EnglishvsChineseTenPairsofFeatures英漢對比研究和分析

1、English vs Chinese: Ten Pairs of Features英漢對比研究和分析1. Synthetic vs. Analytic 2. Rigid vs. Supple(=flexible)3. Hypotactic vs. paratactic4. Complex vs Simplex (繁復(fù)與簡短)5. Impersonal vs. Personal 6. Passive vs. Active7. Static vs. Dynamic8. Abstract vs. Concrete 9. Indirect vs Direct10. Substitutive vs. R

2、epetitive Synthetic vs. Analytic （綜合語與分析語） A synthetic language is characterized by frequent and systematic use of inflected forms(曲折變化形式，詞尾變化的詞語) to express grammatical relationships. An analytic language is marked by a relatively frequent use of function words, auxiliary verbs, and changes in word

3、 order to express syntactic relations, rather than of inflected forms. Modern English has become analytic but still frequently uses some hereditary inflections from Old English. It is therefore a synthetic-analytic language. Chinese is a typical analytic language. Inflection, word order and the use

4、of function words are employed as the three grammatical devices in building English sentences. 1.1 Inflectional vs Non-inflectional In English, nouns, pronouns, and verbs are inflected. Such grammatical meanings as parts of speech, gender, number, case, person, tense, aspect, voice, mood, etc. canbe

5、 expressed by the use of inflected forms with or without the help of function words and word order, which is generallynot true of Chinese. In Chinese the above grammatical meanings are mostly implied in contexts or between the lines,Though often with the help of word order. E.g. He moved astonishing

6、ly fast. He moved with astonishing rapidity. His movements are astonishingly rapid. His movements astonished us by their rapidity. 他行動之快令人驚訝。 他行動之迅速令人驚訝。 他行動之迅速令我們驚訝不已。 1.2 Word Order: Flexible vs. Inflexible The less inflective a language, the more rigid the word order. Word order in English is not

7、 so rigid as in Chinese. More waysOf inversion are often seen in English. E.g. What in the world do you mean? 你的意思究竟是什么？ What a beautiful voice you have! 你有多美的嗓音?。?Not a finger did I lay on him? 我從來沒有指責(zé)過他。 The Use of Function Words: English and Chinese Employ Different Types of Function Words Englis

8、h function words include the articles,prepositions, auxiliary verbs, coordinators andsubordinators, While Chinese function wordscomprise particles, connectives, and prepositions.Each has its own features in the use of these words. E.g. She was with a child. 她身邊帶著一個孩子。 She was with child. 她懷有身孕。 They

9、 are students of our school. 他們是本校的一部分學(xué)生。 They are the students of our school. 他們是本校的全體學(xué)生。 Chinese is rich in particles(助詞), which can be classified into aspect particles(動態(tài)助詞，如：著、了、過), structural particles（結(jié)構(gòu)助詞，如：的、地、得）, and emotional particles（語氣助詞，如：嘛、嗎、吧、呢）. The frequent use of Chineseparticles

10、is a hard nut for foreign learners of Chinese. 這回我可親眼看見啦！（感嘆語氣） This time Ive actually seen it for myself. 打吧，打不下去；跑吧，跑不了，敵人只好投降。 Unable to fight on or escape, the enemy was forced to surrender. 你呀，老這樣下去可不行?。。又卣Z氣） Look! You cant go on like this. 這也不能怪他，頭一回嘛。 （答辯語氣） He is not to blame. After all, it

11、 was the first time that he had done it.1.4 Intonation vs. Tone(語調(diào)與聲調(diào)) English is an intonation language, while Chinese is a tone language. In a language in which inflection has been greatly reduced, word-order must be-come relatively more rigid. One consequenceof this tendency to a fixed word-order

12、 is anincrease in the role of intonation in the lan-guage. The varying of tone to indicate mea-nings is characteristic of both English and Chinese. Musical variety of tone to indicateshades of meaning becomes natural in both English and Chinese. Chinese finds its naturalway of development through a

13、fundamental system of tones and tone-groups. A change of tone in Chinese will turn “to buy” into “to sell”. In English, intonation has a very important and far-reaching role. A rising or falling tone in the parts of a sentence determines much of its meaning. Moreover, there is a very close bond betw

