| Q.27 |
『英語の構文150 Second Edition』の構文136，例文238.の
He ran too fast for me to keep up with him.
には主節の he を指す代名詞 him がありますが，これはいらないのではないでしょうか。 |
|
| A.27 |
まず，最初にお答えしておきます。もちろんなくてもいいのですが，あってもかまいません。以下，この構文についてもう少し詳しく分析し，なぜそうなのかを説明します。また，too ... for ... to ... 構文の場合にto不定詞（あるいは前置詞）の目的語が顕在することをどのように指導したらよいか（あるいはどのように覚えたらよいか）についてもヒントをお示ししたいと思います。とりあえず，IIIの終わりまで読んでいただいたら結構です。ただし，文法分析に興味があれば IV以降もお読みください。 |
I. 日本の学習英文法における記述
日本の学習英文法の世界では伝統的に次のような指導が行われてきました。too ... to ... 構文の場合には次の(1)a, bのような例をあげ，下の規則1を教えてきました。
| (1) |
a. |
The food was too hot to eat. --Murphy (1994, p.204) |
|
b. |
*The food was too hot to eat it.
(英文の文頭の*はこの英文が非文法的であることを標示します。) |
| (2) |
規則1: too ... to ... 構文の場合には不定詞あるいは前置詞の目的語を必ず省略する。 |
次に，too ... to ... 構文のパラフレーズとしてso ... that ... 構文をあげ，両者を書き換えさせることで両者の習得を支援してきました。
| (3) |
The food was very hot. We couldn't eat it. |
| (4) |
a. |
The food was so hot that we couldn't eat it. |
|
b. |
The food was too hot to eat. |
| (5) |
a. |
The plate was so hot that we couldn't touch it. |
|
b. |
The plate was too hot to touch (=too hot to be touched). |
|
|
--Thomson and Martinet (1986, §252) |
近年の科学的な英文法研究の中でもtoo ... to ... 構文の場合にはto不定詞の目的語は削除されると述べています。たとえばLasnik and Fiengo (1974, p.558)は，次の(6)を非文法的と判定しています。
| (6) |
*This problemi is too abstract to solve it i.
(problemとitが同じ下付き記号 i を与えられているのはこの2つの名詞が同じものを指すことを示します。) |
(6)のようなtoo ... to ... 構文においては，一般に言われているように，主節の主語と同じものをさす不定詞（あるいは前置詞）の目的語は必ず削除し，次の(7)のような形にしなければなりません。
| (7) |
This problem is too abstract to solve. |
問題はtoo ... for ... to ... 構文の場合です。伝統的な学習英文法書は，to不定詞の前にfor句が現れる形（too ... for ... to ... 構文）を導入するときにも目的語がない形を教えています。
| (8) |
The case was too heavy (for a child) to carry. --Thomson and Martinet (1986, §252) |
| (9) |
The box was too heavy for me to lift. --LDOCE, p.2044 |
| (10) |
The bridge was too narrow (=not wide enough) for the truck to cross. --Close (1975,
p.75) |
| (11) |
They spoke too quickly for us to understand. --Murphy (1994, p.204) |
Thomson and Martinet (1986, §252)は次の(12)のenoughの例で，文の主語が不定詞の意味上の目的語になると述べていますが，このことは文の主語を指す不定詞の目的語は顕在しないということを示唆します。
| (12) |
The case is light enough for me to carry. = The case is so light that I can carry it. |
|
--Thomson and Martinet (1986, §252) |
Alexander (1988, pp.310-311)は次の(13)で，for句はあってもなくてもよいが，この種の文では目的語を繰り返さない（for me to eat itとはしない）と明記しています。
| (13) |
He's too heavy. I can't lift him. → He is too heavy (for me) lift. |
| (14) |
The pear is ripe. I can eat it. → It is ripe enough (for me) to eat. |
つまり，伝統的な学習英文法では次の規則2も教えているのです。
| (15) |
規則2: too ... for ... to ... 構文の場合にもto不定詞あるいは前置詞の目的語を必ず省略する。 |
II. 事実
事実はどうでしょうか。伝統的な学習英文法の規則１は正しいのですが，規則2は正しくありません。事実は，「too ... for ... to ... 構文のto不定詞（あるいは前置詞）の目的語が主節の主語あるいは目的語と同じ人・物を指すときには，代名詞を省略してもしなくてもよい」のです。
次の例は2005年2月25日に<http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/touring/ontario.htm>で見つけた例ですが，筆者はアメリカ人の方です。
| (16) |
One great advantage in Canada is stopping at small groceries, which are common. They always have fresh bread that they had made themselves, and I love fresh bread better than anything. At one store where I stopped, two other traveling cyclists were already stopped, so I talked with them a little. They were going my way, but said they rode too fast for me to keep up with them. I left before they did and never saw them again. I counted about 15 other touring cyclists on this trip in Michigan, Canada, and Tennessee. |
下線部に主節の主語を指す代名詞themがあることにご注意ください。もう1例あげます。これは<http://www.sararyan.com/empress/excerpt.html>（Accessed: February 25, 2005）のEMPRESS OF THE WORLD: EXCERPTの一節です。
| (17) |
She has her index finger in her mouth. I can't quite tell, but it looks like she's peeling off the skin around her cuticle with her teeth.
