关于“甲之于乙犹如丙之于丁”句式的翻译与分析

下面的句子是我在一个关于写作经典句式的讲义中看到的：
1. 读书对于思想犹如运动之于身体。
Reading is to the mind as exercise is to the body.
Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.
2. 叶之于植物犹如肺之于动物。
Leaves are to the plant as lungs are to the animal.
Leaves are to the plant what lungs are to the animal.
3. 提纲之于作家，犹如蓝图之于建筑师。
The outline is to the writer as the blueprint is to builder.
The outline is to the writer what the blueprint is to builder.
问题：对于用 as 还比较好理解，因为 as 有“像……一样”的意思；但对于用 what 就不好理解了，查词典，what 没有可以用于此类句型的意思啊！另外，请问一下，这样用的 as 和 what 属于什么词性？是连词还是介词？如何分析这样的句子成分？

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分类：句式分析

最佳答案 2014-11-22 10:29

北京大学董桂芝教授在《英语特殊表现法例解》（1981年10月版）一书中对你的这个问题有很详细的解释，摘录如下：

A is to B what X is to Y（A 之于 B 犹如 X 之于 Y）例如：

Leaves are to the plant what lungs are to the animal. 叶之于植物犹如肺之于动物。

Regulation is to a school what the law is to a nation. 校规之于学校，犹如法律之于国家。

这个句型与下列句型相类似，试比较：

(1) A is to B what X is to Y

(2) A is to B as X is to Y

(3) As X is to Y, so is A to B

(4) What X is to Y, that is A to B

在(1)、(2) 句型中，what 和 as 都用作连接词，其后是从句，主句在前。(1) 句型可译为“A 之于 B 等于 X 之于 Y”，其中 what X is to Y 是名词从句，是动词 is 的补语，动词 is 可以省去。(2) 句型可译为“A 之于 B 犹如 X 之于 Y”。(3)、(4) 句型与 (1)、(2) 句型次序相反，主句在后，从句在前。(3) 句型可译为“正如 X 之于 Y，A 对于 B 也表示同一关系”。在 (4) 句型中，作为补语的名词从句放在句首，用 that 作同格词，这个 that 可省去。注意 (3)、(4) 句型的后半句，主语和动词的位置转换了。

其它类似的例子：

Air is to us as water is to fish. 空气对于我们，犹如水对于鱼一样重要。

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. 读书对于思想，好比运动对于身体一样重要。

What the voyage of Columbus was to the world in the 15th century, the journey of the satellite, Lunik 3, might well be to the twentieth.哥伦布的航行对于十五世纪人们的意义，犹如三号月球卫星航行对于二十世纪人们的意义一样。

As the house is to the man so is the nest to the bird and the cave to the animal.

= The house is to the man what the nest is to the bird and cave to the animal.

= What the nest is to the bird and the cave to the animal so is the house to the man. 室之于人，犹巢之于鸟，穴之于兽。

Five is to seven what ten is to fourteen. 五与七之比等于十与十四之比。