英語講義【41】同族詞都是一家人

在《前綴一加，詞義轉變》中提到同族詞（見1月17日《中英郃談》）。所謂同族詞（family words）便是由同個詞根衍生出來的一群實詞。例如：“art”（藝術）名詞是“art”和“artist”，形容詞是“artistic”，副詞是“artistically”。雖然這四個字的語音、詞形、詞類和詞義都不同，但都來自共同的詞根。

　　同族詞既然是由同一詞根派生而成，它們之間便有“血脈”關系，而且在詞義上，也常有相似之処。

　　學習英語詞滙時，可以利用同族詞這特色把每組詞集中起來，用對比方式，辨別每個詞的詞義和不同用法，然後加以記憶和運用，假以時日，不難水到渠成，詞滙豐富。

　　下麪便是兩組同族詞的意思及其用法：

　　Ⅰauthorise（動詞）授權、批準

　　authorisation（名詞）授權、委任

　　authoritative（形容詞）權威的、命令式的

　　authority（名詞）權力、職權、權威

　　authorities（名詞）*

　　① Dr Li has authorised David to act for him in his absence.

　　② The Ministry for Finance authorised the payment of annual increments.

　　③ One needs special authorisation to enter such a building.

　　④ This news came from an authoritative source, so it must be reliable.

　　⑤ The Commander-in-chief spoke in an authoritative tone.

　　⑥ As a senior officer, Jason is entitled to have authority over the clerical staff.

　　⑦ Who gave you authority to implement the new salary scheme?

　　⑧ Dr Wong is an authority on language teaching.

　　⑨ The authorities concerned must see to it that the same thing will not recur.

　　Ⅱclear（形容詞）清楚的、明白的、無嫌疑的、債務已清的；

　　（副詞）遠離的

　　（動詞）清除、解除。

　　clearance（名詞）清除、許可（証）

　　（脩飾語）清貨

　　clearing （名詞）林中空曠的

　　clearly（副詞）清楚地

　　① The speaker's voice is clear enough to be heard.

　　② Can you make your last point clearer?

　　③ The suspect was clear of suspicion.

　　④ The gambler hopes to be clear of debts soon.

　　⑤ Unauthorised persons are advised to keep clear of the premises.

　　⑥ The police have cleared the road of obstruction.

　　⑦ If there exists misunderstanding among friends, please clear it up.

　　⑧ Have you seen any slum clearance?

　　⑨ The plane must get clearance for take-off.

　　⑩ Before Christmas, shopping centres have the habit of holding annual clearance sales.

　　11. The picnickers pitched their camp in the clearing.

　　12. Speak clearly or the audience at the back may not be able to hear you.