1、English vs Chinese: Ten Pairs of Features 英汉对比研究,1. Synthetic vs. Analytic 2. Rigid vs. Supple(=flexible) 3. Hypotactic vs. paratactic 4. Complex vs Simplex (繁复与简短) 5. Impersonal vs. Personal 6. Passive vs. Active 7. Static vs. Dynamic 8. Abstract vs. Concrete 9. Indirect vs Direct 10. Substitutive
2、vs. Repetitive,Synthetic vs. Analytic （综合语与分析语）A synthetic language is characterized by frequent and systematic use of inflected forms(曲折变化形式，词尾变化的词语) to express grammatical relationships.,An analytic language is marked by a relatively frequent use of function words, auxiliary verbs, and changes in
3、word 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 us
4、e of function words are employed as the three grammatical devices in building English sentences.1.1 Inflectional vs Non-inflectionalIn English, nouns, pronouns, and verbs are inflected. Such grammatical meanings as parts of speech, gender, number, case, person, tense, aspect, voice, mood, etc. can,b
5、e expressed by the use of inflected forms with or without the help of function words and word order, which is generally not 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 astonishi
6、ngly fast.He moved with astonishing rapidity.His movements are astonishingly rapid.His movements astonished us by their rapidity.他行动之快令人惊讶。他行动之迅速令人惊讶。他行动之迅速令我们惊讶不已。1.2 Word Order: Flexible vs. InflexibleThe less inflective a language, the more rigid the word order. Word order in English is not so ri
7、gid as in Chinese. More ways Of 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!你有多美的嗓音啊！Not a finger did I lay on him?我从来没有指责过他。1.3 The Use of Function Words: English and Chinese Employ Different Types ofFunction WordsEnglish functio
8、n words include the articles, prepositions, auxiliary verbs, coordinators and subordinators, While Chinese function words comprise particles, connectives, and prepositions.,Each has its own features in the use of these words. E.g.She was with a child. 她身边带着一个孩子。She was with child. 她怀有身孕。They are stu
9、dents of our school.他们是本校的一部分学生。They are the students of our school.他们是本校的全体学生。Chinese is rich in particles(助词), which can be classified into aspect particles(动态助词，如：着、 了、过), structural particles（结构助词，如：的、 地、得）, and emotional particles（语气助词，如： 嘛、吗、吧、呢）. The frequent use of Chinese particles is a har
10、d nut for foreign learners of Chinese.,这回我可亲眼看见啦！（感叹语气）This time Ive actually seen it for myself.打吧，打不下去；跑吧，跑不了，敌人 只好投降。Unable to fight on or escape, the enemy was forced to surrender.你呀，老这样下去可不行啊！（加重语气）Look! You cant go on like this.这也不能怪他，头一回嘛。 （答辩语气）He is not to blame. After all, it was the first
11、 time that he had done it.,1.4 Intonation vs. Tone(语调与声调)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 consequence of this tendency to a fixed word-order is an incre
12、ase 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 indicate shades of meaning becomes natural in both,1.1.4,English and Chinese. Chinese finds its natural way of development through a f
13、undamental 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 betwe
14、en 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 or,rising at its end.One of the import
15、ant features in modern Chinese is the predominance of disyllables and quadrisyl- lables （双音节化和四音节化）. 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
16、 rhetorical devices in Chinese. Look at the following example.It was a day as fresh as grass growing up and clouds going over and butterflies coming down can make it. It was a day compounded from silences of bee and flower and ocean and land, which were not silences at all, but motions, stirs, flutt
17、ers, risings,fallings, each in its own time and matchless rhythem. (E. Bradbury: The Vacation)绿草萋萋，白云冉冉，彩蝶翩翩，那日子 如此清新可爱。蜜蜂无言，春花不语，海波声 歇，大地静谧，那日子如此万籁俱寂。然而并 非安静，因为万物各以其适宜的时刻，特有的 节奏，或动，或摇，或振，或起，或伏。,2. Rigid vs. Supple (刚性与柔性)English sentence structures are composed of noun phrases, verb phrases, etc. I
18、t has become an 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
19、 predicate verb 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（变式）, expansion（扩展）, combina- tion（组合）, omission（省略）, or inversion (倒装).Varia
20、nts: interrogative, 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
