人在睡眠裡
最直接的一組：主角是人，差別只在他離睡眠有多近——已經在裡面、正要掉進去、還是卡在門口。
sleeping · adjective · B1
Sleeping; not awake.
睡著的
核心畫面
`Asleep` is not really the word `sleep` — it is `a-` + `sleep`, an old way of saying "in sleep", the way `ashore` means "on the shore". So it names a place someone is currently in rather than a thing they do. That is why it lives after the verb (`the baby is asleep`, `he fell asleep`) and not in front of a noun. And once sleep is a place, other things can be in it too: a leg, a person's attention, even a life that has ended.
asleep 其實不是 sleep 加個字母，而是 a- 加 sleep，是「在睡眠裡」的老說法，跟 ashore（…更多收起
asleep 其實不是 sleep 加個字母，而是 a- 加 sleep，是「在睡眠裡」的老說法，跟 ashore（在岸上）、alive（在活著的狀態裡）同一個做法。可以想成它指的不是一個動作，而是一個人此刻待著的地方。也因為這樣，它習慣放在動詞後面（the baby is asleep、he fell asleep），不放在名詞前面。而睡眠一旦被當成一個地方，別的東西也能進去：一條腿、一個人的注意力，甚至一段結束了的人生。From the word’s history
From Old English on slæpe, "in sleep" — the a- here is the old preposition an/on "on, in", the same a- that makes ashore, afloat, alive. Middle English aslepe is recorded around 1200, and the parallel form on sleep survived until about 1550. The numb-limb sense is already there in the late 1300s.
asleep 來自古英語 on slæpe，字面就是「在睡眠裡」；開頭的 a- 是古老的介系詞 an/on（在…之上、在…之中），跟 ashore、afloat、alive 的 a- 是同一個。中古英語 aslepe 約在 1200 年出現，而寫成兩個字的 on sleep 一直用到 1550 年左右。手腳發麻的那個意思，1300 年代末就已經有了。
Online Etymology Dictionary, entry "asleep" (etymonline.com/word/asleep)
Four branches
用睡眠委婉說離世
睡著的人安靜、沒有痛苦、看起來只是暫時不在——英文借這個畫面來說一件很難開口的事，把「結束」講成「進入睡眠」。
at peace (death) · adjective · B1
A gentle, indirect way to say that someone has died.
長眠
手腳「睡著」了
這次進入睡眠的不是整個人，而是身體的一部分：那條腿不回應、也沒感覺，就像它自己先睡了。
numb limb · adjective · B1
If your arm or leg is asleep, it has been still too long and you cannot feel it well.
發麻
該看著的時候沒看著
睡著的人接收不到外面發生的事。把這個畫面放到工作上，就變成「事情發生時你的注意力不在現場」——人醒著，注意力卻在睡。
asleep at the wheel · adjective · B1
Not paying attention when you should be, so something goes wrong, in 'asleep at the wheel'.
失職
原始詞典資料4 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
asleepadj/əˈsliːp/
- 1
In a state of sleep; also, broadly, resting.
- I was asleep when you called.
- Never disturb a man asleep.
- 2
slangInattentive.
- How could you miss that? Were you asleep?
- The reason they call it the American Dream is because you have to be asleep to believe it.
- 3
Having a numb or prickling sensation accompanied by a degree of unresponsiveness.
- My arm fell asleep. You know, like pins and needles.
- Louisa sat in the car crying, until her foot fell asleep. She shook her foot violently, afraid the numbness would turn to frostbite.
- 4
Dead.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。