[寫作] Respect Lexical Categories

 搭捷運的時候，您是否注意過大廳的英文標示 "Beware of the sign"？這樣的標示隱含了什麼意思？文法上沒有問題的英文是不是等於正確地使用了英文？一般人練習英文寫作的時候，很容易忽略了一個事實：同樣的事物，在不同的語言、方言、研究領域中往往需要使用不同的名稱  ---  同樣的名詞，在不同的語境、或是不同的使用方式則產生不同的意涵。今天我們要討論的並不是一個人擁有的單字量 (vocabulary) ，而是一個「詞匯」的概念。

Dear readers and students of English,

It is very important to respect the unspoken and (seemingly little-taught) categories of the English lexicon.

Certain subjects and verbs simply cannot be matched in English. 

"Beware of the sign" appeared for some years on the Taipei metro's signs rather than "Watch your head." How stupid! Even after being informed no one bothered to change it for almost two years. "Beware" is only used with animate objects... Hence "beware of the dog," "beware of criminals," and "beware of infectious diseases." Therefore, according to their statement that sign might bite me! In many cultures those who fail to recognize and respect culturally defined lexical categories are considered insane.

In addition, I have many times given my clients the explanation as to why calling cigarette smoke "pollution" is basically crazy to English speakers. This is because it ignores fundamental rules of categorization, number and scale that are inherent to English, i.e., a (single) hair is simply not a fur. 

For your reference: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/pollution?q=pollution

So, despite the R.o.C. gov’s campaign to label smoke from personal use of tobacco products as “pollution,” it can never be called so in English. By definition “pollution” is an overall, pervasive condition caused by systematic problems and saturation of an environment by a toxic or poisonous substance and the idea that the minuscule amount of smoke emitted from a tiny cigarette and attributed to individual usage can be called "pollution" is absurd and contrary to a native English speaker’s innate understanding of his/her own language. Likewise we cannot call a single piece of paper thrown down as pollution – it is called litter and the action called littering. Particularly ironic when one considers the massive pollution of naphtha crackers and other industrial plants and the government itself which goes almost unpunished or encouraged. This is a disinformation campaign; don’t let it skew you otherwise fine Ielts efforts and essay compositions! 

Categories of lexicon are indispensable to learning English properly. When you mix categories it effectively says to a native speaker that you believe “pigs can fly."  

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