「大一新生組」：請以「比較」的方式探討臺灣與外國(任選一國)之某項社會人文相關事物，主題自訂。例如：臺灣與英國的飲茶文化異同、臺灣與日本祭祖掃墓習俗之異同，或臺灣學生與德國學生對於未來生涯規劃之比較等 等。

「大學部及研究所學生組」：請任選臺灣社會文化脈絡中重要議題，並探討其與國際相關發展趨勢之連結。例如：高齡化社會、代理孕母、文創產業等。

The names given to a child by southwest Nigeria’s Yoruba people come with a certain meaning, which may be related to something like the time of year or to the circumstances of the child’s birth.

While linguist Kola Tubosun knows the meaning of his name, many of the other Yorubas he has met do not.  So, he decided to do something about it.

Launched earlier this month, YorubaName.com is an online dictionary of traditional Yoruba names, aimed at Yoruba people who might have forgotten their name’s meaning or never learned it in the first place.

“The whole idea is to provide a central place where people can find all, hopefully all of the Yoruba names, be able to find its meaning,” said Dadepo Aderemi, the site’s head developer.

Yorubas are among the largest ethnic groups in Nigeria and have significant populations in neighboring Benin. Large numbers of Yorubas also live in Brazil and the Caribbean, as a result of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

While the Yoruba language is widely heard across Nigeria’s populous southwest, Tubosun says educators undervalue it and other local languages.

Some parents would rather their children learn English as a way to […] get an advantage over other students in the competition for jobs and opportunities, he says. In a country where two-thirds of the population live in poverty, both are in short supply.

“Over time, parents bought into this idea that if you don’t learn English, or don’t learn in English, or you don’t learn any other language other than English, then you are denying yourself a chance for a good future filled with opportunities,” Tubosun said.

That emphasis on learning English ends up harming local traditions, he says.

“I realized that something is going to get lost over time if we didn’t find a way to document these things,” said Tubosun, whose first name is given to males who are born into a newly-purchased house.

The dictionary is a work in progress, Tubosun said. He anticipates adding many more names to the site, along with a tool for people to hear the pronunciation of individual names.

Tubosun started the dictionary because he is Yoruba, but, he doesn’t plan to stop there; many cultures in Africa give names that have meanings, and he intends to expand the dictionary to other languages in Nigeria and across the continent.

With some 500 local languages in Nigeria, he has his work cut out for him.

網路字典為奈及利亞人的名字解碼

奈及利亞西南部的約魯巴人(Yoruba)替小孩取的名字都具有特定的意義，像是與一年的某個時節或孩子出生時的情景有關(related)。

儘管語言學家 (linguist)科拉‧土巴桑(Kola Tubosun)知道他自己名字的意義，但許多他所認識的約魯巴人卻不知道他們自身名字的意義。因此，他決定做些什麼。

在本月初啟用(launch)的 YorubaName.com 網站是一個蒐集傳統約魯巴名字的網路字典，其鎖定的對象是(be aimed at)已經忘了或從一開始(in the first place)壓根就不知道自己名字意義的約魯巴人。

網站的主要開發人員達迪波‧阿德瑞密(Dadepo Aderemi)表示：「這整體的構想在於提供一個集中地（網站），希望所有約魯巴的名字及其意義都能在這網站上找到。」

約魯巴人是奈及利亞最大的種族族群(ethic group)之一，在鄰國貝南(Benin)也有可觀的人口。因昔日的跨大西洋奴隸買賣，為數不少的約魯巴人現也居住在巴西和加勒比一帶(the Caribbean)。

儘管橫跨奈及利亞人口密集的 (populous)西南一帶還能廣泛地聽到約魯巴語，但土巴桑認為，教育者並不重視(undervalue)約魯巴語和其他的當地語言。

他說，有些家長寧可自己的孩子學習英語，藉此在工作和機會的競爭中，比其他學生占有更多優勢(get an advantage over . . .)。在一個全國有三分之二的人民處於貧困(in poverty)的國家裡，工作和機會都是缺乏的(in short supply)。

土巴桑說：「漸漸地，父母親們認同(buy into)了這個看法，也就是如果不學英語、不用英語來學習，或不學英語以外的其他語言，那你就是自己否定了原本可能充滿機會的未來。」

他表示，對英語學習如此程度的重視最終會(end up)傷害了當地的傳統文化。

土巴桑說，「我意識到，如果我們不找個方法來記錄(document)這些和語言相關的事物，他們將會隨著時間消失。」土巴桑自己本身的名字(Kola)是用來為出生於新購房中的男性命名的。

（編按：新聞裡的語言學家土巴桑的名字(first name)是 Kola，譯者實際上了 YorubaName.com 這個網站搜尋後發現，Kola 是由 Kọ́láwọlé 這個名字簡化而來，網站上所提供的意思與新聞中的說法相似： “It's a name usually given to the first boy born in a new house built by the parents.”。）

土巴桑說，這個字典是一項持續進行中的工程(a work in progress)。他預計(anticipate)在網站上加入更多的名字，搭配(along with)一個能讓大家聽到各個名字發音的工具。

土巴桑因為身為約魯巴人而開始編彙這部字典，然而，他並不打算止步於此；在非洲的許多文化中，取名都是具有意義的，為此他打算擴大這部字典的規模，含跨奈及利亞和整個非洲大陸的其他語言。

奈及利亞約有五百多種方言，這表示土巴桑還有很多艱困的工作在等著他(have one’s work cut for oneself)。