wherefore

英语

其他形式

• wherefor

词源

源自中古英語 wherfor、wherfore、hwarfore，等价于where- (“什么”) +‎ for。 对比荷蘭語 waarvoor (“为何”)、德語 wofür (“为何”)、丹麥語和挪威語 hvorfor (“为何”)、瑞典語 varför (“为何”)。详见where、for。

发音

• 英語發音：wâ(r)'fô(r)"、國際音標^(幫助): /ˈweə(ɹ)ˌfɔː(ɹ)/
• 英語發音：hwâ(r)'fô(r)"、國際音標^(幫助): /ˈʍeə(ɹ)ˌfɔː(ɹ)/
• 斷字：where‧fore

副词

wherefore (不可比)

1. (连接副词，疑问副词，古舊) 何故，为何，为什么
   • Template:RQ:Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet Q1-2
   • Template:RQ:Shakespeare Tempest
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 21:7，第 1 列:

     Wherefore doe the wicked liue, become old, yea, are mightie in power?

     （請為本引文添加中文翻譯）

   • Template:RQ:Scott Canongate 2
   • 1920, Herman Cyril McNeile, chapter 1, in Bulldog Drummond:

     "Good morning, Mrs. Denny," he said. "Wherefore this worried look on your face? Has that reprobate James been misbehaving himself?"

2. (连接副词，陈述副词，古舊或正式) 因此
   • 2010年3月17日, House of the United States, House Resolution 1031‎^[1]:

     Wherefore, Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors and should be removed from office.

     （請為本引文添加中文翻譯）

用法说明

将“wherefore”解读为“where”是常见的误解，这种误读有时会出现在莎士比亚的《罗密欧与朱丽叶》的复述中，且常是为了喜剧效果。在《罗密欧与朱丽叶》中“Wherefore art thou Romeo?”（第2幕第2场第33句台词）意思不是“你在哪，罗密欧”，而是“为什么是你，罗密欧？”（“为什么你属于蒙塔古家族？”，即和朱丽叶的家族有世仇的一个家族）。

连词

wherefore

1. (古舊) 因此
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 30:12–13，第 1 列:

     Wherefore, thus ſaith the holy one of Iſrael, Becauſe ye deſpise this word, and truſt in oppreſſion and peruerſeneſſe, and ſtay thereon: Therefore this iniquitie ſhalbe to you as a breach ready to fall, ſwelling out in a high wall, whoſe breaking commeth ſuddenly at an inſtant.

     所以以色列的聖者如此說：『因為你們藐視這訓誨的話，倚賴欺壓和乖僻，以此為可靠的，故此，這罪孽在你們身上好像將要破裂凸出來的高牆，頃刻之間忽然坍塌。

   • 1914, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Mucker‎^[2], The Gutenberg Project, 出版於 2009:

     Wherefore it was that by the time the authorities awoke to the fact that something had happened Billy Byrne was fifty miles west of Joliet, bowling along aboard a fast Santa Fe freight.

     （請為本引文添加中文翻譯）

名词

wherefore (複數 wherefores)

1. 缘由，目的
   • c. 1594, William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, 出自 Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, 出版於 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]，第 88 頁，第 2 列:

     Ant[ipholus of Syracuse]. Shall I tell you why? / S. Dro. [Dromio of Syracuse] I, ſir, and wherefore; for they ſay, euery why hath a wherefore.

     （請為本引文添加中文翻譯）

   • 1996, Richard Bausch, Good Evening Mr. & Mrs. America, and All the Ships at Sea，第 72 頁:

     They want their money without reference to the hows and wherefores.

     （請為本引文添加中文翻譯）

衍生词汇

• whys and wherefores