有位新同事让同学做翻译练习,学生的句子是这样的“… her daugther requested that she want to go abroad to further her study”,显然是想用虚拟语气。同事把它改为“… her daugther requested that she go abroad to further her study”,因为既然是要求,就不能再加want了。不管在学生的句子中,还是在老师改过的句子中,主句的主语her daughter 和从句的主语 she都是同指的。可是,它们到底能不能同指呢?这个问题笔者问过另外一个同事,在网上也请教过,多数都说可以同指,只有一个山东曲阜的网友说不可以。这个句子可以有两个解读(其实还有第三种,即she指另外一个人,暂不考虑),我们来看一下。 (1a)Her daugtheri requested that shei go abroad to further her study.
(1b)Heri daugther requested that shei go abroad to further her study.
(1a)里面her daughter和she同指(同指用i表示,i=identical),(2a)里面her 和she 同指,即she是the mother。到底那种解读更为合理呢?有些人还是坚持说是(1a)。如果你认为是(1a),那是受了句子意思的影响,因为女儿是不太可能要求妈妈去国外深造的,一般总是妈妈要求女儿。再换一个句子试试。
(2)Her mother requested she go abroad to further her study.
有网友说主句主语和从句主语必须同指,看了这个句子还会这样觉得吗?
一般来讲,宾语从句中的主语和主句的主语没有必然的约束关系。比如说,下面的这个句子,Tom既可以和he同指如(3a),he又可以指另外一个人如(3b)。也就是说,两者同指不同指都不一定。
(3a) Tomi says hei will come.
(3b) Tomi says hej (John) will come.
根据Binding condition B
[1], “A pronoun must be free in its ‘local domain’”。从句中主语代词的local domain就是整个从句,它在从句中是不受约束的,出了从句这个范围就不一定了,要看有没有先行词(antecedent)。
(4a)Her daughteri says shei wants to buy a new car.
(4b)Heri daughter says shei wants to buy a new car.
(4c)Heri daughter says shej wants to buy a new car.
(5a)*Her daughteri says shei died last month.
(5b)Heri daughter says shei died last month.
(5c)Heri daughter says shej died last month.
(6a)*Her daughteri asks why shei comes back home so late.
(6b)Heri daughter asks why shei comes back home so late.
(6c)Heri daughter asks why shej comes back home so late.
虽然(4a)-(4c)都可以接受,即her daughter 和she可以同指,she也可以是the mother,或者she指另外一个人,但(5a)和(6a)是不可接受的(用*表示)。这恐怕是跟动词有关了,主句的动词或是从句的动词都会影响到句子的可接受性。在(5a)中,her daughter显然不能说自己died last month,在(6a)中,her daughter 也不会问自己为什么comes back home so late.
还回到我们一开始的句子,重复如下:
(7)Her daughter requested she go abroad to further her study.
引用牛津英语用法指南的话(外研社翻译本,p.702),
“…虚拟语气还可以用来表示我们觉得某事应该做。在下述两个结构中更常这样用:
1. 在动词order, command, insist, demand, request, ask, recommend, propose, suggest和其他具有类似汉语的动词后;这些动词后面跟that。
2. 从略…”
所谓的“觉得某事应该做”,不是说说话者本人,至少不是他一个人,而是针对的别人,或者是包括自己在内的一群人。试想,如果针对说话者本人的话,我们根本不用虚拟语气,使用情态动词就可以了,例如(8)。
(8a)I should work hard from now on.
(8b)I must work hard from nown.
如果是表达一种对自己的愿望的话,我们可以用wish引导的虚拟语气,例如(9)。
(9)Her daughter wish she could go abroad to further her study.
Notes: 也可以说her daughter requested to go abroad to further her study.
然而,order等动词引导的虚拟语气从句却不一样,从句的主语和主句的主语一般不会一致,因为我们希望一件事儿被做,而这件事儿的显然不是我们自己,至少不仅仅是我们自己。看下面的例句。
(10)The teacheri insists each student buy a dictionary.
(11)*The teacheri insists hei pay the bill for his students.
(12)The teacher insists they do the cleaning work together.
需要注意的是,(11)看似正确,其实不然,正确的说法应该是(13)。
(13)The teacher insists on paying the bill for his students.
另外,如果你的观察够细致的话,还可以发现上面举到的诸多动词如order, command, request等(insist, suggest除外),都可以改成不定时结构。
(14a)The teacher orders that the students remain silent in the class.
(14b)The teacher orders the students to remain silent in the class.
(15a)The President commands that the soldiers launch the attack.
(15a)The President commands the soldiers to launch the attack.
(16b)The dean requests that I finish the work as soon as possible.
(16c)The dean requests that I finish the work as soon as possible.
很显然,在这几个句子里面,命令、号令、要求都是针对别人的,不是自己。如果我们把一开始的句子转换成不定式结构,意思就说不通了。下面的两个句子,只有(17b)才是正确的解读,(17a)是错误的。
(17a)*Her daughteri requested heri to go abroad to further her study.
(17b)Heri daughter requested heri to go abroad to further her study.
我们的结论是在Her daugther requested that she want to go abroad to further her study这个句子中,her daughter 和 she 不是一个人,即二者不同指。
有几位老师说,如果从句的句子是被动语态,那么主句的主语和从句的主语就可以同指,如下例。
(18a)Her daughteri requested that shei be allowed to go abroad to further her study.
(18b)Heri daughter requested that shei be allowed to go abroad to further her study.
(18a)是绝对正确的句子,但是不对我们的分析构成反例。我们已经说过,虚拟语气的动词是针对非本人的,虽然在被动从句中主语是本人,但是动作却是由别人发出的。为了验证我们的分析,笔者专门去美国英语的语料库去检索,输入“request that he”,“request that she”,结果发现除了被动从句没有一个主句主语和从句主语是同指的。不信?自己查查!
[1] 生成语法中关于代词约束关系的一条法则
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