倒装功能汇总课件

Ⅲ.The

Functions

of

Inversion

Ⅲ.The

Functions

of

Inversion

1Focus-makingOn

the

sentence-level,

focus

traditionally

refers

to

the

element

that

carries

the

newest

“most

important

or

salient

information”

(Dik

et

al.

1983)

as

different

from

“the

information

in

the

sentence

that

is

assumed

by

the

speaker

to

be

shared

by

him

and

the

hearer”

(Jackendoff,

1983)

The

unmarked

information

focus

of

a

sentence

is

usually

identified

with

sentence-final

position,

while

a

marked

focus

requires

special

or

syntactic

effort,

with

operations

that

affect

the

linear

order,

and

therefore

the

thematic

information

structure

of

a

sentence.

Focus-makingOn

the

sentence-le2Information

structure

is

encoded

by

means

of

word

order

variation.

“an

inversion

expresses

how

the

speaker

intends

to

instruct

the

reader

about

his

or

her

current

focus

of

attention,

or

about

the

emphasis

to

be

attached

to

individual

discourse

items”

(Dorgeloh,1997).

Information

structure

is

encod3When

some

of

the

constituents

are

fronted,

the

subject

at

the

end

of

the

sentence

can

be

emphasized

as

the

final

position

carries

prominent

information

as

well

as

the

initial

position.

The

old

information

is

often

prior

to

the

new

information

so

as

to

arouse

the

curiosity

of

the

reader

or

the

hearer

to

read

on

or

listen

on.

If

the

subject

carries

new

information

or

information

focus,

inversion

is

more

often

employed

to

put

it

at

the

final

position

emphatically.

Such

inversion

will

help

achieve

end

focus

so

that

prominence

is

given

to

the

information

at

the

end

of

the

sentence

with

the

previous

part

creating

suspense

to

add

force

to

the

artistic

effect.

For

example:

When

some

of

the

constituents4Out

of

the

bosom

of

the

air,

Out

of

the

clouds---folds

of

her

garments

shaken,

Over

the

woodlands

brown

and

bare,

Over

the

harvest-fields

forsaken,

Silent,

and

soft,

and

slow

Descends

the

snow.

（Longfellow:

Snow）Out

of

the

bosom

of

the

air,

5In

journalism

or

literature,

inversion

is

used

to

create

suspense

for

emphatic

purpose.

In

this

poem,

Longfellow

is

creative

in

the

use

of

inversion,

giving

seven

adverbials

successively

without

mentioning

the

subject

and

the

predicate

and

thus

keeping

the

reader

in

suspense.

Only

after

finishing

the

whole

stanza

can

the

reader

have

a

rude

awakening

to

the

theme

and

focus

of

the

poem:

snow.

In

journalism

or

literature,

6For

emphasizing

Fronting

isa

major

means

of

emphasizing,

that

is,

placing

the

sentence

constituents

to

the

initial

position

so

that

it

receives

emphasis.

The

speaker

or

the

writer

initializes

the

important

constituents,

objects,

predicatives

or

adverbials,

followed

by

inversions,

which,

with

their

prominent

position

at

the

front,

attracts

the

attention

of

the

hearer

or

the

reader.

For

emphasizing7

(1)

Emphasis

on

adverbials

To

be

emphatic

is

the

most

prominent

and

common

rhetoric

effect

of

inversion.

(a)Only

+

adverb

/

prepositional

phrase

/

adverbial

clause

(1)

Emphasis

on

adverbials

81).Only

yesterday

did

he

find

out

that

his

watch

was

missing.

2).Only

through

sheer

luck

did

he

manage

to

get

some

tickets.

3).Only

after

the

last

tree

has

been

cut.

1).Only

yesterday

did

he

find

9(b)

Negative

adverbs

and

adverbial

phrases

Bill

Clinton

had

his

season

of

Lewinsky.

Richard

Nixon

had

Watergate.

But

rarely

has

a

major

politician

endured

such

a

spell

of

relentless

day-to-day

ugly.

(b)

Negative

adverbs

and

adver10(c)

Adverbial

of

manner

or

frequency

Gladly

would

I

pay

more

if

I

could

get

better

service.

