旧词新用because x：The New Use of an Old Word
1月3号，近200名语言学家在美国方言协会（American Dialect Society）的会议上票选2013年度词。尽管富于创造性的新造词sharknado（鲨卷风）、doge（狗哥）、bitcoin（比特币）、selfie（自拍照）、Obamacare（奥巴马医改）及twerk（臀舞）均获提名，最令语言学家们兴奋的却是一个有了新用法的旧词：because。
On January 3, approximately 200 linguists at the American Dialect Society conference gathered to vote on what their 2013 Word of the Year should be. While creative coinages sharknado, doge, bitcoin, selfie, Obamacare, and twerk all received nominations, it was an old word used in new ways that most excited linguistics this year: because.
在美国方言协会的官方新闻稿中，Ben Zimmer将because“新的语法可能性”描述为：“because不必再搭配 of 或者跟一个完整的从句。如‘because science’或‘because reasons’等用词简洁的原因表述方式已十分常见。”Jessica Love注意到使用这一结构时的语调：“这是一种有趣、简明扼要且‘偷工减料’地概述某一情形的方式。”Mark Liberman注意到because的新用法“似乎常暗示所述因果关系较弱”。
In the official ADS press release, Ben Zimmer describes the “new grammatical possibilities” of because: “No longer does because have to be followed by of or a full clause. Now one often sees tersely worded rationales like ‘because science’ or ‘because reasons.’” Jessica Love captures the tone of because saying, “It’s a fun, pithy, hand-wavy way of summing up a situation.” Mark Liberman notes that the new because “seems usually to be associated with an implication that the referenced line of reasoning is weak.”
英语使用者早已把这一新结构玩坏了。我最近最爱的句子出自NPR上的博客Monkey See对电影《时空恋旅人》（About Time）的评论，发表于2013年11月 。这部电影中，Bill Nighy扮演的角色告诉他儿子，其家族的所有男人都可以穿越回他们的过去。Chris Klimek写道：
English speakers have been having a lot of fun with this new construction. My favorite recent sighting comes from a November 2013 film review of About Time on the NPR blog Monkey See. In this movie Bill Nighy’s character reveals to his son that all the men in their family can travel back in time to a moment they’ve already lived. Chris Klimek writes:
Nighy声称他使用这一生命扩展技能读了更多书。我猜，他也利用这一额外的永生在东莞（注：原文为曼谷）或其他什么地方**了，因为：Bill Nighy（because: Bill Nighy）。
Nighy claims he’s used his life-extending powers to get more reading done. I inferred that he’s also spent off-the-books eons whoring around Bangkok or wherever, because: Bill Nighy.
全新的because源自哪里？
Where did the new because come from?
尽管有一些论述，但这一用法的起源尚不明确。Neal Whitman提出一种观点：because x是较早出现的结构 because，hey 的延伸——略去了hey，该结构出自1987年的SNL短剧台词：
The origin of this use is uncertain, though there are theories. Neal Whitman presents one idea: because x is an extension of the older construction because, hey with the hey lopped off as in this line from a 1987 Saturday Night Live sketch:
如果你从西尔斯大厦（Sears Tower）掉下来，就跛行吧，因为你看上去可能会像个假人，并且人们会试图抓住你，因为——诶，免费的假人耶。
If you ever fall off the Sears Tower, just go real limp, because maybe you’ll look like a dummy and people will try to catch you because, hey, free dummy.
