only few是否符合英语惯用法
■倪肖丁（西安）
《英语惯用法大词典》（吕志士中国科学技术出版社1994，p771）说：only few和so few相当于few，表示否定。例如：Only few(或So few) of them care to sing a song. 接着又说：only a few, but a few相当于few，表示否定。例如：Only a few people were present at the meeting.
读了上述文字后，我感到有点困惑：
1. 怎么从来没见过only few这种用法呢？only本身具有“仅有”的微量含义，修饰few逻辑上讲得通吗？
2. 如果only few与only a few都相当于few，那么它们的意思就没有区别。难道原本具有肯定意义的a few和具有否定意义的few，在前面加了only以后区别消失了吗？
带着以上的困惑寻求答案的过程中发现，我的困惑并非无中生有，《英语惯用法大词典》的上述讲解和例句的确有问题。
1. 英语习惯上说only a few而不说only few。例如，CGEL在谈到few, little, barely, hardly, rarely, seldom等近似否定词（approximate negators）时指出：近似否定词内部的情况也不尽相同。作为句否定标记词，rarely和seldom的作用比其它近似否定词要弱，因此这两个词可以被only强调，而其它不行（These two can be the focus for only, while the others cannot）。例如：
She visits her parents only rarely.
但不说*She had read only few of the letters.
也不说*She had done only hardly anything about it.
剑桥版英语语法教程English Grammar In Use（2012）在Unit 87讲到关于数量限定词little和few的用法时指出：……