有关英语语法的论文

论英语语法与修辞语法和修辞既是相通的，又是有区别的。语法是语言的组织规律，讲的是语言的结构形式；因此语法学家研究的对象是语言本身规律的一部分，是研究如何造出合乎语法的句子。因为只有合乎语法规则的句子才具有可理解的性质，才有可能被用作表达思想的基本语言单位。修辞不同于语法，它是研究语言使用的规律，是和语言的使用目的和使用场合密切相关的。因此，修辞学研究的对象是如何在具体交际场合中取得最好的语言表达效果，即如何根据不同的对象和场合把话说好，把文章做好，以便更好地达到交际目的。但是，修辞和语法又密切相关，可以说，修辞知识是语法知识的延伸，前者是建筑在后者基础上。因为语法告诉我们，同一个意思可以有不同的合乎语法的表达方式，而修辞则告诉我们如何恰当地选用语法形式，以达到最好的语言表达效果。语法结构形式的选用，关系到使用领域（即语体）的问题。比如在学术论文中，不可用适合于口头的表达方式；在法律文书中，不可用形象生动的文学语言；对上级或者长辈讲话，用语不可太随便；跟朋友谈心，用语又不可太庄重。因此，一本好的语法书必然要涉及修辞问题。我们学习语法不能只重视分析语言的能力；更重要的是要培养自觉、恰当地运用语言的能力。从这个角度来看，语法必须结合修辞，语法书的编写不能局限于词法和句法而必须超越句法的范围，讲一点如何恰当地使用语法知识的规律。恰当地使用语法知识规律可以简单地归纳为以下内容：表达思想，分清主次；关系明确，避免歧义；言语简练，用词经济；句式多样，灵活交替。一、表达思想，分清主次 这是修辞的第一条要求。在使用语言进行交际时，总是要把主要的住处突出起来，以便引起对方的注意，能为对方所理解并把握住意义的重心。这就涉及语法中一系列强调手段的运用问题。这些强调手段包括后置和前置、主从句、分裂句、层进法等，只要用之得当，便可在组词成句中突出主要的信息，分清主要次要的意思。1、后置后置，作为一种突出主要思想的手段，是现代英语的词序特征。众所周知，英语在其长期发展中形成一种相对固定的词序。根据这种词序，句子的意义重心往往落在句子的尾部分，从而句尾成为一种受到强调的部位。根据这条原则，说话人要强调什么意思，便可让它出现在句尾，从而传递信息便主次分明了。在前面提到的句尾信息焦点和尾重原则就是采用的这一原理。对比下面两句话：The patient was taken good care of, and began to recover The patient was taken good care of, and immediately began to 这两个句子的意思都是病人受到很好的照顾，很快开始康复。但第一句的意义重心是immediately, 强调了康复之快，而第二句的意义重心则在于“康复”而不强调“马上”。再如：Though we started off early, we were late for the last We were late for the last bus, though we started off We were late for the last We started off early, 以上三个句子所表达的意思是一致的，但所强调的重点是不一样的。第一句强调我们晚了，第二句强调我们的确出发不晚，第三句突出强调了出发得早然而却晚了这一惊讶。We had a long enough holiday on the We had a holiday, long enough, on the 两个句子的意义差别不大，但第一句只是普通的句子，而第二句强调了long enough。2、主从结构在主从结构中（这里主要指主句与从句），主句通常携带主要的信息，从句表达次要的信息。因此，人们在交流思想时，可以把主要意思放在主句中表达，而把次要意思放在从句中。这也可以成为表达思想分清主次的手段。如：After I had visited this country, I was even more struck by its Having visited this country, I was even more struck by its After my visit to this country, I was even more struck by its I was even more struck by its beauty, after I had visited this 以上四个句子意思上的差别是不大的，但所要表达的具体内涵和感情就有些差异了。第一句after从句是个时间状语从句，为了更加突出主要的意思，通常它放于主句的前面，从而突出主句的信息。第二句把时间状语从句改为了非限定分句，那就加重了它的从属地位，从而主句的意思也就更加突出。如果再把非限定分句改为介词词组，那末，主句的意思进一步得到突出。第四句把从句置于句末，根据末端中心的原则，从句的意义比在句首是加重了，它相当于一种补叙，为主句表达的思想内容提供某种比较重要的条件，意思相当于“只有当我参观了这个国家之后，才被这个国家的美更加深深地打动了。”在这样的结构中，有两条语法规则在交叉地起作用：主从结构的表意作用和词序的作用。正由于从属的意思能以各种方式增加其分量，使之能够对主句所表达的意思起一定的平衡作用，有时甚至起到修改和对抗作用，这种“主句＋从句”的结构往往可在修辞上取得幽默、讽刺或戏剧性等特殊效果，在阅读时您不妨仔细体味。如：We don’t bother much about dress and manners in England, because as a nation we don’t dress well and we’ve no 这句话是主句在前，从句在后。主句的意思是：在英国，我们不为衣着和礼貌而烦神，为什么不烦神呢？都穿得很好吗？都很讲礼貌吗？不是的。请看下文：因为，作为一个民族，我们穿得不好，而且不讲礼貌。这样一来，后置的原因状语分句便对主句的意思起抵消的作用，从而带有辛辣的讽刺味道。