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BBC - 6 Minute English (YouTube), Learn the history of 'hello' in 6 minutes! - YouTube

Learn the history of 'hello' in 6 minutes! - YouTube

Catherine: Hello. I'm Catherine.

Rob: Hello. I'm Rob.

Catherine: We both started with what is probably

the best-known greeting in English

and one of the first words English language

students learn, and that is 'hello'!

So today in 6 Minute English

we're digging a little deeper into the world

of greetings and the fascinating history of 'hello'.

Rob: Surprisingly, the word 'hello' is not as old

as you might think. But when did it first appear

in print in English? Was it: a) in the 1890s,

b) the 1950s or c) the 1820s

Catherine: Well, I think English changes really quickly,

so I'm going to say b) the 1950s.

And we'll say 'hello again' to 'hello'

a little later in the programme.

Rob: First, greetings. They can be a bit of a minefield.

A subject full of unpredictable difficulties.

Catherine: While in many places a handshake or bow

is normal - there's also the tricky

question of kisses and hugs.

Rob: Awkward. Should you kiss? How many times?

And should your lips touch their cheek?

Catherine: No, Rob - definitely an air-kiss!

Close to the cheek, but don't touch. Much safer.

Rob: Greetings are the subject of a new book,

by former British diplomat Andy Scott, called

One Kiss or Two: In Search of the Perfect Greeting.

Here he is on a BBC radio show Word of Mouth.

Why are greetings so important?

Andy Scott: These are the first moments

of interaction we have with people.

And it's in those first moments,

and using those verbal and physical rituals

that we have and we can get in such a muddle

about, that we're kind of recognising

each other and reaffirming our bonds

or even testing our bonds and our relationships

with each other, we're signalling

our intentions towards each other, despite

the fact we might not necessarily be conscious

when we're doing them.

Catherine: Scott says we need to communicate

our intentions to each other and acknowledge

our relationships.

Rob: Well, that's what greetings do. One word he uses

to mean 'relationship' or 'connection' is bond.

We can reaffirm our bonds, which means

we confirm them and make them stronger.

Catherine: And we do it through rituals -

patterns of behaviour that we do

for a particular purpose.

So there are the phrases such as 'hello',

'good afternoon', 'nice to meet you',

and as well as the physical rituals - handshakes,

bows and kisses.

Rob: Though he also said we sometimes want

to test our bonds. We might want to check

if our friendship has grown by offering something

warmer than usual - like a hug instead of a handshake.

Now, Scott acknowledges how difficult greetings can be

- using the very British slang phrase -

to get in a muddle. If you get in a muddle,

you become confused or lost.

You might get in a muddle if one person expects two

kisses and the other expects only one.

Catherine: Though Scott does believe that the details

don't really matter, because another important

purpose of greetings is to reduce tension.

So if you get it wrong, just laugh about it.

Rob: OK, let's get back to the one word

we really shouldn't get in a muddle about, 'hello'.

Catherine: Let's listen to Dr Laura Wright,

a linguist from Cambridge University, also

speaking on the BBC Word of Mouth radio programme.

Where does 'hello' come from?

Dr Laura Wright: It starts as a distant hailing:

"I see you miles over there and I've got to

yell at you." It's not until the invention of telephones

we really get to use hello as a greeting to each other,

and even then it wasn't initially used as a greeting,

it was used more as an attention-grabbing device:

"You are miles away, the line is about to be cut,

I need to attract the attention of the operator as well."

And so everybody would call 'hello' to each other

as this long-distance greeting form.

Catherine: Laura says 'hello' hasn't always

meant 'hello' - originally it was just a shout

to attract someone's attention.

And we call this kind of shouting hailing.

Rob: The shout would vary in form -

it could sound like a 'hollo'! Or a 'hulloa'!

Catherine: We continued this kind of hailing

when telephones first appeared.

People would keep repeating 'hello, hello'

while they were waiting to be connected.

And before long, this became the actual way

to greet somebody on the telephone.

Anyway, before we say 'goodbye'

to 'hello' - let's have the answer to today's question.

Rob: I asked when the word first appeared

in print in English. According to the Oxford

English Dictionary, it was in 1826.

Other spellings appeared before that.

Catherine: Ah, you see - I was thinking English

changes really quickly, but not that quickly.

Rob: Not that quickly.

Catherine: So before we go, let's have a look at

today's vocabulary again.

