如何理解“in+what從句”

本站特約作者  李 翔

陳根花老師在英語語法網(www.hz123456.com) 之《這個in what該如何理解？》一文（見www.hz123456.com/Article/201005/1595.html）中對下面的一句話：…but since the porter agreed with him, she rang up her daughter and asked for her help in what she described as a little spot of bother. 是這樣分析的：句中的 what 不是關系代詞，引導的不是定語從句，而是連接代詞，在此用于引導賓語從句。句中的介詞 in 可理解為“在……方面”（在本句中指“在……方面請女兒幫忙”），連接代詞 what 除“引導”賓語從句外，還在賓語從句中用作動詞 describe 的賓語（注意所涉及句型 describe…as…，其意為“把……說成是……”“稱……為……”）。

陳老師接著還說道：我們可以簡單地將 in what sb describes as 視為一個固定搭配，將其理解為“某人稱這是……”“某人把它說成是……”“某人把它稱為……”（在不同的語境中可以有比較靈活的翻譯；其中的介詞 in 也可能根據語意的不同而表示不同的意思）。

誠然，陳老師分析的無疑是正確的，但陳老師“簡單”地把 “in what sb describes as視為一個固定搭配”的做法是不可取的。這樣做，無疑會讓人錯誤認為what 只能作 describe的賓語，而實際上，what 也可以作 describe以外的動詞的賓語。再者說“in+what從句”也不像 in that 或So what？成為一個固定搭配(idiom)。硬把in 和what固定在一起，不僅把簡單的問題復雜化了，而且也是毫無道理的，更是沒有根據的。

通過分析可知：“…she rang up her daughter and asked for her help in what she described as a little spot of bother.”中的“in what she described as a little spot of bother”作狀語，但它又不符合張道真教授在《英語語法大全》下(外語教學與研究出版社2001年8月第7次印刷)p350上所列舉的15種狀語從句中的任何一種。（筆者注：15種狀語從句即：時間狀語從句、地點狀語從句、比較狀語從句、方式狀語從句、伴隨情況狀語從句、對比狀語從句、原因或理由狀語從句、結果或程度狀語從句、目的狀語從句、條件狀語從句、依據狀語從句、讓步狀語從句、“不管” 狀語從句、限制狀語從句以及例外狀語從句。)

因此，張鑫友教授在其編著的《英語語法難題探微詞典》(華中師范大學出版社2004年5 月第1版)p589上把這種狀語定義為“方面狀語(adverbial of aspect) ”。并解釋說：方面狀語是用來回答“在……方面”、“關于……方面”、“在……上”意義的狀語。

In what aspect has the young man made rapid progress? 這個年輕人在哪方面進展的很快呢？

The young man has made rapid progress in his studies. 這個年輕人在研究方面進展的很快。

以上第二句中的in his studies是方面狀語，用來回答第一句中的In what aspect(在哪方面)的提問。

據此，我們也可以對文章開頭的句子進行提問：In what aspect did she ask for her help?

再請看what 可以作 describe以外的動詞賓語的例證：

以下是摘自BUY CORPUS OF AMERICAN ENGLISH (1990-2009) (Mark Davies, Brigham Young University) http://www.americancorpus.org/ 上的真實例句：

2009  Pete bared his teeth in what he hoped was a smile. 皮特露出牙齒，表明他希望的是個微笑。(筆者試譯，下同)

2008 In most cases, Hopkins uses hypnosis in what he says is a way to connect the person to memories that have allegedly been repressed. 在大多數情況下，霍普金斯在使用催眠術，他說這是一種把人和據稱被壓抑的記憶連接在一起的方法。

2008 Finally Lerner spoke in what he hoped were the tones of Fate. 最后，雷納說他希望的是命運的色調。

2008 " I can’t remember! " Dr. Steibs frowned. " Please, Mr. Boeykens, this is very important. Try to focus on just the past few days. Can you recall entering our province? Our town? " He shook his head in what he hoped looked like Fearful Misery. " No. I don’t remember a thing. I was sitting at the bar, but before that... it’s all a blank! " 他搖頭否認他所希望的看上去像可怕的瘟神。

2007  She didn’t know whether to believe his stories, but when she got home, he sent her videotaped footage of people being executed in what he said was Iraq. 她不知道是否該相信他的話，但當他到家時，他寄給她一些他錄制的被處死的人的鏡頭，他說是伊拉克。

2000 The 70-year-old white politician admits he faces pretty tough odds in what he says will be his last bid for re-election. 這位70歲的白人政治家承認他面臨獲勝的幾率非常小，他說，這將是他最后一次競選連任。

1997 "Wall, wot wuz yer problem," he said in what he thought was an American accent. "Was your husband’s cock too big or not big enough?" 他說他所認為的是美國口音。

1993 I believe it was important to Scott for his father and his stepmother to accept him and to love him and respect him, and I just wanted to be there for Scott, and I would have done anything he asked me to do to support him in what he’s felt he has had to do within the past couple of weeks. 我已經做了他要我做的一切來支持他，這也是他感覺在過去的幾周里他不得不做的。

1990  …during the 1981 World Series, he suffered a broken hand in what he claimed was a fist fight in an elevator with fans who had criticized the Yankees. 1981年世界聯賽期間，在他宣稱的、發生在電梯里的、和批評北方佬球迷的一次拳腳打斗中，他斷了一只手。

另外，在“in+what從句”中，what不僅可以作動詞的賓語，還可以做主語。例如：

Five weeks after surgeons transplanted a donor’s lung into 20-year-old Xu Danqiong in what was the country’s first transplant of a lung among non-blood relatives, the patient is breathing well, doctors at the Shanghai Chest Hospital said. (摘自中國日報12/11/2002) 上海胸科醫院的醫生說，外科醫生將一位捐贈者的肺移植到20歲的許丹瓊體內5周后，病人呼吸正常。該移植是國內首例無血緣關系肺器官移植。(摘自網上)

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