英语语法：28 Yoda Grammar

Grammar Girl here.

Today's topic is Yoda's grammar. Yes, Yoda from Star Wars.

But first I have to apologize for a mispronunciation last week. The name of the author I was talking about is pronounced "Proost," not "Prowst." It's "Marcel Proost." I'm sorry that I made some of you crazy, and I'll re-record that show to avoid corrupting¹ future listeners.

And now, why would I talk about Yoda? Well, a couple of weeks ago there was a Star Wars marathon on TV and a listener named Pat asked if Yoda is speaking "real" English when he says things like "Powerful, you have become." It was such a fun question I couldn't resist, but it's outside my area of expertise² because it's more of a linguistics³ question than a grammar or usage question. Fortunately, people who know about linguistics listen to this podcast, and I was able to tap into their expertise to get an answer. A big "Thank you!" to Charles Carson, managing editor of the journal American Speech, and Peter Sokolowski, editor-at-large at Merriam-Webster for helping⁴ me with this topic.

Yodish Sentence Structure

Both Carson and Sokolowski pointed⁵ out that it depends on what Pat means when he asks whether Yoda is speaking "real" English. Clearly Yoda is communicating using English words, and we understand what he means, so in that sense it's real. Yoda makes words plural⁶ the way we normally make words plural and conjugates⁷ his verbs the same way we do. The only difference between standard English and Yodish (as some websites call it) is the word order.

Typically, standard English sentences follow a subject-verb-object order. For example, we would say "Han Solo digs Princess Leia." "Han Solo" is the subject, "digs" is the verb, and "Princess Leia" is the object. Han Solo-digs-Princess Leia: subject-verb-object. That's the typical pattern, but it's not unheard of for English speakers to deviate⁸. For example, you could say something like, "She wants to fight, and fight she will." That "fight she will" part is just like Yodish, but we're using it for emphasis. Carson also points out that "poets and lyricists frequently deviate from standard word order because of meter, rhyme, or aesthetics⁹. For example, 'Over the river and through the woods, to grandmother's house we go' is Yoda-esque in its construction, yet English speakers sing it without a thought." "With this ring, I thee wed¹⁰" is another example of something that deviates¹¹ from the subject-verb-object construction, but that most people still consider real English.

Carson also notes that although Yoda shifts around sentence elements, he doesn't do so randomly¹². He tends to use object-subject-verb word order*, as in "Princess Leia, Han Solo digs," and he does not break up syntactic units, like preposition phrases or infinitive¹³ phrases. For example, he keeps together phrases such as "to continue your training" and "to the dark side."

Language and Stereotypes¹⁴

Sokolowski adds that the ‘Star Wars’ universe uses English as a common language of trade, so there are many characters for whom English is not the native language and we hear many accents and odd syntactical structures from them. In that sense, Yoda is like any immigrant in the real world who is able to converse¹⁵ in English, but who comes up with sentences that sound strange to our ears. Sokolowski says, "the fact that some of these syntactical structures do not correspond with any that we know seems designed ... to underscore the very alien nature of Yoda’s character ... It makes us pay close attention to the speaker, just as we do with those who are learning English."

He also finds that "The echo of old Hollywood stereotypes is evident in the depictions of evil and nobility with the British accents, and wisdom coming from a severely¹⁶ laconic¹⁷ and utterly¹⁸ foreign character." He also notes that characters who represent the old guard, such as the Imperial characters, speak with an elevated British accent, whereas the scrappy heroes speak with American accents. He says that, "This makes for a satisfying internal logic¹⁹ and gives the impression of history and culture that is comfortable to many viewers who have seen Romans speak with British accents and martial²⁰ arts masters speak with so few words that actual sentence structure is irrelevant²¹."

The Later Yoda

Also, Carson noted²² that Yoda's speech patterns became more consistent as more movies came out. In essence, George Lucas became more practiced in Yodish and settled into a consistent set of rules. For example, in the third movie, Return of the Jedi, Yoda asks "Look I so old to young eyes?" which doesn't comply with standard English or "standard" Yodish. In standard English, we'd say "Do I look so old to young eyes?" and in standard Yodish we'd say "Look so old to young eyes, do I?" Presumably, there are fewer of these non-standard sentences in the later movies, although without analyzing²³ the full scripts, I can't confirm or refute this idea.

Standard English for Emphasis

Finally, both Carson and websites [and here] note that when Yoda has something really important to say, he tends to say it in standard English. For example, he uses standard word order and not Yodish when he tells Anakin, "The fear of loss is a path to the dark side" and when he comments that, "A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense²⁴, never for attack." One theory is that Yoda is making an extra effort to speak standard English when his point is critical so that his listeners understand his point.

So, although Yodish may not conform to the most common form of standard English, it's hard to say it isn't real English when we have acceptable phrases like "With this ring, I thee wed." And it's certainly a fun topic for linguists²⁵.

The Sales Guy

We also have exciting news from the Quick and Dirty Tips Network! We've launched a new show called The Sales Guy's Quick and Dirty Tips for Getting the Deal Done. In episode one, the Sales Guy explains why you're a sales person whether you sell for a living or just have to sell an idea to your family. It's at our website and featured prominently at iTunes this week, so check it out.