14、een stress and tone or pitch, a strong stress, for instance, often corresponding with a rising tone. Such a sentence as “You are going to buy that house” may be statement of fact(declarative) or a question (interrogative) according to whether the tone is falling orrising at its end. One of the impor

15、tant features in modern Chinese is the predominance of disyllables and quadrisyl-lables （雙音節(jié)化和四音節(jié)化）. As a result, redu-plication of characters, repetition of words, four-character expressions, and parallelism of syllables, words, phrases, and sentence structures have become popular grammatical and r

16、hetorical devices in Chinese. Look at the following example. It was a day as fresh as grass growing up andclouds going over and butterflies coming down canmake it. It was a day compounded from silences ofbee and flower and ocean and land, which were notsilences at all, but motions, stirs, flutters,

17、risings, fallings, each in its own time and matchless rhythem. (E. Bradbury: The Vacation) 綠草萋萋，白云冉冉，彩蝶翩翩，那日子如此清新可愛。蜜蜂無言，春花不語，海波聲歇，大地靜謐，那日子如此萬籟俱寂。然而并非安靜，因為萬物各以其適宜的時刻，特有的節(jié)奏，或動，或搖，或振，或起，或伏。2. Rigid vs. Supple (剛性與柔性) English sentence structures are composed of noun phrases, verb phrases, etc. It has b

18、ecomean invariable custom to have a subject before a verb, and therefore a sentence that does not con-tain a subject and a verb is felt to be incomplete. The subject must agree with the predicate verb in person and number, etc. This rigid S-V concord forms the kernel of a sentence, with the predicat

19、everb controlling other main members. English sen-tences, however long and complicated, can be re-duced to five basic patterns: SV, SVP, SVO, SVoO,and SVOC. English sentences are characterized by their variants（變式）, expansion（擴展）, combina-tion（組合）, omission（省略）, or inversion (倒裝). Variants: interrog

20、ative, negative, and passive; “There be + subject”.(2) Expansion: adding modifiers, including words, phrases, and clauses; using phrases or clauses instead of words as members of the basic patterns.(3) Combination: combining simple sentences into compound or compound-complex sentences.(4) Omission:

21、omitting certain members of the sentence.(5) Inversion: inverting the word-order of the sentence.Etc. This rigid S-V concord （主謂協(xié)調(diào)一致） forms the kernel of an English sentence. English sentences, however long and complicated, can be reduced to five basic patterns: SV, SVP, SVO, SVoO, and SVOC. Chinese

22、, however, is relatively free from the government of the rigid S-V concord. The subject-predicate structure is usually varied, flexible, andtherefore complicated and supple. E.g. 文章翻譯完了。（受事主語） The essay has been translated. 全市到處在興建新工廠。 （地點主語） New factories are being built all over the city. 現(xiàn)在正下著毛毛細(xì)

23、雨。 （時間主語） It is drizzling at the moment.累得我站不起來了。（無主句）I am so exhausted that I cant stand up.The predicate of a Chinese sentence isso varied and complicated:天高云淡。（形容詞作謂語）The sky is high and the clouds are pale.他出國留學(xué)去了。 （連動式謂語）He has gone abroad for further studies.我介紹他加入?yún)f(xié)會。 （兼語式謂語）I recommended him

24、for membership ofof the association.這項合同經(jīng)理要簽名。 (主謂詞組作謂語) This contract should be signed by the manager. 這姑娘長得漂亮，鵝蛋形臉，兩眼又深又黑，披著又長又密的頭發(fā)。She is a pretty girl, with an oval face, deep dark eyes, and long heavy clingingtresses. 許多房子，蓋著琉璃瓦，曲曲折折，無數(shù)的朱紅欄桿。Many houses are roofed with glazedtiles and set withi

25、n numerous winding red balus-trades. In addition, there are quite a few “illogical” expressions in Chinese. E.g. 曬太陽 to bask in the sun 曬衣服 to sun ones clothes救火 to fight a fire 救國 to save the nation 補充缺額 to fill a vacancy補充人力 to replenish manpower恢復(fù)疲勞 to get refreshed恢復(fù)健康 to recover ones health打掃衛(wèi)生

