MWU里rife 2.b的释义是这样的:
英汉辞海中未对释义进行翻译,对例句翻译如下:
Rank, Strong在这里应当作何理解,rife在第一个例句里的含义具体为何呢?
其实可以查下strong,rank就能发现它们有一个共同的义项就是强烈的,难闻的气味或味道,我觉得可以直接替换成strong。根据维基词典,这个义项已经废弃了,所以普通词典没有
例1的小说原文是这样的:
In the heart of the forests great trees grew almost a hundred yards high, their lowest limbs sprouting out two hundred feet from the ground. Beneath them, filling the space, grew other trees whose shrubbery hid the giant ones from view. And in the little room left, a choked assortment of vines and ferns, wild banana trees, stunted palms, flowers, brush and shrubs squeezed against each other, raised their burdened leaves to the doubtful light that filtered through, sucking for air and food like snakes at the bottom of a pit. In the deep jungle it was always as dark as the sky before a summer thunderstorm, and no air ever stirred. Everything was damp and rife and hot as though the jungle were an immense collection of oily rags growing hotter and hotter under the dark stifling vaults of a huge warehouse. Heat licked at everything, and the foliage, responding, grew to prodigious sizes. In the depths, in the heat and the moisture, it was never silent. The birds cawed, the small animals and occasional snakes rustled and squealed, and beneath it all was a hush, almost palpable, in which could be heard the rapt absorbed sounds of vegetation growing.
No Army could live or move in it. The men skirted the jungle forests, and moved through second-growth brush, past smaller woods of coconut trees.
中文版的译文是这样的:
老林深处,参天巨树有长到近百码高的,伸出的枝丫最低的也要离地两百来英尺。树枝下这两百来英尺的空间里又长满了另外的大树,大树又生发出小树,丛丛簇簇的,反倒把大树都遮得看不见了。在剩下的一点点空隙里,形形色色的藤蔓羊齿、野蕉短棕、奇花异葩、灌木乱丛,都你挤我,我挤你,挤得气也透不过来,个个都把身负重任的叶子极力向上伸起,好挨上那筛落下来的迷蒙的日光,个个有如洞底的蛇,都争着要钻出去吸取空气和养分。丛林深处整天黑沉沉的,像雷雨欲来的天空,却从来没有一丝风的影子。到处是那么潮湿、拥挤、闷热,倒像这丛林是一大宗破油布,长年在大仓库阴暗闷气的顶棚下堆着,温度一天高似一天。热气熏到每一个角落,草木也相应地长得大到吓人。不过哪怕是在丛林的极深处,尽管四下这么闷热、空气这么潮湿,那里也不是阒无声息的。叽叽喳喳的是鸟儿,窸窸窣窣、吱吱喳喳的是小动物,时而还有蛇。不算这些,那就是一片浓重的寂静了,浓到似乎伸手能够碰着,静到仿佛连草木只顾一个劲儿往上长的声音都可以听得出来。
这种环境,是什么样的部队也待不住、走不过的。所以士兵们见了莽莽老林就从边上绕过,只有矮些的次生林、小片的椰林,才能穿过去。
从上下文看,rife在这里应该不是在表达“浓烈难闻的,由于或好像由于强烈的腐烂臭气或臭味而令人生厌的,带有令人讨厌的浓烈气味的”(Rank)或“难闻的、刺鼻的、浓的”(Strong)相关的意思,感觉是在表达一种“量大到令人不适”的意思。与2.a的含义相比,2.b是过量到令人不适,带有贬义的色彩。不知这样理解对不对。
母语词典很多用一个词解释另一个词的,又不标明对应哪个义项。
有些好奇母语使用者看这样的词典时,是不是都能一眼就明白对应哪个意思,而不会有歧义呢?
MWU里:
strong有个义项是:having a particular quality in a great degree : intense in degree : concentrated
rank里有个义项是:crowded together
Be rank (with)的主语应是一个场所类的名词,不应该是everything,显然说不通,6楼截图不符合楼主所说义项:
rank 可直接做修饰性形容词,后接名词,意为“繁茂”,如rank weeds(繁茂的杂草/茂密丛生的野草)。Everything was damp and rife and hot译作“尽皆潮湿、蕪茂、燠热”亦通,个人浅见,仅供参考。
OED里,rife并无与气味相关的义项。
英汉辞海明显翻译错误,可以看出,此"辞海"质量实在是不怎么样。
①难道Everthing仅仅指植物?
②假设rank指植物繁茂,那strong也能指植物繁茂吗?
MWU里strong有个义项:of soil : productive, fertile
那也指的是土壤肥沃,并非植物繁茂。
MWU(aka 韦氏国际)RANK sense 2b : covered with a vigorous growth especially of vegetation : producing luxuriantly : excessively rich and fertile
its garden was … rank, too thickly crowded with trees and bushes and plants — Rebecca West 繁茂、繁盛、腴沃,并非单纯指植物而言。其实,everything 搭配 rife(此处等义rank),可视作修辞学上的通感手法,形容词跨界修饰也挺常见。欢迎探讨。
那你再看看第二个例句呢?
when issues are hotly contested and prejudices are rife — F. L. Mott
你总不能说’prejudices’可以和"繁茂"搭配吧?
也可以称作联觉,一般指的是这种:‘hearing’ a ‘colour’, or ‘seeing’ a ‘smell’,视听嗅味触等混合,像Everything is/was rife这种搭配,有混合的情况吗?
直接让GPT作答,结果是“泛滥”。释义(rank, strong)参考截图(挑过几个给它选,最终)