再如：Even though men may deny it, women may soon be able to compete with men in most sporting Women may soon be able to compete with men in most sporting events, though men may not deny(否定)Women may soon be able to compete with men in most sporting events, but men may deny 第一句，主句位于从句之后，突出了主句的意思，对妇女在体育运动中不断提高的地位持肯定态度；第二句，从句位于主句之后，抵消了或削弱了主句的意思，但是主要意思还是认为妇女即将在大多数体育运动项目中与男子进行竞争，只是这种意思被后面的从句削弱了一；第三句是个并列句，其意义主要受着分句顺序的支配。这句话的主要意思是妈妇女能否在大多数体育运动项目中与男了相抗衡表示一种怀疑的态度。3、前置除采用后置和主从结构来突出主要思想外，语法还提供了第三种方法，这就是前置。由于句首也是一种引人注目的位置，如果把一个通常不出现在句首的成分前移至句首，这也会起强调作用，产生特殊的修辞效果。例如句子的宾语和补足语通常出现在谓语动词之后，如果由于某种原因，比如为了与上文相衔接，而把宾语或补语移至句首，这时，前置的宾语或补语就会特别引人注目。如：Mr White fried two small pieces of One of these he fed to his The other he ate 怀特先生煎了两条鱼，一条喂了狗，另一条他自己吃了。It is important to prevent Equally important is to take measures to check the rise in 阻止污染是非常重要的。同时同等重要的是采取措施核实价格是不能提高。有时状语的前置也能起强调作用。比如在否定结构中，否定词及其强调词通常是比较贴近谓语动词的。如：The manager will not in any case stand rudeness from his 在这里，not in any case 是“决不”之意，位于句子当中，这是不受强调的位置。如果把这个结构移至句首并引起倒装：In no case will the manager stand rudeness from his 这时，状语in no case便处于突出的地位，受到了强调。当然，在这种结构中，句尾仍然起着信息中心的作用。4、分裂句语法向我们提供的另一强调手段是一种特殊的、专门突出主要意思的句子结构――分裂句（又称强调句型）。分裂句的基本结构是：It is/was＋中心成分＋that-分句在这种句式中，中心成分是最受强调的部位，它可以是一个句子中主语、宾语、状语和宾语补足语等。（本部分详细请参阅本章《强调部分》）During the summer vacation I worked in a hotel as a part-time job to make some money for 在暑假里，为了嫌点钱上学，我在一家旅馆找了份业余工作。这个句子可以改用分裂句式强调除谓语动词以外的任何成分。如：It was during the summer vacation that I worked in a hotel as a part-time job to make some money for It was I that/who during the summer vacation worked in a hotel as a part-time job to make some money for It was in a hotel during the summer vacation I worked as a part-time job to make some money for It was as a part-time job that During the summer vacation I worked in a hotel to make some money for 对于谓语及其后续成分突出出来就得采用另外一种分裂句：What-分句＋is＋不定式结构。如：What I did during the summer vacation was to work in a hotel as a part-time job to make some money for 由此可见分裂句It is/was＋中心成分＋that-分句的主要强调重心不在句尾而在句中；分裂句What-分句＋is＋不定式结构的主要强调重心仍然在句尾。5、层进法还有一种强调的方法就是采用“层进法”，即在排列两个以上并列成分时，采取由次要到重要到最重要的排列方式，从而突出位于句尾的成分。如：Einstein was a fair violinist, a great mathematician, and a deeply philosophical (哲理的)爱因斯坦三重身份：他既是伟大的数学家，又是个懂得精深哲理的人，同时还是个业余小提琴手。在这三重身份中，哪一种最重要呢？当然，精通哲理最重要，数学家次之，会演奏小提琴又次之，所以按照a vilionist, a great mathematician, and a deeply philosophical man 这样的排列，是符合一般修辞原则的，即要求由次要到重要至最重要的排列。这是故意违反一般修辞原则，而把不太重要的意思放在最后最重要的位置上，从而达到讽刺、幽默的修效果。He referred his success to hard work, his parents and his 一个人事业的成功，最重要因素本应为“埋头苦干”，可是现在却把“父母、老师”放在最重要的位置，这无疑就是一种人际交流的需要。层进法不仅适用于句子成分之间，而且适用于句子和句子、语段和语段、段落和段落之间。二、关系明确，避免歧义 修辞的另一条重要原则是要求表意明确，而不是模棱两可。一句话如果既可作这样解释，又可作那样解释，这就叫做歧义。引起歧义的原因是多种多样。