「Please see the attached」- 省略核心名詞的名詞組
最近一位學生跟我說,她經常在同事的電郵中看到「the attached」這詞組。
她估計「the attached」應該就是指電郵中被「attach」的附件了,但她不明白的是,為何這詞組中似乎沒有核心名詞?(如「the attached file」或「the attached document」」)。
「attached」不只是個修飾該附件的形容詞嗎?
的確是的,但只要意思足夠清晰,在英文也經常會省略名詞組中的核心名詞,例如「the attached file」中的「file」,僅保留名詞標記和形容詞,如「the attached」,去充當整個名詞組。
例如:
The Chinese are good at diving.
此句的語境中,「the Chinese」可被理解成「the Chinese (athletes)」。「Chinese」本來只是個形容詞,而「the」只是標記名詞的,但在這句中,「the Chinese」則成為了整個名詞組。
There are a lot of tall buildings in Hong Kong. The tallest is the ICC.
此句的語境中,「the tallest」自然會被理解成「the tallest (building)」。「the」是個名詞標記字,而「tallest」本來只是個形容詞,但「the tallest」在這句子中則成為了整個名詞組。
尤其在用到如「tallest」這種最高字形(superlative form)的形容詞時,經常會這樣。
其實很多其他語言也有這個特徵,廣東話也有:
例如:
「你想買邊一隻杯?」「我想買紅色嗰隻。」
此語境中,也是以名詞標記和形容詞「紅色嗰隻」代表了「紅色嗰隻杯」整個名詞組。
小練習
請在橫線上填上合適的、只由名詞標記和形容詞組成的名詞組
- Many pedestrians were wounded in the traffic accident. ____________ were taken to a nearby hospital.
- There are a few convenience stores in our neighborhood, but _______________ has got to be the one on P Street. It is just a one-minute walk away.
____________________
(English version)
A student asked me recently about the phrase “the attached,” which she has seen many times in emails from her English-speaking colleagues.
She assumed correctly that “the attached” meant the files that have been attached in the email, but she wanted to ask why there is seemingly no core noun (like “the attached file” or “the attached document”) in the phrase.
Isn’t “attached” just an adjective describing the noun that is “attached”?
Actually, in English, noun phrases often omit the core noun (“file” in “the attached file”) and leave only the noun marker and the adjective (“the attached”) as a “stand-in” for the whole noun phrase when the meaning is sufficiently clear.
For example:
“The Chinese are good at diving.”
In this context, “the Chinese” could be understood as “the Chinese (athletes).” “Chinese” is just an adjective, and “the” is just a noun marker, but “the Chinese” is the whole noun phrase in this sentence.
In this context, “the tallest” would be understood as “the tallest (building).” “Tallest” is just an adjective, but “the tallest” is the whole noun phrase in this sentence.
We often do this with adjectives in superlative form, like “tallest,” “best” etc.
Many languages have this characteristic, including Cantonese.
For example:
In this context, “紅色個隻” is also an adjective and noun marker standing in for the whole noun phrase of “紅色個隻杯.”
Mini Exercise
Fill in the blanks with a noun phrase consisting of just a noun marker and an adjective.
- Many pedestrians were wounded in the traffic accident. ____________ were taken to a nearby hospital.
- There are a few convenience stores in our neighborhood, but _______________ has got to be the one on P Street. It is just a one-minute walk away.
Comments
Post a Comment