英语语法：68 The Lord Is Come?

Grammar Girl here.

Today's topic is subversive¹ Christmas carols.
And now, on to our question. There's a listener named Kat whose holiday joy is crushed every time she hears the Christmas carol “Joy to the World.” She asks:

Why do we sing '"Joy to the world, the Lord is come," rather than "Joy to the world, the Lord has come"?

Not wanting Kat to face the holidays with grammar consternation², I went on a quest to figure out what's going on with these lyrics³.

It actually turned out to be a pretty tough question, but I eventually discovered that the phrase the Lord is come uses an archaic⁴ form of English that was very common back in 1719 when “Joy to the World” was written by Isaac Watts⁵. A number of references say that this construction uses the word come as an unaccusative intransitive verb (and don't worry: you don't need to remember that because it's a form that's now nearly extinct in the English language [1]).

If you're watching for it, you'll find similar constructions in a lot of older works. For example, in the 1300s Chaucer wrote, “The spices and wine is come anon,"* in The Squire's Tale.  In the late 1700s Jane Austen wrote, “Oh, Look. Charlotte is come,” in Pride and Prejudice, and in the 1800s William Blake wrote, “The melancholy⁶ days are come,” in The Death of Flowers, and Charlotte Brontë wrote, “It is come now,” in Jane Eyre. I found examples from as late as the early 1900s (2).

Sometime in the 1900s people stopped speaking this way. I'm not sure why, but one reference said that it might have been “partly due to the identical pronunciation of is and has” when they're used in contractions⁷. For example, "he's come" could mean either "He is come" or "He has come" (3).

I don't usually talk about foreign languages, but I found it interesting that many Romance languages, such as French and Italian, still use this verb form, and it is normal today in those languages to say the English equivalent of "He is come."

A lot of the material I found about archaic English usage was far too complex for Quick and Dirty Tips, so I am including a list of further-reading resources at the end of the transcript⁸ for people who want to learn more about it.

That's all!

I have another book to give away this week. Rocky B. has won The Wizard of Oz Vocabulary Builder by Mark Phillips, and the book is already on its way. The book giveaway is something of a random⁹ affair: I give away books when I have them, and I draw names from the list of people who have e-mailed me with questions, comments, or donations.

Also, a big thank-you to every single subscriber¹¹ our there. Every one of you helped make Grammar Girl a People's Choice podcast for 2006 at iTunes, and also thank you to the iTunes staff who chose Grammar Girl as a Staff Favorite for 2006. We are thrilled.

Finally, if any of you are wondering what I would like for Christmas, I have two simple requests for anyone who's celebrating a holiday. First, just relax and be kind to others. I'm sure The Modern Manners Guy would approve of that message! And second, millions of people will be getting new MP3 players this month. If you know someone who has received an MP3 player as a gift, make sure they know about podcasts. Because you're listening to this show, you already know how much wonderful, free content is available, so make sure your friends and family don't miss out.

Also, I'm very excited about our next episode, because it will include a wonderful grammar song! So make sure you're subscribed¹² so that you don't get busy and forget to download it.

If you have questions or comments, please e-mail them to  ... , or call the voicemail line at 206-338-GIRL (4475), or use the free MyChingo tool in the sidebar at the website at QuickAndDirtyTips.com.  Finally, if you're listening on the radio, head on over to iTunes, where you can subscribe¹⁰ to Grammar Girl so that you never miss another episode.

*Original spelling: "The spyces and the wyn is come anon."

 

1 subversive   

adj.颠覆性的，破坏性的；n.破坏份子，危险份子

参考例句：

• She was seen as a potentially subversive within the party.她被看成党内潜在的颠覆分子。
• The police is investigating subversive group in the student organization.警方正调查学生组织中的搞颠覆阴谋的集团。

2 consternation   

n.大为吃惊，惊骇

参考例句：

• He was filled with consternation to hear that his friend was so ill.他听说朋友病得那么厉害，感到非常震惊。
• Sam stared at him in consternation.萨姆惊恐不安地注视着他。

3 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

4 archaic   

adj.(语言、词汇等)古代的，已不通用的

参考例句：

• The company does some things in archaic ways,such as not using computers for bookkeeping.这个公司有些做法陈旧，如记账不使用电脑。
• Shaanxi is one of the Chinese archaic civilized origins which has a long history.陕西省是中国古代文明发祥之一，有悠久的历史。

5 watts   

（电力计量单位）瓦，瓦特( watt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• My lamp uses 60 watts; my toaster uses 600 watts. 我的灯用60瓦，我的烤面包器用600瓦。
• My lamp uses 40 watts. 我的灯40瓦。

6 melancholy   

n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
• He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过，他感到很郁闷。

7 contractions   

n.收缩( contraction的名词复数 )；缩减；缩略词；（分娩时）子宫收缩

参考例句：

• Contractions are much more common in speech than in writing. 缩略词在口语里比在书写中常见得多。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Muscle contractions are powered by the chemical adenosine triphosphate(ATP ). 肌肉收缩是由化学物质三磷酸腺苷(ATP)提供动力的。 来自辞典例句

8 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

9 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

10 subscribe   

vi.(to)订阅，订购；同意；vt.捐助，赞助

参考例句：

• I heartily subscribe to that sentiment.我十分赞同那个观点。
• The magazine is trying to get more readers to subscribe.该杂志正大力发展新订户。

11 subscriber   

n.用户，订户；（慈善机关等的）定期捐款者；预约者；签署者

参考例句：

• The subscriber to a government loan has got higher interest than savings. 公债认购者获得高于储蓄的利息。 来自辞典例句
• Who is the subscriber of that motto? 谁是那条座右铭的签字者？ 来自辞典例句

12 subscribed   

v.捐助( subscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；签署，题词；订阅；同意

参考例句：

• It is not a theory that is commonly subscribed to. 一般人并不赞成这个理论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I subscribed my name to the document. 我在文件上签了字。 来自《简明英汉词典》