ly

后缀-ly用法和含义

ly

汉:在我们的印象中-ly不是副词后缀吗?没错。-ly作为副词后缀,几乎可以加在一切形容词后面,表示状态(如cheerfully)、方式(如financially)、程度(如greatly)、方向(如northwardly)、次序(如thirdly)、时间(如recently)等。这是一般读者所熟悉的。既然如此,我们就不必为此多费笔墨,而将这篇幅腾出来,比较详细地介绍-ly的第二个用途:加在名词后面充当形容词后缀。在这种情况下,-ly不是活性词缀,它的构词数量是有限的。其意思主要为 like a ~(像...的),characteristic of ~(有...性质的),suited to ~(适于...的),occuring once a ~(每...发生一次的),of or being a ~(是...的)等意思。这个后缀是比较常用的后缀之一,在初中我们就已经学过了。

英语词源解释:
-ly (1)
suffix forming adjectives from nouns and meaning "having qualities of, appropriate to, fitting;" irregularly descended from Old English -lic, from P.Gmc. *-liko- (cf. Old Frisian -lik, Dutch -lijk, Old High German -lih, German -lich, Old Norse -ligr), related to *likom- "appearance, form" (cf. Old English lich "corpse, body;" see lich, which is a cognate; cf. also like (adj.), with which it is identical).
-ly (2)
adverbial suffix, Middle English, from Old English -lice, from P.Gmc. *-liko- (cf. Old Frisian -like, Old Saxon -liko, Dutch -lijk, Old High German -licho, German -lich, Old Norse -liga, Gothic -leiko); see -ly (1). Cognate with lich, and identical with like (adj.). Weekley notes as "curious" that Germanic uses a word essentially meaning "body" for the adverbial formation, while Romanic uses one meaning "mind" (e.g. French constamment from Latin constanti mente). The modern English form emerged in late Middle English, probably from influence of Old Norse -liga.

1.ghastly
adj.causing horror of fear;death-like;pale and ill;very unsatisfactory or unpleasant 可怕的;死人般的;糟透的;令人不快的
He had a ghastly paleness to his face that belied the seriousness of his illness.
他的脸死人船苍白,表明他病的很严重。

2.grisly
adj.causing horror or terror;ghastly 可怕的
The killer's confession spares none of the grisly details of the murders he had committed.
那个杀人犯的口供没有遗漏任何他谋杀时的恐怖细节。

3.leisurely
adj.unhurred;deliberate 从容的,悠然自得的
adv.without haste or hurry 慢慢悠地;从容地,沉着地
Each morning he leisurely has his breakfast and reads the morning paper.
每天清晨他都悠闲地吃早餐、读晨报。

4.surly
adj.bad-tempered and unfriendly 坏脾气的,不友好的
The survey showed tourists most often complain of surly taxi drivers.
调查表明,游客最常抱怨的就是态度不友好的出租司机。