26、 to do some cleaning打掃房間 to clean a room吃大碗 to eat with a big bowl吃蘋果 to eat an appleMore ambuguity can be found in Chinese due to the lack of connectives, inflections準(zhǔn)備了兩年的食物 （準(zhǔn)備了兩年的+食物 / 準(zhǔn)備了+ 兩年的食物）神秘的少女的心 （神秘的+ 少女的心 / 神秘的少女的 + 心）The suppleness of Chinese also manifests itself in the “run-on” sent

27、ence（流水句）, which is composedof “the full sentence” and “the minor sentence”（小句）.A full sentence has a subject-predicate structure,while a minor sentence has only a word(s) or phrase(s) . As 呂叔湘（1979：27）points out,”用小句而不用句子做基本單位，較能適應(yīng)漢語的情況?！币驗闈h語口語里特多流水句，一個小句接一個小句，很多地方可斷可連?！?接著，他繼續(xù)設(shè)想，雞又生雞，用雞賣錢，錢買母牛，母牛繁

28、殖，賣牛得錢，用錢放債，這么一連串的發(fā)財計劃，當(dāng)然也不能算是生產(chǎn)的計劃。（馬南：燕山夜話） He went on indulging in wishful thinking:chickens would breed more chickens; sellingthem would bring him money; with this money he would buy cows; the cows would breed, too, and selling oxen would make more money for him; with the money he could become a

29、 moneylender. Such a succession of steps for getting rich, of course,had nothing to do with production. The rigidity of English generally requiresa complete sentence structure, SV concord,and formal cohesion (形式銜接), while the suppleness of Chinese enjoys flexibility of sentence structure and pays mo

30、re attentionto semantic coherence (語義連貫). Jespersen(1954:334) points out, “ Analysis means sup-pleness, and synthesis means rigidity; in ana-lytic languages you have the power of kaleidos-copically arranging and rearranging the elements that in synthetic forms are in rigid connexion.” 王力 (1984:53) 指

31、出: “就句子的結(jié)構(gòu)而論,西洋語言是法治的, 中國語言是人治的。所謂法治，即句子的形式嚴(yán)格受到語法的制約， 如句子必須有主語和謂語動詞，及物動詞必須有賓語，這些不管用得著用不著，總要呆板地求句子形式的一律。所謂人治， 即句子比較不受形式的約束，可以因表意的需要而加以變通，詞語的分合伸縮比較靈活，用得著就用，用不著就不用，只要雙方意思明白，就可以了。英語有綜合語的特征，受形式的約束，因而語法是硬的，沒有彈性；漢語是分析語，不受形態(tài)的約束，因而語法是軟的，富于彈性。 ” 三. Hypotactic vs. paratactic (形合與意合) Hypotaxis (形合)is the depend

32、ent or subordinate construction or relationship of clauses with connectives. English sen-tence building is characterized by hypota-xis. Parataxis (意合) is the arranging of lauses one after another without connec-tives showing the relation between themChinese sentence building is featured by para-taxi

33、s. To clarify the relations between words, phrases or clauses, English more often re-sorts to overt cohesion(顯性銜接), frequently using various cohesive ties (銜接紐帶)such as coordinators (并列連詞)(e.g. and, or, but, yet, so, however, as well as, either or, neither nor),subordinators (從屬連詞)(e.g. when, while,

34、 as, since, until, so that, unless, lest), relative pronouns and adverbs( e.g. who, whom, whose, that, which, when, where, why, how), prepositions and others. Lets look at some examples. (1) All was cleared up some time later when news came from a distant place that an earthquake was felt the very d

35、ay the littlecopper ball fell. 過了一些時候, 從遠(yuǎn)方傳來消息: 小銅球墜落那天, 人們感受到了地震.這一切終于得到了澄清。 (2) We will not attack unless we are attacked.人不犯我, 我不犯人。 (3) Let everybody share the food if there is any . 有飯大家吃。 (4) Until all is over, ambition never dies. 不到黃河心不死。 （緊縮句） (5) 不進則退。（四字格） He who does not advance falls ba

