加载中…章振邦语法英语句子汉译:强调中的后置和尾重句
(2020-07-25 10:10:00)
标签：
365后置焦点句尾松散句 |
后置
(postponement)
是一种语法手段，即为了表示强调而把一个非旬尾成分移至句尾。在讲解这
一问题以前，我们首先交代一下支配英语词序的两条重要原则：句尾焦点
(end focus)
和句尾重心
(end
1)
句尾焦点和句尾重心
句子，作为一个传递信息的单位 (information unit),
通常是由“旧信息＋新信息”构成。旧信息(old information)
,
又叫已知信息
(given
/ known information)
是说话入认为或者假定对方巳经了解的信息，这是信息传递的出发点，在句子中通常由主语表示
新信息
(new information)
是信息传递的着重点，在句子中通常由谓语表示，而新信息的最关键部分又通常出现在句尾，这就是信息焦点
(information focus),
又叫句尾焦点
(end focus) 。例如：
He
smokes.
He
smokes cigarettes.
He
rested.
He
took a
rest.
The
man
shouted.
The
man
gave
a
shout.
She
works little.
She
does
little work.
在以上每组句子中，第一句比较短促，第二句比较匀称
SVO
结构中也有类似的情况。例如：
They
pushed
the car.
They
gave
the
car
a
push.
I kicked
the
door.
I
gave
the
door
a
kick.
I
visited her.
I
paid
her
a visit.
He
reads
many
books.
He
does a
lot
of
reading.
上面每组第二句读起来比第一句更加自然。所有这些都说明句尾重心在英语词序
(word order)
中的作用
2） 关键词语的后置
也由于句尾焦点和句尾重心的关系，人们在组词成句时往往要将说话人认为最重要的内容置于句尾，使之处于突出的地位，这种语法手段叫做“后置"
(postponement) 。例如：
He gave me a book.
He
gave a book to me.
前者侧重在
book,
适合于回答
What
did
he
give
you 田后者侧重在
me,
适合于回答
Who
he
give a
The cross-examination
(盘问）
was expertly handled.
It
lasted only half an hour.
如果是回答
How
long did
the cross-examination
last?
那就有下列几种安排法：
The cross-examination, which was expertly handled,
lasted
only
half
an
hour.
Expertly handled, the cross-examination
lasted
only
half
an
hour.
The expertly handled cross-examination
lasted
only
half
an
hour.
The cross-examination,
in
expert hands,
lasted only
half
an hour.
The cross-examination, an expertly handled affair,
lasted
only
half
an
hour.
反之，如果是回答
How
was the cross-examination
handled?
那就有如下几种安排法
The cross-examination,
which
lasted only half an hour,
was expertly
handled.
The cross-examination, lasting only half an hour,
was expertly
handled.
The
half-hour cross-examination
was expertly handled.
The cross-examination,
a half-hour affair,
was expertly handled.
英语句子成分的后置可以通过不同的手段来实现，其中，主语的后置更是如此。比如主语可以通过
it-句型实现后置。
It
puzzles
me
why
he
got
so
irritable.
It's no use
crying
over
spilt milk.
也可以通过全部倒装实现后置：
On top
of
the
hill
stands
an
old
castle.
Higher and higher
flew the white balloon.
也可以通过被动结构实现后置：
The car
is
being cleaned
by
Albert.
This sonnet
was written
by
Shakespeare.
也可以通过分隔修饰实现主语语义重心的后移：
The time has
now come
for
us
to face the facts squarely.
About
85
papers
were
published reporting the results
of
the experiment.
An
order
came from Berlin
that
no
language
but
German
be
taught
in
school.
In
those
days,
a false
belief
was
commonly held by people
that
the globe was flat.
All
the essays
are good
except
John's.
3) 尾重句
与句尾焦点和句尾重心的原则相一致的句式还有尾重句
(periodic sentence)
结构。英语中有一种严谨的句子结构，这种句子包含几个信息结构而将主要信息或其实质部分留到句尾或接近句尾才出现，这种句式叫做尾重句。例如：
According to newspaper reports, after
winning
the Olympic gold medal
for figure
skating
(花样滑冰），she
was offered a professional contract.
Finally,
with both
of
us
combing our imaginative resources,
after
what
seems
another
hour,
we
That night,
in
the rain and the wind, when we could see no lights
in
the town,
we slipped away.
Against the advice
of
my friends,
the
cautions
of
my coach
(教练），
and,
in
some
ways,
my own judgement,
I entered the
tournament
(参赛），
and,
of
all
wonders, I
won
first
place.
In
his capacity
to
deceive himself,
to
seek
his own advancement ruthlessly
while
talking about
在复杂句中，凡是从句先行而将主句置千其后的结构，也属于尾重句。例如：
When last year her mother
was
dying
of
cancer and
her
father seemed on the verge
of
breakdown
If Beethoven had been restricted to a less enlightened court
circle, had not known the
Breunings,
尾重句的特点是，主要信息迟迟不出现，必须一气呵成地读下去，这就使句子的气势待续不衰，而当主要信息最后出现时，读者便可获得深刻印象，从而使主要信息或其实质部分得到充分的强调。与尾重句结构相反的是松散句
(loose sentence)
在松散旬中
主要信息或其实质部分较早出现，随后附加修饰语或补充细节
根据句尾焦点和句尾重心的原则，主要信息在这种结构中不像在尾重句中那样有力，因此在修辞上常用来平衡主要信息和次要信息的力度。试比较下列诸句：
Though
he
wanted
the
job
more
than
anything
in
the
world,
he
knew
he
had little
chance
of
He
knew
he
had
little
chance
of
getting
the
job,
although
he
wanted
it
more than anything
in
the
world.
(松散句）
Considering
the
free
health
care,
the
cheap
tuition
fees,
the
low
crime rate,
the
comprehensive I
I
am
willing
to
pay
slightly
higher
taxes
for
the
privilege
of living in
Canada,
considering
the
free
health
care,
the
cheap
tuition
fees,
the
low
crime rate,
the
comprehensive
social
programs,
and
the
wonderful winters.
(松散句）
由上述两例可以看出，不论是尾重句或松散句都是在修辞上运用句尾重心和句尾焦点原则的产物拿以上第一例来说，那是一个带让步状语从句的复杂句，其中主句表示主要信息，从句表示次要信息主句和从句的顺序上，如果用“尾重句“，即从句在前，主句在后，那么，在语义上无疑是主要信息得到充分的强调
反之，如果用“松散句＂，即主句在前
从句在后，这时，主要信息便受到一定程度的削弱，而由从句表示的次要信息的重要性却受到相应的提高，从而在语义上起到一种平衡作用。尾重句或松散句的选用，完全取决于说话人的语义意图以及特定的语境，两者通常是相互穿插，交替使用。如果通篇都用尾重句或松散句，那就会使文笔单调，不能很好地达到交际目的。
喜欢
0
赠金笔