| 释义 |
Anancy, n. Chiefly Caribbean.
Brit. |əˈnɑːnsi|, |ˈənansi|, U.S. |əˈnɑnsi|, |ˈənænsi|, Caribbean |aˈnaːnsi|
Forms: 17– Ananse, 18 Anansay, 18– Ananci, 18– Annancey, 18– Annancy, 19– Anancie, 19– Anancy, 19– Anansi, 19– Anawnsy, 19– Hanancy [Also with lower-case initial.]
[‹ Akan ananse spider. Compare nancy story n.]
The name of a legendary male personage originally occurring in Akan mythology and subsequently playing a role in numerous Caribbean folktales, having the form of a spider and being noted for his cunning and trickery.
1705tr. W. Bosman New Descr. Coast of Guinea xvii. 332 The Negroes call this spider Ananse, and believe that the first Men were made by that Creature. 1868Trans. Royal Soc. Arts & Agric. in F. G. Cassidy & R. B. Le Page Dict. Jamaican Eng. (1967) 10/1 Anansay..is the Jove, the Thor, the Bramah of negro mythology. His great strength is in his cunning, and in his metamorphic versatility; he out-Proteuses Proteus. 1907W. Jekyll Jamaican Song & Story xix. 62 An' from that day Mr. Annancy becomes the greatest player an' the biggest raskil in the world. 1907W. Jekyll Jamaican Song & Story xxiii. 72 An' from that day Annancy was going about an' fool all his friend. 1950L. Bennett et al. Anancy Stories & Dial. Verse i. 25 De man suspeck 'Nancy but him nevah meck Anancy know, him study a brain fe work pon him. 1993Independent 24 Mar. 19/3 Before I went to school I read nursery-rhyme picture books, and a lot of stories about Anansi, because my grandparents came from Jamaica.
Compounds. Anancy story n.after Akan ananse-sem spider story; compare earlier nancy story n. = nancy story n.
1931A. W. Cardinall Tales told in Togoland vi. 138 The Brer Rabbit of the grass country becomes the Spider Anansi of the Forest—hence the ‘*Annancy’ Stories of the West Indies. 1933C. McKay Banana Bottom vi. 71 He..sat with them out upon their barbecues on moonlight nights, listening to their Anancy stories. 1996Mirror (Accra) 30 Nov. 2/4 We must once again sit with our children..and tell them Ananse stories, share the history of their people with them, [etc.].
Anancy tale n. = Anancy story n.
1891E. S. Hartland Sci. Fairy Tales xi. 294 An *ananci tale in which the heroine and her two sisters are changed into black cats. 1996E. Matibag Afro-Cuban Relig. Experience vi. 208 Mythic narrative, of which the Anancy tales are a prime example, may celebrate the cunning of the slave in outwitting his masters. |