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意合关系和形合关系:从句法修辞到语篇修辞的演变

2011-11-18戴建东高恩光

关键词:修辞格连接词省略

戴建东,高恩光

(太原师范学院 外语系, 山西 太原 030012)

意合关系和形合关系:从句法修辞到语篇修辞的演变

戴建东,高恩光

(太原师范学院 外语系, 山西 太原 030012)

意合关系(parataxis)和形合关系(hypotaxis)是两个传统的语法分析用语。现在,这两个术语广泛用于文学评论、语言学分析,尤其是文体学分析。但是,它们的含义一直在发展,并成为与之相关的修辞格无连接结构(asyndeton)和多连接结构(polysyndeton)的语言学基础。

意合关系;形合关系;无连接结构;多连接结构

意合关系(parataxis)和形合关系(hypotaxis)是两个语法术语。前者为并列成分结构,后者为从属成分结构。它们构成了无连接结构(asyndeton)和多连接结构 (polysyndeton)的语言学基础。

一、意合关系和形合关系概念的形成和发展

意合关系(parataxis)来自于希腊词 paratassein,意为“并列放置”;形合关系(hypotaxis)来自另一个希腊词hypotassein,意思是“安排”。过去的三十多年见证了语言研究者和学习者对这两个概念由句法到语篇在理解上的发展过程。

在20世纪70年代,这两个概念的定义局限在句法上。意合是指“不使用并列或从属连接词语把从句或短语并排放置在一起”。[1][2]例如下面两个英语句子:

(1)He bought tea,coffee,eggs,milk.

(2)The door was open;he walked in.

形合是指“通过连接词语使句子成分从属”。[1][2]下面两个句子说明了这种现象:

(3)He dictated the letter and she wrote it.

(2a)He walked in because the door was open.

到了20世纪80年代,这两个概念超越了句法的界限,开始用于对语篇中句子与句子之间关系的分析。意合关系被认为是指“仅仅通过并置、标点或语调,而不使用连接词连接的结构”[3][4]:

(1a)He bought tea,coffee,eggs and milk.

(4)I think it is so.

而形合关系则被认为是“通过使用连接词使其构成成分This is his first and best novel.[7](在这个句子中,形容词“first”和“best”处于平等位置。)

(1b)He bought tea and coffee and eggs and milk.

(2c)The door was open and he walked in.

(2d)The door was open.And he walked in.

通过树型图,意合关系可以更加明确地表述出来(如图1)。

形合关系被描述为“子句的从属句法关系”,从形式上要使用从属连接词because,although等和关系代词who,which等进行连接。[5]Lanham[6]认为形合关系让人们知道事物是有等级和层次的,人们从中可以看出:“什么”出自“什么”;短语、从句、完整的句子之间如何存在不等同的关系,即A产生B,B来自A;因此,通过原因、时间,或别的关系,一个子句从相连接的从属结构”[3][4]:

(5)The man laughed when the dog barked.

胡壮麟和刘润清[4]认为这两种结构也可以用于句子与句子之间句法关系的研究:

(2b)The door was open.He walked in.(意合)

(3a)He dictated the letter.She wrote it.(意合)

(6)You can phone the doctor if you like.However,I very much doubt whether he is in.(行合)

从20世纪90年代中期至今,意合关系和形合关系的概念又发生了一些变化。意合关系被描述为“通过对等关系使句法连接”,在英语中表现为使用并列连接词and,or等词,或是通过相应的语调使结构并置。[5]Lanham[6]认为意合关系必须平等地对待短语、从句和句子,并置它们,让读者去体会它们的关系。下面几个例句可以说明这种关系:

(7)属于另一个子句。除了例句 (2a)(5)(6)(7)之外,下面的例子也能说明这种关系:

(8)This is his first successful novel.[7](在这个句子中,两个形容词“first”和“successful”处于同一个层次,但不属于同一等级。)

图1

(9)I feel that I owe some apology to your lordships for standing in the way of any noble lords who wish to address you:but after much deliberation,and after consulting with several of my noble friends on both sides of the House,it did appear to us,as I am sure it will to your lordships,desirable,on many grounds,that the debate should be brought to a close this night;and I thought I could not better contribute to that end than by taking the present opportunity of addressing you.

