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英语知识小讲座：牛津逗号（Oxford comma） 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, your 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、你妹
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 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：
Serial comma
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Oxford comma" redirects here. For the song by Vampire Weekend, see Oxford Comma (song).
In English punctuation, a serial comma or series comma (also called Oxford
comma and Harvard comma) 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 punctuated
either as "France, Italy, and Spain" (with the serial comma), or as
"France, Italy and Spain" (without the serial comma).
[1][2][3]
Opinions 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, including
The MLA Style Manual
,
The Chicago Manual of Style
,
Strunk and White's
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 published 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 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
Fowler's Modern English Usage
, use
it only where necessary to avoid ambiguity.
[9]
Contents
•
•
•
•
1 Arguments for and against
2 Ambiguity
o
2.1 Resolving ambiguity
o
2.2 Creating ambiguity
o
2.3 Unresolved ambiguity
o
2.4 In general
3 Usage
4 Recommendations by style guides
o
4.1 Mainly American style guides supporting mandatory use
o
4.2 Mainly British style guides supporting mandatory use
o
4.3 Mainly British style guides opposing mandatory use
o
4.4 Mainly American style guides opposing mandatory use
o
4.5 Australian style guides opposing mandatory use
•
•
5 Other languages
6 References
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