現代英文中的「倒裝」句子 (inversion) #1: 英文詞序曾經也很彈性

 


不少學生都向我查問過一些所謂「倒裝」(inverted)的句子 – 即主語 (subject)與限定動詞(finite verb)的位置倒轉,使本應位於限定動詞前的主語,變成出現在限定動詞之後。例如:

 

Never have I seen such a thing.

 

Under the tree stood a man

 


在詳細討論這種詞序前,我想先解釋一下現代英文文法中的「倒裝」(inversion)從何而來,以及為何現在看起來如此「不自然」。

 

我在之前幾篇 newsletter 中也提到,英文是 Indo-European (印歐)語言家族的一員,其所屬的分支是 Germanic Languages(日耳曼語族)。與英文源自同一分支的其他「近親」語言,包括德文、瑞典文和荷蘭文等。

 

Germanic 分支中的所有現代語言在演變中,曾經都遺傳過一個被語言學家稱為「V2」(即:「動詞在第二位置」)的文法特徵。

 

「V2」這文法特質是,在 Germanic Languages 的句子詞序中,動詞(指句子核心動詞,即限定動詞,或限定動詞組的首部分)一定會出現在句中「第二」組的位置


有這特徵的語言,只要限定動詞(或多於一個單字的限定動詞組的首部分)出現在「第二」組位置,第一位置的是甚麼都無所謂,甚至不一定是主語。


例如,以下詞序在現代德文中都是成立的:


Ich treffe ihn im Park. 

(I -  meet - him - in the park)

(1 - 2 - 3 - 4)

 

Ihn treffe ich im Park.

(Him - meet - I - in the park)

(1 - 2 - 3 - 4)

 

Im Park treffe ich ihn. 

(In the park - meet - I - him) 

(1 - 2 - 3 - 4)


最自然的詞序當然是主語先出現,然後限定動詞放次位。但只要限定動詞是在第二位置,整體詞序便有很大彈性。


例如,我們可以像第二組例句般,把賓語「him」移至首位;或者像第三句,把副詞組「in the park」放在第一位。


由於每個子句中的限定動詞都緊守著第二的崗位,這些詞序便都符合「V2」的規範。


本來,所有的 Germanic Languages 都遺傳了這「V2」文法特徵,就如德文至今仍保有此特徵。然而,它卻在英文的演變過程中消失了。

 

英文曾經也有這樣的特徵,有很彈性的詞序。也就是說,以下句子的詞序曾經是成立的:


I swam in the morning.

 

In the morning swam I.*  (❌ in modern English) 

但想必你也清楚,第二組句子中把副詞「in the morning」放首位,接著限定動詞「swam」放第二,主語「I」最後,這樣的詞序在現在英文中已不可行了。

 

由於英文已失去了「V2」的文法特質,因此連帶詞序的流動性,以及許多用以顯示詞彙角色的字尾和標記詞都隨之消失了。


現代英文演變成有非常固定的詞序,規範子句中的主語必需出現在限定動詞之前。


雖然文法上還是允許將副詞組移至句子開頭,但它仍會出現在主語的前面,主語則仍在限定動詞的前面。例如:

 

I swam in the morning. 

 

In the morning, I swam. ✔️

 

現在我們知道了,英文曾經有著這種「V2」的詞序,只要限定動詞在第二的位置,則句子中非主語的元素也可以佔第一位,而主語在這情況會被移至第三位。例如:


In the morning swam I.* 

 

但這種「V2」特徵在現代英文詞序中已流失了,上述例句也不再符合現代英文的文法。


這就是現代英文中所謂「倒裝法」(inversion)的背景。

 

基本上,現代英文文法對詞序有著嚴格規範,主語必需出現在限定動詞之前 – 這就是英文正常的詞序


不過,基於一些原因,這種已成「化石」的「V2」特徵,卻在現代英文的某些情景中保存了下來。


這些情景中,身處第一位置的某元素(通常是副詞組)會容許(有時甚至要求)主語從它那「神聖」的首位置,移至限定動詞後面的位置。


我再以文章開頭的兩組句子為例:

 

Never have I seen such a thing.

 

Under the tree stood a man


其中一種在現代英文會出現「倒裝」的情境,就是當在首位置出現像「never」這種具否定整句作用的副詞時。


另一種,是表達「地點」或「方向」的副詞組被放在第一位置的時候,正如第二組例句所顯示的。還有幾個不同的情景。


我們以現代英文詞序的角度看 「倒裝法」,之所以覺得「奇怪」,全因它是英文演化過程中遺留下來的歷史「化石」。


下一篇,我會繼續解說現代英文中,充許或要求主語和限定動詞實行「倒裝」的不同情景及細節。


_____________


Inversion in Modern English #1:

English used to have fluid word order – but not anymore!