A minefield is something that is full of uncertainty and

even danger. This sense comes from the literal meaning

- a field full of explosive landmines!

Rob: And then we had air-kiss - which is when

you kiss the air beside someone's face,

instead of the face itself! Like this: mwah.

Catherine: And we had bond - a connection.

There's a close bond between us I think, Rob.

Rob: Which is good, because when I get in a muddle,

you're always very understanding!

Catherine: Yeah.

Rob: To get in a muddle means to become confused.

Catherine: Ritual was another word -

rituals are certain behaviours that people perform

in certain contexts. I have a morning ritual:

brush my teeth, eat breakfast...

I didn't say it was an interesting ritual, Rob!

Rob: No, that's true. Finally, to hail - it's to greet

someone loudly, especially from a distance.

I hailed my friend when I saw her at the airport.

Catherine: And that's it for this programme. For more, find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

and YouTube, and of course our website

bbclearningenglish.com

Bye!

Rob: Bye!

Learn the history of 'hello' in 6 minutes! - YouTube Lerne die Geschichte von "Hallo" in 6 Minuten! - YouTube ¡Conozca la historia de "hola" en 6 minutos! - YouTube Apprenez l'histoire du mot "hello" en 6 minutes ! - YouTube Imparate la storia del "ciao" in 6 minuti! - YouTube ハロー」の歴史を6分で学ぶ- YouTube Poznaj historię słowa "cześć" w 6 minut! - YouTube Aprende a história do "olá" em 6 minutos! - YouTube Naučte sa históriu „ahoj“ za 6 minút! - YouTube 'Merhaba' kelimesinin tarihçesini 6 dakikada öğrenin! - YouTube 6 分钟了解“你好”的历史！ - YouTube 6 分鐘了解「你好」的歷史！ - Youtube

Catherine: Hello. I'm Catherine. キャサリン：こんにちは。キャサリンです。

Rob: Hello. I'm Rob. Rob|||

Catherine: We both started with what is probably

the best-known greeting in English ||bekanntesten||| 最著名的英语问候语

and one of the first words English language و یکی از اولین کلمات زبان انگلیسی

students learn, and that is 'hello'!

So today in 6 Minute English بنابراین امروز در 6 دقیقه انگلیسی

we're digging a little deeper into the world |graben|||tiefer||| |exploring more deeply|||||| |cavando|||||| ما در حال حفاری عمیق تر در جهان هستیم 我们正在更深入地探究这个世界

of greetings and the fascinating history of 'hello'. |Grüße|||fesselnden||| 问候和‘你好’的迷人历史。

Rob: Surprisingly, the word 'hello' is not as old |Überraschenderweise||||||| |Amazingly||||||| |surpreendentemente||||||| Rob：令人惊讶的是，“你好”这个词并没有那么古老

as you might think. But when did it first appear ||könnte|||||||erscheinen

in print in English? Was it: a) in the 1890s, |in der||||||||

b) the 1950s or c) the 1820s b (1)||||die 1820er|| ب) دهه 1950 یا ج) دهه 1820

Catherine: Well, I think English changes really quickly, کاترین: خوب، من فکر می کنم انگلیسی خیلی سریع تغییر می کند،

so I'm going to say b) the 1950s.

And we'll say 'hello again' to 'hello' |wir werden||||zu| و ما "سلام مجدد" را به "سلام" خواهیم گفت

a little later in the programme. |||||Programm

Rob: First, greetings. They can be a bit of a minefield. ||Grüße||||||||Minenfeld ||||||||||tricky situation ||||||||||pola minowe ||||||||||campo minado راب: اول سلام. آنها می توانند کمی میدان مین باشند. ロブ: まず、ご挨拶。それらは地雷原のようなものになる可能性があります。 Роб: Во-первых, приветствия. Они могут быть немного минным полем. Rob：首先，问候一下。这可能有点儿像雷区。

A subject full of unpredictable difficulties. |ein Thema|||unvorhersehbaren|Schwierigkeiten Temat pełen nieprzewidywalnych trudności. 一个充满难以预料的困难的课题。

Catherine: While in many places a handshake or bow ||||||Händedruck||Verbeugung ||||||handshake||bow ||||||aperto de mão|| کاترین: در حالی که خیلی جاها دست دادن یا تعظیم Catherine: Podczas gdy w wielu miejscach uścisk dłoni lub ukłon

is normal - there's also the tricky |||||schwierige Sache は正常です - トリッキーな点もあります很正常——但也有些棘手

question of kisses and hugs. ||Küsse||Umarmungen ||||hugs ||beijos||abraços سوال از بوسه و آغوش キスとハグの問題。关于亲吻和拥抱的问题。

