单词 | 不分性别 |
释义 | 〔man〕Traditionally,man and words derived from it have been used generically to designate any or all of the human race irrespective of sex.In Old Englishthis was the principal sense ofman, which meant "a human being" regardless of sex;the wordswer and wyf (or w÷pman and wifman ) were used to refer to "a male human being" and "a female human being" respectively. But in Middle Englishman displaced wer as the term for "a male human being,”whilewyfman (which evolved into present-day woman ) was retained for "a female human being.” The result of these changes was an assymetrical arrangement that many criticize as sexist.Many writers have revised some of their practices accordingly.But the precise implications of the usage vary according to the context and the particular use ofman or its derivatives. · Man sometimes appears to have the sense of "person" or "people" when it is used as a count noun, as inA man is known by the company he keeps and Men have long yearned to unlock the secrets of the atom, and in phrases likethe common man and the man in the street. Here the generic interpretation arises indirectly:if a man is known by the company he keeps,then so, by implication, is a woman.For this reasonthe generic interpretation of these uses ofman is not possible where the applicability of the predicate varies according to the sex of the individual. Thus it would be inappropriate to say thatMen are the only animals that can conceive at any time, since the sentence literally asserts that the ability to conceive applies to male human beings.This usage presumes that males can be taken as representatives of the species.In almost all cases,however, the wordsperson and people can be substituted for man and men, often with a gain in clarity. · By contrast,man functions more as a generic when it is used without an article in the singular to refer to the human race, as in sentences likeThe capacity for language is unique to man or in phrases like man's inhumanity to man. But this use ofman is also ambiguous, since it can refer exclusively to male members of the human race.In most contexts wordssuch ashumanity or humankind will convey the generic sense of this use of man. · On the whole,the Usage Panel accepts the generic use ofman, the women members significantly less than the men. The sentenceIf early man suffered from a lack of information, modern man is tyrannized by an excess of it was acceptable to 81 percent of the Panel (including 58 percent of the women and 92 percent of the men).The Panel also accepted compound words derived from genericman. The sentenceThe Great Wall is the only man-made structure visible from space was acceptable to 86 percent (including 76 percent of the women and 91 percent of the men).The sentence"The history of language is the history of mankind" (James Bradstreet Greenough and George Lyman Kittredge) was acceptable to 76 percent (including 63 percent of the women and 82 percent of the men). Such compounds were acceptable even when the context required that they be applied chiefly to women.Thus, 66 percent of the Panel (including 57 percent of the women and 71 percent of the men) accepts the wordmanpower in the sentence Countries that do not permit women to participate in the work force are at a disadvantage in competing with those that do avail themselves of that extra source of manpower. · A related set of problems is raised by the use ofman in forming the names of occupational and social rolessuch asbusinessman, chairman, spokesman, layman, and freshman, as well as in analogous formationssuch asunsportsmanlike and