| 词组 | behalf |
| 释义 | behalf Numerous commentators, from Utter 1916 and Krapp 1927 to Bremner 1980, Janis 1984, and Harper 1985, insist on a distinction between in behalf of'and on behalf of. In behalf of, they say, means "for the benefit or advantage of," while on behalf of means "as the agent, representative, or spokesman for." Reader's Digest 1983, Einstein 1985, and Copperud 1970, 1980 believe that the phrases are interchangeable; Johnson 1982 also notes that the distinction is no longer observed. There are further complications. James A. H. Murray in the OED (1887) at behalf noted that on was being used where he thought in should be; he opined that a useful distinction was being lost. Murray may indeed have noticed a trend developing; a recent British dictionary, Longman 1984, says that only on is used in current British English. Some doubt may be cast on the Longman assertion by Bryson 1984—another British commentator—who finds a distinction (different from everyone else's) between in and on. In short we have a considerable muddle of opinion here. Murray seems to have been the first to notice a distinction between in behalf of and on behalf of. He also seems to have been misled by his evidence. He gives "in the name of as the first sense of in behalf of (behalf, 2a) and marks it obsolete with a cross-reference to on behalf of, suggesting that the on phrase had replaced the in phrase in that function. At the second sense (2b) Murray cites Shakespeare as the earliest user: • Let me have thy voice in my behalf —The Merry Wives of Windsor (spelling modernized) Bartlett's Concordance to Shakespeare, although begun in 1876, was not published until 1894, seven years later than the part of the OED that includes behalf. The first citation for behalf in the concordance is the same one given by Murray. A little farther down the list we find this: • I come to whet your thoughts On his behalf —Twelfth Night And toward the end of the list this: • ... good Cassio, I will do All my abilities in thy behalf—Othello, act 3, scene 3 • Tell him I have mov'd my lord on his behalf and hope all will be well —Othello, act 3, scene 4 It seems likely that if Murray had had the concordance, he would have realized that there never was such a distinction in the first place. Murray's earliest citation for on behalf of""for the benefit of is from William Cowper in 1791. But it was in use between Shakespeare and Cowper: • As for the Warres, which were anciently made, on the behalfe, of a kinde of Partie, or tacite Confor-mitie of Estate —Francis Bacon, Essays, 1625 Bacon's language is a bit obscure now, but references later in this lengthy sentence make it quite clear he is thinking about one entity waging war for the supposed benefit of another. • ZARA. And after did solicite you, on his behalf — William Congreve, The Mourning Bride, 1697 In Congreve's tragedy, Zara—a captive queen—is accusing the king's daughter of intervening in favor of another prisoner. Modern American usage simply continues the interchanging of the in and on phrases that obtained in Shakespeare's time: • ... I am certainly much obliged to you and Mavis for all your effort in my behalf —Flannery O'Connor, letter, 26 Oct. 1949 • ... let me thank you again ... for everything you have tried to do on my behalf —Archibald Mac-Leish, letter, 15 Dec. 1944 • ... to sign the legal papers in his son's behalf —Gay Talese, Harper's, January 1969 • "On behalf of every workingman who has gone down under the club or been shot in the back, I consign you to that place " —E. L. Doctorow, Loon Lake, 1979 • ... the all-Brahms recital... on behalf of that institution's Student Fund —Irving Kolodin, Saturday Rev., 13 Nov. 1971 Our 20th-century British evidence is all for on behalf of: • ... the ultimate triumph of Archibald Douglas—to which BoswelFs vigorous pamphleteering on his behalf contributed —Times Literary Supp., 17 Apr. 1953 • ... reseach on behalf of the authors by an Arab scholar —Times Literary Supp., 2 Oct. 1969 Our evidence would thus appear to support the Longman 1984 contention that modern British writers use only on. But our British evidence is somewhat sparse, and it is true that one British commentator—Bryson— thinks in still used. Conclusion: the OED shows that the "agent" sense is older; the "benefit" sense—presumably because your agent should be working for your benefit—developed from it in Shakespeare's time. But Shakespeare himself used both in and on in this sense, and since in had earlier been used in the "agent" sense, there never was a distinction in meaning based on the choice of preposition. Modern British usage appears to favor on in all instances, but both in and on are used interchangeably in American English. |
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