论文部分内容阅读
A few years ago， a Twitter user name Nick Piesco asked me an interesting question about making product names plural. He wanted to know how to make the name “iPad 2” plural[复数].
I believe Nick was curious because the name ends in a number. It’s not terribly uncommon for a product name to end in a number—we have the Boeing 737， Heinz注1 57 （officially Heinz 57 Sauce）， the Commodore注2 64， Motel 6， Pepsi One， and so on—but it does make you stop and think when you have to make them plural. It turns out there’s an official answer and a different， more realistic[现实的] answer.
几年前，一个名叫尼克·皮耶斯科的推特用户问了我一个很有趣的问题：产品名字如何变复数？他想知道iPad 2的复数形式是怎样的。
我想尼克好奇的原因在于这个产品名字以数字结尾。一个产品以数字结尾其实并不是特别稀奇的事情——我们有波音737飞机、亨氏57（正式名称是亨氏57调味酱）、康懋达64型电脑、6号汽车旅馆、百事一号等等，但这确实会让你在必须采用复数形式时停下来想想怎么办。其实这问题有个官方答案，也有一个更切实可行的不同答案。
First， let’s talk about the official answer. Product names are always tricky[棘手的] because they are usually trademarked[给……标上商标]， and companies don’t like you to use trademarked words generically[通用地]. Making them plural counts as using them generically. The Apple page Guidelines for Using Trademarks and Copyrights gives this example：
首先来谈谈官方答案。产品名称通常很棘手，因为这些品牌一般都会进行商标注册，而相关企业并不乐意见到你滥用他们的商标。将这类词变成复数形式也算是滥用。苹果公司在其“商标与版权使用说明”页面上给出了以下的例子：
Logically[逻辑上]， I don’t think adding a number to the name makes a difference in the way you’d handle it. The number is part of the official name， so if we’d write that we have two Blackberrys and two iPads， then we should write that we have two iPad 2s.
Indeed， “iPad 2s” is the plural that is widely used by big publications[出版物]. For example， a few years ago around Halloween， there were a bunch of[一堆，一群] articles about a guy who used two iPad 2s to create the illusion[错觉] of a hole through his body： Wired， MSN， TUAW， and CBS all said he used two “iPad 2s.”
Further， in its entry[条目] on plurals， the AP Stylebook注3 agrees. It says to add a lone“s” when making figures plural and gives the example “The airline has two 727s.”
从逻辑上来说，我并不认为产品名称的变化方式会因为加了个数字而改变。数字也是这个名称的一部分，所以假如我们写过“我们有两部黑莓手机（Blackberrys）和两部iPad（iPads）”，我们就完全可以写“我们有两部iPad 2（iPad 2s）”。
的确，“iPad 2s”这个复数形式在各大媒体中被广泛应用，例如几年前的万圣节期间，有不少新闻报道了一个男人用两部iPad 2s弄出了身上破了个大洞的假象。《连线》杂志、MSN网站、苹果非官方博客（TUAW）及哥伦比亚广播公司（CBS）都说他用了两部iPad 2（iPad 2s）。
再则，《美联社写作风格指南》在复数使用条目中也认同这一用法。书中指出，数字名词变复数可直接加“s”；书中还举出了这样的例句：“这家航空公司有两架727飞机（727s）。”
Nick’s question seems even trickier when you consider that Apple tends to rotate[更迭] through product names that have a number followed by an “S，” so we have the iPad 2 and the iPad 2S and the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 5S. The good news is that the “s” in the product names is capitalized[大写]， so at least it doesn’t look exactly like the plural； but still， then we have to figure out how to make something like “iPhone 5S” plural. 尼克的问题似乎会变得更加棘手，因为苹果公司在产品名称更迭时总喜欢在数字后面加个“S”，于是我们有了iPad 2和iPad 2S， iPhone 5和iPhone 5S。好消息是产品名称里的“s”都是大写，至少看上去和复数形式不容易混淆，但我们还是得搞明白像iPhone 5S这样的名称应该如何变复数。
The closest situation I can think of is making a proper noun that ends in “s” plural， and we do that by adding “es” to the end. For example， if you have two students named Charles， you have two Charleses in your class. If your son has two friends named Jonas， you might invite two Jonases to his birthday party.
And getting back to Blackberrys， the plural is formed by adding one “s” onto the end. You don’t spell it like the plural of the fruit. Why？ Because it’s a name. If you see two Kennedys on the subway， you don’t spell it “Kennedies，” you spell it “Kennedys.” You treat product names the same way， just as you would a personal name. Personal names that end in“y，” such as “Kennedy，” get an “s” at the end， and personal names that end in “s，” such as“Charles，” get an “es” at the end.
