什么是乏义动词

乏义动词(delexical verbs)

 请看以下句子:

 I'd rather have a swim./ She should let a doctor have a look at you.这两个句子我们看起来都不感到陌生。其中的“have”是什么意思，要说出一个道理来又觉得稍有困难，往往只好说“习惯用法”。

部分带名词宾语的常用动词仅表示某人进行了一个动作，不表示他影响或创造了某个物，动词这样用时不含什么意义。

例如，“She had a shower.”中，“had”本身的词义几乎消失，整个句子的基本含义由名词“shower”传达。本部分集中讨论用于上述及物结构的最常见动词。这些动词叫乏义动词。由乏义动词加名词词组构成的结构叫乏义动词结构。下列动词是乏义动词，其中前四个极为常用:

 give/ take/ hold/ have/ keep/ make/ do/ set

下列可数名词与乏义动词连用时，几乎总是用单数形式:

 cry/ grumble/ smell/ feel/ need/ taste/ grouse/ read/ try

 注意，在整个英语里，这些词多用作动词。

乏义动词也可与复数名词连用。

 She took little ladylike slips of the cold drink.

 He took photographs of Vita in her summer house.

 The newspaper had made disparaging remarks about his wife.

乏义动词偶尔也与不可数名词连用。

 We have made progress in both science and art.

 Cal took charge of this side of their education.

乏义动词结构和近义动词在含义上的一个区别是:乏义动词暗含所描写的是短暂的事件，例如，“She gave a scream.”表示一声短暂的尖叫，而“She screamed.”无此含义。

 Mr. Sutton gave a shout of triumph.

 Zoe gave a sigh of relief.

 He gave a laugh.

选择乏义动词结构的另一个理由是:可在名词前加形容词详述事件，从而避免使用副词。

 He gave a long lecture about Roosevelt.

 She had a good cry.

 Benn made a sincere personal appeal to the Committee.