Rob: Awkward. Should you kiss? How many times? |Peinlich|||küssen||| |Uncomfortable situation|||||| |estranho||||||

And should your lips touch their cheek? |||Lippen|berühren||Wange |||lábios|toquem||bochecha و آیا لب های شما باید گونه آنها را لمس کند؟ 你的嘴唇应该触碰他们的脸颊吗？

Catherine: No, Rob - definitely an air-kiss! |||||Luft| کاترین: نه، راب - قطعاً یک بوسه هوا! 凯瑟琳：不，罗布——绝对是飞吻！

Close to the cheek, but don't touch. Much safer. Schließe (1)|||Wange||||| 靠近脸颊，但不要碰到。更安全。

Rob: Greetings are the subject of a new book, Rob：问候是一本新书的主题，

by former British diplomat Andy Scott, called |ehemaligem||||Scott (1)| |||diplomatic representative||| авторства|||||| توسط دیپلمات سابق بریتانیا، اندی اسکات، تماس گرفت

One Kiss or Two: In Search of the Perfect Greeting. ||||||||perfekten| یک یا دو بوسه: در جستجوی سلام عالی.

Here he is on a BBC radio show Word of Mouth. ||||||Radio||||Mund

Why are greetings so important?

Andy Scott: These are the first moments ||||||Momente اندی اسکات: این اولین لحظات است

of interaction we have with people. |Interaktion||||

And it's in those first moments,

and using those verbal and physical rituals |||verbalen||körperlichen|Rituale |||spoken|||rituals ||||||rituais 并利用这些言语和肢体仪式

that we have and we can get in such a muddle ||||||||solch||Durcheinander ||||||||||confused state ||||||||||bałagan ||||||||||confusão které máme, a můžeme se dostat do takového zmatku. 我们已经陷入了这样的混乱

about, that we're kind of recognising |||||anerkennen o tom, že jsme si uvědomili. در مورد، که ما به نوعی تشخیص می دهیم 我们有点认识到

each other and reaffirming our bonds |||bestätigen||Bindungen |||strengthening||connections |||potwierdzając|| |||reafirmando||vínculos a potvrzení našich vazeb یکدیگر و تایید مجدد پیوندهایمان 并重申我们的纽带

or even testing our bonds and our relationships |sogar|||Bindungen|||Beziehungen nebo dokonce testování našich vazeb a vztahů a nawet testowanie naszych więzi i relacji

with each other, we're signalling ||||signalisieren ||||communicating

our intentions towards each other, despite |Absichten|gegenüber|||trotz |intentions|||| naše záměry vůči sobě navzájem, navzdory 我们对彼此的意图，尽管

the fact we might not necessarily be conscious |Fakt||könnten||||bewusst skutečnost, že si nemusíme být nutně vědomi این واقعیت که ما ممکن است لزوماً آگاه نباشیم 事实上我们可能并不一定有意识

when we're doing them.

Catherine: Scott says we need to communicate ||||||kommunizieren

our intentions to each other and acknowledge |Absichten|||||anerkennen ||||||recognize ||||||reconhecer نیت خود را نسبت به یکدیگر و اذعان می کنیم

our relationships. nossas|os relacionamentos روابط ما

Rob: Well, that's what greetings do. One word he uses Rob：嗯，这就是问候的作用。他用的一个词

to mean 'relationship' or 'connection' is bond. ||Beziehung||Verbindung||Bindung ||vínculo||||vínculo

We can reaffirm our bonds, which means ||wieder bekräftigen|||| ||strengthen again|||| ||reafirmar|||| ما می توانیم پیوندهای خود را مجدداً تأیید کنیم، به این معنی

we confirm them and make them stronger. |bestätigen|||||stärker

Catherine: And we do it through rituals -

patterns of behaviour that we do Verhaltensmuster||Verhalten|||

for a particular purpose. ||bestimmten|Zweck برای یک هدف خاص

So there are the phrases such as 'hello',

'good afternoon', 'nice to meet you', "عصر بخیر"، "از آشنایی با شما خوشحالم"،

and as well as the physical rituals - handshakes, |||||||Händedruck

bows and kisses. verbeugt sich|| vergas|| klanja|| تعظیم و بوسه

Rob: Though he also said we sometimes want |obwohl||||||

to test our bonds. We might want to check |testen||||vielleicht|wollen|| برای آزمایش پیوندهایمان شاید بخواهیم بررسی کنیم

if our friendship has grown by offering something ||||gewachsen||Angebot| ||||crescido|||

warmer than usual - like a hug instead of a handshake. wärmer|||||Umarmung|||| |||||abraço||||

