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英语中有“would rather...than”的说法,汉语中有“宁可……也不”的句式。据辞书上记载,“would rather”的词义演化大致经过了时间优先、性质优先以及优先选择等三个阶段(denoting precedence in time; denoting priority in nature or reason;denoting prior eligibility or choice),才于16世纪逐渐稳定下来,其基本意思是:“sooner (as a matter of individual choice); morereadily or willingly; with greater liking or goodwill; with or in pref-erence。”(Murry: 166)与would rather大体对应的“宁可”,由古汉语“ ”演化而来,为“宁愿、情愿”之义,一直沿用至今。例如:大丈夫宁可玉碎,不能瓦全。(《北齐书•元景安传》)

1.释义对比

大多数工具书对would rather释义简单明晰,以bychoice, more willingly or readily, preferably等词加以解释,其基本意思是“对两种行为有所比较,而后选取一方,舍弃另一方”。例如:https://www.51lunwen.org/englishlinguistics/ Webster’s Third New International Dictionary:morereadily or willingly; preferably;Longman Dictionary of the EnglishLanguage:(would rather & had rather are equally correct ways ofexpressing a preference) more readily or willingly;Longman Dictio-nary ofContemporaryEnglish:(oftenwithwould and sometimeswithhad) more willingly: expressing a choice;OxfordAdvancedEnglish-Chinese Dictionary:more willingly; by preference or choice (usu.would rather; also with inversion: rather than…would) ;Webster’sEncyclopedic Unbridged Dictionary ofthe English Language:to pre-fer that or so.“would rather”意味着选择或主观上的愿望,表示通过选择而情愿采取某种态度或行动。现代汉语里,“宁可”常跟上文中的“与其”或下文中的“也不”或“也要”相呼应。不同的工具书解释有简有详,各有侧重。如:《现代汉语词典》:表示比较两方面的利害得失后选取的一面;《应用汉语词典》:表示比较利害得失之后选取的一种做法;《现代汉语八百词》:表示在比较利害得失之后选取一种做法;《现代汉语虚词例释》:表示从两种不希望的事情中勉强选取在说话人看来是较好的一件。……以衬托出对另一事情的更不希望。(转引自何宛屏)归纳起来,“宁可”可从两方面进行释义。何宛屏(2001:1)把“宁可”概括为“两害相权取其轻”。笔者认为,以此解释“宁可”似乎不很充分。“两害相权取其轻”此乃其一(适用于“宁可……也不”句式);其二为:权衡得失,决心取舍(如“宁可……也要”句式)。

2.结构对比

吕叔湘在《中国文法要略》一书中写道:“直陈得失有二式,都用‘宁’字表可取的一端。或上用‘与其’,下用‘(毋)宁’,……或上用‘宁’,下用‘毋’或‘不’。”在《现代汉语八百词》中,他又提到了另一种格式:“宁可……也要”。长期以来,“宁可”与其他副词搭配,已然形成相对固定的三种格式。I.“宁可(愿)……也不……”(“宁……不……”),如:宁饮建业水,不食武昌鱼;宁还建业死,不止武昌居。(《吴志•陆凯传》);宁拆三座庙,不破一桩婚。(俗语)∥宁可信其有,不可信其无。(俗语);宁缺毋滥。(成语);宁可打一辈子光棍儿,也不为钱而结婚。II.“与其……宁可(愿)……”,如:与其星期天逛公园,我宁愿在家呆着。∥与其为钱而结婚,宁可打一辈子光棍儿。∥与其赚取昧心钱,宁可沿街乞讨。III.“宁可……也要……”,如:宁可沿街乞讨,也要供孩子上学。∥宁可不睡觉,也要把今天的作业做完。∥每到宿营地,他宁可不睡,也要想法让同志们休息好。(《现代汉语八百词》)根据搭配方式,“would rather”也可大致归纳为如下3种句式:A. would rather do sth. (than... )A’. ratherthan do sth.,... would do sth. (强调作用),如:I would rather stay at home than go to the park on Sunday.∥Rather than go to the park on Sunday,I would stay home.∥Hewould rather go by bus than by train.∥He would rather believe it tobe true than not.B. would rather have done sth.( than... ) (虚拟语气)B’. did sth.,...would rather have done sth. (虚拟语气),如:I’d rather have gone to the theatre than stayed home lastnight.∥I would rather not have stayed home last night.∥I stayedhome last night, but I would rather have gone to the theatre.∥Wetook a taxi home, but I would rather have walked.C. would rather sb.did or had done sth.(虚拟语气),如:I’m sure she’d rather you told her the truth.∥“Shall I godownstairs?”“I would rather you remained here.”∥With that an-swer, he left me. I would much rather he had knocked me down.显然,A式、B式、C式的区别主要反映在动词时态及语气变化上,是否与连词than搭配应视上下文或句式需要而定;而“宁可”I、II、III式则主要是副词搭配上的区别。也有语言学家把“宁可”II、III式看作是与I式“形式不同但语义相同”的另外两种格式(何宛屏,2001:1),笔者不敢苟同。“宁可”III式存在明显的语义区别,在下文中将继续探讨。

3.语义对比

整体上看,“would rather”A式和“宁可”I式本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。