　　Literally, 水瓶(shuǐpíng) means “bottle” or “water-container”. While “Aquarius” is Latin for "water-carrier" or "cup-carrier", and of water. That’s why some people are confused by the names in different languages and the symbol. In the Chinese language, we can only know it is a bottle, but ignore the water. (Actually it’s wine according to Greek mythology.)

　　雙魚(shuāngyú) simply means two fish in the Chinese language.

　　作者|GiC Team

　　公眾號：GuideinChina

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