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1、英语知识小讲座：牛津逗号（英语知识小讲座：牛津逗号（Oxford comma） 另附漫画一则另附漫画一则Fall_Ark 2011.09.17 , 06:39 pm 来源：I. 大耳朵英语学习网 II. 维基百科牛津逗号（Oxford comma），又名哈佛逗号（Harvard comma）、序列逗号（serial comma），指的是在英语中列举多个对象时，在最后的“和（and）”前也加上一个逗号，以减少可能的歧义。示例如下：无牛津逗号：I will laugh at you, your sister and your mother.有牛津逗号：I will laugh at you, yo
2、ur sister, and your mother.（中文中由于对较短的停顿大多使用顿号，没有这一困扰，可以直截了当地说：“我会嘲笑你、你和你娘。”）当然，和一切语法问题、尤其是英语语法问题一样，牛津逗号的存在充满了争议，支持者和反对者们纷纷列举出各种各样的理由来证明己方的观点，例如支持方的论点就有“用牛津逗号符合传统书写习惯”和“不用牛津逗号会产生歧义”等等，而反对方的论点则有“不用牛津逗号符合传统书写习惯”和“用牛津逗号会产生歧义”等等，总之很乱，相当乱。那么，还是列出一下最为重要的例子吧：1、正面例子（书本扉页题词）有牛津逗号：To my parents, Ayn Rand, and
3、God.（中文译文：献给我的父母、艾茵兰德和上帝。）无牛津逗号：To my parents, Ayn Rand and God.（中文译文：献给我的父母：艾茵兰德和上帝。）2、反面例子（同样是扉页题词）有牛津逗号：To my mother, Ayn Rand, and God.（中文译文：献给我的母亲艾茵兰德和上帝。）无牛津逗号：To my mother, Ayn Rand and God.（中文译文：献给我的母亲、艾茵兰德和上帝。）而在有的时候也会出现“你用，或者不用，歧义就在那里”的情况总之，同位语你伤不起啊！牛津逗号的具体使用同样十分混乱，虽然是由于牛津大学出版社和哈佛大学出版社的规范而
4、得名，但总体说来目前主要还是美国人更加偏好使用它，就连牛津大学出版社自己也在新的书写规范中建议，“一般来说，不要使用牛津逗号不过当用了能够明确句子意思或减少歧义的时候，还是可以使用。”（这句话听起来像一句废话）有了上面这段小知识之后，就让我们来看一下这则漫画吧：SerialSerial commacommaFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia “Oxford comma“ redirects here. For the song by Vampire Weekend, see Oxford Comma (song).In English punctuati
5、on, a serialserial commacomma or seriesseries commacomma (also called OxfordOxford commacomma and HarvardHarvard commacomma) is a comma placed immediately before the coordinating conjunction (usually and, or, or nor) in a series of three or more terms. For example, a list of three countries might be
6、 punctuated either as “France, Italy, and Spain“ (with the serial comma), or as “France, Italy and Spain“ (without the serial comma).123Opinions among writers and editors differ on whether to use the serial comma. In American English, a majority of style guides mandate use of the serial comma, inclu
7、ding The MLA Style Manual, The Chicago Manual of Style, Strunk and Whites Elements of Style, 4 the Directorate of Intelligence Style Manual & Writers Guide for Intelligence Publications, 5 and the U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual. The Associated Press Stylebook and the Stylebook publishe
8、d by The Canadian Press for journalistic writing advise against it. It is used less often in British English,6 but some British style guides require it, including the Oxford University Press style manual.7 According to The Oxford Companion to the English Language, “Commas are used to separate items
9、in a list or sequence . Usage varies as to the inclusion of a comma before and in the last item . This practice is controversial and is known as the serial comma or Oxford comma, because it is part of the house style of Oxford University Press.“8 Some, including Fowlers Modern English Usage, use it
10、only where necessary to avoid ambiguity.9Contents1 Arguments for and against2 Ambiguity o2.1 Resolving ambiguityo2.2 Creating ambiguityo2.3 Unresolved ambiguityo2.4 In general3 Usage4 Recommendations by style guides o4.1 Mainly American style guides supporting mandatory useo4.2 Mainly British style guides supporting mandatory useo4.3 Mainly British style guides opposing mandatory useo4.4 Mainly American style guides opposing mandatory useo4.5 Australian style guides opposing mandatory use5 Other languages6 References
