辅之以 and 施以

[enaskitis]

In the following sentence [它 = 新极权主义]:

可是它不再拥有极权主义原型的那种意识形态动员能力，只能用东拼西凑、鼠目寸光的宣传口号和色厉内荏、自欺欺人的思想控制，辅之以高压手段（如越来越严厉的媒体和互联网管制，以及对民间的集体抗议事件施以武力镇压），来支撑其腐败低效的统治机器。

a.

I don't know how to interprest 辅之以 in 辅之以高压手段。I suspect 以 must be linked with 来 that follows later (来支撑）, but I don't understand 辅之。

b.

I understand 以及对民间的集体抗议事件施以武力镇压 thus: "as well as the bestowal of military repression in the face of popular collective protest incidents". But I'm not sure how to understand 施以。

My thanks for any help!

[skylee]

輔之以 means to support or supplement something with something else. Consider "along with" for your translation.

施以 means to offer or apply something to someone/something, like 施以援手，施以壓力. You might wish to simply use a verb like "to suppress" in your translation.

PS - As to the 之 in 輔之以, take a look at the explanation pron 1a -> http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/cgi-bin/agrep-lindict?query=%a4%a7&category=wholerecord

[enaskitis]

Thank you, skylee! Concerning the link you gave, I can't find the way to access that dictionary from within the http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk site. Any clue?

[skylee]

Try this link -> http://humanum.arts..../Lexis/Lindict/

If it can't be displayed properly, switch the coding to Big5. Also note that 1) this is an old dictictionary, and 2) it is not very well maintained, it seems, and 3) some of the pronunciations listed are not standard (which might be useful in some ways). Nevertheless it is still a very useful online dictionary IMO.

[enaskitis]

Thanks again!