21、. (4) Omission: omitting certain members of the sentence. (5) Inversion: inverting the word-order of the sentence.,Etc. This rigid S-V concord （主谓协调一致） forms the kernel of an English sentence.English sentences, however long and complicated, can be reduced to five basicpatterns: SV, SVP, SVO, SVoO, a
22、nd SVOC.Chinese, however, is relatively free from thegovernment of the rigid S-V concord. The subject- predicate structure is usually varied, flexible, and therefore complicated and supple. E.g.文章翻译完了。（受事主语）The essay has been translated.全市到处在兴建新工厂。 （地点主语）New factories are being built all over the ci
23、ty.现在正下着毛毛细雨。 （时间主语）,It is drizzling at the moment.,累得我站不起来了。（无主句） I am so exhausted that I cant stand up. The predicate of a Chinese sentence is so varied and complicated: 天高云淡。（形容词作谓语） The sky is high and the clouds are pale. 他出国留学去了。 （连动式谓语） He has gone abroad for further studies. 我介绍他加入协会。 （兼语式谓
24、语） I recommended him for membership of of the association. 这项合同经理要签名。 (主谓词组作谓语),This contract should be signed by the manager.这姑娘长得漂亮，鹅蛋形脸，两眼又深又黑， 披着又长又密的头发。She is a pretty girl, with an oval face, deep dark eyes, and long heavy clinging tresses.许多房子，盖着琉璃瓦，曲曲折折，无数的 朱红栏杆。Many houses are roofed with g
25、lazed tiles and set within numerous winding red balus- trades.In addition, there are quite a few “illogical” expressions in Chinese. E.g. 晒太阳 to bask in the sun晒衣服 to sun ones clothes,救火 to fight a fire 救国 to save the nation 补充缺额 to fill a vacancy 补充人力 to replenish manpower 恢复疲劳 to get refreshed 恢复健
26、康 to recover ones health 打扫卫生 to do some cleaning 打扫房间 to clean a room 吃大碗 to eat with a big bowl 吃苹果 to eat an apple,More ambuguity can be found in Chinese due to the lack of connectives, inflections and other grammatical markers. E.g 准备了两年的食物 （准备了两年的+食物 / 准备了+ 两年的食物） 神秘的少女的心 （神秘的+ 少女的心 / 神秘的少女的 +
27、心） The suppleness of Chinese also manifests itself in the “run-on” sentence（流水句）, which is composed of “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 吕叔湘（1979：27）points out,”用 小句而不用句子做基本
28、单位，较能适应汉语的情况。”,因为汉语口语里特多流水句，一个小句接一 个小句，很多地方可断可连。”接着，他继续设想，鸡又生鸡，用鸡卖 钱，钱买母牛，母牛繁殖，卖牛得钱，用钱 放债，这么一连串的发财计划，当然也不能 算是生产的计划。（马南：燕山夜话） He went on indulging in wishful thinking: chickens would breed more chickens; selling them would bring him money; with this money he would buy cows; the cows would breed, too,
29、 and selling oxen would make more money forhim; with the money he could become a money,lender. Such a succession of steps for getting rich, of course,had nothing to do with production.The rigidity of English generally requires a complete sentence structure, SV concord, and formal cohesion (形式衔接), wh
30、ile the suppleness of Chinese enjoys flexibility of sentence structure and pays more attention to semantic coherence (语义连贯). 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 r
31、earranging the elements that in synthetic forms are in rigid connexion.” 王力 (1984:53) 指出: “就句子的 结构而论,西洋语言是法治的, 中国语言是人 治的。所谓法治，即句子的形式严格受到 语法的制约， 如句子必须有主语和谓语动词， 及物动词必须有宾语，这些不管用得着用不 着，总要呆板地求句子形式的一律。所谓 人治， 即句子比较不受形式的约束，可以 因表意的需要而加以变通，词语的分合伸缩 比较灵活，用得着就用，用不着就不用，只 要双方意思明白，就可以了。英语有综合语,的特征，受形式的约束，因而语法是硬的， 没有
32、弹性；汉语是分析语，不受形态的约束， 因而语法是软的，富于弹性。 ”三. Hypotactic vs. paratactic (形合与意合)Hypotaxis (形合)is the dependent 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 witho
33、ut connec- tives showing the relation between them,Chinese sentence building is featured by para- taxis.To clarify the relations between words, phrases or clauses, English more often re- sorts to overt cohesion(显性衔接), frequently using various cohesive ties (衔接纽带)such as coordinators (并列连词)(e.g. and,
34、 or, but, yet, so, however, as well as, either or, neither nor),subordinators (从属连词) (e.g. when, while, 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
35、cleared up some time later when news came from a distant place that an earthquake was felt the very day the little copper ball fell. 过了一些时候, 从远方传来消 息: 小铜球坠落那天, 人们感受到了地震.这一 切终于得到了澄清。(2) We will not attack unless we are attacked.人不犯我, 我不犯人。 (3) Let everybody share the food if thereis any . 有饭大家吃。,(4)
36、Until all is over, ambition never dies. 不到黄河心不死。 （紧缩句）(5) 不进则退。（四字格） He who doesnot advance falls backward.Move forward, or you will fall behind.(6) 聪明一世，糊涂一时。（对偶）Smart as a rule, but this time a fool.四、Complex vs Simplex (繁复与简短)Subordination (从属结构), the placing of certain elements in modifying role