showmanship. Some condemn this use categorically;however, these words remained acceptable to a majority of the Usage Panel when they were used to refer to a role or class in the abstractbut were rejected when they were used to refer to a woman.Thus the general use ofchairman was acceptable to 67 percent of the Panel (including 52 percent of the women and 76 percent of the men) in the sentence The chairman will be appointed by the Faculty Senate. But only 48 percent (including 43 percent of the women and 50 percent of the men) accepted the use of the word inEmily Owen, chairman of the Mayor's Task Force, issued a statement assuring residents that their views would be solicited, where it is applied to a woman. · Several strategies have been suggested for replacing the categorical use of compounds formed withman. Parallel terms likebusinesswoman, spokeswoman and chairwoman are increasingly used to refer to women. Also in use are common-gender terms coined withperson, such asbusinessperson, spokesperson, and chairperson. For occupational titles ending inman, new standards of official usage have been established by the U.S. Department of Labor and other government agencies.In official contexts termssuch asfirefighter and police officer are now generally used in place of fireman and policeman. · A majority of the Panelists rejected the verbman when it was used to refer to an activity performed by women. The sentenceMembers of the League of Women Voters will be manning the registration desk was unacceptable to 56 percent of the Panel (including 61 percent of the women and 54 percent of the men). See Usage Note at -ess ,people 传统上,man 以及它的衍生字一般是用来指任何人或整个人类, 不考虑性别。在古英语中,这就是man 这个字主要的意思, 即“人” 而不分性别;单词wer 和 wyf (或 woepman 和 wifman )则分别用以指“男人”和“女人”。 但在中古英语时man 取代了 wer 这个词, 也具有“男人”的意义了;而wyfman (这个字发展演变成了今天的 woman 这个字)作为“女人”这个意思被保留了下来。 这些变化的结果是,作为性别歧视者所批评的匀称排列。为此,许多作家相应地修订了他们部分的创作活动。但是这用法的准确含义取决于它的上下文以及man 的具体用途或它的衍生字。 当man 这个字被当作一个可数名词来用时,它有时似乎具有“一个人”或“人们”的意思, 如在被他所在的那个公司熟悉了解的人 和 很久以来,人们都期盼着解开原子的秘密 , 以及如下短语中普通的人 和 街上的人 。 这里,一般的理解源于间接地推理:如果一个男人是被他所在的公司了解的话,其言下之意是,一个女人也是被他所在的公司熟悉了解的。正是这个原因,使得man 当此一般理解之义用时,其谓语随着个人性别的改变而变化是不可能的。 所以,说人是唯一能在任何时候思考的动物 是不适当的, 因为这句话字面之义是指男人的思考能力。这种用法是假定男人可以作为人类的代表。几乎毫无例外的是,词person 和 people 可以用 man 和 men 来取代,且后两字意思更清楚。 相反,当man 以单数不带冠词出现用以指人类时,它更是指一类、一属, 如在象句子只有人才有语言能力 或象短语 人类对人类的不人道 中。 但man 若以这种形式出现,其意思也会模糊不清, 因为其可只指人类中的男性成员。在大多数的行文中,例如humanity 或 humankind 这样的字也传达了 man 这种用法的一般意义。 总的说来,在用法专题使用小组成员中接受man 这种一般用法的女性比男性明显少得多。 下面这句话如果说古代人受信息不足之苦的话,那么现代人则是受信息过量之虐待了 在小组中有81的成员可接受 (其中女性成员中的接受率为58,男性中则为92)。专题小组会还接受作为一般意义的man 构成的复合词。 长城是太空中的唯一可见的人造物 这句话有86的成员接受 (其中女性成员的接受率为76,而男性中为91)。“语言史就是一部人类史” (詹姆士·布拉斯瑞特·格里诺和乔治·莱曼·基特里奇)这句话的接受率为76(基中在女性成员中有63接受,而男性中为82)。 即使是上下行文所需的字主要指的是女人,这种复合词仍然被接受。因此小组中的66(其中女性委员的57,男性的71)接受了manpower 这个词在下句的用法: 那些不允许女人加入生产力大军的国家和那些允许女人加入生产力大军的国家相比,在处理剩余劳动力这一点上明显处于竞争的劣势 。 由于man 的使用所引起的一系列相关问题产生了, 在构成职业或社会角色类别的名称,如商人、主席、发言人、外行 和 渔夫 , 以及将这个字用于类似的构词法中,如违反运动精神的 和 善于表演的才能 。 有些人谴责这种类别的用法;然而,当它们抽象地指某种角色或阶层时,这些词仍能得到用法专题使用小组大多数人的接受;但当它们用由于指女性时,这些词就被拒绝了。因此在句子主席由职工委员会指定 中 主席 的这种一般用法就得到了67小组成员的接受(其中在女性成员中为52,而男性中为76)。 但是,在句子艾米莉·欧文,市长任务小组的主席,发表了一个声明,向市长保证将考虑他们的观点 中这个字的用法,由于是指女性,只有48的成员接受(其中在女性成员中的接受率为43,而男性中为50)。 对于如何替换用man 构成的类别复合词,几种构思被提了出来。 与之相对的复合词如女商人、女发言人 和 女主席 越来越多地被用来指女性。 另外,用person 构成的中性词也创造了出来, 如商人、发言人 和 主席 。 对于用man 结尾的职业名称, 美国政府劳工部和其它政府机构已建立起了新的官方运用标准。在官方行文,现在一般用如firefighter 和 police officer 代替 fireman 和 policeman 。 大多数的小组成员反对将动词man 用于指那些女性从事的活动。 句子登记处将配备女性选民联盟的成员 在用法专题使用小组中的反对率是56(其中在女性成员中的反对率是61,而男性中为54) 参见 -ess,people〔cow〕A domesticated bovine of either sex or any age.不分性别和年龄的家牛 |
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