英语主位结构的语篇功能

桂永霞，彭文娟

(广东女子职业技术学院 外语系， 广州 511450)

英语主位结构的语篇功能

桂永霞，彭文娟

(广东女子职业技术学院 外语系， 广州 511450)

讨论了英语句子及语篇的主位结构；分析了英语主位结构的语篇功能；得出了主位结构是使语篇实现语意上连贯，结构上衔接的主要手段之一；指出了将该理论运用于英语阅读与写作等教学实践具有实际意义。

主位结构；语篇功能；话题范围；主导信息流程

一、主位结构

(1)简式主位。主位是位于句首的成分，是话语的出发点，是说话者想突出的部分；主位之后绕主位展开的部分是述位，是对主位的陈述。从信息分布来看，位于句首的主位表达已知信息，位于句子后部的述位表达新信息。一个句子中有多个成分充当主位时，一般按语言的三种元功能(概念功能、人际功能、语篇功能)将其划分为三种类型。如果这三类主位同时出现在一个句子中，按其相对突出程度的不同排序分语篇主位、人际主位、话题主位。话题主位位于句首时，为无标记主位。一般情况下，主位与述位之间用“|”隔开(例1)[1]：

1a The papers|were destroyed by(话题主位)the fire.

1b And sooner or later a ship∣(语篇主位)(人际主位)(话题主位)will put in here.

(2)句式主位。语篇是包含任意长度的语义单位，既可以是含一个小句的句子，也可以是若干句子组成的语篇。在语篇中，复合句的第一个分句为主位，称句式主位(例2)：

2a Morgan left home at midnight|and he missed the train.

2b Morgan missed the train|because he left home at midnight.

当句子是正常语序时，前一分句为主位，即无标记主位；后一分句为述位。作者刻意将其所要特别突出的或强调的其他信息置于句首时，则为有标记主位。

(3)段落主位与语篇主位。语篇中，题目是整个语篇的主位，它影响读者对整个语篇的理解。第一自然段第一句是首段落的主位句，它不仅影响读者对该段的理解，而且还影响对语篇其他所有内容的理解。那么，每一段落的首句即是该段落的主位句，如果段落首句就是该段落的主题句，则为无标记主位(例3a)；如果段落主题句不位于段首，而位于段中或段末，那么段落首句则为有标记主位(例3b)。语篇其他部分则为语篇的述位(例3)[2]：

3a How to improve your study habit.

3b Perhaps you are an average student with average intelligence.

3b ① Plan your time carefully.

3b ② Find a good place to study.

3b ③ Skim before you read.

3b ④ Make good use of your time in class.

3b ⑤ Study regularly.

3b ⑥ Develop a good attitude about tests.

There are other techniques that might help you with your studying.

二、主位结构的语篇功能

研究语篇功能，通常指研究语篇信息分布和组篇的种种手段[3]。我们一般从三个方面来讨论或总结主位结构的语篇功能。

(1)主位结构为语篇提供话题范围，或者说主位结构展示语篇主导信息流程(例4)[4]137。

4a Jack goes up the beanstalk again.

4b He comes to the giant’s house and he sees the giant’s wife.

例4所指“Jack”以不同的形式“Jack”、“he”在各句中得到主位化，并获得相对的突出性；它在句中为句子提供话题，称作话题主位，即该语段的中心议题或主人翁。

电影、故事、长篇小说人物角色的变化与连贯，说明文、议论文议题的深入与保持，都是通过话题主位的变化与连续实现的(例5)[5]。

5a Books on space adventure and life on distant planets

5b One of the first men to write about this subject

5c In his novel, 'The First Men in the Moon’, he

5d In this they

5e They

5f There they

5g After many strange adventures, one of the men

5h Where nobody

在例5的主位结构中，可以看出该语篇是在谈论一本太空探险的小说，并可以看到探险进程的脉络：起先；然后；接着；最后。

(2)主位结构为组织语篇提供视点或情景语境。情景语境，即场景，主要指时间、地点和处所的物理位置(如房间大小、家具的陈设等)、谈论话题、陈述观点的角度等(例6)[6]。

6a Merchants in the Middle Ages who traded in spices, silk and carpets

6b For them, the East

6c The region

6d This ruler and the commodities that found their way into European market places

从例6的主位结构可以判断，“the East”与“The region”是同指，即指同一地区，并且是谈论的话题。6d中的统治者(This ruler)和商品(the commodities)则是该地区的统治者和商品，是深入或进一步谈论话题的新的角度，或称视点(perspective)。6b中的For them(对他们而言)表明，6a的主位“中世纪商人(Merchants in the Middle Ages)”并不构成语篇的“话题”，而构成谈论话题“the East”与“The region”的视点。6d中的“商品(the commodities)”与6a主位中的“中世纪商人(Merchants in the Middle Ages)”和“辣椒、丝绸、地毯(spices,silk and carpets)”相呼应，既为谈论话题提供了视点，又实现了我们讨论的第一点语篇功能，即为语篇提供了主导信息流程，或格定了语篇的话题范围(例7)[7]。

7a Merchants in the Middle Ages who traded in spices, silk and carpets | had no knowledge of the lands from which they came.

