Reason for 比reason of 常见。
For在古英语里也写作for,涵义为before, in the sight of, in the presence of; as far as; during, before; on account of, for the sake of; in place of, instead of。后者源自原始日耳曼语*fur。本义是“在...前面”。
可能“在......前面”有“支持、背书”的含义,所以古英语晚期(late Old English), for有in favor of的含义。Reason for的for即为此义。
再来看reason。它源自古法语raison(1200),进而回溯到拉丁语rationem。rationem的语义为reckoning, understanding, motive, cause。所以reason在根源上是动作。动作有目的,这可能是reason接for比较多原因。
c.1300年开始,有grounds for action, motive, cause of an event(注意黑体for)的含义,这就是现代英语“.....的理由”。
Of原本是古英语off的弱读, 但后来拉丁语和古法语入侵安格鲁撒克逊语言后,它被用来翻译拉丁语和古法语的de。de在拉丁语中表达属格,即具有什么什么属性的意思,如a man of wealth的含义是“一个具有财富的属性的人”,即有钱人。
从汉语角度,“这个行动的理由”可以解读为“理由”具有“这个行动的属性”,即the reason of this action。
但前面说过for更精准表达“目的性、结果性", 即the reason for this action表达更到位。如
【例句1】What is the reason for the increase in inflation? (什么原因导致了通货膨胀增加?)
【例句2】The reasons for the president's resignation soon became clear. ([导致]总统辞职的原因很快就清楚了。)
【例句3】The design was changed purely for reasons of safety. (纯粹出于安全考虑,改变了设计。)
【例句4】Even the best doctor cannot help you if he or she does not know the reason for your illness. (即使是最好的医生也不能帮助你,如果他或她不知道你生病的原因。)
【例句5】The poor harvest was the reason for many families leaving the island. (收成不好是许多家庭离开该岛的原因。)
另外拉丁语de属格的含义太多,因此of用来对应de后,其语义也就特别多。其中两个最常见两个含义是“所有格”和“源自(out of)”。
将the reason of this action理解为“所有格”肯定不合适。这是因为:1) this action是动作,常规解读是它不具有“拥有资格”;2) reason偏动作,而“被拥有”偏“物质(包括有形的物品,无形的财富)”。
对“源自(out of)”含义,A of B, 一般强调B是总体,而A是B的组成部分。但action肯定不是有各种各样的reason组集起来的整体,否则的话肯定能从A看出B的特质来(参考,Make from与make of的区别:不用死记硬背)。
最接近for的应该就是上面两条。of还有其它很多含义,不再一一分析。
现代英语碰到reason of大体有三种情形,“所有格”和by reason of,for reasons for。
【例句6】It is a reason of that author. (这是作者的一个理由。)[that author有资格拥有理由]
【例句7】Madison specifies the reason of the public , not of philosopher kings , as what ought to prevail. (麦迪逊将公众的理性,而不是哲学家国王的理性,作为应该获胜的理由。)[公众有资格拥有理性]
By reason of的含义是caused by; resulting from; because of。这是很正式的表达,如
【例句8】He was found not guilty by reason of insanity. (他因精神错乱而被判无罪。)
【例句9】The candidate was disqualified by reason of age. (候选人因年龄原因被取消资格。)
【例句10】He was excused by reason of his age. (他因年龄原因被赦免了。)
【例句11】He's always asked to these occasions by reason of his position. (由于他的职位,他总是被邀请参加这些场合。)
【例句12】The boss retains enormous influence by reason of his position. (由于职位的原因,老板保留着巨大的影响力。)
【例句13】By reason of this being the defendant's first offense, we've decided to pursue a lenient sentence. (由于这是被告的初犯,我们决定从轻处罚。)
【例句14】The game was canceled by reason of a huge storm heading toward the stadium. (比赛因一场巨大的暴风雨向体育场袭来而取消。)
【例句8~14】的by reason of后面所接为“既成事实”,因这个事实而导致相关事件。
再来看
【例句15】The door is always kept locked by reason of security. (鉴于安全原因,门总是锁着。)
这里“安全原因”究竟是目的,还是前提呢?用by reason of应该偏前提。同样下句的“农作物歉收”也是前提
【例句16】By reason of a crop failure, the price of coffee is bound to rise. (由于农作物歉收,咖啡的价格必然会上涨。)
For reasons of更偏“目的”,如
【例句16】The exact locations are being kept secret for reasons of security. (为了安全原因,确切位置正在保密中。)
【例句17】For reasons of safety, the fire door should be kept shut. (为了安全起见,防火门应保持关闭。)
【例句18】There are surveillance cameras at the school entrance for reasons of security. (为了安全起见,学校门口有监控摄像头。)
【例句19】The bridge is closed for reasons of safety. (为安全起见,这座桥关闭了。)
对by reason of, 也许历史上reason前也有过the, 但因常用而变习惯用语,就采用了无冠词的省略版。另外,介词by可能强调一种抽象(如by bus, by bike),于是the就没有了。
For相对具体,这可能是它接reasons of, 或the reason of的原因。
目前for reasons of可按字面义来解读,所以大多数词典未将其列为成语。by reason of可能因无the, 而被很多词典列为成语。