| 词组 | Sahara, Sahara desert |
| 释义 | Sahara, Sahara desert Because the Arabic word Sahara (or sahra) means literally "desert," several commentators, notably Bernstein 1958, Bremner 1980, and Harper 1975, 1985, have criticized Sahara desert as a redundancy. If English and Arabic were one language, the critics might have a good argument, but the fact is that Sahara in English is no more a synonym for desert (except in figurative use) than are Gobi and Mojave; it is, instead, the specific name of a specific desert, one that is commonly and idiomatically called both "the Sahara" and "the Sahara desert." Some writers do make a point of omitting desert after Sahara, but many others do not, and there is no reason why you should feel compelled to. • ... so the Sahara desert had to form —David Atten-borough, TV broadcast, 2 Nov. 1987 • The story within the story is set in the Sahara Desert —Booklist, 1 June 1982 It is interesting to note that the Mongolian word gobi means literally "waterless place," so that the same logic that finds redundancy in Sahara desert should also find it in Gobi desert. As far as we know, however, no one has ever called Gobi desert redundant. For similar problems with words borrowed from foreign languages, see hoi polloi and Sierra. |
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