I didn't think anyone else did that.
I know I'm drawing too quickly and sloppily now, but I want to have evidence that someone else damages herself in the same small subtle way. She takes her finger out of her mouth too fast for me to capture it on paper, but when she does, I see a spot of blood. |
下線部に主節の目的語を指す代名詞itがあることに注意してください。
III. 実例追加
次に，インターネットのホームページから「too ... for ... to動詞＋代名詞（主節の主語と同じものを指す）」の実例をさらに5つばかり引用し，下の(18)-(22)にあげておきます。下線部に着目してください。
| (18) |
a sort of homecoming by John Ryan
There was a Big Night up at the Cross - the nearest pub. Old men were buying me Coca Colas too fast for me to drink them. They were lined up on the bar. A cousin gave me a nod and we were outside, walking the 15 minutes back to the house where my father - and 10 others - had been born. Now, there were only kids: Cat's away. <http://www.lonelyplanet.com/journeys/homecoming/>
[Accessed: February 9, 2005] |
| (19) |
Never Better, and Rarely as Good - Page Two
From Russ Chastain
Your Guide to Hunting/shooting
Free Newsletter
As I waited for another to follow, I took a quick look to my right, down the powerline road. When I looked back, there was another deer stepping across the opening! It moved too fast for me to identify it in the small window I had.
<http://hunting.about.com/od/deerbiggame/a/n_fl_hunt_2004a_2.htm>
[Accessed: February 9, 2005] |
| (20) |
Article: A Mother's Love
Scarcely have you taken these first steps, and I am thinking you too will soon "be running everywhere." You will be able to run away from me, to elude my grasp, to dance beyond my protection. You will soon grow too heavy for me to lift you when you are tired or sick. You will become a willful two-year-old, to try me and to demonstrate my inadequacies in countless ways. How many things does a "normal" mother do with her growing child that you and I will never do, or be able to do?
<http://www.restministries.org/art-motherslove.htm>
[Accessed: February 9, 2005] |
| (21) |
When A Woman Lies by Terry Banker Chapter 1
The old house would have to be sold. The attic would have to be cleaned. The rocker, the football game, the monkey, the dolls, would have to be sold or trashed. Although they were memories, they were somebody else’s memories. To me, they were junk.
As for the old trunk…. I went over and lifted a corner. It was too heavy for me to carry it downstairs and needed to be emptied.
<http://www.fictionunlimited.com/html/tb-whenawomanlies-c01.html>
[Accessed: February 9, 2005] |
| (22) |
JeffPo's Observatory Plans Page
Although I'm sure there are a host of other issues I'll have to deal with, the biggest two that I can think of are a) weight and b) weather. Since the roof also incorporates a section of the eastern/western walls, there's a danger of it getting too heavy for me to flip it open. It might also put a lot of torque on the walls and stress on the hinges that will hold it. I figure there will have to be some kind of bracing between the plywood for the roof and the wall section that folds down with it. I don't want the roof section separating from the wall section, or the whole thing ripping itself off the hinges, or putting too much stress on the main wall. I do think I would use less wood in the roof panel to make it lighter (i.e. don't use 16" centers for the 2x4s). I guess I need someone with enough carpentry skills and experience to tell me if this design is even possible.
<http://www.mindspring.com/˜jeffpo/observatory.htm>
[Accessed: February 9, 2005] |
さて，今回はここまでです。次回は，近年の生成英文法研究や語法研究の成果を考慮に入れ，さらに考察を深めたいと思います。文法分析が苦手な方には少し大変かも知れませんが，ぜひもう少しお付き合いください。
大阪大学教授 岡田伸夫
2005年2月28日 |