Now, Scott acknowledges how difficult greetings can be ||erkennt||||| اکنون، اسکات تصدیق می کند که احوالپرسی چقدر می تواند دشوار باشد 现在，斯科特承认打招呼是多么困难

- using the very British slang phrase - ||||Umgangssprache|Phrase

to get in a muddle. If you get in a muddle, ||||Verwirrung|||||| ||||||||||get confused ||||||||||confusão

you become confused or lost. |wirst|verwirrt||verloren گیج یا گم می شوید

You might get in a muddle if one person expects two |kannst||||Verwirrung||||erwartet| اگر یک نفر انتظار دو نفر را داشته باشد، ممکن است دچار مشکل شوید

kisses and the other expects only one. ||||erwartet||

Catherine: Though Scott does believe that the details |obwohl|||glaubt|||Details |although||||||

don't really matter, because another important 并不重要，因为另一个重要的

purpose of greetings is to reduce tension. Zweck|||||reduzieren|Spannung ||||||stress or anxiety هدف از احوالپرسی کاهش تنش است.

So if you get it wrong, just laugh about it. |||||||lache|| |||||||chuckle|| پس اگر اشتباه متوجه شدید، فقط به آن بخندید. Więc jeśli się pomylisz, po prostu się z tego śmiej.

Rob: OK, let's get back to the one word

we really shouldn't get in a muddle about, 'hello'. ||sollten||||Verwirrung|| 我们真的不应该对‘你好’感到困惑。

Catherine: Let's listen to Dr Laura Wright, ||||Dr.|Laura|Wright کاترین: بیایید به دکتر لورا رایت گوش کنیم،

a linguist from Cambridge University, also |Linguist||Cambridge|| |um linguista||||

speaking on the BBC Word of Mouth radio programme. ||||||Mund||

Where does 'hello' come from?

Dr Laura Wright: It starts as a distant hailing: |||||||fernen|Rufen |||||||far-off|calling out ||||||||chamado distante 劳拉·赖特博士：它开始于一声远方的欢呼：

"I see you miles over there and I've got to |||Meilen||||ich habe|| "Vidím tě tamhle na míle daleko a musím se. "Widzę cię kilometry stąd i muszę “我看到你在那边几英里的地方，我必须

yell at you." It's not until the invention of telephones schreien|||||||Erfindung||Telefonen shout at you||||||||| gritar com||||||||| na tebe křičet." Teprve s vynálezem telefonů krzyczeć na ciebie". Dopiero po wynalezieniu telefonów 对你大喊大叫。”直到电话发明

we really get to use hello as a greeting to each other, 我们确实可以用“你好”来互相问候，

and even then it wasn't initially used as a greeting, |sogar||||anfangs|||| a ani tehdy se původně nepoužívalo jako pozdrav, 即便如此，它最初也不是用来打招呼的，

it was used more as an attention-grabbing device: ||||||Aufmerksamkeit|aufmerksamkeitserregendes|mittel |||||||chamativa| його використовували більше як засіб привернення уваги: 它更多地被用作一种吸引注意力的手段：

"You are miles away, the line is about to be cut, |||||Leitung|||||unterbrochen ||||||||||disconnected "Jste na míle daleko, linka bude přerušena, 「あなたは何マイルも離れています、ラインは切られようとしています、 "Ви за багато миль звідси, лінію ось-ось переріжуть, “你离我很远，电话线即将被切断，

I need to attract the attention of the operator as well." |||ziehen|||||Bediener|| ||||||||machine operator|| ||||||||operador|| Мені також потрібно привернути увагу оператора". 我也需要引起操作员的注意。”

And so everybody would call 'hello' to each other

as this long-distance greeting form.

Catherine: Laura says 'hello' hasn't always ||||hat nicht|immer

meant 'hello' - originally it was just a shout meinte||ursprünglich|||||Ruf |||||||grito

to attract someone's attention. |aufmerksam machen|jemandes|Aufmerksamkeit

And we call this kind of shouting hailing. ||||||Rufen|Hailing |||||||calling out ||||||grito|chamando І ми називаємо такий крик градом.