其中重要的一种是句子成分之间的关系不明确，特别是照应关系、修饰关系、比较关系不明确往往引起歧义。照应必须有被照应的对象，修饰也必有被修饰的对象，如果这些关系搞不清，意思就含糊不明。因此，关系明确是避免歧义的重要方法。1、要处理好照应关系英语中代词照应是照应关系中最重要的。处理好照应关系是理解篇章的最基本的前提。如：? Since my grandfather was a doctor, it is not surprising that I have chosen that for a 在这里that所指不明，不论是指doctor, 还是指my grandfather was doctor, 在本句中都讲不能。因此在这个句中，have chosen 的宾语以不用代词为宜：Since my grandfather was a doctor, it is not surprising that I have chosen medicine for my 再如：? The players and umpires (裁判)know one another well and sometimes they call them by their first 这个并列句后半部的they, them, their含义不明。如果是运动员对他们认识的裁判员有时直呼其名，可以说：Players who know umpires well sometimes call them by their first 如果是裁判员对他们认识的运动员有时直呼其名，那就说：Knowing the players well, the umpires sometimes call them by their first 2、要处理好修饰关系关于名词修饰语和状语(特别是副词)的位置问题分别相关章节，这里再从修辞角度作一些补充。状语的位置如果处理不当往往会引起歧义。如：? I have followed the advice sincerely given by the ? The woman scolded the boy for playing with fire 上述诸句中，sincerely, bitterly 叫“偏斜修饰语”，因为它们在句中位置不正，以致sincerely既可理解为修饰follow, 也可理解为修饰given；bitterly 本应修饰scolded，但在句中却好象在修饰playing，从而产生了歧义。这些修饰语的位置应作如下调整：I have sincerely followed the advice given by the The woman bitterly scolded the boy for playing with 再如：He sent us the full story of his rescue from Lake of the Ozarks(美国奥沙克湖)在这里from Lake of the Ozarks既可理解为修饰sent，也可理解修饰his rescue。根据“靠近”的原则，可将该句调整如下：He sent us from the Ozarks the full story of his 3、要避免中途改变语态或主语在主动结构和被动结构的使用上，一般修辞原则是要保持前后一致。如果中途改变语态，则往往意义不明。如：? He left the examination after his answer had been 这句话，主句用了主动结构，从句忽然改为被动结构，这样一来，到底是谁“核对子答案”便不明确了。要改进这个句子，最好把前后的动词语态一致起来，从而主语也一致了：He left the exmination after he had checked his 再如：As the guests entered the church, proper seats were arranged by the ushers leading (迎客的人)这句话的毛病是中途改变主语，以致“座位指定给谁”，含义不明。应将前后主语一致起来，尽管语态有变，但不影响意义：As the guests entered the church, they were led to the proper seats by the 4、要处理好比较关系比较关系也是一种修饰关系。比较结构如果不完整或不确切也会引出歧义。请观察：? He is as tall, if not taller, than his 在这句话中，比较结构不完全，因为不可能说He is as tall than his brother, 而只能说as tall as his brother。 所以这句话应该调整为：He is as tall as his brother, if not 或调整为：He is as tall as, if not taller than his 再如：Leonardo had one of the greatest, if not the greatest minds of all 这个最高级结构也是不完全的，从而非常费解，因为在这里有两个名词词组“one of the greatest minds”和“the greatest mind”。应补足为：Leonardo had one of the greatest minds, if not the greatest mind, of all 有时，比较结构不完全，导致表意不合逻辑。如：?Her salary was lower than a 怎么会一个人的薪水比打字员低呢？应该说成：Her salary was lower than that of a 或者：Her salary was lower than a typist’再如：?The food here costs no more than any other 这句话从字面上看可以理解为The food here costs no more than any other restaurant costs, 这样以来，就变成拿食品价格和其它饭店的相比了，显然不合逻辑。