评第六版《朗文当代英语辞典》

刘应德

(无锡城市职业技术学院，江苏 无锡 214153)

“二次大战后，英语成为全球通用的国际语言，各地英语学习者对实用工具书的需求尤为殷切，牛津大学出版社遂于1948年率先出版第一代具划时代意义的英语学习词典，命名为OxfordAdvancedLearner’sDictionary(《牛津高阶英语词典》，简称OALD)。作为第一代经典，OALD曾独领风骚 30年，至70年代末始见其他同类词典问世。”[1]这是A.S.Hornby首编的英语学习型词典，至2015年该词典已出版了第九版。此处说的“至70年代末始见其他同类词典问世”即是指1978年出版的学习型词典：LongmanDictionaryofContemporaryEnglish《朗文当代英语辞典》，该辞典在2014年已经出版了第六版。

一、特点

这是一部深受我国英语学习者青睐的词典之一。首先编者为词典的查阅者着想(user-friendly)，发音方面同时提供英国和美国发音，如：address /’dres ＄’dres，’dres /[2]。不懂单词的词义查辞典时最担心再次遇到生词而无法理解该词的含义，而该辞典坚持用英语最常见的2000单词来为单词下定义，这样就大大方便了词典的查阅者。在用法上，第六版还增加了同义词辩异(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查阅者很快就明白这两个词的区别了。第六版还提供网上查阅地址：www.longmandictionaries.com。

二、语法

Randolph Quirk一直是本辞典的顾问，还为第六版写了前言(Foreword)，辞典中还插印A18-48页的语法内容。词典中还经常出现：GRAMMAR: Singular or plural verb? “The family nowlives in London. The family nowlive in London.”[2]648这样的特别提示。笔者认为英语的谓语动词确实存在单数和复数两种形式，但是单数和复数不是由句子主语决定的，而是“英语使用者的心理需要决定谓语动词单、复数”[4]。同样一个主语，谓语可能用单数或复数：“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年的语法专著AComprehensiveGrammaroftheEnglishLanguage中也有：“Sixty peoplemeans a big party.”“What we need mostis books. What we need mostare books.”[3]英语语法专家Martha Kolln 和Robert Funk写到：“Finally，our special thanksgoes to our editor and friend Ginny Blanford.”[6]前两天一位澳洲朋友在邮件中写到：“My utmost thanksgoes out to you all for your unwavering support and interest.”“谓语单数与复数系语言使用者表意之工具。只要语言使用者在表达思想时，他的心理需要是“整体”的单数概念，他就有权使用单数谓语，相反，他想表达“众多”的复数概念，他有权使用复数谓语，即语言使用者的“心理需要”决定谓语动词的单、复数，而不是由主语决定。”[3]43如：“as) sure as eggsiseggs.”[7]“Three eggsisplenty.”[8]“Diamondcutdiamond.(棋逢对手， 势均力敌)”[9]虽然笔者认为辞典不用花宝贵的篇幅纠结谓语单、复数问题，但是在选例句时还是最好遵守保守语法家们把持的英语考试标准，最好避免选择可能被他们判断为错误的例句，以免误导读者，比如以下例句应该避免：“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、任选主语和必要主语

英语句子的主语可分为任选主语和必要主语，比如祈使句的主语和带插入语的定语从句主语就是可以省略的任选主语：“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]《牛津高阶英语词典》的一条定义：“astabintheback (informal) an act that harms sb，or done by apersonthey thought was a friend”[7]1499据笔者不完全统计，美国前总统比尔.克林顿在其回忆录MyLife中就有十四个这样省略主语的例句：“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]除以上两类句子的谓语动词前可以没有主语以外，其他谓语动词前或后必须有自己的显形主语，但是该词典却有：“I was a little afraid when firstmet him.”[2]31这种不可接受的缺主语的例句。

