Modifiers and Parentheticals · 修饰语与插入语
| English | 中文 | Pinyin · 拼音 |
|---|---|---|
| Modifiers/ˈmɒdɪfaɪəz/ | 修饰成分 | xiū shì chéng fèn |
| Parenthetical elements/pərənˈθetɪkl ˈelɪmənts/ | 插入成分 | chā rù chéng fèn |
Judgement hides in the adjective
- The long-delayed report has evaluated the report while appearing only to identify it.
- The word long-delayed was not required to point at anything.
- A modifier is where a writer's judgement enters a sentence without announcing itself.
An adjective can deliver a verdict while pretending it only came to label the folder.
判断藏在形容词里
- 那份久拖不决的报告在表面上只是指认这份报告的同时,已经对它作出了评价。
- 久拖不决这个词,对指认任何东西都不是必需的。
- 修饰成分正是写作者的判断悄然进入句子的地方。
形容词可以假装只是给文件夹贴标签，顺手却把判决也下了。
What a modifier does
- Modifiers 修饰成分 — words, phrases or clauses — qualify, clarify or specify information about the thing they modify.
- Those are three different jobs: narrowing, making precise, and picking out.
- Ask which job a modifier is doing, and whether it also smuggled in a judgement.
修饰成分做什么
- 修饰成分(modifiers)——词语、短语或分句——对被修饰之物的信息加以限定、澄清或具体化。
- 这是三项不同的工作:收窄、使之精确、指认出来。
- 要问某个修饰成分在做哪一项工作,以及它是否顺带夹带了一项判断。
Modifier or parenthetical, and what does it do? · 是修饰语还是插入语，以及它起什么作用？
Sort each element by the job it performs. · 根据每项元素执行的功能进行分类。
Select all · 所有 the jobs the CED says a modifier does. · 选择CED提到的修饰语所起的所有功能。
Concluding is not a modifier's job. · 总结不是修饰语的功能。
Parenthetical elements
- Parenthetical elements 插入成分 — though not essential to understanding what they describe — interrupt a sentence.
- They add information, comment or emphasis.
- The CED's phrase not essential is the key: a parenthetical is material the writer chose to include anyway.
插入成分
- 插入成分(parenthetical elements)——尽管对理解它们所描述之物并非必需——会打断句子。
- 它们添加信息、评论或强调。
- CED 用的"并非必需"是关键:插入成分是写作者仍然选择放进来的材料。
A parenthetical element is essential to understanding what it describes. · 插入语元素对其描述的对象的理解至关重要。
The CED says it is not essential — which is why including one is a choice. · CED指出它并非不可或缺——正因如此，加入它是出于主动选择。
A parenthetical is not essential, by the CED's own definition — which is exactly why including one is a choice worth analysing. Treating it as filler misses that the writer stopped the sentence on purpose, and chose where to stop it.
按 CED 自己的定义,插入成分并非必需——而这恰恰是把它放进来成为一项值得分析之选择的原因。把它当作填充物,就错过了写作者是有意停住句子、并选定了停在何处这一事实。
A parenthetical creates emphasis because... · 插入语之所以产生强调效果，是因为...
The reader is stopped, and what stops them is thereby marked. · 读者被阻止，而被阻止的那部分也因此被标记出来。
The interruption is the point
- Because a parenthetical is inessential, including it is a decision.
- The interruption itself creates emphasis — the reader is stopped, and what stops them is marked.
- Placement matters too: a parenthetical before a key word makes the reader wait for it.
打断本身就是要点
- 正因为插入成分并非必需,把它放进来就是一个决定。
- 打断本身就制造强调——读者被停住了,而让他们停住的东西也就被标记了。
- 位置同样重要:放在关键词之前的插入成分,会让读者为那个词等待。
To analyse a modifier, ask what the sentence would say ____ it. · 要分析修饰语，请思考：如果没有它，这句话会说些什么____。
The difference between the two versions is the judgement the writer added. · 两个版本之间的差异就是作者添加的判断。
Match each question to what it uncovers. · 将每个问题与其揭示的内容匹配。
Each question turns a grammatical feature into a rhetorical choice. · 每个问题都将语法特征转化为修辞选择。
Analysing both
- For a modifier: what would the sentence say without it? The difference is the judgement.
- For a parenthetical: why was inessential material included, and why here?
- Both questions turn a grammatical feature into a rhetorical choice.
分析这两者
- 对修饰成分:去掉它这个句子会说什么?两者之差就是那项判断。
- 对插入成分:为什么要放进并非必需的材料,又为什么放在这里?
- 这两个问题都把一项语法特征变成了一项修辞选择。
"The results, such as they were, arrived on schedule." The parenthetical dismisses the results in four words without arguing against them, and placing it before the praise means the compliment lands on something the reader has already been told to discount.
*"那些成果——姑且算是成果——如期而至。"*这个插入成分用几个字就打发掉了那些成果,却并未针对它们给出论证;而把它放在称许之前,意味着这句赞语落在了读者刚刚被告知要打折扣的东西上。
Modifiers qualify, clarify or specify — and are where judgement enters a sentence unannounced. Parenthetical elements are not essential yet interrupt to add information, comment or emphasis. Analyse both by asking what the sentence would say without them, and why they sit here.
修饰成分限定、澄清或具体化——它们也是判断不动声色地进入句子之处。插入成分****并非必需,却通过打断来添加信息、评论或强调。分析两者的方法是问:没有它们这个句子会说什么,以及它们为什么在这里。