核心畫面

Hands on a keyboard, turning words into typed lines. The word is built to name that person: type plus -ist, the same shape as artist and cyclist. From the picture alone you cannot tell whether this is someone's whole job or just how they happen to be at it, and that is exactly where the word splits.

可以想成一個畫面:一雙手放在鍵盤上,把話變成一行行打出來的字。這個字就是為了指這個人而造的:type 加上 -ist更多收起可以想成一個畫面:一雙手放在鍵盤上,把話變成一行行打出來的字。這個字就是為了指這個人而造的:type 加上 -ist,跟 artist、cyclist 同一種造法。光看畫面,你分不出這是他的工作,還是只是他打字的樣子——這個字分成兩個意思,分岔點正好就在這裡。

From the word’s history

Wiktionary gives type plus -ist, with -ist coming through Old French and Latin from Greek -istes, the ending that names a person who does something.

依 Wiktionary,這個字是 type 加上 -ist;-ist 這個字尾經由古法文、拉丁文,來自古希臘語 -ιστής,本來就是用來指「做某件事的人」。所以 typist 字面上就是「打字的那個人」。

Wiktionary (kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1150094660:18904), etymology tree supplied in this packet

Two branches

打字的能力

畫面本身,不問這是不是他的工作。

noun · B1

Anyone who types on a keyboard or a typewriter, usually talked about in terms of how fast or how well they do it.

打字的人

以打字為業

同一個畫面被收進一間辦公室:這雙手是有薪水的,而且打的是別人的字。

noun · B1

A person whose job in an office is to type letters, reports and other documents for other people.

打字員