书城外语英语语篇语法概论
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第10章 英语语句写作图式与技术(2)

(2)In such a spirit on my part and on yours, we face our common difficulties.They concern, thank God, only material things.Values shrunk to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by curtailment of income; the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of our industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; and the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone.(语义相近)

(3)It was raining hard; they could not work in the fields.(因果)

(4)The first landed on the island of Roanoke off the coast of what is now North Carolina and stayed less than one year; anything but enthusiastic about their new home, these first colonists returned to England in the summer of 1586.(转折)

(5)In Plato's opinion man was made for philosophy; in Bacon's opinion philosophy was made for man.(对立)

(6)The essay is poorly organized; there is no central idea.(同一问题的两层语义)

(7)White ran back to call the police; when he returned to the place, the robbers had already vanished.(结果)

因此,在逗号、分号和句号所传达的语句关系上,逗号表示不独立的语句内部关系,句号表示相互独立的完整的语句关系,而分号表示的大概刚好处于逗号和句号之间的关系,那就是,语句结构相对独立完整,但具有较近的某种语义逻辑关系。

在英语写作中,正确、规范地运用逗号、句号等标点符号,不仅能反映出文本写作者的英语语句结构能力,还使英语文本在写作的行文字符形式上更加地道,以及有助于彰显整个行文思路的清晰性。

当然,在英语的逗号的使用中,也确实存在连续用多个逗号把一系列语义紧密联系的独立短句连在一起的情况,这种情况偶尔出现在小说中的描写,或其他某些个别场合以达到特殊的表达效果。但这种用法只有具备相当的英语写作水平之后才能达到恰如其分的运用。而对于一般的英语写作者而言,最好还是先学会掌握了一些基本的、规范的用法为好。因为在平时所接触的英语基本通用文本中,如议论文或说明文等,都是不管句子长短,完整的句子后面都用句号。学习英语,无非是学习两个方面,一是规范用法,二是不规范用法,或特殊用法。但是,规范用法方面的学习始终是基础性的,或者说,是学习的主体。

逗号运用的特殊语例:

(1)He crouched a little, spreading his hands under the water and moving them round, trying to feel for her.The dead cold pond swayed upon his chest.He moved again, a little, and again, with his hands underneath, he felt all around the water.And he touched her clothing.But it evaded his fingers.He made a desperate effort to grasp it…

(2)He laid her down on the bank.She was quite unconscious and running with water.He made the water come from her mouth, he worked to restore her.He did not have to work very long before he could feel the breathing begin again in her she was breathing naturally…

句号运用的特殊语例:

It is a story of a new world that became a friend and liberator of the old.A story of a slave holding society that became a servant of freedom.It is the American story.A story of flawed and fallible people, united across the generation by grand and enduring ideals.

分号运用的特殊语例:

I ask you to be citizens; citizens, not spectators; citizens, not subjects; responsible citizens building communities of service and a nation of character.

3.主谓结构要素

主语、谓语是英语语句的两个基本结构要素,是英语语句的两个框架性的基石。如果语句中的谓语动词是一个及物动词时,后面还得有一个宾语;如果谓语动词是一个系动词时,后面还必须有一个表语或补语。

一个英语语句只有具备主语结构和谓语结构,这个英语语句才算具备一个完整英语语句的先决条件。一个主语,一个谓语,如此简单的两个部分,对于具备一定英语水平的大学生来讲,确实是再简单不过了。可以说,几乎所有的英语学习者,或许是由于深受应试教育的影响而精于英语语法学习的缘故,都能够对单个英语语句的主语、谓语问题把握得十分到位。可是,一旦到了英语写作中,事情就变了。不少人会在如此简单的问题上犯错,写出的英语语句要么缺主语少谓语,要么主语、谓语都没有,要么是主语、谓语在人称、数上的不一致,或者在谓语上把谓语动词与非谓语动词的用法混淆而使得整个英语语句没有谓语。

在这几种英语语句主谓语常见错误情况中,除了主语、谓语在人称、数上的不一致及谓语时态上的错误等,尚可归咎于写作者的英语基础句法知识掌握欠好外,其他几种错误情况则纯粹是由于对英语语句的基本要素的掌握不清,以及对其缺乏相应的意识造成的,其结果便是在英语写作中出现不完整句现象(Sentence fragments)。