但是Gretchen McCulloch对上述起源说持怀疑态度。她转而转向模因“because of reasons”（因为所以），这一短语因2011年发表的三词短语漫画#139（http://threewordphrase.com/pardonme.htm）而流行开来。相比于“略hey说”，她认为更有可能是because of reasons简化成了because reasons。Stan Carey指出模因because race car差不多在同一时间流行于网络，但是他马上补充说because x早于2011年之前就开始出现，并且举了大量例子。可能because x是同时从多个共存的语言现象发展而来，又或者，可能完全不是这么回事。
Gretchen McCulloch, however, is skeptical of this origin story. She instead looks to the meme “because of reasons,” as popularized by the Three Word Phrase comic #139 published in 2011. She finds it more likely that this phrase was shortened to “because reasons” than that a hey was dropped. Stan Carey points out the meme “because race car” made the Internet rounds around the same time, but quickly adds that because x was used before 2011, and offers a slew of examples. Perhaps because x developed from a combination of uses coexisting on the linguistic landscape. Or maybe it’s something else entirely.
注意，不仅because，Carey观察到but、also、so、in conclusion、and以及thus也出现了同样的用法。试看：我还没喝咖啡，因此暴躁（thus grumpy）。这是否会改变词源学理论仍有待观察。
Note that this sort of linguistic development is happening beyond just because. Carey also observed similar constructions with but, also, so, in conclusion, and thus. Think: I haven’t had coffee yet, thus grumpy. Whether or not this alters etymological theories is still up in the air.
我们应该给它起个什么名字？
What should we call it?
语言学家给这一结构起了各种名字，有些称其为because NOUN，有些称其为because x，还有人称其为介词化because。随着其用法演化，有些名称相比之下更恰当。考虑到其丰富多样的用法，because NOUN显然过于狭隘。尽管它涵括了一些常见的例子，但未能涵括because跟其他词类的例子，包括动词(I’m buying this jacket because want)，形容词(Must sleep now because tired)，副词 (I’m not going out in sub-zero degree weather, because honestly)或感叹词 (because yay!)。
Linguists use various titles for this construction; some refer to it as because NOUN, others as because x, and still others refer to it as prepositional because. As its usage evolves, some names appear to be better suited than others. Because NOUN has already been proven to be too narrow for the versatility of this new use. While this covers some common examples, it doesn’t capture because followed by other parts of speech including verbs (I’m buying this jacket because want), adjectives (Must sleep now because tired), adverbs (I’m not going out in sub-zero degree weather, because honestly), or interjections (because yay!).
许多专家称其为介词——尽管还有待讨论。Neal Whitman称其为介词。在其博客Mr. Verb上，Joe同样强调其介词特征，因because的词源公认为：由两个单词构成的介词短语by cause。而McCulloch则条分缕析，说明为何她认为介词化because这一叫法失效，她探讨了某些名词短语可以直接跟在because后面，但其他名词短语则不能的原理，而这不符合介词的特征。Geoffrey Pullum在Language Log上针对此问题提出了反驳，他认为介词远比“标准的词典定义”描述的灵活。目前语言学家还没就because后跟的词类达成一致，尽管随着讨论继续，这种情况可能改变。
Many experts have been calling the new because a preposition, though this is up for debate. Neal Whitman calls it a preposition. Joe at Mr. Verb also prefers the prepositional distinction thanks to because’s accepted origin–from the two-word prepositional phrase by cause. McCulloch, on the other hand, breaks down why she thinks the name prepositional because falls apart, discussing how some noun phrases are okay with this new because while others are not. This, she says, is not typical of prepositions. Geoffrey Pullum over at Language Log address these concerns with a counterargument, saying that prepositions are far more flexible than “standard dictionary definitions” make them out to be. There is currently not any sort of consensus among linguists over the part of speech of this new because, though this might change as the discussion continues.
我个人觉得because x暂时是最安全的叫法。至于词类，随着英语使用者继续使用并发展because x这一新用法，其语法分类也可能随之改变。
I personally feel that because x is the safest moniker for the time being. As far as the part of speech goes, the grammar classification might further shift as English speakers play with and develop the new uses of because x.
你听过或见过这一结构的例子吗？你自己用过吗？
Have you heard or seen examples of this construction? Do you use it yourself?
译文来自译言：http://select.yeeyan.org/view/368557/397331
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