Rob: The shout would vary in form - ||Ruf||variieren|| ||shout||differ|| Роб: Крик може бути різним за формою - Rob：喊叫的形式多种多样——

it could sound like a 'hollo'! Or a 'hulloa'! |||||Hallo|||hulloa це може звучати як "привіт"! Або "привіт"!

Catherine: We continued this kind of hailing ||setzten||Art||Rufen ||||||calling out to Катерина: Ми продовжили цей град

when telephones first appeared. |||erschienen коли вперше з'явилися телефони.

People would keep repeating 'hello, hello' |||wiederholen|| |||repetindo|| Люди постійно повторювали "алло, алло".

while they were waiting to be connected. während(1)|||warteten|||

And before long, this became the actual way ||||||tatsächliche| І незабаром це стало реальним способом 不久之后，这成为了真正的方式

to greet somebody on the telephone. |begrüßen||||Telefon щоб привітати когось по телефону.

Anyway, before we say 'goodbye' wie auch immer||||Auf Wiedersehen У будь-якому випадку, перш ніж ми скажемо "до побачення

to 'hello' - let's have the answer to today's question. |||||||heutigen|

Rob: I asked when the word first appeared |||||||erschien

in print in English. According to the Oxford

English Dictionary, it was in 1826. |Wörterbuch|||

Other spellings appeared before that. |Schreibweisen||| |alternative spellings||| До цього з'явилися інші написання. 在此之前已经出现了其他拼写。

Catherine: Ah, you see - I was thinking English |ah|||||| Катерина: А, бачите, я думала про англійську.

changes really quickly, but not that quickly. змінюється дуже швидко, але не настільки швидко. 变化确实很快，但也没那么快。

Rob: Not that quickly. |||rapidamente

Catherine: So before we go, let's have a look at

today's vocabulary again. |Wortschatz|

A minefield is something that is full of uncertainty and |Minenfeld|||||||Unsicherheit| |high-risk area|||||||| |campo minado|||||||| 雷区是充满不确定性的东西，

even danger. This sense comes from the literal meaning sogar|Gefahr||Sinn||||wörtlichen|Bedeutung 危険さえ。この感覚は文字通りの甚至危险。这个意思来自字面意思

- a field full of explosive landmines! |Feld|||explosiven|minen ||||explosive material|explosive devices ||||explosivos|minas terrestres |||||minska polja - поле, повне вибухонебезпечних наземних мін!

Rob: And then we had air-kiss - which is when Роб: А потім у нас був повітряний поцілунок - це коли

you kiss the air beside someone's face, ти цілуєш повітря біля чийогось обличчя, 你亲吻某人脸旁的空气，

instead of the face itself! Like this: mwah. ||||selbst|||mwah |||||||kissing sound

Catherine: And we had bond - a connection. ||||eine Verbindung|| ||||povezavo||

There's a close bond between us I think, Rob. ||enge|Verbindung||||| 我认为我们之间的关系很密切，罗布。

Rob: Which is good, because when I get in a muddle, ||||||||||Schwierigkeiten ||||||||||confusion Rob：这很好，因为当我陷入困境时，

you're always very understanding! 你总是很理解！

Catherine: Yeah.

Rob: To get in a muddle means to become confused. |||||Muddle|||werden|

Catherine: Ritual was another word - |Ritual||| |Ceremony||| |ritual|||

rituals are certain behaviours that people perform ||bestimmte|Verhaltensweisen|||ausführen

in certain contexts. I have a morning ritual: |bestimmten|in bestimmten Kontexten||||| 在某些情况下。我有一个早晨习惯：

brush my teeth, eat breakfast...

I didn't say it was an interesting ritual, Rob!

Rob: No, that's true. Finally, to hail - it's to greet ||||||hallo||| Rob||||||To greet||| ||||||witać||| ||||||saudar||| ||||||pozdraviti|||

someone loudly, especially from a distance. |laut|||| 大声地对某人说，尤其是从远处。

I hailed my friend when I saw her at the airport. |called out to||||||||| Zawołałam moją przyjaciółkę, gdy zobaczyłam ją na lotnisku.

Catherine: And that's it for this programme. For more, find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram |||||Facebook|Twitter|Instagram

and YouTube, and of course our website |||natürlich|natürlich||

bbclearningenglish.com bbclearningenglish|bbclearningenglish.com

Bye!

Rob: Bye!