英文修辭的兩大要求,一是清楚,一是簡潔。要達(dá)到簡潔的要求,寫作時(shí)就要隨時(shí)注意:在不損害句子清楚性的前提下,能不能用更少的字來表達(dá)同樣的意思?
務(wù)必做到每一個(gè)字都能發(fā)揮功能,文章沒有任何贅字,才算簡潔。
會(huì)破壞簡潔性的,一是重復(fù),二是累贅。
一:重復(fù)的毛病
所謂重復(fù),是指同樣的意思在句中有兩個(gè)低分反復(fù)表示出來。這時(shí)就該刪去一個(gè)。
下面舉2個(gè)例子說明一下。
例1:Sales
rose rapidly from February up to June but were unchanged from June to October.
動(dòng)詞 rose 意思為【上升】,一定是向【上】走,所以后面的up一字就是重復(fù),會(huì)傷害簡潔性。應(yīng)該把 up 刪掉,成為:Sales rose rapidly from February to June but were unchanged from
June to October.
下面這個(gè)句子也有類似的毛?。?span lang="EN-US">
例2:You
must be at least 18 years old or above to be eligible to vote.
【至少】(at least)和【以上】(above)表示的觀念是重復(fù)的,應(yīng)該選擇以刪去,成為:You must be at
least 18 years old to be eligible to vote.
或是 You must be 18 years old
or above to be eligible to vote.
二:累贅的毛病
句中如有空洞的字眼,就是累贅,也會(huì)有失簡潔。以例3和例4來說明
例3:Patience
is generally considered to be an essential quality in a teacher.
句中的 to be an essential
quality 是主詞補(bǔ)語,用來修飾主次patience,然而其中的to be沒有什么意義,省略它也不會(huì)影響句意。
剩下來的an essential quality 仍可做主語補(bǔ)語,成為:Patience is generally considered an essential quality in a teacher.
其實(shí),consider 后面的 to be 都可以省略,不會(huì)影響句型,也不會(huì)改變句意。從修辭的角度來說,這個(gè)位置的 to be 就是累贅的字眼,應(yīng)該刪掉以求簡潔。
例4:Most
doctors agree that smoking makes a contribution to lung cancer.
句中的 make a contribution to 這種表達(dá)方式比較累贅,因?yàn)閯?dòng)詞make是一個(gè)空洞的字眼。如果把 contribution 改成動(dòng)詞 contribute,用來取代make,可以省下一個(gè)空洞的字眼,也加強(qiáng)了簡潔性:Most doctors agree that smoking contributes to lung cancer.
有時(shí)候一個(gè)精確的字可以取代一長串的敘述。如例5
例5:The
wonder of the Internet would have been unable to imagined a decade ago.
句中的unable to be imagined其實(shí)可以用一個(gè)字來取代,十分簡潔:
The wonders of the Internet would
have been unimaginable a decade ago.
可以用一個(gè)形容詞單字表達(dá)清楚的,就不必動(dòng)用到一個(gè)片語。如例6
例6:It
Is much more difficult to clone an organism of a complex nature than it is to
clonebacteria.
介詞短語 of complex nature 修飾前面的organism,其中的 nature 是比較空洞的的字眼。如果省略不要,直接以 complex 來修飾 organism 會(huì)比較簡潔。
It is much more difficult to clone
a complex organism than it is to clone bacteria.
總結(jié):簡潔性是修辭的兩大重要原則之一
不過它的重要性一般是居于清楚性之后。寫文章時(shí)首先要顧慮是否清楚。
確定意思表達(dá)得夠清楚之后,再來要求簡潔。
寫完文章后一定要再看一遍,挑出所有可以精簡的低分表達(dá)。通常從用字句型兩方面著手,就能剔除所有重復(fù)與累贅之處,讓文章更精簡。