To

such

length

did

she

go

in

rehearsal

that

the

two

actors

walked

out.

(c)

Adverbial

of

manner

or

fre11(2)

Emphasis

on

predicative

Sweet

was

that

evening.

Starved

and

tired

enough

was

the

homeless

child.

(2)

Emphasis

on

predicative

12(3)

Emphasis

on

objects

Not

a

single

word

did

Piggott

speak.

In

the

example,

not

a

single

word

is

first

spotted

by

the

reader

and

is

thus

the

most

emphatic

information

in

the

sentence.

(3)

Emphasis

on

objects13(4)

Emphasis

on

predicate

When

the

predicate

is

composed

of

auxiliary

andverb,

the

main

verb

can

be

placed

in

the

initial

position

of

the

sentence

to

emphasize

the

action.

①Echoed

the

hills.

②Came

the

dawn.③Came

frightful

days

of

snow

and

rain.

(4)

Emphasis

on

predicate

14Ⅲ.The

Functions

of

Inversion

Depiction

(agraphicorvividverbaldescription)Some

minor

constituents,

an

onomatopoeia

or

prepositional

adverb

such

as

up,

down,

in,

out,

off

andaway

are

fronted

to

the

initial

position

to

depict

the

scene

or

action

more

vividly.

Ⅲ.The

Functions

of

Inversion

D15①

Crack

went

the

gun

and

the

hawk

crumpled

out

of

the

sky.

②Bang

went

the

fireworks.

③Rap,

rap,

rap,

came

the

knocks

on

the

door.

④Crash

came

a

baseball

through

the

window.

Basically,

an

onomatopoeia

is

a

word

which

imitates

a

noise

or

action,

①

Crack

went

the

gun

and

the

h16Ⅲ.The

Functions

of

Inversion

四.

Syntactic

function－

Inversion

for

end

weight

Inversion

involves

the

shift

of

some

sentence

constituents

to

the

initial

position

so

that

the

verb

or

auxiliary

precedes

the

subject.

In

the

case

of

a

lengthy

subject,

inversion

is

an

effective

means

to

place

the

complex

constituents

to

the

end

of

the

sentence

to

conform

to

the

principle

of

end

weight.

The

subject

is

complex

when

it

is

a

noun

phrase

post-modified

by

participles,

either

past

or

present,

by

relative

clauses,

or

by

prepositional

phrases.

For

example:Ⅲ.The

Functions

of

Inversion

171.)With

the

last

hours

of

the

afternoon

went

her

hopes,

her

courage,

and

her

strength.

2.)But

with

high

growth

come

high

risks,

including

dramatic

booms

and

busts,

political

instability

and

worse.3).Happy

is

he

who

dedicates

his

life

to

the

emancipation

of

all

mankind.

Inversion

has

to

be

used

in

all

these

examples

as

otherwise

they

will

be

unbalanced

sentence

in

English,

with

a

lengthy

subject

as

compared

to

a

simple

predicate.

1.)With

the

last

hours

of

the

18五.Inversion

for

rhetorical

purpose

Inversion

is

often

used

in

poetry

or

poetic

prose

for

the

aesthetic

appeal

through

rhyme

in

the

stanza.

For

example:

Ⅲ.The

Functions

of

Inversion五.Inversion

for

rhetorical

pu19He

clasps

the

crag

with

crooked

hands;

Close

to

the

sun

in

the

lonely

lands,

Ring’d

with

the

azure

world,

he

stands.

The

wrinkled

sea

beneath

him

crawls;

He

watched

from

his

mountain

walks.

And

like

a

thunderbolt

he

falls.

—

Alfred

Tennyson,

The

Eagle.

He

clasps

the

crag

with

crooke20The

poet

compares

the

dead

friend

to

an

eagle.

In

the

second

line,

the

poet

put

“ring’d

with

the

azure

world”

before

the

subject

and

the

predicate,

forming

an

inversion

so

as

to

emphasize

the

metaphor

that

the

death

of

the

friend

can

be

compared

to

the

plunging

of

an

eagle.