Like people’s names， it seems to make sense that even if the product name seems troublesome[麻烦的]， we’d still follow the same rules—we’d write about two iPhone 5Ses. You do see product names pluralized[使成复数] in this way in articles from major news organizations. For example， CNET had a headline that read Apple buying iPhone 4Ses ahead of expected iPhone 5 launch[发布]. And before that， Gizmodo had a headline that read Apple Sells One Million iPhone 4Ses in 24 Hours.
So although product names ending in numbers or with an “s” may seem special， they’re not. They follow the same rules you’d use for making a person’s name plural.
我能想到的最接近的情况就是以“s”结尾的专有名词，变复数时，我们就在其结尾加上“es”。比方说如果你有两个名叫查理的学生，那你的班上就有两个查理（Charleses）。假如你儿子有两个朋友都叫乔纳斯，你也许就得邀请两个乔纳斯（Jonases）来参加儿子的生日派对。
回到黑莓手机（Blackberrys）的问题上来，这个复数形式就是直接在名词末尾加上“s”。你不会像这种水果的复数形式（blackberries）那样拼写。为什么呢？因为这是一个名称。如果你在地铁遇到两个肯尼迪，你不会拼成“Kennedies”，而应该是“Kennedys”。产品名称的变化方式也是同理，就像人名一样。像“肯尼迪”这种以“y”结尾的人名，复数形式就是末尾加“s”；而像“查理”这种以“s”结尾的人名，复数形式就是末尾加“es”。
即使产品名称看上去有点麻烦，我们遵循和人名一样的变化规律还是比较靠谱的——我们可以写两部iPhone 5S（iPhone 5Ses）。你确实可以在各大新闻机构的报道中看到这种产品名称的复数形式，比如科技资讯网（CNET）的一个标题就是“苹果公司在iPhone 5上市前大量收购iPhone 4S（iPhone 4Ses）”。在此之前，小发明网有一篇报道题为“苹果公司一天狂卖百万iPhone 4S（iPhone 4Ses）”。
因此，尽管以数字或者“s”结尾的产品名称看上去比较特殊，其实不然——它们同样遵循人名复数变化的规律。
I believe Nick was curious because the name ends in a number. It’s not terribly uncommon for a product name to end in a number—we have the Boeing 737， Heinz注1 57 （officially Heinz 57 Sauce）， the Commodore注2 64， Motel 6， Pepsi One， and so on—but it does make you stop and think when you have to make them plural. It turns out there’s an official answer and a different， more realistic[现实的] answer.
几年前，一个名叫尼克·皮耶斯科的推特用户问了我一个很有趣的问题：产品名字如何变复数？他想知道iPad 2的复数形式是怎样的。
我想尼克好奇的原因在于这个产品名字以数字结尾。一个产品以数字结尾其实并不是特别稀奇的事情——我们有波音737飞机、亨氏57（正式名称是亨氏57调味酱）、康懋达64型电脑、6号汽车旅馆、百事一号等等，但这确实会让你在必须采用复数形式时停下来想想怎么办。其实这问题有个官方答案，也有一个更切实可行的不同答案。
First， let’s talk about the official answer. Product names are always tricky[棘手的] because they are usually trademarked[给……标上商标]， and companies don’t like you to use trademarked words generically[通用地]. Making them plural counts as using them generically. The Apple page Guidelines for Using Trademarks and Copyrights gives this example：
首先来谈谈官方答案。产品名称通常很棘手，因为这些品牌一般都会进行商标注册，而相关企业并不乐意见到你滥用他们的商标。将这类词变成复数形式也算是滥用。苹果公司在其“商标与版权使用说明”页面上给出了以下的例子：
Logically[逻辑上]， I don’t think adding a number to the name makes a difference in the way you’d handle it. The number is part of the official name， so if we’d write that we have two Blackberrys and two iPads， then we should write that we have two iPad 2s.
Indeed， “iPad 2s” is the plural that is widely used by big publications[出版物]. For example， a few years ago around Halloween， there were a bunch of[一堆，一群] articles about a guy who used two iPad 2s to create the illusion[错觉] of a hole through his body： Wired， MSN， TUAW， and CBS all said he used two “iPad 2s.”
Further， in its entry[条目] on plurals， the AP Stylebook注3 agrees. It says to add a lone“s” when making figures plural and gives the example “The airline has two 727s.”
