what you call的语法作用和意义
在必修二第2单元有这样一句话：I lived in what you call “Ancient Greece.” 意思是：我生活在你们所说的“古希腊”。从句子意思看，what不像是疑问，不能译成“什么东西”。那么，what究竟是什么意思呢？
我们首先看一下what在句中的作用：
充当疑问代词，引导特殊疑问句：What are you going to talk about?
充当连接代词，引导名词性从句：I don’t know what you are going to talk about.
以上两种情况，what仍然表示“什么”，含有疑问的意思。
what 除了充当“疑问代词”和“连接代词”以外，还有一个非常重要的用法，就是英语语法所说的“复合关系代词”，但是，当它充当“复合关系代词”时，则没有疑问的含义。这个句子中的what就具有这种用法。这就是所谓的“复合关系代词”：一个what本身，充当了先行词和关系代词两个角色。
请看下面两个句子：
(1) We must do what the teacher tells us to do. 我们必须做老师叫我们做的事情。
(2) He isn't what he was ten years ago.他现在不是十年前的那个他了。
句 (1) 中的what 实际上就等于everything that，表示“物”；句 (2) 中的what实际上就等于 the person that，表示“人”。这就是what 的复合关系代词用法，它既充当了先行词，又充当了关系代词；既可以表示“物”，也可以表示“人”。what引导的这个句子是名词性从句，因为它起的作用就相当于一个名词。又如：
在必修三第3单元中也有这样一个句子：… his eyes stare at what is left of the brothers' dinner on the table.他的眼睛注视着兄弟俩饭桌上的残羹剩饭。该句中，what 实际上等于 the food that，其中，what is left of the brothers' dinner on the table. 是stare at的宾语，而what又作了宾语从句的主语。以下表达和理解一点问题没有，但是，不如原句精炼：...his eyes stare at the food of the brothers' dinner that is left on the table. 这样改写一下就好理解了。
在I lived in what you call “Ancient Greece.”句中，what引导的这个句子是名词性从句，做in的宾语；而what又充当了call的宾语，Ancient Greece是宾语补足语。
what you call还可以有被动语态，即what is called，译为“（你们）所说的，所谓的”。从汉语翻译角度看，可以把what you call或what is called当成定语来翻译。下面列举一些常见的句子，仔细体味其中的涵义：
He is what you call a “walking dictionary”. 他就是你所谓的“活字典”。
It depends on what you call normal. 这要看你觉得什么是正常。
That's what you call a cultural difference. 那就是你所谓文化上的不同。
What you call emotion or feeling is the connective between us. 你们所谓的感觉和情感正是联系我们的纽带。
The old man lived in what was called a small forest. 那位老人住在所谓的一座树林中。
Is that a result of what you call educating the people? 那是不是你所谓教育人民的结果?
Is this what you call counting your chicken before they hatch? 这就是所谓蛋未孵出先数鸡(打如意算盘)吗?
I am wiser than to believe what you call money talks. 我不至于愚蠢到相信你所谓的金钱万能的说法。
In order to live, I must have what you call “the needful”, which I can got only by working. 为了生活, 我必需要你所谓的 “钱”, 而我只有工作才能挣钱。
He is what you call a young prince. 他就是你说的年轻王子。
She is what you call a big eater, twice as much as most men. 她就是所谓的大饭量,饭量是大多数男子的两倍。
She wasn't what you call a woman of spirit. 她不是你找的所谓性格刚强的人物。
We should improve what is called the quality of living. 我们应该改进所谓的生活品质。
This is what is called formalism. 此之谓形式主义。
They finally reached what is called America now. 他们最终到了现在叫做美洲的地方。
Mary is what is called a modern girl. 玛丽就是所谓的现代女孩。
What is called fate is the inevitability. 命运即是必然性。
Dr Yuan Longping grows what is called super hybrid rice. 袁博士种植的是被称为“超级杂交水稻”的稻种。
That is what is called easy money, but easy come easy go. 所谓倘来之物, 易来易去。
He is what is called a poet. 他就是所谓的诗人。
In brief, Lydgate was what is called a successful man. 总之, 利德盖特是我们所说的飞黄腾达的人。
The WTO also supervises an agreement on what is called intellectual property. 世贸组织同时还监督一项叫做知识产权协议的履行。
今天的许多艺术家都是所谓的应用艺术家。
What is called atomic energy is actually nuclear energy. 所谓的原子能就是核能。
The result is what is called Anglo-Saxon or Old English. 结果是所谓的盎格鲁-撒克逊语或是古代英语。
Einstein's general theory of relativity is what is called a classical theory. 爱因斯坦的相对论被称为一种经典理论。
That is what is called Newton's law. 那就是通常所说的牛顿定律。
The outcome of the incident is what is called “there is no story without coincidences.” 这件事的结局真所谓 “无巧不成书”。
Making money is also labor. This is what is called socialism with Chinese characteristics. 赚钱也是劳动。这就叫有中国特色的社会主义。
These nine planets, together with the sun, make up what is called our solar system. 这九大行星和太阳一起构成我们所说的太阳系。
He is very interested in what are called popular songs. 他对所谓的流行歌曲很感兴趣。