例(9)是一个含有几个从属结构的复杂句子。这个句子可以分出几个层次:第一个层次是陈述;第二个层次为详尽阐述;第三个层次是限定。[6]下面的结构图可以展示这种层次关系:

?

(2e)The door was open.So he walked in.

与例(2)(2c)(2b)(2d)同理,(2a)和 (2e)的关系可以通过树型图表示出来:

从以上讨论可以得出:意合关系是指通过使用相应的语调或标点,或通过使用并列连接词and/or,使一个句子的内部成分,或不同的句子并置,形成一种平等关系。形合关系是指通过使用because,although等从属连接词和who,which等关系代词,使一个句子的内部成分或一个语篇中的不同句子,形成一种隶属的或不平等的关系。

二、两种句法关系作为修辞格的使用

英语中有两个与连接词相关的句法修辞格:无连接结构(asyndeton)和多连接结构(polysyndeton)。前者来自希腊词语asyndetos,意思是“没有连接”[2],是“一种省略连接词的修辞格”[8],“是省略连接词、冠词,甚至代词的方法”[9]。这种修辞格显然与意合关系有密切关系,如在例(1)中,在eggs和milk之间的连接词and被省略掉了。再读下面的例子,其中例(10)省略了冠词,而例(11)省略了代词。

(10) Dogs,undistinguishable in mire.Horses,scarcely better—— splashed to their very blinkers.Foot passencers,jostling one anogther’s unbrellas,in a general infection of illtemper,and losing their foothold at street corners.(Charles Dickens:Bleak House)

(11)…he(the ant)fetches up against a pebble,and instead of going around it,he climbs over it backward dragging his booty after him,tumbles down on the other side,jumps up in a passion,kicks the dusk off hi clothes,moistens his hands,grabs his property viciously,yanks it this way,then that,shoves it ahead of him a moment,gets madder and madder,then presently hoists it into the air and goes tearing away in an entirely new direction; comes to a weed;….(Mark Twain:A Tramp Abroad)

无连接结构是“文体标志”。[7]作为一种修辞格,它更多地是指“在一系列并列结构中故意省略并列连接词“and”的结构。[10]

多连接结构和无连接结构的含义正好相反。多连接结构(polysyndeton)同样是来自希腊语,它的意思是“使用多个连接”。这种修辞手段是指“重复使用连接词连接连续出现的单词、[短语]、从句,或句子”。[2][10][11][12]多连接结构以这样的模式出现:first A(happened)and then B and then C,and so on.[6]除了使用连接词and之外,其他连接词如or,nor,but,also等也会出现在多连接结构中。在多连接结构中会有基础句法中的意合关系,但更多的是会出现形合关系。

与其他修辞格一样,无连接结构和多连接结构在语篇中经常用来渲染气氛或增加色彩。不同之处在于英语中很多修辞格,如明喻、隐喻、拟人、反语是借助词汇手段来表达语义,而无连接结构和多连接结构是借助句法手段在文中表达特殊含义,如恺撒的名句:

(12)Veni,vidi,vici.(I came,I saw,I conquered.)

从句法角度,这是个意合关系的句子,但是连接词and的省略很好地表达了“速度和简洁”[9],意义直截了当,成为了一种修辞方法,生动地表达出恺撒军事征服的迅速。很多无连接结构在语篇中都可以收到直接、清楚、有力、明快的效果。再读下面的两个例句:

(13)On your mark,get set,go!(各就个位,预备,跑!)

