核心畫面

One way to hold profoundly: instead of measuring how wide or how loud something is, you measure how far down it goes. A wave can cover the whole beach and still only wet the surface; profoundly is the word for the thing that reached the bottom. That is why it does not fit small everyday facts, and why every use of it — being changed by an experience, thinking about a question, or losing your hearing — is really a statement about depth.

「profoundly」的核心畫面可以想成:它量的不是寬度,也不是音量,而是「往下到了多深」。一道浪可以蓋滿整個沙灘更多收起「profoundly」的核心畫面可以想成:它量的不是寬度,也不是音量,而是「往下到了多深」。一道浪可以蓋滿整個沙灘,卻只濕了表面;profoundly 講的是那種一路到底的東西。這也是為什麼它配不上雞毛蒜皮的小事。無論是一段經驗改變了一個人、一個人想得多深,還是聽力損失到哪一級,講的其實都是同一件事:深度。

From the word’s history

Wiktionary records profoundly as Middle English profoundly / profoundely, that is profound plus -ly.

來源資料記載 profoundly 出自中古英語 profoundly、profoundely,也就是 profound 加上 -ly;profound 本身講的就是「深」。

Wiktionary entry for 'profoundly' (kaikki extract, source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1026452389)

Two branches

深到什麼程度

這一家的兩個用法差在問題不同:一個問「這件事撼動得多深」,一個問「這個人想得多深」。

r · C2

Very much, in a way that reaches deep inside a person or changes something at its base. It is used with words about strong feeling or big change, such as affected, moved, disturbing, grateful or different.

深深地/極為

醫學上的固定說法

醫學把聽力損失分級,最重的那一級正好叫 profound,所以這個詞的「深」在這裡變成了一個明確的刻度。

r · C1

If someone is profoundly deaf, they cannot hear anything at all, even very loud sounds.

全聾的