核心畫面

One way to hold this word: it is just wood with -y on the end, and -y means "has some of this in it". The catch is that English wood is two things at once — the hard brown material, and a small forest. So the -y can land on either one. Land it on the material and you get hard stems, tough carrots and a dry forest-floor smell. Land it on the forest and you get a full of trees. Same ending, two different things to be full of.

可以想成這個字就是 wood 加上 -y,而 -y 的意思是「裡面有這個東西」。有趣的地方在於,英文的 wood 同更多收起可以想成這個字就是 wood 加上 -y,而 -y 的意思是「裡面有這個東西」。有趣的地方在於,英文的 wood 同時是兩樣東西:一種是硬硬的木材,一種是小樹林。所以 -y 可以落在其中任何一邊。落在木材那邊,就是硬掉的莖、咬不動的蘿蔔、乾乾的木頭香。落在樹林那邊,就是一整片長滿樹的山坡。同一個結尾,只是「裡面裝的」不一樣。

From the word’s history

From Middle English woodi/wody, equivalent to wood + -y.

woody 來自中古英文的 woodi、wody,拆開就是 wood 加上 -y。-y 這個結尾在英文裡很常見,用來造「有某種東西的、像某種東西的」,例如 rainy、salty。所以這個字從一開始就只是「有木頭的」,後來 wood 本身的兩個意思,把它帶往兩個方向。

Wiktionary entry for woody, etymology 1 (kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:752616357): From Middle English woodi, wody, wodi, equivalent to wood + -y.

Two branches

木頭這個材料

-y 落在木材上:講的是硬度、纖維和那股乾乾的氣味。

adjective · B2

Used about a plant, or part of a plant, whose stem is hard and made of wood rather than soft and green. Trees, bushes and climbing plants are all woody plants.

木質的

樹林這塊地

-y 落在另一個 wood 上:不是木材,是小樹林。所以講的不再是質地,而是一塊地上長了什麼。

adjective · B2

Used about a piece of land that has many trees growing on it.

樹木茂密的