| 单词 | 历史表明 |
| 释义 | 〔dirge〕The history of the worddirge illustrates how a word with neutral connotations, such asdirect, can become emotionally charged because of a specialized use. The Latin worddīrige is a form of the verb dīrigere, "to direct, guide,” that is used in uttering commands.In the Office for the Deaddīrige is the first word in the antiphon for the first nocturn of matins. The complete opening words of this antiphon are"Dirige, Domine, Deus meus, in conspectu tuo viam meam,” "Direct, O Lord, my God, my way in thy sight.” The part of the Office for the Dead that begins with this antiphon was namedDīrige in Ecclesiastical Latin, a use ofdirige as an English word that is first recorded in a work possibly written before 1200. Dirige was then extendedto refer to the chanting or reading of the Office for the Deadas part of a funeral or memorial service.In Middle Englishthe word was shortened todirge, although it was pronounced as two syllables.After the Middle Agesthe word took on its more general senses of "a funeral hymn or lament" and "a mournful poem or musical composition"and developed its one-syllable pronunciation.dirge 一词的历史表明一个中性词， 如direct 如何因特殊用法而带上了感情色彩。 拉丁词dirige 是动词 dirigere, “指示，指导”的一种形式， 用于发布命令。在为死者每日七次的祈祷中，dirige 是为第一次宵祷而启应轮流吟唱颂歌的首词。 这个颂歌完整开始语是"Dirige, Domine, Deus meus, in conspectu tuo viam meam,” “指引吧，我的主，我的上帝，您可看到我的行为” 。 以这首颂歌开始的为死者的祈祷部分过去用教会拉丁文被命名为Dirige , dirige 作为英语单词的一种用法， 此词可能第一次被记录在1200年前的作品中。 Dirge 是那时词义的延伸，用来指为死者的祈祷时的唱歌或读经，作为葬礼或纪念的一部分。在中古英语中，该词缩写为dirge ， 尽管它作为两个音节发音。中世纪后，该词有了更广的意义，指“哀乐，挽歌”和“悼念性的诗或其他音乐作品”，并且发展了它的单音节发音〔fair〕The history of the wordfair illustrates how words can weaken in meaning over time. In Old English the ancestor offair, fæger, had senses such as "lovely, beautiful, pleasant, agreeable,” a far cry from our modern sense "mildly good or satisfying.”The Old English senses passed into Middle English,where the wordfair started to take a slight turn in the direction already alluded to. Fair could mean "highly to be approved of, splendid, good,”but it could also be used ironically,as in Chaucer's observation after a horse threw the Cook on the pilgrimage to Canterbury:"that was a fair feat of horsemanship by the Cook.”This ironic use was probably not responsible for the semantic weakening offair, but it shows how a positive word can have its meaning reversed.The weakening offair was most likely caused by "the determined optimism which led to the use of fair . . . rather than direct expression of discontent,”in the words of George H. McKnight.One might add as another cause the desire to avoid hurting other people's feelings.单词fair 的历史表明随岁月的流逝单词的语意变弱。 在古英语中fair，f?ger 本意是“可爱的，漂亮的，愉快的”， 与我们现在的“比较好或满意的”大相径庭。古英语传到中世纪英语时，fair 已开始在引申的方向上有微小的转变。 Fair 可以表达“被高度赞许的，辉煌的，好的，”但也可用作反语，如在往坎特伯雷朝圣的途中马将科克摔下时后，乔尔斯评论道：“那是科克精湛骑术的体现”。这种反语用法也许对fair 语义学上的弱化没有联系， 但它表明了一个褒义的单词可以变得意思完全相反。fair 的弱化很大程度上缘于“坚决的乐观主义导致 fair 的用法改变， 而不是直接表达不满意的意思，”乔治赫·马克奈特如此评论。人们可以再添上其它原因以免伤害别人的感情 |
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