36、ckward. Move forward, or you will fall behind. (6) 聰明一世，糊涂一時。（對偶） Smart as a rule, but this time a fool. 四、Complex vs Simplex (繁復(fù)與簡短) Subordination (從屬結(jié)構(gòu)), the placing of certain elements in modifying roles, is a funda-mental feature of English. With plenty of su-bornate clauses and phrases, English

37、 hascomparatively longer and more complicated sentences than Chinese, which, on the other hand, is marked by its coordination (并列結(jié)構(gòu)),loose or minor sentences (松散句), contrac-ted sentences (緊縮句), elliptical sentences, run-on sentences (流水句), and composite sentences (并列句). English sentence buildingis f

38、eatured by an “architecture style” (樓房建筑式) with extensive use of longer or subordinate structures, while Chinese is marked by a “chronicle style” (流水記事式) with frequent use of shorter or composite structures. In short, English sentences are often complex, while Chinese setences are often simplex. (1)

39、In the doorway lay at least twelve um- brellas of all sizes and colors. 門口放著 一堆 雨傘,少說也有十二把, 五顏六色, 大小不一。 (2) There are many wonderful stories to tell about the places I visited and the people I met. 我訪問了一些地方,也遇到了一些人。 要談起來,奇妙的事兒可多著哩。 ( 3) Can you answer a question which I want to ask and which is puzz

40、ling me? 我有一個問題弄不懂，想請教 你，你能回答嗎？ (4) Gentlemen, I am ashamed to see men who embarked on so great and glorious an undertaking as that of robbing the public, so foolishly and weakly dissenting among themselves. (Fielding: Jonathan Wild) 諸位先生， 有些人正在干著一番光榮而 偉大的事 業(yè)，即掠奪大眾。他們居然如此愚蠢， 如此虛弱，甚至在自己人中間發(fā)生內(nèi)訌。看到他們做這

41、種事，我真覺得丟臉。 (5) Closely linked with this commitment is the new last paragraph of the preamble whichreaffirms that principle of the Charter of the United Nations in accordance with which Mem-ber States must refrain from the use of force orthe threat of force against the territorial inte-grity or polit

42、ical independence of any State and which declares that the establishment and the maintenance of international peace and securityare to be promoted with the least diversion forarmaments of the worlds human and economicresources. 與這一承諾密切相連的是序言中新增加的最后一段, 它重申聯(lián)合國憲章的一條原則,即會員國不得使用武力或武力威脅來侵犯任何國家的領(lǐng)土完整或政治獨立,

43、并且聲明要盡量減少把世界人力和經(jīng)濟資源用于軍備,以促進建立和維護國際和平與國際安全。 From the examples above, it can be seenthat an invloved sentence in English is nor-mally turned into two or more than two sen-tences, or into a full sentence, followed by some minor sentences in Chinese. This translation technique is called division (分譯法).

44、五、Impersonal vs. Personal (物稱與人稱) Formal written English often goes with an impersonal style, in which the writer does not refer directly to himself or his readers, and he avoids using the pronouns I, we, and you, thusthe writer and the reader are out of the picture,hiding themselves behind imperson

45、al language.Some of the common features of impersonal language are passives, setences beginning with the introductory word it and abstract nounsas subjects(Leech, 1974:25). Chinese, by con-trast, prefers to use the personal style, which is featured by more active sentences, or more active sentences

46、in form but passive in mea-ning, personal subjects, or subjectless and subject-omitted sentences when the subject isself-evident, unknown or implied in the context. As a result of the above differences, the conversion of English impersonal subjectsinto Chinese personal subjects is often em-ployed in

47、 translation. (1) An idea suddenly struck me. 我突然想到了一個主意。 (2) A strange peace came over her when she was alone. 她獨處時感到一種莫名奇妙 的寧靜。 (3) Alarm began to take entire possession of her. 他開始變得驚恐萬狀。 (4) From the moment we stepped into the Peoples Republic of China, care and kindness surrounded us on every s

48、ide. 一踏上中華人民共和國國土, 我們就隨 時隨地受到關(guān)懷與照顧。 (5) The happiness the superior advan- tages of the young women round about her, gave Rebecca inexpressible pangs of envy. 麗貝卡看見周圍的小姐那么福氣， 享受種種優(yōu)越的權(quán)利，就有說不出的 眼紅和痛心。 (6) Specialties in colleges and universities should be adjusted and teaching methods improved. 應(yīng)該調(diào)整高等院

49、校的專業(yè)設(shè)置, 改進教學(xué)方法。 六、Passive vs. Active（被動與主動） Passives of various forms are frequent-ly used in English mainly due to the following reasons: 1) When the agent of action is unknownor self-evident, or it is unnecessary or impos-sible to mention the agent. E.g. It is said thatthe murderer will be hanged.

