hyphen 的有无?
在书上常见有时写to-day,to-morrow,有时又写today, tomorrow,不知这两种写法到底有何不同:并请说明hyphen (连字号)的正确用途。
hyphen 的有无? 在书上常见有时写to-day,to-morrow,有时又写today, tomorrow,不知这两种写法到底有何不同:并请说明hyphen (连字号)的正确用途。
【解答】在英文的写法上,有由繁趋简的倾向,原来是两个单字,进一步用连字号把它们联在一块儿,最后索性把它们写成一个字,如head ache, head-ache, headache. 以及 school house, school-house, schoolhouse 等皆是。可知除去hyphen 而写成一字的,是最后发展出来的形式。在某英文课本上有句云:
One is a steamship and the other is a sailing-ship. (一个是汽船,另一个是帆船。)句中的steamship 是已经发展到最后阶段,变成一字了,而sailing-ship则还在中途,只是将两个单字用连字号联结为一个复合字罢了。fountain-pen 也是同样的情形,分为二字写似已过时,写成一字又还太早。现在比较年纪大点的人,多少带点保守性,喜欢写to-day, to-morrow, to-night 的形式,但年轻的一辈就爱摒弃hyphen而简单地写成一字了。
至于hyphen的用法,可分下列各条来说明:
(l)形成复合字:
如 brother in-law. go-between, hanger-on, home-made, good-for-nothing. stick-in-the-mud, 尚有极端的,例如:There is a sort of Oh-what-a-wicked-world-this-is-and-how-l-wish-l-could-do-something-to-make-it-better-and-nobler.
(2)将好几个字联成一个形容词:
如 four-month-old baby. The never-say-die party. go-as-you-please methods, devil-may-care expression. up-to-date infor-mation, a twenty-dollar-a-week clerk, a when-l-was-in-the States attitude.
(3)接合形容词与名词,而产生字面以外的意义:
如 black bird(黑色羽毛的鸟)变成black-bird (或blackbird)(山岛)。red coat (红衣)变成red-coat (英国兵)。
(4)两个分别发音的,相同的母音之间:
如co-opt, pre-empt, re-elect, co-operation.
(5)当re加上动词,避免和有此前缀的复合字混同:
如recover (恢复)recreate(体养)
re-cover(再覆盖)re-create(再造)
(6)在固有名词前加前缀时;
如pro-Chinese, pre-Christian, anti-Christ
(7)把用文字写出的数目字分开:
如twenty-three, thirty-fifth, ninety-nine, five-and-twenty,
但 one hundred and one 却不要。
(8) 当分数用文字写出时:
如 five-sixths, five-fourteenths, four and two-thirds.
(9) 用 a 作前缀加在动名词前时:
如 a-fishing, a-sighing, a-sobbing.
(10)当一个字分成两行写时:
如 know-ledge, re-ported, state-ments, ac-tion.