on the armchair 還是 in the armchair？

本站特約作者  李  翔

譯林版《牛津初中英語》七年級下教師用書(譯林出版社 2009年11月第5次印刷) p17上有這樣一句話：

We like to sitting on the sofa and armchair.

然而，下面兩本工具書卻明確表示 armchair 只能和 sit in 搭配，不能和 sit on 搭配：

1. 周國珍主編《英語正誤詳解詞典》（復旦大學出版社 2000年10月第一版 p61：

【誤】He sat on his armchair, listening to music.

【正】He sat in his armchair, listening to music.

【譯文】他坐在扶手椅上，聽著音樂。

【解釋】chair 是一般意義上的椅子，有靠背和座位可以視為平面，也可視為立體，因此介詞既可用 on(平面)，也可用 in(立體)；而 armchair 指扶手椅，有靠背、扶手和座位組成，應視為立體，介詞應用 in。又如：

The little boy sat unhappily in the big armchair. 小男孩不高興地坐在大扶手椅上。

2. N. D. Turton and J. B. Heaton 主編的 Longman English-Chinese Dictionary of Common Errors(上海譯文出版社1998年第11月第3次印刷) p27：

× She was sitting on a big armchair.

√ She was sitting in a big armchair. 她坐在一張很大的扶手椅里。

sit on a chair but sit in an armchair.

sit on后接 a chair；sit in則后接 an armchair。

那么，在英國英語和美國英語里，和動詞 sit 及 seat 搭配的究竟是 in the / an armchair 還是 on the / an armchair 呢？請看以下真實例證：

1. 在BNC(英國國家語料庫http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk)和BUY-BNC BRTISH NATIONAL CORPUS (UK,1980s-1993) (Mark Davies, Brigham Young University ) http://corpus.byu.edu/bnc/上共有5例包含on the/ an armchair的例證，其中無有1例 on the / an armchair和動詞sit及 seat搭配的例證：

(1) Tom put a bundle on the armchair.

(2) He stood Willie on the armchair, took the towel away and placed the nightshirt over his head, cutting more away from the hem until Willie’s toes and hands came into view.

(3) “You can dry Sammy with that ole towel,” said Tom, indicating one lying on the armchair.

(4) I often have to get up with Graham, carry him into the living room and nurse him into the living room and nurse him on the armchair.

(5) And William standing in the middle of the kitchen looking pained and vaguely apologetic, and a reference book on Deaths among Rural Clergy during the Black Death lying recently discarded on an armchair.

共有142例包含 in the / an armchair 的例證，其中有78例 in the / an armchair 和動詞 sit 及 seat 搭配的例證。

2. 在TIME CORPUS OF AMERICAN ENGLISH (1923-2006) (Mark Davies, Brigham Young University ) (http://corpus.byu.edu/time)上共有1例 on the / an armchair 和動詞 sit 及 seat 搭配的例證：

1963/12/03 On opening night, the confused guests sat down on the armchair that was part of Jim Dine’s painting called Four Rooms, and piled their champagne glasses into the porcelain sink (painted black) that is part of his lesser work, Black Bathroom No. 2.

共有51例包含in the / an armchair的例證，其中有17例 in the/ an armchair 和動詞sit及 seat搭配的例證。

3. 在BUY CORPUS OF AMERICAN ENGLISH (1990-2009) (Mark Davies, Brigham Young University) http://www.americancorpus.org/ 上共有21例包含 on the/ an armchair 的例證，其中有7例 on the / an armchair 和動詞 sit 及 seat 搭配的例證。

有184例包含in the / an armchair 的例證，其中有52例 in the / an armchair 和動詞 sit 及 seat搭配的例證。

從以上例證可以看出：在英國英語里，和動詞 sit 及 seat 搭配的通常只能是 in the/an armchair，而不能是 on the/an armchair。在美國英語里，和動詞 sit 及 seat 搭配的 in the/an armchair 和 on the/an armchair 的比率是68:8。也就是說美國英語里，和動詞sit及 seat搭配的習慣是in the/an armchair，而不習慣用on the/an armchair。

由此可以得出這樣一個結論：“坐在扶手椅上”習慣用 sit 及 seat 和 in the / an armchair來表達，而不用 on the / an armchair 表達。作為初中學生教材的譯林版《牛津初中英語》應該采用大家都接受的說法。     

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