应该拿这里的食品价格和任何其它饭店的食品相比：The food here costs no more than (it does) at any other 由上述诸例可以看出，在使用比较结构时，必须把被比较的对象明确起来。如果被比较的对象不明确，那就意义含糊。如：?Claremont is farther from Los Angeles than P这句话的意思很含糊。到底是Claremont 距离Los Angeles 比Pomona 距离Los Angeles 远呢？还是Claremont距离Los Angeles 比Claremont距离Pomona远呢？如果是前一种意思，应该说成：Claremont is farther from Los Angeles than Pomona 如果是后一种意思，则应该说：Claremont is farther from Los Angeles than it is from P有时，在比较结构中使用than any…不当，其表意不合逻辑。如：?For many years the Empire State building was taller than any building in New Y这句话不合逻辑，因为Empire State Building 坐落在纽约市。它怎能和包括它自己在内的纽约市建筑物相比呢？处理这类问题，只要在any之后加个other就可以了：From many years the Empire State Building was taller than any other building in New Y三、言语简练，用词经济 言语简练，用词经济是修辞的另一条重要原则。所谓“简练”就是不用多余的词，即在表情达意中每一个词都起到自己的表意作用，而没有冗长、累赘的现象。“简练”和“简短”是两个不同的概念。“简练”是修辞上的优点；“简短”有时是优点，但有时就不一定是优点。一个简短的句子或者一篇简短的文章有时铿锵有力，掷地有声，便有时也可能言之无物，读来无味；文章长而空固然不妙；而空也未尝足取。一个句子或者一篇文章可能比较长，但内容充实，组织严密，没有废话，没有败笔，照样可以算是“简练”。因此“简练”是修辞的一个努力方向，它和“简短”是有区别的。1、要避免冗赘尽管一个句子或者一篇文章并不一定是“越短越好”，但是小题而大作，短话而连篇，言之无物，总是要不得的。讲一句话，造一个句子，在能充分表达思想的前提下，用词应该十分经济，必须避免使用多余的词。如：Whenever anyone called for someone to help him do something, Jim was always the first to lend his help for the 这个句子如果变为下面的句子就更加简练：Whenever anyone called for help, Jim was always the first to lend his 这个句子即是“简练的”，又是“简短”的。在这里，这二者就一致起来了。2、要避免不必要的重复重复有时是修辞的需要，但是，不必要的重复往往会造成言语累赘，表达无力。语法为我们提供了避免重复的手段，这重要是省略和替代。一般原则是，在能充分表意的前提下，能省略的就应省略，能替代的就应替代。省略和替代不仅能够避免不必要的重复，而且可使主要的思想内容得到应有的突出。反之，如果该省略而不省略，该替代而不替代，反而会冲淡主要的内容，赞成烦冗无力的表达。如：My father planned (all these houses) and my brother built all these Brian can (do the work well) and (he) should do the work well, but he won’t (do the work well)Mary is going to sweep the floor though Alice won’t (sweep the floor)以上各句中括号内为省略的部分。第一句中，省略了all these houses, 便突出了planned; 第二句省略了do the work well和he，突出了can, should和won’t; 同样地，第三句省略了sweep the floor, 便强调了Alice won’t。再如：Here is a white silk blouse and a pink (one替代silk blouse)He said he would tell me the news, but he didn’t do (do so替代tell me the news)We are told that he will come back tonight, and if so our meeting will be held (if so替代if he comes back tonight)在上述第一句中，用了名词替代词one, 不仅避免了silk blouse的重复，而且使pink的意义突出起来；第二句用do so替代tell me the news, 突出了didn’t 的意义；第三句用if so替代if he comes back tonight, 突出了其后主句的含义。 3、要避免拖沓现象句尾是传递最重要信息的位置。因此，通常不宜在句尾附加过多的补叙。如果在句尾加上长串的并不重要的细节，往往会出现拖沓现象。“拖沓句”也是累赘的一种表现。