My Favorite Shortcummings

And now for the book winners. Paul, Leslie, and Michael win a copy of a book called "My Favorite Shortcomings" which is a compilation²⁶ of humor essay from one of my favorite podcasters, Kevin Cummings. Every week Kevin releases a six-minute podcast of a tightly written, amusing reflection on life as a man, husband, and parent of teenagers, and now he's taken some of the all-time favorites, one of which I chose, and turned them into a book. It will be available on May 10th at his website, shortcomingsaudio.com. It's a great deal at $6.99 and would make a great gift, but if you can't spring for it, Kevin has also generously made it available now as a free PDF, and the link to that will be at my section of Quick and Dirty Tips.

FREE PDF of My Favorite Shortcomings

That's it for this week. There's a full transcript²⁷ of this podcast at QuickAndDirtyTips.com, and there are also links to more in-depth discussions of Yodish. Appreciate your listening, I do.

1 corrupting   

（使）败坏( corrupt的现在分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏

参考例句：

• It would be corrupting discipline to leave him unpunished. 不惩治他会败坏风纪。
• It would be corrupting military discipline to leave him unpunished. 不惩治他会败坏军纪。

2 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

3 linguistics   

n.语言学

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• Linguistics is a scientific study of the property of language.语言学是指对语言的性质所作的系统研究。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

6 plural   

n.复数；复数形式；adj.复数的

参考例句：

• Most plural nouns in English end in's '.英语的复数名词多以s结尾。
• Here you should use plural pronoun.这里你应该用复数代词。

7 conjugates   

v.列出（动词的）变化形式( conjugate的第三人称单数 )；结合，联合，熔化

参考例句：

• In English\"to have \" conjugates irregularly. 英语中“to have”变化不规则。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Conjugates of proteins with carbohydrate are termed glycoproteins. 蛋白质和碳水化合物的结合物称为糖蛋白。 来自辞典例句

8 deviate   

v.(from)背离，偏离

参考例句：

• Don't deviate from major issues.不要偏离主要问题。
• I will never deviate from what I believe to be right.我绝不背离我自信正确的道路。

9 aesthetics   

n.(尤指艺术方面之)美学，审美学

参考例句：

• Sometimes, of course, our markings may be simply a matter of aesthetics. 当然，有时我们的标点符号也许只是个审美的问题。 来自名作英译部分
• The field of aesthetics presents an especially difficult problem to the historian. 美学领域向历史学家提出了一个格外困难的问题。

10 wed   

v.娶，嫁，与…结婚

参考例句：

• The couple eventually wed after three year engagement.这对夫妇在订婚三年后终于结婚了。
• The prince was very determined to wed one of the king's daughters.王子下定决心要娶国王的其中一位女儿。

11 deviates   

v.偏离，越轨( deviate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The boy's behavior deviates from the usual pattern. 这个男孩子的举止与一般人不同。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The limit occurs when the ordinate deviates appreciably from unity. 这个限度发生在纵坐标明显地从单位1偏离的时候。 来自辞典例句

12 randomly   

adv.随便地，未加计划地

参考例句：

• Within the hot gas chamber, molecules are moving randomly in all directions. 在灼热的气体燃烧室内，分子在各个方向上作无规运动。 来自辞典例句
• Transformed cells are loosely attached, rounded and randomly oriented. 转化细胞则不大贴壁、圆缩并呈杂乱分布。 来自辞典例句

13 infinitive   

n.不定词；adj.不定词的

参考例句：

• The use of the split infinitive is now generally acceptable.分裂不定式的用法现在已被广泛接受。
• Modal verbs generally take the bare infinitive.情态动词通常用不带to的不定式。

14 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 converse   

vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反

参考例句：

• He can converse in three languages.他可以用3种语言谈话。
• I wanted to appear friendly and approachable but I think I gave the converse impression.我想显得友好、平易近人些,却发觉给人的印象恰恰相反。

16 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

17 laconic   

adj.简洁的；精练的

参考例句：

• He sent me a laconic private message.他给我一封简要的私人函件。
• This response was typical of the writer's laconic wit.这个回答反映了这位作家精练简明的特点。

18 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

19 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

20 martial   

adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的

参考例句：

• The sound of martial music is always inspiring.军乐声总是鼓舞人心的。
• The officer was convicted of desertion at a court martial.这名军官在军事法庭上被判犯了擅离职守罪。

21 irrelevant   

adj.不恰当的，无关系的，不相干的

参考例句：

• That is completely irrelevant to the subject under discussion.这跟讨论的主题完全不相关。
• A question about arithmetic is irrelevant in a music lesson.在音乐课上，一个数学的问题是风马牛不相及的。

22 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

23 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句

24 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

25 linguists   

n.通晓数国语言的人( linguist的名词复数 )；语言学家

参考例句：

• The linguists went to study tribal languages in the field. 语言学家们去实地研究部落语言了。 来自辞典例句
• The linguists' main interest has been to analyze and describe languages. 语言学家的主要兴趣一直在于分析并描述语言。 来自辞典例句

26 compilation   

n.编译，编辑

参考例句：

• One of the first steps taken was the compilation of a report.首先采取的步骤之一是写一份报告。
• The compilation of such diagrams,is of lasting value for astronomy.绘制这样的图对天文学有永恒的价值。

27 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。