核心畫面

Think of a map with a line drawn down it, and this word pointing at the people on the left-hand side. The word never tells you where the line is — the sentence around it does. Move the line around the globe and you get people from the West; move it inside one country and you get people from the west of that country.

westerner 的畫面可以想成:先在地圖上畫一條線,再指著線左邊的人說「這些人」。這個字本身不會告訴你線畫在哪裡更多收起westerner 的畫面可以想成:先在地圖上畫一條線,再指著線左邊的人說「這些人」。這個字本身不會告訴你線畫在哪裡,是句子告訴你的。線畫在地球上,指的就是世界西邊那一塊的人。線縮到一個國家裡面,指的就是那個國家西部的人。所以這個字真正固定的不是地點,而是「西邊那一側」這個位置感。

From the word’s history

Formed from western plus the ending -er, which turns a description into a person: the one from the western side.

字源資料顯示 westerner 是 western(西邊的)加上 -er 組成的。-er 的作用是把一個描述變成一個人。所以整個字可以想成「西邊那側的人」,方向先到,人才出現。

Wiktionary entry supplied in this packet (source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1325333923), etymology_text: "From western + -er."

One branch

從西邊那一側來的人

兩個意思共用同一個動作:畫一條線,指線左邊的人。差別只在線畫在哪裡。

noun · B1

A person who comes from, or lives in, the western part of the world — countries such as the United States, Canada, the countries of western Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

西方人