如：It was 7:15 on the morning of February 8, 2000, when I was walking along Park Road towards the east when an elderly amn came out of the park on the other side of the Then I saw a yellow car drive up Third Street and make a right turn into Park R The next moment the car hit the man while he was crossing the The man was badly hurt and he fell with a The car didn’t stop but drove off at great speed which was heading I noticed the driver wa a young woman who pretended not to be noticing all of this and the plate number was AC About two minutes later I stopped a car which was passing near here and took the old man to the nearest hospital where the old man could be taken good care 在这篇短文中，似乎用了太多的定语从句，从而使读者的视线容易因为读这些长句子而转移对整个交通事故的描述。如若改成下面的短文，就会显得简洁明了。I was walking along Park Road towards the east on the morning of February 8, 2000 when an elderly man came out of the park on the other sde of the Then a yellow car drove up Third Street and made a right trun into Park R The next moment the car hit the man while he was crossing the He fell with a The car didn’t stop but drove off at great speed heading I noticed the dirver was a young woman and the plate number was AC About two minutes later I stopped a passing car and took the old man to the nearest hospital where he was taken good care 这样整篇短文中含有一个定语从句，两个并列句，一个时间状语从句，一个宾语从句，一个分词结构，四个并列谓语，调整了主要信息的位置，删除了多余的词，主句和从句的次序进行了调换，使句式错落有致、重点突出。四、句式多样，灵活交替 修辞的另一个要求是，言语要生动活泼，形式，最忌单调乏味，平淡无奇。避免单调可以通过各种不同的手段来实现。从语法角度看，多种句式的灵活交替是达到生动活泼，避免单调的重要方法。写一篇文，讲一段话，如果通篇用的都是简单句或者通篇都是很长很长的复杂句，往往会给人以句式单调的感觉。如下面一篇短文：My name is Li H I was born in Dalian, Liaoning province in February I started school in 1984 at I studied in Guangming Primary School from 1984 to After that I went to N 62 Middle school of Dalian and graduated this The main subjects I studied at school included Chinese, maths, English, physics, chemistry and I like English and computer I am very good at Last year I won first prize in the school computer In my spare time I enjoy listening to popular music and collecting My favourite sports are swimming in summer and skating in 上面的短文是对自己作的一个简介，内容很全面，但句式太单调，不活泼不生动，给人一种平淡之感。如果将这篇短文的句式进行调整，充分运用分词结构，使句式灵活多样，本短文将会变得活泼，读起来朗朗上口。修改如下：My name is Li Hua and I was born in Dalian, Liaoning province in February In 1984 when I was seven years old, I started From 1984 to 1990 I studied in Guangming Primary S And after that I went to N 62 Middle School of Dalian, where I graduated this The main subjects I studied at school included Chinese, maths, English, physics, chemistry and I like best English and compuer which I am very good Last year I won first prize in the school computer In my spare time, what I enjoy doing is listening to music, collecting stamps, swimming and skakting, of which I love swimming and skating 修改过的短文包括一个并列句，五个定语从句，一个分裂句，同时在上下文的衔接上注意了关联词的运用，从而使整个短文句式灵活多变，思路清晰，读起来朗朗上口。