7b For them, the East | remained a mystery.

7c The region | was a remote place, ruled over by the fabulous Prester John.

7d This ruler | was said to be immensely wealthy, far weal-thier than any Western monarch, | and the commodities that found their way into European market places | were an indication of his riches.

再看例8：

8a Mr. William Serby

8b From 1917 to 1919 he

8c In 1926 he

8d During the Second World War he

8e In 1926 he

这是一段简历、传记或卜文，通篇只有一个话题实体或主人翁，该个体以不同的形式“Mr.William Serby”和“he”在题目和各段落各句中得到主位化。此外，作者将一些时间副词置于主位的位置。可以说，尽管作者仍在谈论同一话题实体，但选择了不同的角度，这些时间副词主位化，给作者提供了组织语篇的不同视点，对读者的理解有指导意义(例9)[4]。

9a Mr. William Serby

9b Mr. William Serby who died aged 85 on September 20 was County Treasurer to Buckinghamshire County Council from 1929 to 1961.

9c He was commissioned in the Queen’s(R. W. Surrey Regiment) in 1915 and served in France until he was wounded in 1916. From 1917 to1919 he served as Liaison Officer with the French and Russian forces in the North Russian Expeditionary Force.

9d In 1926 he was appointed County Accountant to the Cornwall C. C.

9e During the Second World War he commanded the Home Guard in Wendover and in later years was actively concerned with the work of the R. N. I. B., the Oxford Diocesan Board of Finance, the Bucks Historic Churches Trust and in many local organizations in Wendover.

9f In 1926 he married Jean Durns and they had one son and two daughters.

三、主位结构反映语篇组织结构和语类

根据主位结构反映语篇组织和语类的功能，文中所给出的例3表明，该语篇为论说文，并且标有数字的几个段落为平行发展结构；例(9)则是一段简历，传说或卜文。再请看下面一段文字的主位：

10a This rug

10b The design

10c The prayer mihrab

10d But the vase

10e In rugs of this type

10f Outstanding examples…

例10各句的主位结构表明：第一，该段文字为说明文；主位结构反映语篇组织结构和语类。第二，作者的话题范围——地毯。第三，该语段的组织结构，从某一特定类型的地毯(10b)，到该类地毯的特征性式样(10c、10d)，再到该类地毯的一般性特征(10e)，即从一个个特定的视点组织语篇，陈述话题(例11)[4]。

11a This rug comes from the village of Shalamazar in the Southern Chahar Mahal, but the design is woven in many of the villages.

11b The design is one of those that fit into several possible categories, involving as it does elements of bird, tree, vase and prayer types.

11c The prayer mihrab may be omitted in some cases.

11d But the vase is always present, as are the strikingly drawn birds ….

11e In rugs of this type excellent natural dyestuffs are very often found, and the quality varies from medium to quite fine.

11f Outstanding examples….

[1] 胡壮麟.语篇的衔接与连贯[M].上海：上海外语教育出版社，1994.

[2] 董亚芬.大学英语精读：第1册[M].上海：上海外语教育出版社，1989.

[3] 任绍曾.英语时态的语篇功能[J].外国语，1995(3)：22-29.

[4] BROWN & YULE，Discourse Analysis[M].England:Cambridge University Press，1983.

[5] 董亚芬.大学英语精读：第2册[M].上海：上海外语教育出版社，1989.

[6] DAVID.Introducing Discourse Analysis[M].England：The Penguin Group，1993.

[7] WIDDOWSON H G.Teaching Languageas Communication[M].Oxford：Oxford University Press，1978.

[责任编辑 毋爱君]

TheTextualFunctionofThematicStructuresinEnglish

GUIYong-xia,PENGWen-juan

(DepartmentofForeignLanguages,GuangdongFemaleVocationalandPolytechnicalSchool，Guangzhou522450,China)

The thematic structures in English are discussed at the sentential and discoursal levels. The textual functions work in three aspects: the thematic structures provide the topic for the discourse; thematic structures provide different perspectives or the situational context for organizing and interpreting the discourse; thematic structures reflect the organization structure and type of the discourse.

thematic structures；textual functions；topic; main idea

2010-04-17

桂永霞(1966-)，女，湖北京山人，副教授，从事应用语言学、功能语法、话语分析等方面的研究。

E-mail：gyx30@163.com

H3

A

1673-9779(2010)04-0457-03