(14)Go get him.(去把他叫来。)

无连接结构的使用还可以使一系列有密切关系的事实、事件、想法、情感等产生联系,[13]渲染气氛,给读者留下深刻印象,如:

(15)Twenty-two years old,weak,hot,frightened,not daring to acknowledge the fact that he didn’t know who or what he was…with no past,no language,not tribe,no source,no address book,no comb,no pencil,no clock,no pocket handkerchief,no rug,no bed,no can opener,no faded postcard,no soup,no key,no tobacco pouch,no soiled underwear and nothing,nothong,nothing to do…he was sure of one thing only:the unchecked monstrosity of his hands.(Toni Morrison:Sula)

这里,托尼·莫里森运用两串无连接结构描绘了一个22岁的青年男子:先写其性格,再写其身世和特征,把一个无知青年的样子写得活灵活现:除了一双不受约束的怪手,别的一无所有。

无连接结构的使用有时会让人觉得突兀,因为一个陈述与另一个陈述之间的关系不是很明确。但是,恰恰是这种用法受到很多作家青睐。他们用这种结构影射世界的杂乱无章和毫无意义。例如英国小说家狄更斯就是这方面的高手。他在《双城记》的开篇第一段就写道:

(16)It was the best of times,it was the worset of times,it was the age of wisdom,it was the age of foolishness,it was the epoch of belief,it was the epoch of incredulity,it was the season of Light,it was the season of Darkness,it was the spring of hope,it was the winter of despair,we had everything before us,we had nothing before us,we were all going direct to Heaven,we were all going direct the otherway.

这一段话里一连用了14个无连接结构分句,与7个对偶辞格一起使用,把当时纷繁复杂、矛盾重重的社会表现得淋漓尽致,给读者提供了有力的背景资料,使人们一开卷就受到强烈的震撼,必然有将小说读下去的冲动。

形合关系的句子在语篇中构成连接结构或多连接结构,经常用于表达复杂的概念,在形式上显得庄重严肃。例如多连接结构在《圣经》中的应用:

(17)In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.The earth was without form and void,and darkness was upon the face of the deep;and the spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.

And God said,“Let there be light”;and there was light.And God saw that the light was good;and God separated the light from the darkness.God called the light Day,and the darkness he called night.And there was evening and there was morning,one day.(The Bible:Genesis)

《圣经》中多连接结构无处不在,使人联想起虔诚基督徒的祈祷和吟颂。这种效果是由于在一连串的and前出现轻微的停顿而产生的。缓慢、规律的节奏与基督徒的祈祷和吟颂很相像,当大声朗读这种段落时,读者能感觉到某个词、短语或是从句受到了强调。

此外,在多连接结构中,不断重复的and结合上下文和环境可以表达某种情绪和气氛:

(18)I soon found out what else when I encountered the four March sisters of Little Women,a sentimental,old-fashioned book about girls growing up in Civil War times in New England.About spoiled,vain,pretty Amy.And sickly,saintly Beth.And womanly,decent Meg.And about—— most important of all—— gawky,bookworm Jo…Jo got stains on her dress and laughed when she shoudn’t and lost her temper and didn’t display tact or patience or restraint.Jo brought a touch of irreverence to the cultural restraints of the world she lived in.And yet her instincts were good and her heart was pure and her headstrong ways led always to virtue.And furthermore Jo—— as I yearned to be—— was a writer.(Judith Viorst:“How Books helpeed Shape My Life”)

在这段文字中,作者利用多连接结构把作品中人物的想法用and和or连接起来,试图制造出一种青少年思维的方式:一个女学生的腔调跃然纸上。

语篇中,无连接结构、连接结构和多连接结构经常在一起使用。它们的结合能产生极端现象,要么表达非凡的神圣,要么表达极端的庸俗。例如:

