用语义分层法解析英文长句

王军

【摘要】本文以英语专业综合英语课程的课文为例说明如何解析英文长句，文章对比了传统的句子结构分析法，并对如何使用语义分层法做了具体演示。

【关键词】英文长句解析 语义分层法 综合英语教学

一、前言

在英语专业的基础学习中，长句的解析一直是个难点，笔者拟以综合教程4第7单元The Monster课文为例来说明如何分析和理解长句。

The Monster是Deems Taylor 1937 年所著的一篇传记式文章，记述德国音乐家瓦格纳的生平，以一种欲扬先抑的手法刻画了一个有着种种劣迹然而又对人类音乐史做出重大贡献的“怪物”。文章中有很多长句，造成了学生理解的难点。

语义分层法侧重于上下文的逻辑联系和句子本身的意思，与传统分析法有本质的区别。语义分层法的具体步骤为拆分、变形、释义。拆分、变形（split、transform）即把一个长的复合句拆分变形成若干个简单句；而释义（paraphrase）则是用简单易懂的词或词组乃至句子替换原文中难懂的部分。

二、语义分层法实例

简单句是英文最基础的语义单位，长句之所以复杂在于其含有多层意思，而理清这些意思的关键在于把长句拆分变形成多个简单句，拆分到最小的语义单位。以下面两个句子为例。

1.He wrote begging letters by the score，sometimes groveling without shame，at others loftily offering his intended benefactor the privilege of contributing to his support，and being mortally offended if the recipient declined the honor.

这个句子描写的是瓦格纳写很多封要钱的信，在信中时而表现卑躬屈膝，时而又趾高气扬，好像给他钱是一种天大的荣耀，而拒绝这种“荣耀”会让他非常生气。

第一步：找到主句（该句最主要的意思，一般不用变形）

He wrote begging letters by the score.

第二步：把剩余部分依序拆分变形成5个简单句：

（1）Sometimes he groveled without shame；

（2）At others he loftily offered his intended benefactor the privilege；

（3）The privilege is to contribute to his support；

（4）He was mortally offended；

（5）The recipient declined the honor.

第三步：用简单易懂的词或词组乃至句子释义

（1）He wrote begging letters （letters asking for money） by the score （a lot of）

（2）Sometimes he groveled （humbled himself） without shame

（3）At others he loftily （proudly） offered his intended benefactor （possible supporter） the privilege （rights，“honor”）

（4）The privilege is to contribute to his support （lend him the money）

（5）He was mortally offended （very angry）

（6）The recipient （letter receivers） declined （refused） the honor （requirement，demand）

第四步：重组

Paraphrase： He wrote a lot of letters to ask for money，sometimes he behaved very humbly in the letters，at other times he was very proud as if hes giving people the “honor” to lend him the money.If others refused，he would be very angry.

2.It is a matter of being dumb with wonder that his poor brain and body didnt burst under the torment of the demon of creative energy that lived inside him，struggling，clawing，scratching to be released； tearing，shrieking at him to write the music that was in him.

这个句子写的是人们被一个奇迹惊呆了，那就是在创造力之魔的折磨下，瓦的脑袋和身体居然没爆炸。这个长句依序可以拆分（变形）成7个简单句：

（1）It is a matter of being dumb with （overwhelmed with） wonder.（主句）

（2）His poor brain and body didnt burst （explode） under the torment （torture） of the demon （devil，monster）；

（3）The demon is his creative energy；

（4）The demon lived inside him；

（5）The demon struggled，clawed （scratched），scratched to be released；

（6）The demon torn him and shrieked at （screamed at） him to write the music；

（7）The music was in him.Paraphrase： It is a matter of being overwhelmed with wonder that he didnt explode under the torture of the devil of his creative energy.The creative energy was inside him and struggled to get out.It torn him and screamed at him to write the music within.

三、结语

综上所述，语义分层法（也可叫做拆分变形释义法）可以有效地帮助我们理解英文长句，不过使用者要具备以下条件：

1.要对长句的可拆分性有信心，有耐心；

2.具备基础的语法知识特别是对英语简单句的基本句型熟悉，找得到主句；

3.了解基本的意群分层标志（markers）如：that，who 等关系代词，and，but等并列或转折连接处，后续成分与主体的连接处如of，–ing结构，特殊标点符号如分号等等。

参考文献：

[1]程存熹.英语长句，难句的分析和翻译[J].外语学刊，1989，（1）：52.