不完整语句结构是指具有大写的首字母和句号但缺主语少谓语,或主语、谓语皆无的语句结构,包括单个的语词及各种各样的英语短语,如名词性短语、非谓语动词短语、动词短语、介词短语等,也可以是无主句结构的各式各样的从句结构。

4.不完整句的运用

谈及不完整句,这里需要特别说明的是,英语语言中的不完整句并不是不可以使用,也并不是所有不完整句都是错误的。在某些特定场合,英语不完整句的使用,是十分正常合理的,特别是在一些实用文本中,如广告、简历、产品使用说明等。

语例:

REQUIREMENTS

-An MBA degree or equivalent

-3-5 years of consulting experience in China

-Corporate experience preferred

-Fluency in Chinese (putonghua) and English

-Technical undergraduate degree a plus

-Extreme proficiency in computering office office work

另外,不完整句也常出现于一般文本中的描写部分,以及文学作品和非正规文体文本。

语例:

(1)The thundering storm night and the pitch-dark sky.The rain came down all of a sudden, as if it had accumulated itself well enough and formed a vast compact water pond and then suddenly let open by someone.

(2)"I have some cash," I said, looking around for Mein Herr.He was back under the tree, smiling wistfully."I could…"

Oh, no, said the woman.

Oh, yes said I.

O no.

O yes.

Nein.

Ja.

Non.

The woman's eyelids were closed.Her mascara was melting.

(3)Francs have a rich and disreputable past.I fell permanently under their spell long ago in Paris.Lovely stuff, soft from the touch of many hands, bits of colored paper engraved with famous faces.

(法郎历史悠久,声名狼藉。我很久以前在巴黎时就感受它的魔力。确是让人可爱的东西,由于经过众多的手的触摸而变得柔柔的,一些刻印着名人肖像的彩色小纸片)

即使在一些正规文本中,如讲演稿、议论文、说明文以及专栏文章中,有时也可出现不完整句。不完整句常用做一个文本部分的小主题,以提示后面做相关展开。

例:

(1)Early experience.…Education.…

(2)Purpose of the project.…Steps of the project.… Implementation of the project.…

(3)There you have it on one page in one day.Bad fiscal policy, bad monetary policy, bad regulations and an unwillingness to change any of it.

不完整句有时也作为一种修辞手段而达到特殊的文本表达效果。

例:

Much time has passed since Jefferson arrived for his inauguration.The years and changes accumulate.But the themes of this day, he would know; our nation's grand story of courage, and its simple dream of dignity.Never tiring, never yielding, never finishing.…

只是相对而言,一般英语学习者应该从学习基础的、完整的英语语句出发,学习使用完整英语语句,以便形成良好的基础性英语语句能力。英语写作学习者所接触的英语文本几乎都是由完整句构成的,因此,在写作学习或写作考试中,也要求使用基本的完整英语语句表达思想,写出规范的英语文本。

二、英语语句写作的标准特征

语句是文本基本组成单元。对于英语写作学习者,知道如何评判一篇文本中语句的质量好否是十分必要的,同时,英语写作学习者只有了解了如何评判文本语句的好否,才能更好地指导自己提高英语语句写作的能力和水平。英语语句写作的标准也是英语语句基本图式的必要和重要的组成部分。

英语语句写作的标准/要求有五点:完整、连贯、简洁、表达有力、句式灵活多样。这五个标准/要求相对独立,各有所重,又相互联系。

(一)完整

完整是英语语句的一个十分重要的基本要求。英语语句的完整包含两层意思,一是语句结构上的完整,二是语句语义上的完整。语句结构上的完整是指一个语句首先要具备前面所讲的英语语句四个基本要素:首字母大写,主语,谓语结构,句号标点符号;其次还要符合英语语句的基本句型和句式,如简单句、复合句、复杂句等句型,SV、SVO、SVC等句式。

语句语义上的完整是指一个英语语句需要表达一个单一的、完整的语义或思想。

一个具备完整性的英语语句必须同时具备结构上的完整和语义上的完整,二者缺一不可。