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60秒科学:Call Me Melville, Based on New Word Use

时间：2010-10-18 01:27:31

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（单词翻译）

Call Me Melville, Based on New Word Use
A study in the New Journal of Physics finds that writers leave a regular, distinct pattern of how frequently they use new words. Cynthia Graber reports

Thieves may leave fingerprints2 at the scene of a crime. But does an author leave a metaphorical3 fingerprint1 on the book? The answer may be yes, according to a study published in the New Journal of Physics.

Swedish physicists4 investigated how frequently authors use new words in their writing. This, they say, offers clearly identifiable patterns. The research goes against a belief held for more than 75 years that there’s a sort of universality to how frequently authors use new words.

Researchers analyzed6 books by Thomas Hardy7, D. H. Lawrence and Herman Melville. They looked at full novels, parts of novels, and a mishmash of an author’s work. In each case, they found a regular, and distinct, pattern of how frequently each writer used new words.

Of course, the frequency of new words used drops off in longer novels, but the patterns of the drop-off differed and were specific to each of the three authors. The researchers call this concept a "meta-book"—a kind of personal code that would fit any book or any work an author ever writes. Seems like to understand writers’ complete works, you have to analyze5 their complete words.
 


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1 fingerprint 4kXxX     
n.指纹；vt.取...的指纹
参考例句：
  • The fingerprint expert was asked to testify at the trial.指纹专家应邀出庭作证。
  • The court heard evidence from a fingerprint expert.法院听取了指纹专家的证词。
2 fingerprints 9b456c81cc868e5bdf3958245615450b     
n.指纹( fingerprint的名词复数 )v.指纹( fingerprint的第三人称单数 )
参考例句：
  • Everyone's fingerprints are unique. 每个人的指纹都是独一无二的。
  • They wore gloves so as not to leave any fingerprints behind (them). 他们戴着手套，以免留下指纹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 metaphorical OotzLw     
a.隐喻的，比喻的
参考例句：
  • Here, then, we have a metaphorical substitution on a metonymic axis. 这样，我们在换喻（者翻译为转喻，一种以部分代替整体的修辞方法）上就有了一个隐喻的替代。
  • So, in a metaphorical sense, entropy is arrow of time. 所以说，我们可以这样作个比喻：熵像是时间之矢。
4 physicists 18316b43c980524885c1a898ed1528b1     
物理学家( physicist的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • For many particle physicists, however, it was a year of frustration. 对于许多粒子物理学家来说，这是受挫折的一年。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
  • Physicists seek rules or patterns to provide a framework. 物理学家寻求用法则或图式来构成一个框架。
5 analyze RwUzm     
vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)
参考例句：
  • We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
  • The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。
6 analyzed 483f1acae53789fbee273a644fdcda80     
v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析
参考例句：
  • The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 hardy EenxM     
adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的
参考例句：
  • The kind of plant is a hardy annual.这种植物是耐寒的一年生植物。
  • He is a hardy person.他是一个能吃苦耐劳的人。

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