陳超明教授，你的倒裝句要砍掉重練！--評「一生必學的英文文法」十大句法之倒裝句篇

史老師先把立場講明：陳超明教授的這本「一生必學的英文文法」是舊書了，史老師是從他的著作「英語即戰力」內的理念超連結過來看這本書的。

要史老師評這書嗎？

這本書很有(郭)大師風範。

喔，本網誌的老讀者應該知道這是什麼意思。

首先，先為買了「一生必學的英文文法」這麼書的人默哀......。

今天，史老師先挑陳超明教授最鬼扯的十大句法--倒裝句那篇來和大家分享。

對，你們沒看錯。

這一篇，就是兩個字：鬼扯。

史老師再說一次：

鬼扯！

(警告：本篇文章真的很長，而且有很多原文書說明和例句，請讀者小心服用......)

原文引述

陳超明教授的倒裝句理論在第27頁：

十、倒裝句(sentence inversion)(adv+V+S)：
英文為了強調，常常將句子的正常次序(主詞+動詞)對調，也就是將動詞或是補助動詞的字放在主詞前面，就構成所謂的「倒裝句」，強調或是凸顯某些重要議題時，就會常常使用倒裝的句法。例句如下：
Less measurable but no less profound/ is /a sapping of confidence across our land/—a  nagging fear/ that America's decline is inevitable, /and that the next generation must lower its sights. ( 歐巴馬就職演講 )

-->這句話的主詞是 a sapping of confidence，而動詞是 is。正常的句子應該是 a sapping of confidence is ......。但是為了強調 less measurable but no less profound，而將否定的字詞放在前面，形成所謂倒裝句法(V+S)。此外，這句話也考慮修辭，將 less measurable，與 less profound 有對比的效果。英文通常將否定含意的字詞如 hardly、scarely 、rarely、seldom、neither 等放在句首，形成倒裝句，有強調及修辭美化的功能，多用於演說或辯論。

看出問題在哪了嗎？

要來囉~~

鬼扯之一：文不對題

麻煩大家看一下陳超明教授的標題， adv+ V+ S。

認定Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land其中的 less measurable but no less profound 是adv的人，麻煩你去多唸一點書。

你和陳超明教授把兩個不相干的句型混為一談了！

Adv+ V+ S是？

Adv+ V+S 的動詞受限於表達存在(be、stand、live、lie)或方向(go、come)的動詞；關鍵在於adv 真的是一個地點、方位。

國中課本(以及口語常見的) Here comes the bus. 就是很好的例子。

歐巴瑪的演說，使用的不是這個句型。請不要以為 less是副詞，就把它歸在這一類！語感很好的陳超明教授！less measurable but no less profound不是地點概念！


這句話真正的句型是： Complement + V+ S

Complement + V+ S是？

史老師要開始引用手邊所有的文法書、語用書、修辭書囉！請大家耐心看，史老師要證明給大家看，陳超明教授有多鬼扯！
(注意：黃色部分是參考書裡的說明，綠色部分是所附例句)
先看第一本：

A Communicative Grammar of English  ( P179)

Occasionally subject-verb inversion occurs with a complement as topic when the complement expresses a comparison:


For a long time, he refused to talk to his wife, and kept her in ignorance of his troubles. Equally strange was his behavior to his son.

大家可以看一下，這才是陳超明教授舉的例子的句型。沒錯吧？

還是覺得不夠有說服力？



第二本：

A Student’s Grammar of English Language  (P410)

More important are CVS, AVS, where the C or A make comparative reference to something has preceded.


His answer was a disgrace, and equally regrettable was his departure immediately afterward.




第三本：

Modern English: A Practical Reference Guide (P113)

In the literary language, predicate adjectives may take initial position in inverted sentences. Such inversions usually occur with the linking verb be.


Great was his consternation to learn the news.






第四本：

Cambridge Grammar of English  (P781)

Fronted complements which are expressions of comparison may be followed by subject-verb inversion, especially in more formal written styles:


Children make a substantial contribution to the social, economic and cultural life of their families, communities, and even to national economies. These contributions are rarely recorded by official statistics and are usually ignored when policy decisions are made. Equally unnoticed is the unpaid “work” that children do around the home, in the fields, or at institutions of learning.



第五本

The Little, Brown Handbook(P441)

Inverting the normal order of subject, verb, and complement can be useful in two successive sentences when the second expands on the first:


Critics have not been kind to Presidents who have tried to apply the ways of private business to public affairs. Particularly explicit was the curt verdict of one critic of President Hoover: Mr. Hoover was never President of the United States; He was four years chairman of the board.



這樣，史老師認為，應該很清楚了。但大家以為陳超明教授的錯誤就只有這樣而已嗎?
當然不是。

鬼扯之二： less是否定的字所以整句要倒裝！？？

請大家看前面的例句(綠色部分)加粗加底線的部分：沒有否定的副詞，一樣倒裝！貼個兩句再複習一次：

His answer was a disgrace, and equally regrettable was his departure immediately afterward.
Great was his consternation to learn the news.