The

poet

compares

the

dead

fr21Ⅲ.The

Functions

of

Inversion

六.Semantic

function－Cohesion

Cohesion

is

a

sense

of

flow

from

old

to

new;

the

ties

that

connect

each

sentence

to

what

has

gone

before.

It

refers

to

relations

of

meaning

that

exist

within

the

text,

the

range

of

possibilities

that

exist

for

linking

something

with

what

has

gone

before.Ⅲ.The

Functions

of

Inversion

22Halliday

and

Hasan

classify

grammatical

and

lexical

devices

of

cohesion

into

5

categories:

reference,

substitution,

ellipsis,

conjunction

and

lexical

cohesion.

Inversion,

through

endophoric

reference(文内照应

)and

lexical

repetition,

is

an

effective

means

to

make

the

text

a

coherent

whole.

Halliday

and

Hasan

classify

gr23Deictic

adverbs

In

the

case

of

AdvP-inversion

following

deictic

adverbs

such

as

here,

then

andnow,the

construction

has

absorbed

a

discourse

meaning

as

illustrated

by

the

following

examples.

But

the

memory

that

China

once

traded

with

the

world

is

not

the

only

lesson

of

Zheng

He’s

life.

When

he

died,

so

did

China’s

global

ambitions.

Deictic

adverbs

24Deictic

Pronoun

They

laughed

together

and

with

that

laugh

ended

all

serious

discourse.

Deictic

Pronoun

25Ⅳ.ContrastwithChineseinversion

Firstly,

various

types

of

inversion

are

often

met

in

written

or

spoken

English.

Compared

with

English,

inversion

in

Chinese

is

much

less

used.

Though

the

receptor

sometimes

appears

before

the

agent,

in

a

strict

sense

these

are

still

not

inverted

sentences.

Secondly,

inversion

in

English

has

the

fixed

form,

such

as

the

interrogative

and

negative

inversion,

in

which

the

inversion

is

compulsory.

Thirdly,

there

are

both

grammatical

and

functional

inversions

in

English,

while

in

modern

Chinese

there

is

no

structural

inversion

and

most

of

the

inversions

are

rhetorical

for

the

pragmatic

use.

Ⅳ.ContrastwithChineseinvers26Ⅴ.Translation

of

inversion

in

English

From

the

analysis

above

the

striking

differences

in

inversions

in

English

and

Chinese

indicate

that

the

inverted

sentences

in

English

are

mostly

to

be

restored

into

the

natural

word

order

when

rendered

into

Chinese.

More

often

than

not

we

have

to

change

the

inversed

word

order

in

English

when

the

text

is

translated

into

Chinese,

especially

the

grammatical

inversions.

However,

as

inversions

serve

various

functions

in

a

discourse,

there

are

cases

we

reserve

the

original

order

so

as

to

achieve

the

similar

focus

or

emphasis

on

certain

constituents

of

the

sentence

or

the

similar

coherence

in

a

discourse.

Ⅴ.Translation

of

inversion

in

27

Translation

in

the

restored

word

order

1.Inexpressible

was

the

astonishment

of

the

little

party

when

they

returned

to

find

that

Mr.

Pickwick

had

disappeared.

当这一小伙人回来发现皮克威克先生不见了的时候，那惊愕之态简直无法形容.

Translation

in

the

restored

w28

2.

Only

in

our

territory

has

it

met

serious

resistance.

只是在我国领土上，德国才遇到了重大的抗击。

293.His

name

will

endure

through

the

ages,

and

so

also

will

his

work!

(他的英名和事业将永垂不朽！（石幼珊译）

改译：他的英名将永垂不朽，他的事业也将永垂不朽！

3.His

name

will

endure

through30

4.Roar,

the

mountains,

thunders,

all

the

ground.

怒吼吧，群山；咆哮吧，大地。

5.There

lies

before

us,

if

we

choose,

continual

progress

in

happiness,

knowledge,

and

wisdom.

假如我们作此选择，那么我们得到的就是幸福、知识和智慧的不断增长。

4.Roar,

the

mountains,

thunde313.His

name

will

endure

through

the

ages,

and

so

also

will

his

work!

