評第六版《朗文當代英語辭典》

劉應德

(無錫城市職業(yè)技術學院，江蘇 無錫 214153)

“二次大戰(zhàn)后，英語成為全球通用的國際語言，各地英語學習者對實用工具書的需求尤為殷切，牛津大學出版社遂于1948年率先出版第一代具劃時代意義的英語學習詞典，命名為OxfordAdvancedLearner’sDictionary(《牛津高階英語詞典》，簡稱OALD)。作為第一代經(jīng)典，OALD曾獨領風騷 30年，至70年代末始見其他同類詞典問世?！盵1]這是A.S.Hornby首編的英語學習型詞典，至2015年該詞典已出版了第九版。此處說的“至70年代末始見其他同類詞典問世”即是指1978年出版的學習型詞典：LongmanDictionaryofContemporaryEnglish《朗文當代英語辭典》，該辭典在2014年已經(jīng)出版了第六版。

一、特點

這是一部深受我國英語學習者青睞的詞典之一。首先編者為詞典的查閱者著想(user-friendly)，發(fā)音方面同時提供英國和美國發(fā)音，如：address /’dres ＄’dres，’dres /[2]。不懂單詞的詞義查辭典時最擔心再次遇到生詞而無法理解該詞的含義，而該辭典堅持用英語最常見的2000單詞來為單詞下定義，這樣就大大方便了詞典的查閱者。在用法上，第六版還增加了同義詞辯異(Thesaurus)， 如：“slim thin in an attractive way：her slim figure | a slim woman in her fifties |Magazinesarealwaysfullofadviceabouthowtostayslim.Slenderwrittenthin in an attractive and graceful way -used especially about parts of the body，and used especially about women:herlongslender legs |Sheisslender，withveryfairhair.”[2]1905查閱者很快就明白這兩個詞的區(qū)別了。第六版還提供網(wǎng)上查閱地址：www.longmandictionaries.com。

二、語法

Randolph Quirk一直是本辭典的顧問，還為第六版寫了前言(Foreword)，辭典中還插印A18-48頁的語法內(nèi)容。詞典中還經(jīng)常出現(xiàn)：GRAMMAR: Singular or plural verb? “The family nowlives in London. The family nowlive in London.”[2]648這樣的特別提示。筆者認為英語的謂語動詞確實存在單數(shù)和復數(shù)兩種形式，但是單數(shù)和復數(shù)不是由句子主語決定的，而是“英語使用者的心理需要決定謂語動詞單、復數(shù)”[4]。同樣一個主語，謂語可能用單數(shù)或復數(shù)：“The GarthFamily，whichwasrather a large one，for Mary had four brothers and one sister，werevery fond of their old house.”[5]Quirk本人在1985年的語法專著AComprehensiveGrammaroftheEnglishLanguage中也有：“Sixty peoplemeans a big party.”“What we need mostis books. What we need mostare books.”[3]英語語法專家Martha Kolln 和Robert Funk寫到：“Finally，our special thanksgoes to our editor and friend Ginny Blanford.”[6]前兩天一位澳洲朋友在郵件中寫到：“My utmost thanksgoes out to you all for your unwavering support and interest.”“謂語單數(shù)與復數(shù)系語言使用者表意之工具。只要語言使用者在表達思想時，他的心理需要是“整體”的單數(shù)概念，他就有權使用單數(shù)謂語，相反，他想表達“眾多”的復數(shù)概念，他有權使用復數(shù)謂語，即語言使用者的“心理需要”決定謂語動詞的單、復數(shù)，而不是由主語決定?！盵3]43如：“as) sure as eggsiseggs.”[7]“Three eggsisplenty.”[8]“Diamondcutdiamond.(棋逢對手， 勢均力敵)”[9]雖然筆者認為辭典不用花寶貴的篇幅糾結謂語單、復數(shù)問題，但是在選例句時還是最好遵守保守語法家們把持的英語考試標準，最好避免選擇可能被他們判斷為錯誤的例句，以免誤導讀者，比如以下例句應該避免：“The storehave introduced a new range of food for children.”[2]968“The amount of damages awardedare proportioned to the degree of injury caused.”[2]1453

