Herbs, Trees & Bushes Used in Aromatherapy (Part 1 of 3) 芳香療法所使用的二十一種藥用草類和樹木（備考筆記）

The first ten plants are: almond 甜杏仁, bergamot 佛手柑, chamomile 洋甘菊, coconut 椰子, frankincense 乳香, geranium 天竺葵, grapefruit 葡萄柚, helichrysum 意大利永久花, jojoba 荷荷芭, lavender 薰衣草 (more will follow).

The Adoration of the Magi (detail from a Public Domain image), tapestry, wool and silk on cotton warp, Manchester Metropolitan University

Frankincense is one of those strange words that Bible readers come across. 看英文版聖經的讀者偶爾會碰到怪字。

“Then they [the Magi, Three Wise Men] opened their treasures and presented him [Jesus] with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.” [Matthew 2:11, New International Version (NIV)] 他們 {博士}…打開盛寶物的盒子獻上黃金、乳香和沒藥作禮物。[當代聖經，馬太福音 2:11]

In case you have ever wondered “What the heck is frankincense?”, you'll find an answer in Parts 1 & 2 of these notes. 聖經是西方文化的基礎，想要了解西方人的思考方式和倫理道德觀念一定要多多少少了解一點聖經。很多西方人一輩子都不會接觸到燒香（incense）這件事，所以看到frankincense這種罕用字難免會聯想到比較常見的Frankenstein（科學怪人：https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%A7%91%E5%AD%B8%E6%80%AA%E4%BA%BA）。
本文會講解frankincense的字根。

Notes on pronunciation, scientific names and etymology in English and Chinese.

**The notes include **
(1) North American pronunciation (transcribed in IPA) for the common English names,
(2) the Chinese names in traditional characters and two Chinese government romanizations,
(2A) Hanyu Pinyin, the 1958 standard that indicates tones with optional diacritics
(2B) Gwoyeu Romatzyh, the 1928 tonal spelling standard: most semivowel letters simultaneously indicate vowel glides and tones {Buy One, Get One Free}. Other cases indicate tones alone {syllable-final -r [2nd tone], double vowel [3rd tone] and -h [4th tone]}
(3) a literal translation of the Chinese words (with some extended notes)
(4) the scientific names, with a pseudo-Classical pronunciation mostly based on modern Italian (nobody speaks Latin anymore, and experts vary as to the “correct” pronunciation, so these are my “educated guesses”)
(5) Explanations of the Latin and Greek roots for the scientific names

筆記包括
（1）俗名的北美發音（國際音標）
（2）繁體字和兩種官方頒布的羅馬拼音
（2A）漢語拼音，1958年的新標準，調號可加可不加
（2B）Gwoyeu Romatzyh國語羅馬字，1928年頒布的拼調式羅馬拼音（陰平不標調而陽平、上聲、去聲盡量用介音、尾音 i、u、ü的兼標法來拼調{買一送一}。 沒有介音、尾音的情況則加字母 ## {-r [陽平] ## aa, ee, ii, oo, uu, yy [上聲] ## -h [去聲]}
（3）漢語名稱的字面解說（給外國人參考）
（4）學名加上本人擬測的拉丁文發音（除了梵蒂岡的極少數人以外，現在沒有人會說說拉丁語，所以不怕班門弄斧，貽笑大方，我用意大利文的發音來標學名的發音）
（5）最後解釋拉丁文和希臘文字根的意思

1 # almond, sweet
/ˈɑmənd/ or /ˈælmənd/ # 甜杏仁 tián+ xìngrén / tyan+ shinqren # {sweet+ almond} #
Prunus dulcis /ˈprunus ˈdultʃis/ # L. {plum+ sweet} (in Spanish and Italian, dulce/dolce also means “sweet”)

2 # bergamot
/ˈbɝgəˌmɑt/ # 佛手柑 fóshǒu+ gān / forshoou+ gan # {Buddha hand+ citrus} #
Citrus aurantium /ˈsitrus aʊˈrantium/ # L. citrus 柑橘屬 (the Chinese name is also used for a creepy-looking fruit that looks like a hand with too many fingers)

3 # chamomile, Roman
/ˈkæməˌmaɪl/ # 羅馬洋甘菊 luómǎ+ yáng+ gān+ jú / luomaa+ yang+ gan+ jyu # {Roman+ foreign+ sweet+ chrysanthemum} #
Chamaemelum nobile /ˌkamɛˈmɛlum ˈnobilɛ/ # Gk. chamaimēlon. The Greek word mēlon refers to the flower’s apple-like fragrance mēlon 指其類似蘋果的芳香

4 # coconut
/koʊkəˌnʌt/ # 椰子 Yēzi / ie.tzy # {coconut} #
Cocos nucifera /ˈkokos nusiˈfɛra/ # L. {palm+ nutbearing} {帶堅果的棕櫚樹}

5 # frankincense
/ˈfræŋkɪnˌsɛns/ # 乳香rǔ+ xiāng / ruu+ shiang # {milky+ incense} 乳is Classical Chinese for “milk”, a reference to the light color of frankincense #
Boswellia carteri /bosˈwɛlia karˈtɛri/ # [frank = “pure” + incense] # named after James Boswell & H.J. Carter

6 # geranium, rose
/ʤəˈreɩnɩəm/ # 玫瑰天竺葵 méiguī+ tiānzhú+ kuí / meiguei+ tianjwu+ kwei # {rose+ Indian+ sunflower} # Pelargonium roseum /ˌpɛlarˈɡoʊnium roˈzɛum/ # Gk. pelargos “stork” {fruit resembles a stork’s bill}

7 # grapefruit
/ˈgreɩpˌfrut/ # 葡萄柚 pútáoyòu pwutauryow # {grapefruit is a citrus fruit that grows in clusters like grapes, hence the name} #
Citrus paradisi /ˈtʃitrus paraˈdizi/ # L. {天堂柑橘}

8 # helichrysum
/hɛlɩˈkrɩsəm/, Immortelle, Everlasting # 意大利永久花 Yìdàlì yǒngjiǔhuā / yihdahlih yeongjeouhua # {etymology: the flower stays yellow even when dried} #
Helichrysum italicum /hɛliˈkrisum iˈtaliˌkum/ # Gk. {Heli+chrysum} Eng: {sun+golden}

9 # jojoba
/hoˈhoba/ or /xoˈxoba/ # 荷荷芭 héhébā / herherba # {transliteration} #
Simmondsia chinensis /siˈmondsia tʃiˈnɛnsis/ # {from Mexican Spanish} {mistakenly believed to be from China, hence the species name chinensis}

**10 # lavender, true **
/ˈlævəndɚ/ # 純正薰衣草 chúnzhèng+ xūn+yī+ cǎo / chwenjenq+ shiun+ i+ tsao # pure+ fumigate + clothes+ herb {lavender sachets can be in a closet to protect clothes from mold and insects (similar to fumigation), hence the Chinese name} #
Lavandula angustifolia /lavanˈdula anˌgustiˈfolia/ # L. angusti+folia “narrow+leaf” 窄+葉

++++

I am multilingual (including French, Spanish and a smattering of Latin and Italian), and I have checked my background knowledge against multiple sources, but some errors may still have creeped through. I would appreciate corrections or comments from the community. 讀者諸君如果發現我的解說有任何錯誤請不吝指教！

I prepared these notes to help my wife get ready for an aromatherapy exam and decided to share my work with the Steemit community (Parts 2 and 3 are still being edited for uploading). 內人準備考芳香療法，以上是我幫他整理的筆記，希望別人也可以參考參考。