(他的英名和事业将永垂不朽！（石幼珊译）

改译：他的英名将永垂不朽，他的事业也将永垂不朽！

3.His

name

will

endure

through32

4.Roar,

the

mountains,

thunders,

all

the

ground.

怒吼吧，群山；咆哮吧，大地。

5.There

lies

before

us,

if

we

choose,

continual

progress

in

happiness,

knowledge,

and

wisdom.

假如我们作此选择，那么我们得到的就是幸福、知识和智慧的不断增长。

4.Roar,

the

mountains,

thunde336.Crack

went

the

gun

and

the

hawk

crumpled

out

of

the

sky.啪地一声枪响，鹰从空中掉下来。

7.Up

went

the

arrow

into

the

air.飕的一声箭射上了天空。8.Break

his

bloody

neck,

I

will.我非把他的脖子拧断不可。

Lexical

and

Syntactic

compensation

to

achieve

similar

rhetorical

effect

.倒装功能汇总课件34Syntactic

compensation

9.Well

do

I

remember

the

day

when

it

happened.我记得出事那天的情况，清清楚楚地。

Syntactic

compensation

3510.Perhaps

in

no

other

country

has

his

thought

penetrated

more

deeply

and

influenced

more

strongly

the

great

mass

of

the

people.

他的思想在我国广大人民中影响巨大，深入人心，也许没有别的国家可以相比拟。Through

the

use

of

comma,

the

fronted

constituents

in

the

inverted

sentences

in

English

is

converted

to

an

independent

clause

in

Chinese

so

that

they

are

equally

stressed.

10.Perhaps

in

no

other

country36Ⅲ.The

Functions

of

Inversion

Ⅲ.The

Functions

of

Inversion

37Focus-makingOn

the

sentence-level,

focus

traditionally

refers

to

the

element

that

carries

the

newest

“most

important

or

salient

information”

(Dik

et

al.

1983)

as

different

from

“the

information

in

the

sentence

that

is

assumed

by

the

speaker

to

be

shared

by

him

and

the

hearer”

(Jackendoff,

1983)

The

unmarked

information

focus

of

a

sentence

is

usually

identified

with

sentence-final

position,

while

a

marked

focus

requires

special

or

syntactic

effort,

with

operations

that

affect

the

linear

order,

and

therefore

the

thematic

information

structure

of

a

sentence.

Focus-makingOn

the

sentence-le38Information

structure

is

encoded

by

means

of

word

order

variation.

“an

inversion

expresses

how

the

speaker

intends

to

instruct

the

reader

about

his

or

her

current

focus

of

attention,

or

about

the

emphasis

to

be

attached

to

individual

discourse

items”

(Dorgeloh,1997).

Information

structure

is

encod39When

some

of

the

constituents

are

fronted,

the

subject

at

the

end

of

the

sentence

can

be

emphasized

as

the

final

position

carries

prominent

information

as

well

as

the

initial

position.

The

old

information

is

often

prior

to

the

new

information

so

as

to

arouse

the

curiosity

of

the

reader

or

the

hearer

to

read

on

or

listen

on.

If

the

subject

carries

new

information

or

information

focus,

inversion

is

more

often

employed

to

put

it

at

the

final

position

emphatically.

Such

inversion

will

help

achieve

end

focus

so

that

prominence

is

given

to

the

information

at

the

end

of

the

sentence

with

the

previous

part

creating

suspense

to

add

force

to

the

artistic

effect.

For

example:

When

some

of

the

constituents40Out

of

the

bosom

of

the

air,

Out

of

the

clouds---folds

of

her

garments

shaken,

Over

the

woodlands

brown

and

bare,

Over

the

harvest-fields

forsaken,

Silent,

and

soft,

and

slow

Descends

the

snow.

（Longfellow:

Snow）Out

of

the

bosom

of

the

air,

41In

journalism

or

literature,

inversion

is

used

to

create

suspense

for

emphatic

purpose.

In

this

poem,

Longfellow

is

creative

in

the

use

of

inversion,

giving

seven

adverbials

successively

without

mentioning

the

subject

and

the

predicate

and

thus

keeping

the

reader

in

suspense.

