四、關系代詞that　　

4.1引言　　

英國作家Oliver Goldsmith(1730 – 1774)在This is the house that Jack build中有一句話：This is the farmer sowing his corn That kept the cock that crowed in the morn That waked the priest all shaven and shorn That married the man all tattered and torn That kissed the maiden all forlorn That milked the cow with the crumpled horn That tossed the dog that worried the cat That killed the rat that ate the malt That lay in the house that Jack built.　　

以上例句含有多個that引導的關系從句(Relative Clause)(在我國通常叫作定語從句(Attributive Clause))。按照規定語法，在非限制性關系從句(Non-restrictive Relative Clause)中只能用who/whom指人，用which指物，而“不可以用”that。這好像是一條“不可違反”的禁律。比如H.W. Fowler & F. G. Fowler 在其所著的The King’s English(2nd ed.  1908)一書“Chapter II. Syntax  RELATIVES”之  “b. ‘That’and ‘who’or ‘which’”里明確指出：‘That’ should never be used to introduce a non-defining clause; … 并且特別強調在下面一個句子里“That I represent” is right, “that daily share” is wrong.　　

I cannot but feel that in my person and over my head you desire to pay an unexampled honour to the great country that I represent, to its Bench and Bar, that daily share your labours and keep step with your progress.—Choate.　　

里；接著卻說：下面兩句的“that”都不自然，最好改作“which”：　　

We were looking at the moon, that was rising slowly.　　

They were having a good time together in the park, that is now far less crowded than an hour ago.　　

Those are Grecian ghosts, that in battle were slain.　　

The last was Fear, that is akin to Death.　　

然而，章振邦等教授在其主編的《新編英語語法》(第三版)(上海譯文出版社1997年1月第3版)p1402旗幟鮮明地反對H.W. Fowler & F. G. Fowler的說法，力挺B.Evans & C. Evans：這兩種截然相反的觀點反映了“規定語法”和“描寫語法”在處理語言問題上的不同態度。Fowler兄弟所引述的一大批例句多半出自名家之筆，既然許多名作家有時也用that引導非限制性關系從句，從描寫語法的角度看就應視為當然，而不應視為“非法”。規定語法硬把that引導的非限制性關系從句視為“不正當”，這與現代英語的實際用法是格格不入的。并且列舉了that在非限制性關系從句中指人和指物的例句：　　

This is Brett, that I felt like crying about.　　

She is devilish like Miss Cutter, that I used to meet at Dumdum.　　

I looked at Mary’s sad face, that I had once so passionately admired.　　

At the top of the hill we paused for a moment to breathe the mare: paused just in front of the big old Rayborn house, that had stood there for more years than most of remember.　　

Oh, they didn’t do that! They didn’t poke fun at my feast, that I ordered carefully for them.　　

Behind the fountain there were glass shelves, and bottles of new kinds of soft drinks, that nobody ever heard of.　　

Outside, on the sidewalk, just before he got into the cab, that drew up next to the curb, he shook hands with his brother.　　

Bond got back into his car, that had mercifully not yet attracted the police of the traffic wardens, and motored fast across 　　London　　.　　

在BUY-BNC BRTISH NATIONAL CORPUS (UK,1980s-1993) (Mark Davies, Brigham Young University ) http://corpus.byu.edu/bnc/上也不難找到that引導的非限制性關系從句的例證：　　

Comparative anatomy(比較解剖學), however, is an unfashionable science in the West today. The excitement concerns a bone in the floor of the skull(頭蓋骨), that lies between the eyes of amphisbaenians(蚓蜥), called the orbitosphenoid bone (眶蝶骨). (源自New Scientist. London: IPC Magazines Ltd, 1991, pp. ??. 2140 s-units)　　

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