四、分裂句 上一章我們介紹了具特殊句型的存在句,在本章中我們將介紹另一種特殊句型:分裂句 (cleft sentence) 。我們在上一章的討論中提到,存在句的使用基本上是為了避免在溝通時產生不必要的困擾,而本章要討論的分裂句則主要是為了因應修辭上的需要。那,什麼是分裂句呢?請看下文的說明。 何謂分裂句? 在我們正式討論分裂句之前,請先觀察下面這個句子: a. Jeremy hung the picture on the wall with some wire yesterday because he couldn't find any string. (昨天傑若米用電線把那張圖片掛在牆壁上,因為他找不到繩子。) a. 句提供了以下幾個訊息: ① who hung the picture on the wall with some wire yesterday because he couldn't find any string → Jeremy ② what Jeremy hung on the wall with some wire yesterday because he couldn't find any string → the picture ③ where Jeremy hung the picture with some wire yesterday because he couldn't find any string → on the wall ④ how Jeremy hung the picture on the wall yesterday because he couldn't find any string → with some wire ⑤ when Jeremy hung the picture on the wall with some wire because he couldn't find any string → yesterday ⑥ why Jeremy hung the picture on the wall with some wire yesterday → because he couldn't find any string ⑦ what Jeremy did to the picture on the wall with some wire yesterday because he couldn't find any string → he hung it 以上幾點箭頭右邊的詞語稱為「訊息焦點」 (information focus) 。 說話者可以將自身認為是核心焦點的部分(粗體紅字)重讀,以凸顯其重要性: a1. Jeremy hung the picture on the wall with some wire yesterday because he couldn't find any string. a2. Jeremy hung the picture on the wall with some wire yesterday because he couldn't find any string. a3. Jeremy hung the picture on the wall with some wire yesterday because he couldn't find any string. a4. Jeremy hung the picture on the wall with some wire yesterday because he couldn't find any string. a5. Jeremy hung the picture on the wall with some wireye sterday because he couldn't find any string. a6. Jeremy hung the picture on the wall with some wire yesterday because he couldn't find any string . a7. Jeremy hung the picture on the wall with some wire yesterday because he couldn't find any string. 但是,以重讀的方式來強調句子的某一部分,有其潛在的缺點。第一,重讀必須以口說表達,然而在各種主、客觀的因素(如說話者的音質、音量或背景的噪音等)影響下,正確的訊息不見得能很精準地傳達給聽話者。第二,書寫時無法用重讀的方式表達寫作者的意念。在這樣的情況下,分裂句就成了最佳解決之道。 我們可以用以下 b. ~ g. 句來取代上面的 a1. ~ a6. : b. It was Jeremy that hung the picture on the wall with some wire yesterday because he couldn't find any string. c. It was the picture that Jeremy hung on the wall with some wire yesterday because he couldn't find any string. d. It was on the wall that Jeremy hung the picture with some wire yesterday because he couldn't find any string. e. It was with some wire that Jeremy hung the picture on the wall yesterday because he couldn't find any string. f. It was yesterday that Jeremy hung the picture on the wall with some wire because he couldn't find any string. g. It was because he couldn't find any string that Jeremy hung the picture on the wall with some wire yesterday. 以上 b. ~ g. 即所謂的分裂句。我們發現, a1. ~ a6. 中需要被強調的部分(焦點訊息)皆被置於 b. ~ g. 句中 It was 和 that 之間,也就是說,它們被與原句中剩餘的部分分離開來,此即所謂的「分裂」 (cleaving) ;而分裂的目的,很明顯與重讀的目的相同,就是要凸顯這些詞語的重要性。 接下來我們要探討的是分裂句的句型結構。除了分析分裂句的基本句型之外,我們也要審視分裂句中焦點部分之結構。最後,我們還要看一下分裂的機制在各種句構中如何呈現。 分裂句的結構 A. 基本句型 由 b. ~ g. 句我們可歸納出分裂句之基本句型為: It + be + ... + that + ...... 「 ... 」部分應置入焦點訊息,原句剩餘之部分則置於「 ...... 」處。以下面 h. 這個簡單的句子為例: h. John loves Mary. (約翰愛瑪麗。) 我們若以主詞 John 為焦點,則 John 須置於「 ... 」處,其餘部分則須照原句之結構寫在「 ...... 」處:h1. It is John that loves Mary . 