Строй современного английского языка
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| Parentheses and Insertions 233
P ARENTHESES AND INSERTIONS Besides the direct address, there are other syntactical elements which are usually said to be outside the sentence. Until recently, they used to be all taken together under the name of parenthesis. This term would then cover a considerable variety of syntactical elements. To illustrate this, we will give two extreme examples from modern texts: (1) Of course Mrs Elsing was simply forced to it... (M. MITCHELL) (2) . . .he told Nelly that an old friend of his had visited him just as he was about to leave, and for politeness' sake — mere politeness, that frailty in human intercourse — he had brought her with him. (LINKLATER) It will be readily seen that there is a great difference between the additional element in the two sentences: in (1) the phrase of course expresses the speaker's attitude towards the thought expressed in the sentence, whereas in (2) the additional element is of a different kind: it carries some extra information about something mentioned in the sentence. The Academy's Grammar deviated from the usual view and introduced a new category, that of insertions, as distinct from parentheses. According to this grammar, a parenthesis should be defined as follows: words and phrases which have no syntactical ties with the sentence, and express the speaker's attitude towards what he says, a general assessment of the statement, or an indication of its sources, its connection with other statements, or with a wider context in speech. 1 In a vast majority of cases, a parenthesis refers to the sentence or clause as a whole. Sometimes, however, it refers only to a secondary part of the sentence. This may be seen, for example, in the following sentences: I was deeply though doubtless not disinterestedly anxious for more news of the old lady. (H. JAMES) Here the parenthesis doubtless refers only to the connection between not disinterestedly and anxious. Miss Lavish he believed he understood, but Miss Bartlett might reveal unknown depths of strangeness, though not, perhaps, of meaning. (FORSTER) The parenthesis perhaps refers only to the connection between not of meaning and depths. She could only assure herself that Cecil had known Freddy some time, and that they had always got on pleasantly, except, perhaps, during the last few days, which was an accident, perhaps. (Idem) The two parentheses perhaps refer to their special spheres in the sentence, without affecting the main predication expressed in it. As to insertions, they are described as various additional statements inserted in the sentence. The main carcass of the sentence may be, as it were, interrupted by additional remarks, clarifications, 1 See Грамматика русского языка, т. II, ч. 2, стр. 142. 234 The Apposition, Direct Address, Parentheses, and Insertions c orrections, extra information about something, or remarks containing comparison or contrasting something with what is expressed in the sentence, etc. 1 In analysing these definitions, we must first of all see what the difference between a parenthesis and an insertion is and what principle lies at the bottom of it. It is obvious at once that the difference between the two types as stated here is, in the first place, semantic: it is a difference in the way the parenthesis or the insertion is connected with the main body of the sentence. The connection in the case of parentheses is much closer than in the case of insertions. This in itself is, however, hardly sufficient to describe the two as different grammatical types. We must therefore see what the syntactical aspect of the matter is . like. This is not evident from the above definitions. Parentheses are described as having no syntactical connection with the sentence, and the insertions as statements inserted in the sentence, which of course amounts to the same thing. So the grammatical difference between the two types is not well brought out. If the distinction between parentheses and insertions is to be upheld, a difference in their syntactic peculiarities must be found. The difference would seem to be this. Parentheses are rather close to adverbial modifiers in their relation to the rest of the sentence. They are a part of the sentence and so they cannot be said to have no connection at all with it. Let us, for instance, compare the two following sentences, the first of which has an adverbial modifier at the beginning, while the second begins with a parenthesis: Somehow it would come out all right when the war was over. (M. MITCHELL) Perhaps you know best about that, but I should say — (Idem). There is a clear difference between the two, yet at the same time there is something they have in common. An interjection, or a phrase equivalent to an interjection, can also be considered a kind of parenthesis (unless, of course, it is a sentence in itself). Thus, the interjection oh in the following sentence: Oh, but she depended entirely on her voice! (FITCH) can be called a parenthesis, and so can the phrase oh dear in the sentence Oh dear, I hope I shall be a success! (Idem) Now let us take a sentence with an insertion: And the thought that, after all, he had not really killed her. No, no. Thank God for that. He had not. And yet (stepping up on the near-by bank and shaking the water from his clothes) had he? (DREISER) Here things are quite different. The insertion contains some information about Clyde's movements as he was brooding in the way expressed by the main body of the sentence. 1 See Грамматика русского языка, т. II, ч. 2, стр. 167. Loose Parts 285 T he very fact that an insertion can only come in the middle of a sentence, interrupting its course, while a parenthesis can also be at the beginning or at the end of a sentence, is an important point of grammatical difference between the two. This is not to say that these distinctions are always equally clear. As in so many other spheres, borderline cases, which show no clear and unmistakable signs of a word or a phrase performing this or that syntactical function, are quite possible here. Download 1.77 Mb. Share with your friends:
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