状语从句的表象与深层

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摘要： 状语从句为人们所熟知，正因这样，人们往往望文生义，落入陷阱。其实，状语从句的意义往往不存在于句子的结构――表象，而存在于句子的深层。状语从句性质不稳定，其语义功能既能弥漫于句子的表象又能潜身于语言的深层。语意功能在深层产生了混合与交替。这是值得人们深刻研究的问题。

关键词： 状语从句 表象 深层 语义功能

《英语语法学》（姚善友，1965）的状语分类更为精细：地点状语、时间状语、方式状语、比较状语、程度状语、原因状语、目的状语、结果状语、条件状语、让步状语和伴随状语。在状语这同一结构形式里，各式各样的状语所表达的语义功能既明确又朦胧。明确，才分类出这么多的状语；朦胧是因为各种状语从句之间的深层语义功能存在着混合和交替。我们以人们熟知的时间状语从句、地点状语从句和条件状语从句为例。

一、时间状语从句

when，while等常指时间，引导时间状语从句，但是，时间状语从句还有其他用法。

1. 时间状语从句有时在意念上相当于地点状语从句，例如：

It is right in front of you as you cross the bridge.（=It is right in front of you where you cross the bridge.）就在你过了桥的前面。

2. 时间状语从句有时具有条件从句的意义，例如：

a.He tells his girlfriend that when he has a son，he won’t make him study all the time，as his father makes him（=if he has a son，he won’t make him study all the time，as his father makes him）.（l.60，p.229，BⅠ）他对女朋友说，等他有了儿子，他不会像他父亲逼他那样逼自己的儿子整天读书。

b.While one finds company in himself and his pursuits，he cannot feel old，no matter what his years may be.一个人只要自己在工作中不感到寂寞，那么无论年纪有多大，也不觉得老。

c.When everybody redoubles his exertions in his work this can be completed ahead of schedule.只要人人加倍努力工作，这个可以提前完成。

d.The American Revolution was not a sudden and violent overturning of the political and social framework，such as later occurred in France and Russia，when both were already independent nations.美国革命并不像后来发生在法国和俄国的革命那样，在本身已经是独立国的情况下迅猛地一种政治和社会体制。

e.Energy can be measured only while it is being transformed，transferred，released，or absorbed.能量的量度只有在能量的转变、传递、释放或吸收过程中才能进行。

3. 时间状语从句有时具有让步状语从句的意义，例如：

a.While our children seem better-natured than ever，they are so ignorant.（l.12，p.227，BⅠ）（=Although our children seem better-natured than ever，they are so ignorant.）虽然我们的孩子似乎比以往任何时候都要温厚和气，他们却如此无知。

b.While the idea of love among animals has been generally rejected by science， doubts remain.（l.78，p.189，BⅠ）（=Although the idea of love among animals has been generally rejected by science，doubts remain.）虽然科学界普遍不接受动物间存在爱的看法，但是疑问仍未消除。

c....every possible angle of every story over and over and over，even when they are of no possible use to me（=though they are of no possible use to me）.（l.36，p.102，BⅡ）……收看有关每一条新闻的各种不同视角的报道，尽管他们对我毫无用处。

d.She had chosen to stay among poor folks when she might have everything of the best. 虽然她本可以享受一切美好的东西，她却宁愿和穷人呆在一起。

e.I lent him ten dollars when I dislike him.虽然我不喜欢他，我还是借给他十美元。

f.While the story is a joke，it does tell people about a danger in modern technology.尽管这个故事是个笑话，但确实告诉人们现代技术的一种危险性。

4. 时间状语从句有时具有原因状语从句的意义，例如：

a. I had to change my way of thinking when I came aboard.（l.76，p.36，BⅡ）（=I had to change my way of thinking because I came aboard.）我加盟沃尔玛后，不得不改变自己的思维方式。

b.And it（psychology）certainly must be of practical service when businessmen have taken such a fancy to it，spending hundreds of thousands of dollars under its rigorous guidance.既然连商人们都对心理学如此喜爱，花费成千上万美元去接受它的严格的指导，那么，它一定具有其实用的一面。

c.Why do you walk when you have a car？你（既然）有车为什么要步行呢？

d.Employment became widespread when enclosures of the 17th and 18th centuries made many people dependent on paid work by depriving them of the use of the land，and thus of the means to provide a living for themselves.由于十七、十八世纪圈地运动剥夺了许多人使用土地的权利，也就剥夺了他们自给自足的手段，这样，他们就不得不靠就业拿工资为生了，于是就业就逐渐普及了。

5.有时until引导的时间状语从句在意义上可以表示结果。例如：

During the two months and three weeks at sea，they had been chained to the rough planks on which they lay until their backs and shoulders were all dirt and blood.在海上那三个月零三个星期中，他们被锁在粗糙的木板上，躺在上面，肩膀和背上皆是一片血污。

6. 时间状语从句有时具有转折从句的意义，例如：

a.That is why English today has an estimated vocabulary of over one million words，while other major languages have far fewer.（l.2，p.207，BⅡ）（=That is why English today has an estimated vocabulary of over one million words，where as other major languages have far fewer.）正因为如此，今日英语的词汇量据估计超过一百万，而其他语言的词汇量都要小得多。

b.Many drivers nowadays don’t even seem able to recognize politeness when they see it.而今，许多司机即使目睹了礼貌的行为也似乎视而不见了。

c.The gain of lying is not to be trusted by anyone，nor to be believed when you speak the truth.说谎如果有什么好处的话，那就是得不到任何人的信任，而即使说了真话也没有人相信。

