| 词组 | be |
| 释义 | be 1. The history of this verb is long and complex, as anyone who looks at its entry in the OED will see plainly. Our present verb is made up of bits and pieces of three older verbs. In the 16th century, Strang 1970 tells us, be was regularly used for the second person singular and plural and the first and third persons plural in the present tense: we be, you be, they be. About this same time, are, a form surviving in northern dialects of English, began to stage a comeback. Eventually are ousted be from all its present indicative uses in standard English, and be was reduced in standard English to its subjunctive function. It has kept its older indicative uses in various dialects and in a few fossilized expressions such as "the powers that be." The OED notes that are has even begun to drive be out of its subjunctive uses. This process may still be going on, but so far, we note, be has continued in its subjunctive uses: • Whether you be black or white, if you're poor, you're poor —B. B. King, quoted in Rolling Stone, 21 Feb. 1980 • If that be good fortune, it has recently become better —Vermont Royster, Wall Street Jour., 21 July 1982 • But love when practiced that way, be it surrounded by however many hearts and flowers, is really just a mask for men's aggressions —Merle Shain, Some Men Are More Perfect Than Others, 1973 • The father's reconciliation with his son, figurative though it be, pays tribute to the myth of the eleventh-hour reconciliation —Molly Haskell, Vogue, March 1982 The subjunctive be is especially strong in a few fixed phrases: • Be that as it may, this work is as important —Martin Bookspan, Consumer Reports, September 1980 • If I'm accused of male chauvinism, so be it! —William C. Vergara, quoted in Harper 1985 2. A good deal has been written about the use of be in Black English to indicate habitual or continued action, as it does in these examples: • Just before the post bar closed, the black custodian stepped out into the street "No telling how long any American Legion post can keep going, the way the members be getting older and older," he remarks —Jon Nordheimer, N.Y. Times, 27 Oct. 1974 • ... even though he only sings in church now, Little Richard still knows how to work a crowd. "People be leapin' outta their seats," he says —Vicki Jo Radovsky, US, 19 Nov. 1984 Monroe K. Spears in Michaels & Ricks 1980 points out that use of be is known in other dialects of English as well as in Black English. Here are a couple of Irish examples: • "Let me sit here for a while and play with the little dog, sir," said she, "sure the roads do be lonesome —" —James Stephens, The Crock of Gold, 1912 • The Government does be callin the brother in for consultations —Myles na gCopaleen (Flann O'Brien), The Best of Myles, 1968 The ability of a verb form or auxiliary to indicate continuation or duration of an action is called by grammarians and linguists aspect. Since English is somewhat deficient in aspect, compared to some other languages, these dialectal forms do constitute an enrichment of the language. But they are not yet available to the writer of ordinary standard English, and no one knows if they ever will be. There is a great deal more on the dialectal uses of be to be found in the Dictionary of American Regional English. |
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