更妙的又來囉：陳超明教授又再把seldom、 never這些字混進來一起說了！陳超明教授，你鬼扯完了沒？這又是另一個句型呀！這一類的否定字要進行的是  subject-operator inversion......
史老師這篇不是要文法書，所以，直接列例句給大家參考就好(引自A Communicative Grammar of English P179)：

Hardly had I left before the trouble started.


Only later did they realise what a terrible thing had happened.


Little does he know how much suffering he has caused.


請大家摸著良心說：陳教授的這種倒裝句理論是不是鬼扯到一個極致？

但，鬼扯的東西不只是這樣。

接下來，我們要重看一次前面的說明和例句。

鬼扯之三：Complement +V +S 是為了要強調 Complement

我們先觀察上述書籍的例句，都有一個共通點：

原句主詞都比complement長。

以句型論，且讓史老師幫助大家回憶一下之前提過的術語：end-weight。

這個句型可以避免句子頭重腳輕。

以上是第一點。格式論。

其次，請大家回顧前面各語用、文法、修辭書對這個句型的語意解釋：

這種倒裝句是要和前一句的理念進行比較(expressions of comparison)，或者也可說是前一句的理念的延伸( the second expands on the first)。

語意上來說，就是由前一句的舊訊息層遞出第二句與前一句相異之新訊息。(註：對這個概念有興趣的人請參閱 Practical English Usage中 Information Structure的這個單元)。

我們挑幾個前面有前後文的句子研究一下：

I

For a long time, he refused to talk to his wife, and kept her in ignorance of his troubles. Equally strange was his behavior to his son.


 說明：前一句是一連串怪異的舉動(舊訊息)-->同樣怪異的是他對兒子的態度(新 訊息)。

II

His answer was a disgrace, and equally regrettable was his departure immediately afterward.


說明：前一句是指他的答案(舊訊息)令人不滿-->同樣讓人遺憾的是他馬上離開了(新訊息)

III

Children make a substantial contribution to the social, economic and cultural life of their families, communities, and even to national economies. These contributions are rarely recorded by official statistics and are usually ignored when policy decisions are made. Equally unnoticed is the unpaid “work” that children do around the home, in the fields, or at institutions of learning.


說明：小孩在社會、社區、經濟的的貢獻(舊訊息)未受關注-->小孩在家、在教育機構等的「未支薪工作」(新訊息)也未受關注。

夠了嗎？

還需要史老師再解釋第四個嗎？應該不用了吧。史老師想睡....不，史老師想直接引述另一本文法書囉：

Oxford Learner’s Grammar(Grammar Finder): P49

We can sometimes put a complement in front positions.


They enjoyed the holiday. Best of all was the constant sunshine.


The scheme has many good points. One advantage is the low cost.


There is inversion. The subject(the low cost) is the important new information and comes after the verb be.

史老師把重點句再標一次：

The subject(the low cost) is the important new information and comes after the verb be.


大家清楚了嗎？

順便再來個專業理論，這種把新訊息置於句尾的理念叫 end-focus。

來來來，整理一下再出發

史老師再為大家整理一次：

這種Complement+V+S的句型的特色有

1.  動詞以be動詞為主

2. 主詞句型上多半較補語長(end-weight 理念)

3. 倒裝置於句尾的主詞為新的訊息(end-focus理念)

咳，可以麻煩大家回頭看一下陳超明教授說些什麼好嗎？

我......算了，還不到罵人的時候(已經罵很大了，我知道.....)，不過史老師的論證還沒說完。

歐巴瑪演說原文是......

接下來，史老師要把陳超明教授沒告訴你的那部分告訴你：Less measurable...那句的前一句。

看到前一句，大家就會明白，史老師所言不虛；讀完整句也會發現句意和前面引用的參考書理念一致。

兩句話一起來囉：

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.


關鍵字：前一句的statistics(要說indicators也可通啦！)。由此才會有個層遞出的 less measurable：前一句提可量化(有數字依據)的指標；後一句帶出不可量化但依然重要的東西--->那一連串好長好長的的名詞及附帶的說明用名詞子句。

我想，史老師解釋得夠清楚了。

end-weight
end-focus

一生必學的英文文法？

請大家大聲唸一次本文主標題：

陳超明教授，你的倒裝句要砍掉重練！


一整段說明倒裝句，理念對的句子屈指可數。

連陳超明教授自己都搞不定的文法，會是一般社會大眾一生必學的英文文法？

最可笑(好笑？諷刺?)的是，這種再明顯不過的倒裝句理念錯誤，在聯合報上連載過、集結成書，到現在還被一大堆網誌轉載。奇怪了，怎麼就是沒有人出來糾正他？

莫非明眼人都在偷笑、看他的笑話？


請大家相信史老師：真的--倒裝句真的不是大家一生必學的英文文法。

史老師也真的開始懷疑，有如此的句法和修辭能力，還真能讀到文學裡的什麼東西嗎？

這種文法書，買了才會一生後悔吧！