| 词组 | special, specially, especial, especially |
| 释义 | special, specially, especial, especially These words are etymologically the same, so they might be expected to be synonymous. That they are essentially synonymous is at least historically true, but in present-day English they are not synonymous very often. When they are, it is usually special and specially that are used like especial and especially rather than the other way around. Special is the older and more widely used of the adjectives. It has all the fixed phrases, like special delivery, special effects, and special interest, and all the euphemistic uses, like special needs, special education, and special children. Especial, as the less usual word, is therefore somewhat more emphatic: • ... dissected in minute detail but with especial glee —Tony Palmer, Observer Mag., 16 Dec. 1973 • For the Union Dead carried on the styles of Life Studies, with especial success in the title poem — Donald Hall, Goatfoot Milktongue Twinbird, 1978 Special would not work as well in either of those contexts. But a present-day writer would most likely use special for Jane Austen's especial here: • ... I must wait till there is an especial assembly for the representation of younger sons —Mansfield Park, 1814 The adverbs, however, are much different. While especially is apparently much the more common word in general, specially has typical uses that especially lacks: • ... treats his friends very specially —Samuel G. Freedman, N.Y. Times Mag., 21 Apr. 1985 • The plants have been specially selected to associate well —Roy Hay, The Times (London), 17 Nov. 1973 • The breeder who has a range of specially constructed kennels —Roy Genders, Greyhounds, 1960 Especially would not be used in any of those contexts. It typically is found in constructions like the following: • ... even thereafter the older use survived, especially in fixed phrases like 'I know not' —W. F. Bolton, A Short History of Literary English, 1967 • It is an especially British condition, I think —Jan Morris, N.Y. Times Mag., 2 Feb. 1975 • ... seems to have been built especially for developmental research —Gary Blonston, Science 84, March 1984 Specially is sometimes used in the same constructions. It has a somewhat more informal quality: • ... the history of the American South, specially that of the state of Virginia —Douglas Tallack, British Book News, April 1984 • ... euphemism, which is an effort to make something sound specially nice —Robert M. Adams, N. Y. Times Book Rev., 31 Mar. 1985 • An appropriate bread is baked specially for the dinner—Caroline Bates, Gourmet, October 1981 Specially seems to be a stronger competitor of especially in the construction of the third example—modifying a preceding verb—than in those of the first two. It is much less likely to be used in constructions like these: • Especially did she disagree with the observation that social stability is not a precondition for the writing of a novel —Norman Cousins, Saturday Rev., 24 June 1978 • ... there was nothing especially radical in the notion —Stanley Karnow, N. Y. Times Mag., 15 Jan. 1978 |
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