貓的行為科學 Feline Behavior Science

貓的行為科學 Feline Behavior Science

● 字源

「feline」源自拉丁文 felinus（貓的），來自 feles（貓）。「behavior」由 be-（加強語氣）與古英文 haven（持有、舉止）演變而來，指行為舉止。「science」源自拉丁文 scientia（知識），來自 scire（知道）。

● 例句

No sooner had researchers, whose feline subjects, which had long been dismissed as unreliable because their independence, a trait that, as ethologists have argued, reflects a solitary hunting ancestry rather than indifference, defeated obedience-based tests, lived freely in ordinary homes rather than in kennels, begun to record subtle signals, such as slow blinks and tail positions, that earlier observers had long overlooked than the field of animal behavior began to treat feline communication as a measurable system, in which every gesture could be tested against the responses of the people nearby, rather than as an inscrutable mood.

（約 97 字）

● 排列為比較容易閱讀的方式

No sooner had researchers,

whose feline subjects,

which had long been dismissed as unreliable

because their independence,

a trait

that,

as ethologists have argued,

reflects a solitary hunting ancestry rather than indifference,

defeated obedience-based tests,

lived freely in ordinary homes rather than in kennels,

begun to record subtle signals,

such as slow blinks and tail positions,

that earlier observers had long overlooked

than the field of animal behavior began to treat feline communication as a measurable system,

in which every gesture could be tested against the responses of the people nearby,

rather than as an inscrutable mood.

● 分解為原初的短小句

Researchers had no sooner begun to record subtle signals than the field of animal behavior began to treat feline communication as a measurable system.（No sooner 置於句首，had 倒裝於主詞前，還原後為 Researchers had no sooner begun ... than ...。）

The researchers' feline subjects lived freely in ordinary homes rather than in kennels.（whose 引導之非限定性關係子句，主詞為 subjects，動詞 lived 隔了很遠才出現。）

The cats had long been dismissed as unreliable.（which 引導之插入關係子句，過去完成被動。）

Their independence defeated obedience-based tests.（because 引導之副詞子句，主詞 independence，動詞 defeated。）

The independence is a trait.（a trait 為 independence 之同位語。）

The trait reflects a solitary hunting ancestry rather than indifference.（that 作關係子句之主詞，rather than 連接兩個對比名詞。）

Ethologists have argued this.（as 引導之插入子句，as 代替後面整個內容。）

The signals include slow blinks and tail positions.（such as 引導之舉例插入語。）

Earlier observers had long overlooked the signals.（that 引導之限定性關係子句，that 作 overlooked 之受詞。）

Every gesture could be tested against the responses of the people nearby.（in which 引導之關係子句，被動語態，nearby 為後置修飾語。）

● 文法解析

No sooner ... than 倒裝（No sooner + had + 主詞 + 過去分詞 ... than + 子句）：

No sooner 置於句首時，須倒裝為 had researchers begun。than 之後接正常語序的子句，表示「一……就……」。本句 No sooner 子句極長，真正的過去分詞 begun 要到很後面才出現，讀者須記住 had researchers 仍在等待分詞。

雙重 whose 與 which 插入（researchers, whose feline subjects, which ..., lived ..., begun）：

主詞 researchers 與分詞 begun 之間，插入 whose feline subjects 子句，其動詞 lived 要等到 which 子句結束後才出現。which 子句內又含 because 子句，形成插入中的插入。

同位語與 as 插入（their independence, a trait that, as ..., reflects ..., defeated）：

because 子句內，主詞 independence 與動詞 defeated 之間，隔著 a trait（同位語）、that（關係代名詞，作 reflects 之主詞）與 as 子句（準關係代名詞，代替整個論點）。as 子句插在 that 與 reflects 之間，容易讓讀者找不到 reflects 的主詞。

舉例插入與限定性關係子句（subtle signals, such as ..., that earlier observers had long overlooked）：

such as 子句為插入語，使 signals 與其限定性修飾語 that 子句被隔開。that 作 overlooked 之受詞，had long overlooked 為過去完成式，表示在此之前長期被忽略。

末端 in which 與 rather than（a measurable system, in which ..., rather than as an inscrutable mood）：

in which 引導之關係子句為被動語態 could be tested，修飾 system。其後 rather than as 與前面 as a measurable system 對比，兩個 as 片語都是 treat 之受詞補語，句子最後才回到主幹。

● 參考譯文

研究者（其貓咪研究對象，長期被視為不可靠，因為貓的獨立性，即一種如動物行為學者所論，反映的是獨居狩獵祖先而非冷漠的特質，使其無法通過以服從為基礎的測試，這些貓自由生活在一般住家而非犬貓籠舍中）才剛開始記錄先前觀察者長期忽略的細微訊號，例如緩慢眨眼與尾巴位置，動物行為學界就開始把貓的溝通視為可測量的系統，其中每個動作都能對照周遭人的反應來檢驗，而不再視為難以捉摸的情緒。

● 補充說明

句型亮點與文法變化：

No sooner ... than 倒裝： 前幾篇已用過 Seldom、Little、Only after、So ... that、Although、Not only、Not until 等結構，本篇改用 No sooner had 倒裝，than 之後接主句，過去分詞 begun 直到很後面才出現。

不使用分號： 全句僅以 whose、which、because、that、as、such as、in which、rather than 等連接詞與關係詞層層推進，單一主幹（No sooner had researchers begun ... than the field began）貫穿到底（中譯為求順暢，才加入括號與逗號）。

多重插入： researchers 與 begun 之間、subjects 與 lived 之間、independence 與 defeated 之間、that 與 reflects 之間，共有四處插入，其中前三處為層層嵌套。

兩個 rather than 並用： 同句出現 rather than indifference 與 rather than as an inscrutable mood，前者對比名詞，後者對比 as 片語，容易混淆各自連接的對象。

核心學術字彙與文法重點總結：

關鍵字詞： Ethologist（動物行為學者）、Ancestry（祖先）、Obedience（服從）、Subtle（細微的）、Overlook（忽略）、Gesture（動作）、Inscrutable（難以捉摸的）、Dismiss（摒棄）、Kennel（犬舍）。

文法重點： No sooner ... than 倒裝、雙重 whose／which 插入、同位語、as 準關係代名詞、such as 舉例插入、in which 關係子句、rather than 對比結構。

一點小提醒： 家貓的獨立性與獨居狩獵祖先之間的關聯，動物行為學界有此論述，但仍有討論空間，例句為文法示範之概括。例句實際約 97 個英文單字。參考譯文為求順暢，已調整部分分句順序。