Only

after

finishing

the

whole

stanza

can

the

reader

have

a

rude

awakening

to

the

theme

and

focus

of

the

poem:

snow.

In

journalism

or

literature,

42For

emphasizing

Fronting

isa

major

means

of

emphasizing,

that

is,

placing

the

sentence

constituents

to

the

initial

position

so

that

it

receives

emphasis.

The

speaker

or

the

writer

initializes

the

important

constituents,

objects,

predicatives

or

adverbials,

followed

by

inversions,

which,

with

their

prominent

position

at

the

front,

attracts

the

attention

of

the

hearer

or

the

reader.

For

emphasizing43

(1)

Emphasis

on

adverbials

To

be

emphatic

is

the

most

prominent

and

common

rhetoric

effect

of

inversion.

(a)Only

+

adverb

/

prepositional

phrase

/

adverbial

clause

(1)

Emphasis

on

adverbials

441).Only

yesterday

did

he

find

out

that

his

watch

was

missing.

2).Only

through

sheer

luck

did

he

manage

to

get

some

tickets.

3).Only

after

the

last

tree

has

been

cut.

1).Only

yesterday

did

he

find

45(b)

Negative

adverbs

and

adverbial

phrases

Bill

Clinton

had

his

season

of

Lewinsky.

Richard

Nixon

had

Watergate.

But

rarely

has

a

major

politician

endured

such

a

spell

of

relentless

day-to-day

ugly.

(b)

Negative

adverbs

and

adver46(c)

Adverbial

of

manner

or

frequency

Gladly

would

I

pay

more

if

I

could

get

better

service.

To

such

length

did

she

go

in

rehearsal

that

the

two

actors

walked

out.

(c)

Adverbial

of

manner

or

fre47(2)

Emphasis

on

predicative

Sweet

was

that

evening.

Starved

and

tired

enough

was

the

homeless

child.

(2)

Emphasis

on

predicative

48(3)

Emphasis

on

objects

Not

a

single

word

did

Piggott

speak.

In

the

example,

not

a

single

word

is

first

spotted

by

the

reader

and

is

thus

the

most

emphatic

information

in

the

sentence.

(3)

Emphasis

on

objects49(4)

Emphasis

on

predicate

When

the

predicate

is

composed

of

auxiliary

andverb,

the

main

verb

can

be

placed

in

the

initial

position

of

the

sentence

to

emphasize

the

action.

①Echoed

the

hills.

②Came

the

dawn.③Came

frightful

days

of

snow

and

rain.

(4)

Emphasis

on

predicate

50Ⅲ.The

Functions

of

Inversion

Depiction

(agraphicorvividverbaldescription)Some

minor

constituents,

an

onomatopoeia

or

prepositional

adverb

such

as

up,

down,

in,

out,

off

andaway

are

fronted

to

the

initial

position

to

depict

the

scene

or

action

more

vividly.

Ⅲ.The

Functions

of

Inversion

D51①

Crack

went

the

gun

and

the

hawk

crumpled

out

of

the

sky.

②Bang

went

the

fireworks.

③Rap,

rap,

rap,

came

the

knocks

on

the

door.

④Crash

came

a

baseball

through

the

window.

Basically,

an

onomatopoeia

is

a

word

which

imitates

a

noise

or

action,

①

Crack

went

the

gun

and

the

h52Ⅲ.The

Functions

of

Inversion

四.

Syntactic

function－

Inversion

for

end

weight

Inversion

involves

the

shift

of

some

sentence

constituents

to

the

initial

position

so

that

the

verb

or

auxiliary

precedes

the

subject.

In

the

case

of

a

lengthy

subject,

inversion

is

an

effective

means

to

place

the

complex

constituents

to

the

end

of

the

sentence

to

conform

to

the

principle

of

end

weight.

The

subject

is

complex

when

it

is

a

noun

phrase

post-modified

by

participles,

either

past

or

present,

by

relative

clauses,

or

by

prepositional

phrases.

For

example:Ⅲ.The

Functions

of

Inversion

531.)With

the

last

hours

of

the

afternoon

went

her

hopes,

her

courage,

and

her

strength.