37、s, is a funda- mental feature of English. With plenty of su- bornate clauses and phrases, English has,comparatively longer and more complicated sentences than Chinese, which, on the other hand, is marked by its coordination (并列结构), loose or minor sentences (松散句), contrac- ted sentences (紧缩句), ellipt
38、ical sentences, run-on sentences (流水句), and composite sentences (并列句). English sentence building is featured by an “architecture style” (楼房建筑 式) with extensive use of longer or subordinatestructures, while Chinese is marked by a “chronicle style” (流水记事式) with frequent,use of shorter or composite str
39、uctures. In short, English sentences are often complex, while Chinese setences are often simplex.(1)In the doorway lay at least twelve um-brellas of all sizes and colors. 门口放着 一堆雨伞,少说也有十二把, 五颜六色, 大小不一。(2) There are many wonderful stories to tell about the places I visited and the people I met. 我访问了一
40、些地方,也遇到了一些人。要谈起来,奇妙的事儿可多着哩。,( 3) Can you answer a question which I want to ask and which is puzzling me? 我有一个问题弄不懂，想请教你，你能回答吗？(4) Gentlemen, I am ashamed to see men who embarked on so great andglorious an undertaking as that of robbing the public, so foolishly and weakly dissenting among themselves.
41、(Fielding: Jonathan Wild) 诸位先生，有些人正在干着一番光荣而 伟大的事业，即掠夺大众。他们居然如此愚蠢，如此虚弱，甚至在自己人中间发生内讧。,看到他们做这种事，我真觉得丢脸。(5) Closely linked with this commitment is the new last paragraph of the preamble which reaffirms that principle of the Charter of the United Nations in accordance with which Mem- ber States must refr
42、ain from the use of force or the threat of force against the territorial inte- grity or political independence of any State and which declares that the establishment and the maintenance of international peace and security are to be promoted with the least diversion for armaments of the worlds human
43、and economic,resources. 与这一承诺密切相连的是序言中 新增加的最后一段, 它重申联合国宪章的一条 原则,即会员国不得使用武力或武力威胁来 侵犯任何国家的领土完整或政治独立, 并且 声明要尽量减少把世界人力和经济资源用于 军备,以促进建立和维护国际和平与国际安全。From the examples above, it can be seen that an invloved sentence in English is nor- mally turned into two or more than two sen- tences, or into a full sente
44、nce, followed by some minor sentences in Chinese. This translation technique is called division (分译法).,五、Impersonal vs. Personal (物称与人称)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
45、I, we, and you, thus the writer and the reader are out of the picture, hiding themselves behind impersonal language. Some of the common features of impersonal language are passives, setences beginning with the introductory word it and abstract nouns as subjects(Leech, 1974:25). Chinese, by con- tras
46、t, prefers to use the personal style, which,is featured by more active sentences, or more active sentences in form but passive in mea- ning, personal subjects, or subjectless and subject-omitted sentences when the subject is self-evident, unknown or implied in the context.As a result of the above di
47、fferences, the conversion of English impersonal subjects into Chinese personal subjects is often em- ployed in translation.(1) An idea suddenly struck me. 我突然想到了一个主意。(2) A strange peace came over her when she,was alone. 她独处时感到一种莫名奇妙的宁静。(3) Alarm began to take entire possession of her. 他开始变得惊恐万状。(4)
48、From the moment we stepped into the Peoples Republic of China, care and kindness surrounded us on every side. 一踏上中华人民共和国国土, 我们就随时随地受到关怀与照顾。(5) The happiness the superior advan-tages of the young women round about her, gave Rebecca inexpressible pangs of envy. 丽贝卡看见周围的小姐那么福气，,享受种种优越的权利，就有说不出的眼红和痛心。(6
49、) Specialties in colleges and universities should be adjusted and teaching methods improved. 应该调整高等院校的专业设置, 改进教学方法。六、Passive vs. Active（被动与主动）Passives of various forms are frequent- ly used in English mainly due to the following reasons:1) When the agent of action is unknown,or self-evident, or it i
50、s unnecessary or impos- sible to mention the agent. E.g. It is said that the murderer will be hanged.2) Syntactic factors: for cohesion, balance, end focus, weight, etc. E.g. I was astounded that 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 passives in infor- mative writing, notably in the objective, imper- sonal style of scientific articles, news items and,