四、短语

Thomas P. Klammer等人从功能角度将构成句子的成分分为四类短语，其中包括将状语从句分析为副词短语：“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]《牛津高阶英语词典》(6thedition)在对句型构成成分举例分析时也采纳功能标准： “[VN-N] verb +noun phrase+noun phraseTheyelectedhimpresident.”[13]即him president是两个名词短语。根据功能标准，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但该辞典采用传统语法标准即以短语的核心词(head)为命名标准，将短语定义为不含限定动词且用做一个意义单位来构成句子的一组词汇：“phrase:agroupofwordswithoutaFINITEverb，especiallywhentheyareusedtoformpartofasentence，suchas‘walkingalongtheroad’and‘abarofsoap’”[2]1360这样不仅利于理解接受还可以将名词、动词、形容词的搭配作为短语来讲解，如：“Abilityisfollowedbyaninfinitive‘to’ ，notbyan-ingform.Yousay:Iadmirehisabilitytolisten.[10]Don’tsay:Iadmirehisabilityoflistening.”[2]2

名词以及使用在句中的名词短语都要区分可数与不可数的问题。可数名词短语要么用复数要么在其前面加用限定词，如：“self-servingpoliticians，aself-sufficientfarm，awildandself-willedchild”[2]1647但就在同一页上出现既不用复数又不加用限定词的可数名词短语：“self-mademan/millionaire/businessman”，这样的可数名词短语与同一页上出现的不可数名词短语“selfishbehaviour”就没有区别了，特别是中国读者在使用该短语时很容易出错，写出Ilikeself-mademanandIhateselfishbehaviour.的句子。在对待可数名词短语时还是应该坚持要么用复数要么在其前面加用限定词的原则。

五、校对

辞典在正式出版印刷之前肯定要经过多次校对，且该词典已经出版到了第六版，印刷错误应该极少，但出人意料，错误还不少，现将本人阅读中发现的错误纠正于此：

1)612页：sailthoughanexam应改为：sailthroughanexam。

2)940页：Thetownwasverydependantonthecarindustry. 应改为：Thetownwasverydependentonthecarindustry.。

3)964页：Youcanfindallkindsofinformationontheinternet.应改为：ontheInternet。

4)1019页：ShestoppedtowaitforIan who was lagging behind. 应改为：……Ian，who was lagging behind.。

5)1032页：Thepasttenseoflie is laid. 应改为：Thepasttenseoflay is laid.。

6)1040页：leaveitout!BrEspokenusedtotellsomeoneto stop lying，pretending or being annoying应改为：tostoplying，pretendingorannoying。

7)1045页：LEPAmEtechnical(limitedEnglishproficient)应改为：(limitedEnglishproficiency)。

8)1093页：It’sluckythatno-onewashurt. 应改为：It’sluckythatno onewashurt.。

9)1171页：Hisbooksmixhistoricalfact with fantasy.应改为：……facts with fantasy.。

10)1233页：Thehotelisonlya five minute walkfromboththebeachandthenightlife. 应改为：a five-minute walk。

11)1311页：painfulmemories/experience应改为：painfulmemories/experiences。

12)1325页：Takepartisless formal thatparticipate……应改为：less formal than。

13)1331页：I’dliketosaygoodbyetoPaul who leaves us for pastures new.应改为：……Paul，who leaves us for pastures new.。

14)1407页：kThe test resultscamebackpositive.应改为：The test results…….。

15)1434页：Your shouldtakemoreprideinyourwork.应改为：You should…….。

16)1457页：protuberance/pr’tju:brnt/ 应改为：protuberance/pr’tju:brns/。

17)1530页：Thelessonsbearlittlerelationship(=they are not connected to) the children’s needs应改为：(=they are not connected ) to the children’s needs。

18)1531页：Thedoctorsaidhe’llhavetotakethingseasyfor while.应改为：……for a while.。

19)1736页：She had previous experience，thereforesheseemedthebestcandidate.应改为：She had previous experience；therefore…….。

20)1951页：On-the job trainingwillbecomplementedbyclassroomlectures.应改为：On-the-job training……。

21)1986页：Hebangedagainstthecupboard，unbalancinga pile a books.应改为：……a pile of books。

22)2091页：wintersportsn[plural]sportsthataredoneonsnoworice，such as skling应改为：such as skiing。