Pennsylvania

今回は私が滞在しているアメリカのペンシルヴェニア州について書こうと思います。
本日、授業でペンシルヴァニア州がこの名になった由来について学んだので紹介させていただきます。

William Penn was born October 24, 1644 in the country of England. Penn attended school until age 12. After that he had private tutors teach him. During Penn’s college experience he joined a religious group called the Society of Friends, or Quakers.
People who called themselves Quakers believed all people should be considered equal regardless of how much money they have, and that fighting was wrong. Quakers also felt everyone should be able to choose their own religion.
In the 1600’s the people of England did not have the option of choosing their own religion. It was a law that everyone had to belong to the Church of England, also known as the King’s Church. Penn’s religious beliefs caused him to get kicked out of college and thrown in jail. When Penn was 23, he officially joined the Quaker religion.
Penn’s father was a rich Admiral in the King’s navy. The King borrowed some money from Admiral Penn. When he past away he left all of his money to his son, William. This included the money the King still owed his father.
With this money and much planning, Penn decided to begin a colony in North America where everyone could choose his or her own religion. Penn needed to find a way to own land in America.
The King was unable to pay Penn back the money he had borrowed from his father. Penn decided to ask the King for land in North America instead of the money.
The land the King gave to Penn is now called Pennsylvania. At that time Pennsylvania was covered with many trees. Penn wanted to name the new colony “Sylvania,” meaning woods. The King wanted to name it after Penn’s father. They decided to combine their two thoughts and call it Pennsylvania (Penn’s Woods).

sylvaniaという語調べてみると、この語はラテン語であることがわかりました。cf.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvania（Weblio）
また、sylvanには「森の；樹木の茂った；森に住む[ある]」「森の精[神、住人]」という意味があります。（『ジーニアス英和辞典　第４版』大修館書店）州の名前の由来は気にしたことがなっかたので、とてもおもしろく、興味深かったです。

余談ですが、私は sylvania と聞くと、小さい頃大好きだったシルバニアファミリーというおもちゃを思い出します。動物の家族を使った人形遊びのおもちゃなのですが、これが「森の家族」という意味だったとわかり、なんだかすっきりした気分になりました。（Jakie）