| 词组 | affinity |
| 释义 | affinity Fowler 1926 declared that between and with are the normal prepositions with affinity and that to and for should not be used. This assertion appears to be based on his analysis of the word as indicating a reciprocal relationship only, while to and for suggest a more one-sided relationship. Unfortunately for the analysis, the use of affinity for a one-sided relationship was already three centuries old, attested as early as 1616 in the OED (sense 8). Follett 1966 elaborates Fowler's treatment by basing his assertion that the meaning is a strong mutual attraction on the word's original meaning, "relationship by marriage." Of course, observation suggests that many relationships by marriage are not based on strong mutual attraction; in-laws are often related solely by the happenstance of marriage. But the real weakness of Follett's argument lies in its assumption that a word's earliest meaning must restrict its later semantic development to some favored pattern. A little time spent with a dictionary that places senses in historical order will persuade you that development of new meaning often does not take place in that way and that, moreover, there is usually no good reason why it should. In modern use, affinity is used with for and with most often, with to and between somewhat less often, and with a few other prepositions occasionally. Perhaps it will be most helpful to show a few illustrations of the important general meanings of affinity and the prepositions used with each. The original meaning: • In a few months it was announced that he was closely related by affinity to the royal house. His daughter had become, by a secret marriage, Duchess of York —T. B. Macaulay, The History of England, vol. I, 1849 It is also used of family relationships: • Every creature that bears any affinity to my mother is dear to me, and you, the daughter of her brother —William Cowper, letter, 27 Feb. 1790 The family relationship may be figurative: • ... its degree of affinity with any other language or dialect —Mario Pei, Word, August 1949 • The period of ten years that follows is full of experimental variation, but there is a recognizable stylistic affinity between the extremes —Herbert Read, The Philosophy of Modern Art, 1952 • "... Whatever bears affinity to cunning is despicable." —Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, 1813 This use is often close in meaning to "resemblance" or "similarity": • ... it is likely his Elvish language shows some affinities with Finnish —Current Biography, October 1967 • ... affirms a general affinity between the police and the military—both refer to outsiders as 'civilians' — Allen Young, quoted in Playboy, September 1968 • ... something in the English character, something mystical, tough and fierce, has a special affinity to Hebrew —Edmund Wilson, A Piece of My Mind, 1956 A common figurative sense is "a feeling of kinship, sympathy, rapport": • ... I feel a certain affinity to the situation and to the institution —Keith M. Cottam, Library Jour., 1 Feb. 1967 • ... the mysterious affinity between them —Zane Grey, The Mysterious Rider, 1921 • ... there is an affinity between them and their African friends —Michael Blundell, London Calling, 3 Feb. 1955 • ... I have always felt a real affinity with Havel's point of view —Tom Stoppard, quoted in N.Y. Times, 25 Oct. 1979 • ... a true rabbit dog... which it took but one glance to see had an affinity a rapport with rabbits —William Faulkner, Intruder in the Dust, 1948 • ... the passion of Giovanni and Annabella is not shown as an affinity of temperament —T. S. Eliot, "John Ford," in Selected Essays, 1932 • ... racism therefore did obeisance to the affinities of the Celtic soul and the Slavic soul —Ruth Benedict, Race: Science and Politics, 1945 • ... the man who on the out-of-town hustings makes much of his affinity for "the street people, my people, the workers of my city" —Andy Logan, New Yorker, 30 Oct. 1971 The sympathy is sometimes extended to foods to suggest that things go well together: • ... new crackers that have a true affinity for cheese —New Yorker, 12 Dec. 1953 • Rum also has an amazing affinity for foods we love —Marilyn Kay ter, American Way, December 1971 A frequent use of affinity is to denote an attraction to or liking for something: • What an affinity for Christianity had this persecutor of the Christians! —Matthew Arnold, Essays in Criticism, First Series, 1865 • ... revels in Macaulay, who has a special affinity for the eternal schoolboy —W. R. Inge, The Church in the World, 1928 • ... they punish themselves, by their natural affinity for the defective —C. S. Peirce, "Evolutionary Love," 1893, in The Philosophy of Peirce, ed. Justus Buchler, 1940 • If you have no affinity for verse, better skip this — Oliver St. John Gogarty, It Isn't This Time of Year At All! 1954 • I think you have an affinity for aging British ladies of unimpeachable integrity —Flannery O'Connor, letter, 11 May 1963 • His affinity for controversy got him into further trouble —Michael & Sheila Cole, Psychology Today, March 1971 • ... this affinity for exotica made itself felt in St. Denis's repertory —Anna Kisselgoff, N. Y. Times Book Rev., 10 Oct. 1976 Sometimes affinity suggests a natural or sympathetic aptitude or liking for something, a natural talent, a flair: • ... Weingartner had a close affinity with this style, and I recall some Haydn symphonies ... that are well-nigh unsurpassable —Paul Henry Lang, Saturday Rev., 26 June 1954 • Gifted with an affinity for the art song —Current Biography, November 1966 • ... Irishmen, who seem to have an affinity for politics —Green Peyton, San Antonio: City in the Sun, 1946 • ... early displayed an affinity for finance and bookkeeping —Current Biography, April 1966 The attempt to limit the prepositions affinity can be used with has never had any basis in other than artificial notions and thus has achieved no striking success. In addition to the examples shown above, there are many technical uses of affinity (as in chemistry and botany) that usually go with for (but sometimes to or another preposition). You can use affinity with any preposition that seems natural. |
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