英语共学社 | Not since 打头的倒装句要怎么理解

本周，英语共学社一起精读这篇经济学人文章：Imperial Ambitions，关于Facebook。

开篇第一句话：NOT since the era of imperial Rome has the “thumbs-up” sign been such a potent and public symbol of power. 这句话要怎么理解呢？

Not since 打头的句子表示一种强调，主句的主谓顺序要颠倒，Not否定的是主句，而不是since。比如：

Not since Alzheimer's disease was discovered in 1906 has there been a more crucial year than 2007 in our efforts against this mind-killer.

如果是正常语序，应该是：Since Alzheimer's disease was discovered in 1906, there has not been a more crucial year than 2007 in our efforts against this mind-killer.

如此，翻译过来就应该是：

自从老年痴呆症1906年发现以来，我们对这个心智杀手的斗争，从没有哪一年比2007年更为关键。

（摘自《英文常用词疑难用法手册》，陈用仪著，since词条）

又比如经济学人四月刊另一篇文章：Crocodile of the Yangtze: How Jack Ma Conquered China's Internet? 其中也有这样的句型：

NOT since John Rockefeller has a businessman defined a country’s transformation as well as Jack Ma does.

如果调整成正常语序，应该是Since John Rockefeller, a businessman has not defined a country's transformation as well as Jack Ma does. 大意是，自洛克菲勒之后，还没有哪个商人能够如马云这般准确地定义一个国家的转型。

回到文章开头的那个句子：NOT since the era of imperial Rome has the “thumbs-up” sign been such a potent and public symbol of power. 调整成正常语序应该是：

Since the era of imperial Rome, the thumb-up sign has not been such a potent and public symbol of power.

群里译友又提出了两种译文：

A）直到罗马时代，竖大拇指这一手势才成为公开且有力的权力象征。

B）自罗马时代以来，竖大拇指这一手势还没有像现在这样公开且有力地象征着权力。

这两句话看似意思差不多，但是重心落在了不同的部分。译句A的重心落在“罗马时代”，译句B的重心落在“现在的Facebook时代”。哪个意思更贴切呢？紧接着这句话，下文就介绍了facebook的赫赫战功，因此我认为语义重心应该在“现在”。

在 Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary 中找到了例句，也印证了我的这一观点。

Not since the 1968 Olympic Games has a medals ceremony caused such a storm of booing.

自1968 年奥运会以来，没有哪次颁奖仪式引起过如此哗然的一片嘘声。

另外，这句话里的关键点有两个：

一个是竖大拇指在罗马时代的意义，权力。第二个是，现在竖大拇指在Facebook这个庞大的商业帝国里的意义，也是权力。如果要以一种更通俗的方式改写这个句子，那可以是：

The last time when thumbs-up was such a potent and public symbol of power was in the era of imperial Rome, and now it happens again in the era of facebook.

我还找到了这样一个例句：

Not since the first decade of the twentieth century have so many people entered the US.

自二十世纪的头十年以来，美国还没有像现在这样接纳了这么多外来人口。