City University of Hong Kong CLASS CLASS
Making Sense of Grammar
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當句子中有好幾個參與者時,到底介系詞片語會修飾誰?
asked Mar 22, 2018 in Questions about English Grammar by admin (25,520 points) | 850 views

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"I saw a dog in the car." 這個句子有三種可能的解讀:

I was in the car.

The dog was in the car.

Both the dog and I were in the car.

這種語意上的歧義性(ambiguity)是由於介系詞片語是可分離的修飾語:也就是說,它在句子中出現的位置不一定會和修飾對象(head)緊緊相連。因此介系詞片語的出現,可能會讓一個句子的意思產生多種可能性。理論上來說,歧義會造成誤解,不過當我們實際運用語言時,往往不會察覺任何歧義。這是因為日常對話都是在已知的情境(context)中發生,上下文的情境往往使我們自然地選擇最有可能的解讀,因此大多數情況下我們都能順利溝通,不致於產生誤解。

Related question: 何謂介系詞片語(Prepositional Phrase)?

https://goo.gl/MhYfd8

answered Mar 22, 2018 by admin (25,520 points)
edited Mar 26, 2018 by admin

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