从逻辑上来说，我并不认为产品名称的变化方式会因为加了个数字而改变。数字也是这个名称的一部分，所以假如我们写过“我们有两部黑莓手机（Blackberrys）和两部iPad（iPads）”，我们就完全可以写“我们有两部iPad 2（iPad 2s）”。
的确，“iPad 2s”这个复数形式在各大媒体中被广泛应用，例如几年前的万圣节期间，有不少新闻报道了一个男人用两部iPad 2s弄出了身上破了个大洞的假象。《连线》杂志、MSN网站、苹果非官方博客（TUAW）及哥伦比亚广播公司（CBS）都说他用了两部iPad 2（iPad 2s）。
再则，《美联社写作风格指南》在复数使用条目中也认同这一用法。书中指出，数字名词变复数可直接加“s”；书中还举出了这样的例句：“这家航空公司有两架727飞机（727s）。”
Nick’s question seems even trickier when you consider that Apple tends to rotate[更迭] through product names that have a number followed by an “S，” so we have the iPad 2 and the iPad 2S and the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 5S. The good news is that the “s” in the product names is capitalized[大写]， so at least it doesn’t look exactly like the plural； but still， then we have to figure out how to make something like “iPhone 5S” plural. 尼克的问题似乎会变得更加棘手，因为苹果公司在产品名称更迭时总喜欢在数字后面加个“S”，于是我们有了iPad 2和iPad 2S， iPhone 5和iPhone 5S。好消息是产品名称里的“s”都是大写，至少看上去和复数形式不容易混淆，但我们还是得搞明白像iPhone 5S这样的名称应该如何变复数。
The closest situation I can think of is making a proper noun that ends in “s” plural， and we do that by adding “es” to the end. For example， if you have two students named Charles， you have two Charleses in your class. If your son has two friends named Jonas， you might invite two Jonases to his birthday party.
And getting back to Blackberrys， the plural is formed by adding one “s” onto the end. You don’t spell it like the plural of the fruit. Why？ Because it’s a name. If you see two Kennedys on the subway， you don’t spell it “Kennedies，” you spell it “Kennedys.” You treat product names the same way， just as you would a personal name. Personal names that end in“y，” such as “Kennedy，” get an “s” at the end， and personal names that end in “s，” such as“Charles，” get an “es” at the end.
Like people’s names， it seems to make sense that even if the product name seems troublesome[麻烦的]， we’d still follow the same rules—we’d write about two iPhone 5Ses. You do see product names pluralized[使成复数] in this way in articles from major news organizations. For example， CNET had a headline that read Apple buying iPhone 4Ses ahead of expected iPhone 5 launch[发布]. And before that， Gizmodo had a headline that read Apple Sells One Million iPhone 4Ses in 24 Hours.
So although product names ending in numbers or with an “s” may seem special， they’re not. They follow the same rules you’d use for making a person’s name plural.
我能想到的最接近的情况就是以“s”结尾的专有名词，变复数时，我们就在其结尾加上“es”。比方说如果你有两个名叫查理的学生，那你的班上就有两个查理（Charleses）。假如你儿子有两个朋友都叫乔纳斯，你也许就得邀请两个乔纳斯（Jonases）来参加儿子的生日派对。
回到黑莓手机（Blackberrys）的问题上来，这个复数形式就是直接在名词末尾加上“s”。你不会像这种水果的复数形式（blackberries）那样拼写。为什么呢？因为这是一个名称。如果你在地铁遇到两个肯尼迪，你不会拼成“Kennedies”，而应该是“Kennedys”。产品名称的变化方式也是同理，就像人名一样。像“肯尼迪”这种以“y”结尾的人名，复数形式就是末尾加“s”；而像“查理”这种以“s”结尾的人名，复数形式就是末尾加“es”。
即使产品名称看上去有点麻烦，我们遵循和人名一样的变化规律还是比较靠谱的——我们可以写两部iPhone 5S（iPhone 5Ses）。你确实可以在各大新闻机构的报道中看到这种产品名称的复数形式，比如科技资讯网（CNET）的一个标题就是“苹果公司在iPhone 5上市前大量收购iPhone 4S（iPhone 4Ses）”。在此之前，小发明网有一篇报道题为“苹果公司一天狂卖百万iPhone 4S（iPhone 4Ses）”。
因此，尽管以数字或者“s”结尾的产品名称看上去比较特殊，其实不然——它们同样遵循人名复数变化的规律。