7. 时间状语从句有时具有对照的意义，例如：

a.As a child I could never understand why grown-ups took dream so calmly when they could make such a fuss about any holiday.孩提时，我琢磨不透为什么大人们把梦想看得那么平淡，而不论什么节假日却那么小题大做。

b.Oaks may fall，when reeds brave the storm.橡树也许会被刮倒，芦苇反而能顶住风暴。

c.While I was busy here and there，he was gone.我忙得团团转，他却溜之大吉了。

d.Applied mathematicians have coped successfully with practical problems，while pure mathematicians seem to have lost touch with the practical world.应用数学家已成功地解决了许多实际问题，而理论数学家却似乎已失去了和现实世界的联系。

二、地点状语从句

我们再以地点状语从句为例，一般说来，where引导地点状语从句，表示事件发生的处所等，但是，地点状语从句也可表示其它。

1. 地点状语从句有时具有原因状语的意义，例如：

a.Where much is alleged，something must be true.（=Since much is alleged，something must be true.由于大家都这么说，想必有些是真的。

b.Where usage is so undecided，it would be presumptuous to favor one over the others.由于语言习惯上还没有定论，要说一种说法比另一种说法好未免有些武断。

2. 地点状语从句有时具有条件状语的意义，例如：

a.Where there is matter，there is motion.（=So long as there is matter，there is motion.）有物质就有运动。

b.Where there is a pressure，there is a resistance.有压迫就有反抗。

c.Birth is nothing，where virtue is not.如果品德不好，出身好也等于零。

d.Light is the task where many share the toil.（口语）大伙儿都动手干，活就轻。

三、条件状语从句

我们再以条件状语从句为例，if常用来表示前提或条件，引导条件状语从句，但是，也可具有其它意义。

1. 条件从句有时具有让步状语从句的意义，例如：

a.If life there was full of hardships，it was also full of joy and excitement.（=Although life there was full of hardships，it was also full of joy and excitement.）尽管那里的生活很艰苦，但也非常愉快和令人兴奋。

b.If he is too old to work much，he’s still eager enough to keep up with things.虽然他年纪大了，不能多做工作，但他还是积极争取跟上形势。

2. 条件从句有时具有时间状语从句的意义，例如：

a. The bird will return if summer comes.每当夏天来临，这种鸟就会飞回来。

b.It can，however，only do so if its role in international economic cooperation is recognized and its outstretched hand accepted.然而，只有当它在国际经济合作中的作用得到承认，它伸出的手被人接受之时，他才能这样做。

c.The independence won by our peoples at a high price will be meaningful only if we can satisfy the vital need of masses of the people and raise their standard of life.只有当我们能够满足人民群众切身生活需要，并且提高他们的生活水平时，我们各族人民以高昂的代价所赢得的独立才有意义。

3. 条件从句有时具有原因状语从句的意义，例如：

a.If you don’t like your job，why don’t you change it？（=Because you don’t like your job，why don’t you change it？）既然你不喜欢你的工作，为什么不换一个呢？

b.If Chairman Mao was so well able to assimilate the though of the founders of socialism-Marx，Engels and Lenin-it was precisely because he read them as a Chinese and For the Chinese.之所以能这样好地掌握科学社会主义奠基人――马克思、恩格斯和列宁的思想，恰恰是由于他以一个中国人的眼光来阅读他们的著作，目的在于为中国人民服务。

c.But if one witnesses such brilliant victories of Africa fighting against the white colonialist，it is in large measure thanks to the efficacious aid of certain progressive countries in the world.人们看到非洲之所以在反抗白人殖民者的斗争中取得如此辉煌的胜利，那在很大程度上是由于一些进步国家给予了有效的援助。

对上述的语言现象的解读，众说纷纭，仁者见仁，智者见智。《英语语法学》认为是矛盾的特殊性。“矛盾存在于一切客观事物和主观思维的过程中，矛盾着的事物以一定的条件有同一性，因此能够共居于一个统一体中。句法中的形式和内容本来是矛盾着的事物，按着一定的条件，统一于具体的句子中。但是当某一形式用来表达一种非它平时所具有的意义时，除了形式与内容之间的一般性矛盾外，还存在着一种特殊的矛盾”（姚善友，1956）。笔者认为，修饰语的性质较不稳定，各种修饰语可以轻易相互转化，起到不同作用的修饰功能。语义功能既能弥漫于语言的表象又能潜身于语言的深层。我们把这种语义功能隐身于语言的深层称之为形式与意义的不一致关系，即定语从句表示状语意义，状语从句之间混合与交替。我们学习英语，对于修饰分句的混合与交替有时缺乏深刻的认识，原因在于英汉文化差异，在于语言思维定式差异。汉语零句，松散句，流水句多。中国人说话言简意赅，思维敏捷，表达明确。英语善用长句，修饰分句在长句里起着极其重要的作用。长句体现复杂的思维，多层次的逻辑关系。所以，状语从句的表象与深层就成了中国人学英语的一口“陷阱”。

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［2］C.E.Eckersley & J.M.Eckersley，A Comprehensive English Grammar［M］.Longman Group Ltd.，London，1970.

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［4］姚善友.英语语法学［M］.北京商务印书馆，1965.

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