(19)And Moses said unto the Lord,O my Lord,I am not eloquent,neither here to fore,nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant;but I am slow of speech,and of a slow tongue.And the Lord said unto him,who hath made man’s mouth?Or who maketh the dumb,or deaf,or the seeing,or the blind?Have not I the Lord?Now therefore go,and I will be with thy mouth,and teach thee with thou shalt say.And he said,O my Lord,send,I pray thee,by the hand of him who thou will send.And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses,and he said,Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother?I know that he can speak well.And also,behold,he cometh forth to meet thee:and when he sees thee,he will be glad in his heart.And thou shalt speak unto him,and put words in his mouth:and I will be with thy mouth,and with his mouth,and will teach you what ye shall do.And she shall be thy spokesman unto the people:and he shall be,even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth,and thou shalt be to him instead of God.And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand,wherewith thou shalt do signs.(The Bible:Exodus 4:10-17)

这个段落出自权威版《圣经》,句子间的每一个部分都以and开始。然而,在修订后的标准版《圣经》中,同一个段落中同一个句子的开始却没有and。但是两个版本中句子与句子之间都用多连接结构,而且都用了古词或诗歌中的词语,如“unto”,“thou hast”,“hath”,“maketh”,“thee”,“thou shalt”,“cometh”,“ye”,等等。在这个段落中典雅的古词风格与由无连接和多连接结构构成的结构与普通文体相结合,暗示着基督教《圣经》中宗教仪式的重述是用“完美的意合来表达的”[6]。这样的风格表示:上帝是神圣的,摩西和其他众人是世俗的。

三、结论

在句法中,意合关系和形合关系是两种重要的句法关系,它们的定义和概念一直在变化和发展,逐渐从单一的句法关系演变成重要的修辞格,恰当的使用能使句子在结构和功能上产生变化。而在语篇中,无连接结构和多连接结构是作为修辞格被使用的,有意识地使用可以使文体生动,产生特殊的效果和意义。

[1] Hartmann,R.R.K.&F.C.Stork.Dictionary of Language and Linguistics[K].London:Applied Science Publishers Ltd.,1972.

[2] Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary[K].Springfield,Massachusetts U.S.A:G&C.Merriam Company,1977.

[3] Crystal,David.A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics[K].New York&London:Basil Blackwell in association with André Deutsch,1985.

[4] 胡壮麟,刘润清.语言学教程[M].北京:北京大学出版社,1988.

[5] Bussmamn,Hadumod.(Translated and Edited by Gregory P.Trauth&Kerstin Kazzazi)Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics[K].London:Tailor&Francis Limited&Beijing:Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press,1996/2000.

[6] Lanham,Richard A.Analyzing Prose[M].Beijing:Peking University Press,2004.

[7] Quirk,Randolph,et al.A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language[M].London&New York:Longman Group Limited,1985.

[8] Funk,Charles Earle,Litt.D.Funk&Wagnalls New Practical Standard Dictionaty of the English Language[K].New York and London:Funk and Wagnalls Company,1962.

[9] Cudden,J.A.A Dictionary of Literary Terms[K].London:André Deutsch Limited,1979.

[10]冯翠华.英语修辞大全(修订版)[M].北京:外语教学与研究出版社,2005.

[11]Baldick,Chris.Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms[K].Oxford&New York:Oxford University Press,1996.

[12]徐鹏.英语辞格[M].北京:商务印书馆,2000.

[13]冯翠华.英语修辞大全(修订版)[M].北京:外语教学与研究出版社,1985.

【责任编辑 张 琴】

Parataxis,Hypotaxis:Development from Syntactic Ehetoric to Discoursal Rhetoritc

DAI Jian-dong,GAO En-guang
(Foreign Languages Department,Taiyuan Normal University,Taiyuan 030012,China)

Parataxis and hypotaxis are two terms used in traditional grammatical analysis.They are now widely applied to literary criticism and linguistic analysis,especially to stylistic analysis.However,the views on their implications have been developing,and becoming the basic linguistic foundation for the two figures of speech: asyndeton and polysyndeton.

parataxis;hypotaxis;asyndeton;polysyndeton

2010-03-29

戴建东(1955-),男,江苏常州人,太原师范学院外语系教授。

高恩光(1944-),男,山西隰县人,太原师范学院外语系教授。

1672-2035(2011)02-0125-04

H04

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