 Many students have asked me to explain so-called “inversion” in English sentences – that is, when the usual positions of the subject and finite verb are “inverted” (switched), so that the subject, usually in front of the finite verb, is behind the finite verb, like:

 

Never have I seen such a thing.

 

Under the tree stood a man

 

Before we get into the details, I want to first explain where “inversion” in modern English grammar comes from, and why it seems so out of place.

 

As I have explained in other newsletters before, English evolved as part of a language family called Indo-European Languages. Specifically, the “branch” that English belongs to is called “Germanic Languages.” Other modern “cousins” of English from this same branch include languages like German, Swedish, and Dutch.

 

All of the modern languages from the “Germanic” branch historically shared a grammatical trait that linguists call “V2” – or “Verb in the Second Position.”

 

The “V2” grammatical trait is that, in the word order of these Germanic languages, the verb (finite verb, or the first part of a finite verb group if it’s longer than one word), always comes in the “second” position. 

 

As long as the finite verb (or first part of the finite verb) is in this “second” position in a clause, it doesn’t matter what comes first -- the subject does not need to come first.

 

For example, these word orders are all valid in modern German: 

 

Ich treffe ihn im Park. 

(I -  meet - him - in the park)

(1 - 2 - 3 - 4)

 

Ihn treffe ich im Park.

(Him - meet - I - in the park)

(1 - 2 - 3 - 4)

 

Im Park treffe ich ihn. 

(In the park - meet - I - him) 

(1 - 2 - 3 - 4)

 

The most natural order would be for the subject to come first, and then the finite verb in the “second” position. However, as long as the finite verb is in the second position, there is fluidity in the word order.

 

For example, we can move the object (“him”) to the first position, like in the second example, or we can move an adverb phrase (“in the park”) to the first position, like in the third sentence. As long as the finite verb in this clause stays in the second position, then the word order is valid.

 

Now, all the Germanic languages inherited this “V2” grammatical trait, including English, but while, for example, German still has this trait, English lost it throughout its evolution. 

 

English used to have this trait as well. In other words, English used to have fluid word order, and these sentences would both have been correct in their word order:

 

I swam in the morning.

 

In the morning swam I.* 

 

However, as you can probably tell, the order in the second sentence, with the adverb phrase “in the morning” first, the finite verb “swam” second, and the subject “I” third, is not allowed in modern English grammar anymore.

 

This is because English has lost this “V2” trait -- by losing this trait, English also lost the fluidity of word order that comes with it, as well a lot of the endings and markers that would indicate the role of words in a sentence to indicate their functions.

 

Instead of a fluid word order, English now has a very strict word order that requires the subject of a clause to be in front of its finite verb. Moving adverb phrases to the start of a clause is allowed, but even then, the adverb phrase at the front would be in front of the subject -- the subject would still be in front of the finite verb. For example:

 

I swam in the morning. 

 

In the morning, I swam.

 

So, we now know that English used to have this “V2” word order, allowing different elements in a sentence to take the first position as long as the finite verb is in the second position. The subject of a sentence would be displaced to the third position in the sentence if something that is not a subject takes the first position, just like: 

 

In the morning swam I.* 

 

However, we now also know that English has lost this trait, and that this sentence above no longer conforms to the grammar of modern English

 

This is the background against which we need to understand so-called “inversion.”

 

Basically, in modern English grammar, word order is strict, and the subject must come before the finite verb. This is the normal word order in English.

 

However, there are a few scenarios in modern English in which, for some reason, this “fossil” “V2” trait, which has actually been lost overall, is retained.

 

In these “fossil” scenarios, certain elements (usually adverb phrases) taking the first position in the sentence would allow – or sometimes require – the subject to be displaced from its “sacred” first position to the third position, behind the finite verb.

 

For example, I gave these two examples at the start of this piece:

 

Never have I seen such a thing.

 

Under the tree stood a man

 

A “clause-negating” adverb like “never” in the first position is one example of a scenario that would require this type of “inversion” of the finite verb (the first part) and the subject; and an adverb phrase that expresses “place” or “direction” in the first position, like in the second example, is another scenario that allows this type of “inversion” as well.

 

“Inversion” seems so “weird” in modern English precisely because it is a “fossil” from the historical “V2” word order that English used to have and then lost.

 

In the next installment, I will discuss the different “fossil” scenarios that allow or require the “inversion” of the subject and finite verb in modern English, as well as other details.


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