50、 2) Syntactic factors: for cohesion, balance,end focus, weight, etc. E.g. I was astoundedthat he should be prepared to give me a job. 3) Rhetorical factors: for variation, etc. e.g. The basic English sentence pattern of sub-Ject-verb-object can be varied in many ways. 4) Stylistic factors: more pass

51、ives in infor-mative writing, notably in the objective, imper-sonal style of scientific articles, news items andgovernment communications. E.g. The resis-tance can be determined provided that the voltage and current are known. The passive voice allows us to express ideas without attributing them to

52、a specificindividual source. That is why it is so widely used in government communications in whichdecisions and opinions are presumed to be those of the bureau or agency as a wholeand not considered to be those of individual officials. Anyone who does not wish to take personal responsibility for hi

53、s statements findsa way out by saying or writing “It is directed that” instead of“I direct that”. The weak passive is used in newspaper articles for the same reason: to achieve the impersonal note, and thus, in many instances, to disclaim direct responsibility for statements that are based on hearsa

54、y. By contrast, active forms, including those in passive sense are often used in Chinese. There are some reason for the limited use of the Chinese passive forms marked by 被,讓、給、叫、挨、受、遭、蒙，etc. The Chinese passive form marked by 被 is traditionally felt to be an “inflicting voice”（不幸語態(tài)）, mainly express

55、ing things un-pleasant or undesirable to the subjective person, as 被捕、被殺、被剝削、被壓迫，though there is a modern tendency to denotethings desirable or neutral, as “被選為工會主席”、“被選為先進工作者”。 The Chinese passive form generally has an agent after被, which restricts the use of the passive form when the agent is unkn

56、ownor difficult to mention. Instead, Chinese generally prefers to use active forms; besides, there are many other ways to denote passive sense which is usual-ly expressed in the English passive form. E.g. 1) Notional passives （意義被動式）: ac-tive in form but passive in sense. Pattern: receptor subject （

57、受事主語）+ verb + agent (1) 一匹馬騎兩個人。（不說“一匹馬被兩個人騎”。）Two persons rode one horse. (2) 這鍋飯能吃十個人。（不說“這鍋飯能被十個人吃”。）A pot of rice like this can feed ten people. (3) 昨晚我蓋了兩條被子。（不說“昨晚我被兩條被子蓋著”。）Last night I was covered up with two quilts. (4) 爸爸，你想死我們了！Daddy, weve been missing you very much. (5) 困難克服了，工作完成了，問題也解決

58、了。The difficulties have been overcome, the work has been finished, and the problem solved. 2) Subjectless or subject-omitted sentenceswhen the subject is self-evident, unknown, or implied in the context. (6) 要制造飛機,就必須考慮空氣阻力問題。 Air resistance must be given careful consideration when the aircraft is t

59、o be manufactured. (7) 為什么總把這些麻煩事推給我呢? Why should all the unpleasant jobs be pushed onto me? (8) 注意看看信的地址是否寫對了。Care should be taken to see if the letter is properly addressed. 3) Using generic persons (通稱或泛稱) as subjects: “人, 有人,人們,大家,人家,別人,某人”, etc. eg. (9) Voices were heard calling for help. 有人聽見呼

60、救的聲音。 (10) It is well known that the compass was invented in China more than 2000 years ago.眾所周知, 中國人在兩千多年前就發(fā)明了指南針。 4) Using “executive form” (處置式), 即”把” / 將 / 使字式 （11）凡是做功，都是把能從一種形式轉(zhuǎn)換成另一種形式。 Whenever work is being done, energy is being converted from one form into another. （12）1964年10月，中國爆炸了第一顆原子彈，