三、任選主語和必要主語

英語句子的主語可分為任選主語和必要主語，比如祈使句的主語和帶插入語的定語從句主語就是可以省略的任選主語：“Don’t belate for school again! Kim，youbesilent also! ”[3]18“Pictures of thebabythe judge ordered should not be identified by reportersappeared in a Sunday newspaper.”[10]《牛津高階英語詞典》的一條定義：“astabintheback (informal) an act that harms sb，or done by apersonthey thought was a friend”[7]1499據(jù)筆者不完全統(tǒng)計，美國前總統(tǒng)比爾.克林頓在其回憶錄MyLife中就有十四個這樣省略主語的例句：“1)Seeing his name on the list，along withothersI was sure had more to give and get in life，triggered the first pangs of guilt I felt about being a student and only touching the deaths in Vietnam from a distance. 2) He enjoyed being part of ateamhe thought was moving America forward，even on civil rights，where he couldn’t help. 3) A week into my new term， I gave my State of the State Address to the legislators，recommending ways to deal with the severe budget crisis and asking them to do fourthingsI thought would help the economy：……4) Instead， I had to be content to appointcommissionersI thought would protect the people and the state’s economy without bankrupting the utilities. 5) Once more I had found anideaI thought might work in Arkansas. 6) Although I had no primary opponent， I wanted to carry New Hampshire in November，and I needed to deal with the oneissueI thought could keep me from doing it:guns. 7) Almost a year later，Kenyan authorities arrested amanthey believed was involved in a terrorist plot against the U.S. Embassy there. 8) Thepeoplebin Laden believed deserved to die just because they were Americansincluded a career diplomat I had met twice and his son；a woman who…… 9) Within a few years Rahm would be back in Washington，as a congressman from Chicago，thecityhe thought should be capital of the world. 10) I couldn’t go ，because Saddam was still trying to impose unacceptable conditions on the return of the UN inspectors；in response，we were preparing to launch air strikes atsitesour intelligence indicated were connected to his weapons program，as well as other military targets. 11) The twelfth was adayI had hoped would never come.12) By crossing the line of control，Pakistan had wrecked the talks. I didn’t know whether Sharif had authorized the invasion to create acrisishe hoped would get America involved. 13) That meant Shara would go home empty-handed fromnegotiationshe had been led to believe would be decisive，.... 14) On the twenty-fifth， I flew to Islamabad，the leg of thetrip the Secret Service thought was most dangerous. ”[11]除以上兩類句子的謂語動詞前可以沒有主語以外，其他謂語動詞前或后必須有自己的顯形主語，但是該詞典卻有：“I was a little afraid when firstmet him.”[2]31這種不可接受的缺主語的例句。

四、短語

Thomas P. Klammer等人從功能角度將構成句子的成分分為四類短語，其中包括將狀語從句分析為副詞短語：“Anadverbphraseisanadverboranygroupofwordsthatcansubstituteforanadverb. The prototype of an adverb phrase consists of a single adverb(stronglyinThewindblewstrongly.)，or an adverb headword accompanied by a qualifier(verystrongly). Because you can substitute the subordinate clauseasifwewereinthemidstofahurricanefor the adverbstrongly，you can recognize the larger constituent as an adverb phrase (Thewindblewasifwewereinthemidstofahurricane.)”[12]《牛津高階英語詞典》(6thedition)在對句型構成成分舉例分析時也采納功能標準： “[VN-N] verb +noun phrase+noun phraseTheyelectedhimpresident.”[13]即him president是兩個名詞短語。根據(jù)功能標準，下例都是NP+verb+NP的句型：““‘e’ can help make a feminine noun，e.g. fiancée. How we all work will determinehow successful we are. ”[4]29但該辭典采用傳統(tǒng)語法標準即以短語的核心詞(head)為命名標準，將短語定義為不含限定動詞且用做一個意義單位來構成句子的一組詞匯：“phrase:agroupofwordswithoutaFINITEverb，especiallywhentheyareusedtoformpartofasentence，suchas‘walkingalongtheroad’and‘a(chǎn)barofsoap’”[2]1360這樣不僅利于理解接受還可以將名詞、動詞、形容詞的搭配作為短語來講解，如：“Abilityisfollowedbyaninfinitive‘to’ ，notbyan-ingform.Yousay:Iadmirehisabilitytolisten.[10]Don’tsay:Iadmirehisabilityoflistening.”[2]2

