評論
打印
Even in so settled a matter as spelling, a dictionary cannot always be absolute. Theater is correct, but so is theatre.
即便在拼寫這樣較為確定的問題上，詞典都不能給予絕對權威的說明。Theater的拼法是正確的，但theatre的拼法也同樣正確。
And so are traveled and travelled, plow and plough, catalog and catalogue, and scores of other variants The reader may want a single certainty.
類似的情況還有traveled和travelled，plow，plough和catalon：和catalogue等以及其他數十上百種異體拼法的例子。
He may have taken an unyielding position in an argument, he may have wagered in support of his conviction and may demand that the dictionary "settle" the matter.
讀者可能想得到一個唯一的毫無疑義的答案。他可能堅信某一種拼法是正確的并因此與人爭辯，他甚至可能為此而同別人打賭而要讓詞典來"裁定"這個問題。
But neither his vanity nor his purse is any concern of the dictionary's; it must record the facts.
然而，詞典既沒有義務去滿足他的虛榮心，也沒有義務去關心他的錢包。
And the fact here is that there are many words in our language which may be spelled, with equal correctness, in either of two ways.
詞典的任務是記錄事實，而與此有關的事實是，我們的語言中有許多詞可以用兩種方法拼寫，而兩種拼法都同樣正確無誤。
So with pronunciation. A citizen listening to his radio might notice that James B. Conant, Bernard Baruch, and Dwight D. Eisenhower pronounce economics as ECKuhnomiks,
發音方面的情形也是如此。有的人在聽廣播時可能注意到詹姆斯B科南特、班納德巴魯奇和德懷特D艾森豪威爾將economics一詞的音念成ECKuhnomiks，
while A. Whitney Griswold, Adlai Stevenson, and Herbert Hoover pronounce it EEKuhnomiks.
而A懷特格里斯沃爾德、阿德萊E史蒂文森和赫伯特胡佛則將它念成EEKuhnomiks，
He turns to the dictionary to see which of the two pronunciations is "right" and finds that they are both acceptable.
于是他就去查詞典，想看看究竟這兩種讀音中的哪一種才是正確的，而結果呢，他發現兩者都是可行的。
Has he been betrayed‘? Has the dictionary abdicated its responsibility?
是他被詞典欺騙了嗎?是詞典失職了嗎?
Should it say that one must speak like the president of Harvard or like the president of Yale, like the thirty-first President of the United States or like the thirty-fourth?
詞典是否應該指出，人們說話必須模仿哈佛大學校長，或是模仿耶魯大學校長，以美國第三十一任總統的發音為準，抑或是以第三十四任美國總統的發音為準?
Surely it's none of its business to make a choice.
無疑地，作出決擇可不是詞典的事兒。
Not because of the distinction of these particular speakers; lexicography, like God, is no respecter of persons.
這倒并不是因為對這些特殊人物的崇高的社會地位有所顧忌。詞典編纂學，像上帝一樣，是不會趨奉任何人的。
But because so wide-spread and conspicuous a use of two pronunciations among people of this elevation shows that there are two pronunciations.
詞典不作出取舍決擇的真正原因乃是因為在社會地位這樣高的人們當中竟然如此廣泛而顯著地使用著兩種發音，這事實就足以說明的確存在著兩種發音。
Their speaking establishes the fact which the dictionary must record.
他們的說話方式就構成了詞典必須記錄的事實。
