选篇导读

中国语言和语法有哪些特性呢？对于这个问题可能很多人会想到“智慧”，“富有逻辑性”或者是“直觉”。

而林语堂先生所说的“女性特征”又是怎么回事呢？且看今日之《英文观止》。

赏析批注

Common sense and practical mind are characteristics of women rather than of men, who are more liable to take their feet off the ground and soar to impossible heights. The Chinese language and grammar show this femininity exactly because the language, in its form, syntax, and vocabulary, reveals an extreme simplicity of thinking, concreteness of imagery, and economy of syntactical relationships.

1

Common sense and practical mind are characteristics of women rather than of men, who are more liable to take their feet off the ground and soar to impossible heights.

practical， 指“实用的”，e.g. Skirts aren’t very practical in my kind of work. 我的这种工作穿裙子是不实用的。

characteristics，指“特征”，e.g. He has all the characteristics of a great husband.他有着一个好丈夫应该拥有的所有特征。

liable，指“可能”，e.g. You’re more liable to injury when you don’t get regular exercise. 不规律的锻炼更有可能受伤。

soar，指“翱翔”，e.g. As it lifted off the ground it realized it could fly and began to soar in the air.当它从地面升腾时，它意识到它可以飞，然后它开始凌空翱翔。

句子分析：本句在写女子的特性—— 常识和实用心理，同时也从侧面描写了男子的特性—— “喜凭空遐想”，“翱翔非非之境”来与女子特性形成对比。其中“take their feet off the ground”用得形象生动，一个动作使读者能感受到“男人们脚离地面，胡乱遐想”的场面。

本句译为：常识和实用的心理为女子之特性，较甚于男子。男子常喜凭空遐想，翱翔非非之境。

2

The Chinese language and grammar show this femininity exactly because the language, in its form, syntax, and vocabulary, reveals an extreme simplicity of thinking, concreteness of imagery, and economy of syntactical relationships.

femininity，指“女性特征”，e.g. You don’t have to lose your femininity to be an independent, successful woman. 成为一个独立成功的女性，你不必丢掉你的女性特征。

syntax，指“句法”，e.g. The mistakes made when reading seem to involve the syntax of the sentence. 阅读时所犯的错误似乎都涉及句子的语法。

reveal，指“显示”，e.g. His letters reveal a different side of his personality. 他的信件显示出他个性的另一面。

extreme，指“极端的”，e.g. Extreme poverty still exists in many rural areas. 许多地区的极度贫困现象依然存在。

concreteness，指“具体化”，e.g. Originally I was confused by my father’s mixing of abstraction and concreteness. 起初，我被我父亲那些抽象和具体的混合思想所迷惑了。

imagery, 指“意象”，e.g. The sea is often used in Bible imagery to symbolize the great mass of mankind. 海在圣经中常被用为众多人类的意象象征。

syntactical, 指“句法的”，e.g. Commas are used in some syntactical constructs to separate the elements of a list. 逗号在一些语法构造里用于分隔一个列表的元素。

句子分析：本句主句为“The Chinese language and grammar show this femininity exactly”，“the language reveals an extreme simplicity...syntactical relationships”是由because引导的原因状语从句，“in its form, syntax, and vocabulary” 在句中做状语。仅通过一句话，就总结出中国语言和语法所体现的女性特征——思想的质朴性，想象的具体性以及句法关系的简洁性。其中“show” 和 “reveal” 两个动词，都有“展示，表现”之意，但是程度由浅到深，体现了作者思维的严谨性。

本句译为：中国语言和语法显出女性的特征，正因为语言的形式，章句法、应用词汇、显出思考上之极端简单性，拟想之具体性，和章句法之关联关系之经济。