hellog〜英語史ブログ / 2025-07-24

■ #5932. but の様々な用法をどう評価するか --- Kruisinga より [but][polysemy][conjunction][preposition][adverb][negation][polarity][negative]

　昨日の記事「#5931. but の様々な用法 --- Kruisinga より」 ([2025-07-22-1]) でみた but の様々な用法間の関係について，Kruisinga は結論部となる1節で次のように述べている (II. 2, p. 433) ．

1514. In dealing with the meanings of the conjunction as an attempt has been made to show most of its uses as a development of its comparative sense. No such attempt has been made in the case of but because its various meanings are not connected but isolated. The result of this isolation (indeed its cause as well) is that but is not so strong and live an element of present-day English, and several of its uses tend to be restricted to literary English, i.e. they are on the road that will ultimately lead to their disappearance. This may be said of the uses in 1509, 1 and 3; 1510, 2; the use of but what may be considered dialectal by some, although it is not corrected away by editors and writers.

　but の多様な用法が as のそれと比較されているが，後者はある程度は統一的に説明できるものの，前者それが無理だと述べられている．それほど but の多義性は厄介である．歴史的な観点からも説明しがたい難物．

　・ Kruisinga, E A Handbook of Present-Day English. 4 vols. Groningen, Noordhoff, 1909--11.

[ 固定リンク | 印刷用ページ ]