Page 60 - EALC C306/505

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Grammar and Notes

6.1 Sentence adjuncts and topics

The following sentence is grammatically complex:

君安驪姬，是我傷公之心也．

The sentence must be understood as a response to Chóngĕr’s suggestion. The first four
characters here serve as a “sentence adjunct.” This means that they “set the stage” for the
sentence, but do not further engage in the syntax. The word shì 是: “[in] this [manner],”
which in this context means following Chóngĕr’s suggestion, is the topic of the sentence.
Thus the sentence may be analyzed as follows:

Context: The duke loves Lí Ji
Topic: Acting as you [Chóngĕr] have suggested
Comment on the topic: I shall [thus] break the duke’s heart

There are other ways to analyze the sentence, but this analysis should serve to highlight
the way in which sentences sometimes seem more a series of phrases governed by colons
than a syntactically coherent utterance. Compare ordinary English with a literal rendering
of the WYW:

Because the duke loves Lí Ji, if I act as you suggest, I shall break the
duke’s heart.

[Given] the duke loves Lí Ji: [as for acting] thus: I shall break the duke’s
heart.

6.2 The adjunct rán 然

Rán 然 (“this being so”) frequently serves as a sentence adjunct. Following a statement,
its consequential aspects may be preceded by the adjunct 然, which “resumes” the entire
preceding statement or discussion in a single word, thus highlighting that what is about to
follow is precisely the consequence of what has been discussed before.

As a sentence adjunct, 然 is generally followed by zé 則. There are two ways to analyze
the function of 則 and they are about equally persuasive. The first is to treat 則 as
marking a hypothetical clause. In that case, sentences that begin with 然則 may be
thought of as starting, “If this be so, then . . . .” However, 則 is sometimes better
explained as a weak marker of logical or action progression (as in the general, “once this
is so, then . . .” or the specific instance, “once this was so, then . . .”). This use of 則 may
often be rendered by something like, “well, then . . .” carrying a force close to “well,
naturally . . .” Therefore, it may sometimes be more appropriate to think of 然則 as