2.)But

with

high

growth

come

high

risks,

including

dramatic

booms

and

busts,

political

instability

and

worse.3).Happy

is

he

who

dedicates

his

life

to

the

emancipation

of

all

mankind.

Inversion

has

to

be

used

in

all

these

examples

as

otherwise

they

will

be

unbalanced

sentence

in

English,

with

a

lengthy

subject

as

compared

to

a

simple

predicate.

1.)With

the

last

hours

of

the

54五.Inversion

for

rhetorical

purpose

Inversion

is

often

used

in

poetry

or

poetic

prose

for

the

aesthetic

appeal

through

rhyme

in

the

stanza.

For

example:

Ⅲ.The

Functions

of

Inversion五.Inversion

for

rhetorical

pu55He

clasps

the

crag

with

crooked

hands;

Close

to

the

sun

in

the

lonely

lands,

Ring’d

with

the

azure

world,

he

stands.

The

wrinkled

sea

beneath

him

crawls;

He

watched

from

his

mountain

walks.

And

like

a

thunderbolt

he

falls.

—

Alfred

Tennyson,

The

Eagle.

He

clasps

the

crag

with

crooke56The

poet

compares

the

dead

friend

to

an

eagle.

In

the

second

line,

the

poet

put

“ring’d

with

the

azure

world”

before

the

subject

and

the

predicate,

forming

an

inversion

so

as

to

emphasize

the

metaphor

that

the

death

of

the

friend

can

be

compared

to

the

plunging

of

an

eagle.

The

poet

compares

the

dead

fr57Ⅲ.The

Functions

of

Inversion

六.Semantic

function－Cohesion

Cohesion

is

a

sense

of

flow

from

old

to

new;

the

ties

that

connect

each

sentence

to

what

has

gone

before.

It

refers

to

relations

of

meaning

that

exist

within

the

text,

the

range

of

possibilities

that

exist

for

linking

something

with

what

has

gone

before.Ⅲ.The

Functions

of

Inversion

58Halliday

and

Hasan

classify

grammatical

and

lexical

devices

of

cohesion

into

5

categories:

reference,

substitution,

ellipsis,

conjunction

and

lexical

cohesion.

Inversion,

through

endophoric

reference(文内照应

)and

lexical

repetition,

is

an

effective

means

to

make

the

text

a

coherent

whole.

Halliday

and

Hasan

classify

gr59Deictic

adverbs

In

the

case

of

AdvP-inversion

following

deictic

adverbs

such

as

here,

then

andnow,the

construction

has

absorbed

a

discourse

meaning

as

illustrated

by

the

following

examples.

But

the

memory

that

China

once

traded

with

the

world

is

not

the

only

lesson

of

Zheng

He’s

life.

When

he

died,

so

did

China’s

global

ambitions.

Deictic

adverbs

60Deictic

Pronoun

They

laughed

together

and

with

that

laugh

ended

all

serious

discourse.

Deictic

Pronoun

61Ⅳ.ContrastwithChineseinversion

Firstly,

various

types

of

inversion

are

often

met

in

written

or

spoken

English.

Compared

with

English,

inversion

in

Chinese

is

much

less

used.

Though

the

receptor

sometimes

appears

before

the

agent,

in

a

strict

sense

these

are

still

not

inverted

sentences.

Secondly,

inversion

in

English

has

the

fixed

form,

such

as

the

interrogative

and

negative

inversion,

in

which

the

inversion

is

compulsory.

Thirdly,

there

are

both

grammatical

and

functional

inversions

in

English,

while

in

modern

Chinese

there

is

no

structural

inversion

and

most

of

the

inversions

are

rhetorical

for

the

pragmatic

use.

Ⅳ.ContrastwithChineseinvers62Ⅴ.Translation

of

inversion

in

English

From

the

analysis

above

the

striking

differences

in

inversions

in

English

and

Chinese

indicate

that

the

inverted

sentences

in

English

are

mostly

to

be

restored

into

the

natural

word

order

when

rendered

into

Chinese.

More

often

than

not

we

have

to