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发表于 2017-12-14 15:30:21
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终于找到了一个“规定性”解释：不过，我认为，语言是发展的，总是唯OED是瞻也不可取。
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% V7 p! o- Q6 a! J6 mhttps://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2010/09/as-such.html R# D$ E7 `, H
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Q: I generally see “as such” used to mean “therefore,” but I think it should refer to something just mentioned. It’s hard, however, to explain this to other people. Can you assist?6 S7 Q& o; g: [! K' _* `& h* L
3 x9 i; L J& C) XA: You’re right in thinking that the use of “as such” to mean “therefore” is frowned on.
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- ]5 Y4 j t; ~The Oxford English Dictionary calls this usage “colloquial” (that is, more suited for speech than writing) or “vulgar” (commonplace or lacking refinement). 5 ~5 {* a6 q( @2 x
) {; B) M- e8 B/ L- |" ?The word “such” in the idiomatic expression “as such” is a pronoun, and as a pronoun it’s supposed to refer to or stand for something already mentioned—an antecedent.
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A sentence shouldn’t include the phrase “as such” unless there’s an antecedent that answers the question “as what?”
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First, we’ll take a look at the expression’s accepted meanings and their histories.( F# f0 u' J# T, e) p
3 Y4 `; S1 z$ f, ]7 u( R$ A4 iThe phrase first showed up writing in the mid-17th century, according to the OED.3 s, P& t' M# U+ \" K5 {
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Its original form was a bit longer—“as it is such” or “as they are such”—and its meaning was “in itself.”
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John Milton used the phrase that way in The History of England (1670):
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! }0 M* O2 p* l0 v& O; d" o“True fortitude glories not in the feats of War, as they are such, but as they serve to end War soonest by a victorious Peace.”- f) Y5 S! \/ q0 l y- H
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In that example, “such” refers to the previously mentioned “feats of war.”6 F' A! A! [0 ?7 G
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A slightly later example, using the phrase in its shorter form, comes from Ralph Cudworth’s The True Intellectual System of the Universe (1668):
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“If Matter as such, had Life, Perception, and Understanding belonging to it.”" |3 v0 f; V! r' O
+ J0 i8 v! e/ v: i- FIn the example above, “such” refers to the previously mentioned “matter.”* H0 p9 }) u$ z4 F$ P
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The OED says that in the following century “as such” acquired another meaning: “as being what the name or description implies,” or “in that capacity.”
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+ T2 t/ [+ U1 K8 h$ G) QThe dictionary’s first example in print for this sense is from Richard Steele, writing in The Spectator (1711):
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7 }9 Q6 ]% l+ S3 Q9 Q( C$ L“When she observed Will. irrevocably her Slave, she began to use him as such.”5 }- {' V \ Z8 {2 \! ~% O
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Note that here again, the pronoun “such” refers to something already mentioned—in this case, “her slave.”1 {1 P* N+ H# b7 c/ ~) u3 |
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This more recent example comes from a British legislative act (1911): “The trade or business carried on in the house or place by the licence holder as such.”5 Y6 S) ^: m$ i" u$ U" Q) r
- V6 x; l# u) ~+ g5 h! t, B% r WIn that sentence fragment, “such” refers to the already mentioned “licence holder” (the act uses the British spelling of “license”). 7 t8 Z& ^* V/ o/ O6 b# k( |6 l3 I
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Now for the frowned-on usage, the “vulgar” or “colloquial” one in which “as such” has no real antecedent and means “accordingly,” “consequently,” “thereupon,” or “therefore.”' ~+ F% f# [. h/ i: I
# O3 U& X; J' @0 ]3 X' M/ YThis usage was first recorded in the 18th century but has never gained acceptance, probably because it’s ambiguous.
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5 J' {2 C2 K7 q; e$ p s$ a- W4 wThese two examples from letters written in the early 1800s are good examples of the ambiguity of “as such” when it’s used in this vague sense:
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“I very much longed to hear from you … and as such I did not the least esteem it for its having been delayed for the reasons assigned.”
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And: “H. R. H. Princess Augusta … motioned for me to come to her Highness. As such she addressed me in the most pleasant manner possible.”% L4 S" P! F5 o2 Y
4 _# k& B- O) V& F& U+ _See what we mean? Neither sentence answers the question “as what?”
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Once again, “such” is a pronoun here, and “as such,” it requires an antecedent. |
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发表于 2017-12-14 08:41:04
