Why Cambridge Chinese named “Sword bridge”(剑桥)?
First of all, it has become customary to translate the official Chinese of Cambridge as “剑桥”.This is a reality that is difficult to change.
In the case of general translation, X-bridge is usually translated into “x-桥”.
Such as “Humber Bridge” Chinese named “亨伯桥”,”Humber” and “亨伯” correspond,”Bridge” and “桥” correspond.
So,Why does it correspond to “cam” as “剑”,Chinese “剑” means “sword” in English,Both the pronunciation and the meaning are completely different.
I have gathered about three statements. Ranked by credibility.
One：
In Chinese dialects, Cantonese and Hokkien, the most common word in the pronunciation of “cam” is “剑”.
People who used these dialects came into contact with the Western world earlier for geographical reasons, and eventually developed translation conventions.
Similarly, a well-known example is the translation of “Washington” into “华盛顿”.
Two：
After the Japanese Black Ship Incident, Japanese official organizations, determined to learn from the West, translated and produced many Chinese words.A famous example is the translation of science into “科学”.
Cambridge is translated as “剑桥” may also fall into this category.
Three:
Think of “cam” as “camp”. Then imagine the sword from “camp”.