「〜が早いか」跟「〜や否や」差在哪？小說裡常同時看到

Question

在讀《羅生門》的時候老師補充了幾個「幾乎同時發生」的N1文型，「Verbるが早いか」跟「Verbるや否や」都翻成「一...就...」。是不是純粹文體上的差異（前者更口語敘事、後者更書面），還是語感真的不一樣？

Accepted Answer

が早いか leans narrative — it's almost always describing someone's snap reaction to something, and the two clauses feel like they're racing each other (hence 早いか, 'which was faster'). や否や is more neutral/formal and can describe any two near-simultaneous events, not just a reaction. In 羅生門-style prose が早いか shows up more because Akutagawa is dramatizing split-second decisions.

Answer

這樣說就懂了，難怪「が早いか」後面接的常常是很戲劇化的動作，「や否や」比較平淡地陳述事實。