“偏离型对待”引发的一连串词
一、use,misuse,abuse
虽然经常看到,但我对abuse这个词从来没有特别关注过,直到最近几天我连续看到新闻报道,abuse这个词不断出现,并且有一篇提到了use,这两个词一对照,使我顿时明白了abuse的构词方式:前缀ab(偏离,非正常)+use(使用):
由此可知,abuse意为“非正常使用”,即“滥用”,比如drug abuse,即“药品/药物的非正常使用”,即“吸·毒”。
上两图中,use是使用,misuse是“误用”,abuse则是“滥用”。
那么有的朋友要问了:abuse又可以理解为“虐待”,这怎么理解呢?
前面我发过一篇《英语野牛怎样应对难缠的生词,给你们演示一下,附赠图解学单词大法》,里面有这样一段:
莎士比亚代表作之一《李尔王》中,乔装打扮的肯特伯爵(Earl of Kent,简称KENT)代表李尔王去给丽甘(REGAN,李尔王的二女儿)送信,但因为丽甘和她丈夫康沃尔公爵(Duke of Cornwall,CORNWALL)已经打定主意不对父亲李尔王让步,所以说话间康沃尔叫人拿出了刑具stocks,要对肯特行刑。肯特惊诧莫名,叫道:
Why, madam, if I were your father's dog, You could not use me so.
咋啦贱人,我就是你父王的狗,你也不能这么对待我。
这个意思一般的词典是查不到的,我也是动用了牛津英语词典(Oxford English Dictionary),在use作为动词的第18条意思才找到:
现在我们就明白了,use是“对待”,abuse是“偏离型对待”,即“虐待”。
二、ab-前缀家族
我们先来看一个表格:
Normal | 正常的 | Abnormal | 反常的 |
Use | 使用 | Abuse | 滥用 |
Conduct | 引导 | Abduct | 绑架 |
Political | 政治的 | Apolitical | 对政治不感兴趣的 |
Moral | 道德的 | Amoral | 不道德的 |
Retain | 保留 | Abstain | 戒除 |
Absent | 不在场 | ||
Resist | 抵抗 | Absist | 撤退 |
Abscede | 离开,失去联系 | ||
Abscise | 切断,切走 | ||
Absconce | To hide away |
这里的a-、abs-是ab-这个前缀在m、p、st、c等字母前的变体,可以认为都属于ab-前缀家族。
《牛津英语词典》(The Oxford English Dictionary, OED)是这样说的:
Ab- repr. L. ab, prep. ‘off, away, from,’ cogn. w. Gr. ἀπό, Skr. apa, OTeut. af, OE. of, mod.E. of, off, mod.G. ab. In L. it was reduced to a- before p-, m-, and v-, became au- before f-, and abs- before c- and t-. The form ab- was in OFr. generally retained as in abusum, abus; sometimes changed to av- as in abortionem, avortion; sometimes reduced to a- as in abbreviāre, abregier, abridge. Ab- appears in Eng. in words that have lived on through OFr. as abuse; that have been adapted or formed in later Fr. as absorb; or have been adapted or formed in Eng. as ablaqueate, abhominal, abarticulation. Quite recent, and apparently suggested by ab-normal, are formations like ab-oral, ab-actinal, in which ab- is used for ‘position away from.’
以上红色单词均以ab-前缀家族开头,意思均与“偏离、非正常”有关。
三、顺便说说normal,average,common和usual
normal正常的,与“常态”紧密联系,比如这两年经常说的新常态,就是the New Norm;
average一般的,说他这个人“手劲一般,掰不过你”,average strength;
common常见的,比如麻雀;
usual惯常的,与习惯紧密相关,比如the usual time and place,老时间、老地点。