2015年8月，奥巴马总统宣布，北美最高的山峰，麦金利山将会改名。它的新名字，德纳里峰，事实上也是它最初的阿留申名字，意为“高的”。另一方面，之前的名字要追溯到1896年，那一年是为了纪念威廉·麦金利(1843-1901)，他曾短暂地就任过美国总统。

　　当然，德纳里是唯一一个与有趣的语言学历史相关的山峰，让我们去往亚洲，非洲，穿过欧洲，来探索这些大陆最有名的山峰和山脉的名字。

　　1.Himalayas

　　喜马拉雅山脉

　　The Nepalese name Himalaya comes from a Sanskrit word meaning ‘Abode of Snow’, from hima for ‘snow’ and ālaya for ‘abode’. In Buddhist sources, the Himalayan region is known by various names such as Himavā and Himavanta.

　　喜马拉雅山脉的名字是尼泊尔人取自梵语词语，意为“有雪的地方”，“喜马”意为“雪”，拉雅意为“地方”。在佛教的起源中，喜马拉雅地区因为有着许多个名字而为人所熟知，例如Himavā 和Himavant。

　　2.Mount Everest

　　埃佛勒斯峰

　　In 1856, Mount Everest was named after Sir George Everest (1790–1866), who was the superintendent of the Trigonometrical Survey of India. Everest himself was initially displeased by the naming, since he feared that local inhabitants might not be able to pronounce it.

　　1856年，埃佛勒斯峰由乔治埃佛勒斯(1790-1866)命名，他是印度三角区的负责人。埃佛勒斯最初对这个名字并不满意，因为他担心当地的居民不能够发出这个音来。

　　3.K2

　　乔戈里峰

　　K2 stands for Karakoram 2, because it was the second peak to be surveyed in the Trigonometrical Survey in the Karakoram system. It was also formerly known as Mount Godwin-Austen after Col. H. H. Godwin-Austen, who first surveyed it. Another alternative name for the mountain is Chhogori.

　　K2代表第二个喀喇昆仑山脉，因为它在喀喇昆仑山系中的三角区排名第二。它在之前也被第一个发现它的古德温·奥斯丁称为乔戈里峰。这个山峰还有一个名字叫做Chhogori。

　　4.Annapurna

　　安纳普尔纳峰

　　Annapurna is a household Goddess for Hindus, who guarantees to her worshippers that food will not fail. The name derives from a Sanskrit word meaning ‘one who gives nourishment’.

　　安纳普尔纳是印度教徒信仰的主管家庭的女神，她对自己的信徒承诺以源源不断的食物。这个名字源于一个梵文词，意为“给予食物”。

　　5.Matterhorn

　　马特洪峰

　　The Matterhorn’s name derives from the name of the nearby town of Zermatt, the second element of which is apparently Matte ‘meadow’, and Horn, ‘horn’. Horn is not an unusual element in German names of mountains with jutting peaks. The mountain is called Mont Cervin in French and Monte Cervino in Italian, from the Italian adjective cervino ‘deer-like’, which conjures up a deer’s antlers.

　　马特洪峰的名字源于策马特附近的一个小镇，显然，第二个元素matte意为“草场”，horn意为“号角”。在德国比较高的山峰的名字中，Horn不是一个不同寻常的元素。在法语中，这座山峰被称为Ceryin(马特洪峰)，在意大利语中，被称为Cervino(切尔维诺山)，源自意大利语中的形容词cervino，意为“像鹿一样”，使人想到鹿的角。

　　6.Ben Nevis

　　本尼维斯山

　　Ben Nevis is the Anglicized form of the Scottish Gaelic name Beinn Nibheis, which means ‘Mountain by the (River) Nevis’. The name of the river apparently derives from a Celtic root for ‘water’.

　　本尼维斯是苏格兰盖立语Beinn Nibheis的英语化，意为“尼维斯河边的山”。显然，这座山的名字源于凯尔特语中的“水”一词。

　　7.Mount Kilimanjaro

　　乞力马扎罗山

　　The name of Africa’s highest peak means ‘Mountain of the God of Cold’, from the Swahili kilima, ‘mountain’, and njaro, ‘god of cold’. As a part of German East Africa, it was previously known as Kaiser Wilhelm Spitze (‘Emperor William Peak’) after William I, German emperor (1871–88). The mountain received its present name after the British were awarded a League of Nations mandate for this part of German East Africa in 1920.

　　这座非洲最高峰的名字意为“冰雪之神的山”，源于斯瓦西里语kilima，意为“山峰”，njaro，意为“冰雪之神”。作为德属东非的一部分，它之前被叫做Kaiser Wilhelm Spitze(威廉大帝山)，即德国皇帝威廉一世(1871-1888).在1920年，英国得到国际联盟在德属东非地区的授权后，这座山峰才有了现在的名字。

（编辑：何莹莹）