名詞以及使用在句中的名詞短語都要區(qū)分可數(shù)與不可數(shù)的問題?？蓴?shù)名詞短語要么用復數(shù)要么在其前面加用限定詞，如：“self-servingpoliticians，aself-sufficientfarm，awildandself-willedchild”[2]1647但就在同一頁上出現(xiàn)既不用復數(shù)又不加用限定詞的可數(shù)名詞短語：“self-mademan/millionaire/businessman”，這樣的可數(shù)名詞短語與同一頁上出現(xiàn)的不可數(shù)名詞短語“selfishbehaviour”就沒有區(qū)別了，特別是中國讀者在使用該短語時很容易出錯，寫出Ilikeself-mademanandIhateselfishbehaviour.的句子。在對待可數(shù)名詞短語時還是應該堅持要么用復數(shù)要么在其前面加用限定詞的原則。

五、校對

辭典在正式出版印刷之前肯定要經(jīng)過多次校對，且該詞典已經(jīng)出版到了第六版，印刷錯誤應該極少，但出人意料，錯誤還不少，現(xiàn)將本人閱讀中發(fā)現(xiàn)的錯誤糾正于此：

1)612頁：sailthoughanexam應改為：sailthroughanexam。

2)940頁：Thetownwasverydependantonthecarindustry. 應改為：Thetownwasverydependentonthecarindustry.。

3)964頁：Youcanfindallkindsofinformationontheinternet.應改為：ontheInternet。

4)1019頁：ShestoppedtowaitforIan who was lagging behind. 應改為：……Ian，who was lagging behind.。

5)1032頁：Thepasttenseoflie is laid. 應改為：Thepasttenseoflay is laid.。

6)1040頁：leaveitout!BrEspokenusedtotellsomeoneto stop lying，pretending or being annoying應改為：tostoplying，pretendingorannoying。

7)1045頁：LEPAmEtechnical(limitedEnglishproficient)應改為：(limitedEnglishproficiency)。

8)1093頁：It’sluckythatno-onewashurt. 應改為：It’sluckythatno onewashurt.。

9)1171頁：Hisbooksmixhistoricalfact with fantasy.應改為：……facts with fantasy.。

10)1233頁：Thehotelisonlya five minute walkfromboththebeachandthenightlife. 應改為：a five-minute walk。

11)1311頁：painfulmemories/experience應改為：painfulmemories/experiences。

12)1325頁：Takepartisless formal thatparticipate……應改為：less formal than。

13)1331頁：I’dliketosaygoodbyetoPaul who leaves us for pastures new.應改為：……Paul，who leaves us for pastures new.。

14)1407頁：kThe test resultscamebackpositive.應改為：The test results…….。

15)1434頁：Your shouldtakemoreprideinyourwork.應改為：You should…….。

16)1457頁：protuberance/pr’tju:brnt/ 應改為：protuberance/pr’tju:brns/。

17)1530頁：Thelessonsbearlittlerelationship(=they are not connected to) the children’s needs應改為：(=they are not connected ) to the children’s needs。

18)1531頁：Thedoctorsaidhe’llhavetotakethingseasyfor while.應改為：……for a while.。

19)1736頁：She had previous experience，thereforesheseemedthebestcandidate.應改為：She had previous experience；therefore…….。

20)1951頁：On-the job trainingwillbecomplementedbyclassroomlectures.應改為：On-the-job training……。

21)1986頁：Hebangedagainstthecupboard，unbalancinga pile a books.應改為：……a pile of books。

22)2091頁：wintersportsn[plural]sportsthataredoneonsnoworice，such as skling應改為：such as skiing。