"pied-piping"的定义和意义

What is "pied-piping"?

Pied-piping is a linguistic phenomenon in which a preposition or another grammatical element is moved along with its object when forming a question or a relative clause. Instead of leaving the preposition stranded at the end of the sentence, as in "Who are you talking to?" the structure of pied-piping would result in "To whom are you talking?" In this case, the preposition "to" is moved to the front, along with its object "who," resulting in a more formal construction. Pied-piping is often observed in more formal or written contexts and highlights the relationship between the preposition and its object, emphasizing the grammatical connections within the sentence. Understanding pied-piping is important for recognizing variations in sentence structure and the different ways language can be used to convey meaning.