章振邦语法英语句子汉译:名词前置修饰语与名词后置修饰语
2020-07-17 15:30阅读:
关千名词词组中的修饰成分,主要有前置修饰和后置修饰,限制性修饰和非限制性修饰,以及同位语和分隔修饰、转移修饰等问题。
前置修饰语和后置修饰语
名词修饰语按其在词组中与中心词的相互位置分为前置修饰语
(premodifier)
和后置修饰语(postmodifier)。前置修饰语包括一切出现在中心词之前的修饰成分,这些成分主要由形容词或形容词词组、名词或名词词组、
-ing 分词或 -ed
分词实现。例如:
some intelligent
students
some intelligent college
students
SPAN> very intelligent medical college
students
在上述第一例中 intelligent 直接修饰中心词
students; 在第二例中, college
直接修饰 students,
intelligent 则修饰
college students, 因此
intelligent college
这两个前置修饰语不在同一层次上。在第三例中,名词词组
medical college 修饰
students, 而形容词词组 very
intelligent 则修饰
medical college
students,
因而这两个作前置修饰语的词组也不在同一层次上。如果一系列前置修饰语是在同一层次上,即都是直接修饰中心词,那么在修饰语和修饰语之间就得用逗号或并列连词。例如:
a bunch of red, white,
yellow roses = a bunch
of red and
white and
yellow在这里, red,
white, yellow 都是直接修饰
roses,
从而这三个前置修饰语是在同一层次上,含义是“一束红玫瑰、白玫瑰和黄玫瑰”。
后置修饰语包括一切出现在中心词之后的修饰成分,能充当后置修饰语的语法结构主要是介词词组、非限定分句、关系分句、某些前置修饰语的补足成分
(complementation)
以及某些较长的形容词词组。例如:
the students outside the classroom
the students standing outside the
classroom
the students who were standing outside the
classroom
as many students
as could be gathered
outside the classroom
as big as a
hen's egg
a student intelligent
enough to answer the challenging
question
前置修饰语和后置修饰语有着一定的转换关系,在许多情况下,这种转换并不影响名词词组的意义。例如:
a moderate-sized
building =
a building of
moderate size
a good-mannered
man = a man
of good manners
apple seeds
= the
seeds of an
apple
a radio
programme
= a programme
on the radio
a twelve-year-old boy
= a boy of
twelve i a boy
who is twelve
years old
the many times
repeated warning =
the warning which
has been repeated many
times
在现代英语中有一个明显的倾向,这就是前置修饰语用得越来越多,也越来越长。例如:
the far-and-wide discussed
new product
a dearly paid
for mistake
those well nourished and
well brought up
children
a never to be
forgotten day
his never-too-old-to-learn
spirit
(活到老学到老的精神)
six do-nothing months
(无所事事的六个月)
a do-it-yourself tool
(自便工具)
由上述诸例可以看出,用前置修饰语往往可以节约用词,所以这种现象最常见于报刊文字
(journalistic
Language),但也并非在任何一种清况下前置和后置修饰语的位置都可以随便转换,比如当名词中心词为
some-, any-,
no
等合成词时,其修饰语通常只能后置而不能前置。例如:
I'd like to read something interesting.
我想读的东西该很有趣。
Is there
anything
easier to understand? 有什么会更容易理解吗?
Anybody
intelligent can do
it.任何聪明的人都能做到。
某些较长的形容词词组以及非限定分句、关系分句等通常也都只能后置。例如:
I'd like to take a room
less expensive than this one /
a less expensive
room than this
one.
我想订的房间要便宜些。
She has five children to
look after.她有五个孩子要照顾。
The man who painted
that picture is a real artist.
是那个人画的画,他是个真正的艺术家。
有些以 -able
结尾的形容词,其前置或后置意义不变。例如:
Every available
fire-engine / Every
fire-engine available
was rushed to the scene.
所有可用的消防车都紧急赶到了现场。
This is the finest obtainable
cloth / the
finest cloth
obtainable.
这是最好的布料。
但是有些以 able, -ible
结尾的形容词,其前置或后置在语义上略有区别。例如:
the visible
stars /
the stars visible
the navigable
river / the
river navigable
the passable roads / the
roads passable
在这些名词词组中,形容词 visible,
navigable, passable
前置表示永久意义,而后置则只表示暂时意义。有时,形容词的前置或后置会在语义上产生很大的差别。例如:
This
is the proper
way to get
into the
city proper.
这算得上是正确的方法,可以进入市区了。
在这里, the proper way
= the right
way, the city
proper 却相当于 the
city itself 。