在一些作品以及演讲中,圆周句(periodic sentence)经常会出现,与其相对的是松散句(loose sentence)。圆周句的特点是将所有背景,次要的概念都放在前面,而最重要的想说的话放在句尾,而形成欲扬先抑或欲抑先扬的效果。
如: If you have not yet appreciated the truth that money is everything, you soon will.--H.Belloc 或者:
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.--"Pride and Prejudice", Jane Austen
以上两句话都是前半句让人本来以为要说多正经的事情呢,嗷嗷唱高调,后面的半句啪擦就摔下来了。
如果在口语中能适度使用圆周句式,能够使语言显得更加的幽默或者是有气势。比如:
"So I’ll say this – there are many words to describe John McCain’s attempt to pass off his embrace of George Bush’s policies as bipartisan and new. BUT CHANGE IS NOT ONE OF THEM."--Remarks of Senator Barack Obama: Final Primary Night, St. Paul, MN/June 03, 2008. 最后那句话多么的坚定有气势阿,奥巴马太帅了。
再比如:"……illegal diamonds gives rise to death and bleeding of thousands of innocent people in Africa, let’s IGNORE it, NO MORE."--rephrased from "Blood diamonds."最后一句的警醒,振聋发聩。
其实这种句式在中文中仍然可以使用,只不过用不好的话会让人既没有心理准备又令人不知所云。