of在英文中的詞性問題??

Question

一般的字典都把of當介係詞，一如from、in、on...等，不過，我的老闆（俄亥俄州立大學語言學博士）認為of在某些用法上（如：表領屬意時）並不是介係詞，因為它的功能和from、in、on這些標準的介係詞不太一樣。可否請英文使用者說明一下這之間的不同？若本身又有語法基礎的英文使用者更佳。謝謝您。

Answer 1

Of Meaning and Definition

Yes, the Oxford English dictionary will show you "of" is sometimes a preposition. but It
is a very versatile word, and it's even confusing English speaking people constantly. I'll
say "of" is more like a possessive case, as you are talking.

All the existing uses of "of" are derivative; many so remote as to retain no trace of the
original sense, and so weakened as to be in themselves the expression of relatively
indefinable syntactic relationships.

From its original sense, of was naturally used in the expression of the notions of
removal, separation, privation, derivation, origin or source, starting-point, spring of
action, cause, agent, instrument, material, and other senses, which involve the notion
of 'taking, coming, arising, or resulting from'. But, even in Old English, this internal
development was affected by the translational character of the literature, and the
employment of of to render Latin ab, d, or ex, in constructions where non-literary
discourse would not have used it. Of greater significance was its employment from the
11th cent. as the equivalent of French de, itself of composite origin, since it not merely
represented Latin d in its various prepositional uses, but had come to be the substitute in
French for the Latin genitive case. Whether of might have come independently in
English to be a substitute for the genitive has been much debated. In the expression of
ethnic or national origin, we find of and the genitive to some extent interchangeable
already in early Old English.

2006-02-07 08:19:19 補充：
基本上，我認同你老闆的看法。但因為ＯＦ的用法還是關係著修飾字彙的功能，雖然它較有「所屬關係或所有格」的模式形態，可是它的位置被放置於名詞、形容詞、名詞性實詞(substantive)之間而完成其詞意，顧名思義會被歸類於介系詞。其實有很多美國人也認為ｏｆ應該是所有格(possessive)。『ＯＦ』在中文解釋中與『的』有著異曲同工之妙，但英文和中文是兩種不同語系的語言，所以在文法解釋上無法互相套用。

2006-02-07 08:39:50 補充：
我目前手邊關於ＯＦ的英文資料還滿齊全，但有礙於字數繁多，因為知識加的英打有限字，無法在此全部貼上，所以我無法完整地分享，請見諒。

Answer 2

該位博士是從「更接近」語言的「源頭」來作分析的。
這樣的歸納說法其實是比較接近人類的語言本能邏輯。
對於語言進階者來說的確是有助益於語言內涵的體會。
但對初學者而言卻易造成學習障礙以及名相上的混淆。
非常棒的看法。然而須視學習者背景情況作說明描述。

Answer 3

這牽涉到語言學的專業領域,但答案應是眾說紛紜,你老闆的說法不一定是普遍認同的(至少一般字典上並沒有將之歸類於其他的詞類中)!不過我相信他一定有他的理論根據去支持,而且也一定是有他的道理的!的確在用法上,OF的用法是有其特別之處,如:a book on the desk : book 跟 desk 為兩個獨立的事物!但是: some of my friends : some 跟 my friends 卻是部分跟全體的關係(這是你所謂的領屬(從屬)意吧!)我認為這只是在語意詮釋上的差異,在詞性的歸類上,我仍是傾向將of看作是介係詞,因為在語法結構上,它畢竟還是跟其他介係詞一樣,必須要有名詞銜接其後的,so I think it's not a word that belongs to two parts of speech, but just a preposition of distinictive characteristics!我想一般的英語學習者是沒有必要去細究這麼細微的差異,這樣只是憑添學習上的困擾而已!--有時我真覺得語言學所研究的一些內容實在是有些吹毛求疵,雖然我自己也是學語言學出身的....hehe....不過好像都還給教授了.... :P似乎並沒有真的回答到你的問題,sorry!

Answer 4

prep. (介係詞 preposition)
...的,屬於
One of the legs of the table is broken.
桌子的一條腿壞了。
Mr. Brown is a friend of mine.
布朗先生是我的朋友。
用...做成的;由...製成
The house is of stone.
這房子是石建的。
含有...的;裝有...的
...之中的;...的成員
Of all the students in this class, Tom is the best.
在這個班級中,湯姆是最優秀的。
(表示同位)
He came to New York at the age of ten.
他在十歲時來到紐約。
(表示受格關係)
He gave a lecture on the use of solar energy.
他就太陽能的利用作了一場講演。
(表示主格關係)
We waited for the arrival of the next bus.
我們等待下一班汽車的到來。
I have the complete works of Shakespeare.
我有莎士比亞全集。
來自...的;出自
He was a graduate of the University of Hawaii.
他是夏威夷大學的畢業生。
因為
Her son died of hepatitis.
她兒子因患肝炎而死。
在...方面
My aunt is hard of hearing.
我姑媽耳朵有點背。
【美】(時間)在...之前
(表示具有某種性質)
It is a matter of importance.
這是一件重要的事。