Here's British writer, Marcelle Mateki, talking about the origins of this legend to BBC World Service programme, The Forum.

下面是英国作家 Marcelle Mateki 对 BBC 世界服务节目《论坛》讲述这个传奇的起源。

Marcelle says that 'Mami Wata' means 'the mother of water' when loosely translated – translated in a way that carries over the basic ideas but using words which may not be so accurate.

马塞勒说，" 玛米瓦塔" 被意译为" 水之母" ，意译这种翻译方式保留了基本信息，但使用的词汇可能不那么准确。

Marcelle says that 'Mami Wata' means 'the mother of water' when loosely translated - translated in a way that carries over the basic ideas but using words which may not be so accurate.

Marcelle 说当它被粗略地翻译—— 以一种包含了基本意义但是用词可能不太准确的方式翻译 ——时，“Mami Wata”的意思是“水之母”。