若以受詞 Mary 為焦點,則將 Mary 置於「 ... 」,其餘部分仍須依原句之字序先後列於「 ...... 」: h2. It is Mary that John loves . 我們看另一個稍微複雜的例子: i. The patient passed away in the hospital last night. (那個病人昨天晚上在醫院裡過世了。) 若以主詞 The patient 為焦點,其對應之分裂句應為: i1. It was the patient that passed away in the hospital last night . 若以地方副詞為焦點,其對應之分裂句應為: i2. It was in the hospital that the patient passed away last night . 若以時間副詞為焦點,其對應之分裂句應為: i3. It was last night that the patient passed away in the hospital . 與上例相同,除了被分裂出去的部分之外,原句的剩餘部分不應該做任何更動,也就是,必須照抄於 that 之後。而且請注意,因為本例原動詞 passed away 為過去式,所以分裂句中的 be 動詞應用過去形式的 was 。 從分裂句的基本句型本身來看,我們發現分裂句最特別的地方在於句首的代名詞 It 與句中的連接詞 that 。然而,這兩個字並非唯一的選擇。以 It 來說,它除了作為句子形式上的主詞之外,還必須扮演引導焦點訊息的角色,而由於 It 本身並不具太強的語意內涵 (semantic import) ,因此在某些情況下,有些人會選擇用指示意涵較強烈的 That 來取代 It 。試比較 j. 句和 k. 句: j. It was a cockroach that was swimming in my soup. (在我的湯裡游泳的是一隻蟑螂。) k. That was a cockroach that was swimming in my soup. (在我的湯裡游泳那玩意是一隻蟑螂。) 很明顯地, j. 句雖然是個分裂句,但是讓人覺得「平鋪直敘」,相反地, k. 句則讓人有「如臨現場」的感受。 在分裂句中負責引導原句剩餘部分的 that 也面臨類似的「窘境」,因為 that 除了用來引導其後的非焦點資訊外,同時必須作為連結其前之焦點訊息的橋樑。換言之,它與其前之字詞有著相當程度的「關係」。這正是為什麼有些人會用關係詞來取代 that 的原因。比如前面的 h1. 句可以改成: h3. It is John who loves Mary. 而 h2. 也可用 h4. 來表達:h4. It is Mary whom John loves. 有些人更進一步,用 where 和 when 來取代連結地方和時間的 that 。例如把 i2. 句變成: i4. It was in the hospital where the patient passed away last night. 或把 i3. 變成: i5. It was last night when the patient passed away in the hospital. 不過,由於分裂句形成之目的與關係子句所代表的意義畢竟不同,為了不引起不必要的誤解,在分裂句中避免使用 who 、 where 、 when 等關係詞應該是較安全、穩當的作法。 B. 分裂句中焦點部分的結構 分裂句中的焦點訊息可以單字(如 b. 句)、片語(如 d. 句)或子句(如 g. 句)的形式出現。而這些單字、片語或子句在原句中可能是作主詞用的名詞(如 b. 、 h1. 句)、作動詞之受詞用的名詞(如 c. 、 h2. 句)、表地方的副詞(如 d. 、 i2 句)、表時間的副詞(如 f. 、 i3. 句)、表方法的副詞(如 e. 句)、表原因的副詞(如 g. 句)。除此之外,我們發現介系詞的受詞與動詞受詞的補語也可以被分裂,作為焦點訊息。例如下列兩句話中,被分裂的即為介系詞之受詞: l. It was me that he lent the book to . (他那本書借的對象是我。) m. It was a stick that Martin beat the dog with . (馬汀用的是一根棍子來打狗。) 下面兩句話中被作為焦點訊息的則為受詞補語: n. It was vice president that they made Mr. Dean . (他們推舉他擔任的是副總裁。) o. It is white that we paint our new house . (我們的新房子漆的是白色。) 有趣的是,雖然受詞補語可被分裂,主詞補語卻不可: p. I am a teacher. ≠ It is a teacher that I am. (我是老師。) q. Vera seems upset. ≠ It is upset that Vera seems. (維拉似乎不高興。) 另外,不能被分裂作為焦點訊息的還有情態副詞和動詞: r. Father talked angrily. ≠ It was angrily that father talked. (爸爸生氣地說話。) s. He did a good job. ≠ It was did that he a good job. (他做得很好。) C. 分裂句與各種句構 到目前為止我們討論的都是平述句中的分裂情況。事實上,分裂句型也可用於疑問句、感嘆句,甚至從屬子句中。請看以下例子: t. Who do you like better? → Who is it that you like better? (你比較喜歡誰?→ 你比較喜歡的那個人是誰?) u. What a nice car you have! → What a nice car it is that you have! (你的車真棒!→ 你的那輛車真棒!) v. They said that they had to finish the project this month. → It was the project that they said that they had to finish this month. (他們說他們必須在這個月完成那個案子。→ 他們說他們必須在這個月完成的就是那個案子。) 最後,在結束本章的討論之前,讓我們看一下分裂句在英文這個語言中除了「強調」的功能外,還有什麼其他的用途。 分裂句的其他功能 英文的分裂句除了用來明顯標示訊息焦點之外,至少還有其他兩項功能。 一、分裂句型可以用來釐清原本語意不明的句子。例如下面的 w. 句即有兩種可能的意涵: w. He didn't go because of her. (因為她所以他沒去。 ╱ 他並不是因為她才去的。) 但是 w1. 和 w2. 卻各只有一個意思: w1. It was because of her that he didn't go. (就是因為她,所以他沒去。) w2. It was not because of her that he went. (並不是因為她,所以他才去的。) 二、分裂句型可以用來要求聽話者提供較精確的回答。例如下面的 y. 句讓人覺得問話者並不十分確定對方是否真的需要什麼;但是 z. 句卻顯示問話者知道對方想要某物品,因而直接問對方要的是什麼: y. What do you want? (你想要什麼?) z. What is it that you want? (你要的是什麼東西?) |