英汉思维方式差异
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[Abstract]Duetodifferentcultures,EnglishandChinesepeoplehaveformedtheirownmodesofthought,whichinfluencetheirlivingwaysgreatly,especiallytheirownlanguages.Modeofthoughtisaverycomplicatedabstractconceptionconnectedcloselytophilosophy.InthispaperIwillmainlyconcernonEnglishindividualismandChineseentirety,becausetheirdifferenceisthemostdistinctoneexistinginmodesofthought.Englishpeoplepreferindividualism,whichleadsthemtosubordinatetherecognizedobjectsintosmallparts.WhileChinesepeoplelikeentirety,theyprefertotaketheworldasawhole.Thinkingpatternshavebeenclearlyreflectedonlanguages,asaresultofwhichEnglishishypotacticandChineseisparatactic.Thispapercentersonthedifferencesofhypotacticandparatacticcharacteristicsinlanguagesandtheirformingreasons—modesofthought.Englishpeoplepreferstomakegooduseofthehypotacticmarkerstolinkthesentencecomponents,whileChineseusuallytrytounderstandtheworldbytheirownintuition.InthispaperthedifferencesareexplainedthroughEnglish-Chinesetranslationandthestatisticsarealsogiventoprovethem.
[KeyWords]comparison;modeofthought;languages;English;Chinese
[摘要]根源于不同的文化渊源,英汉两族人民形成了他们各自的思维模式。这种思维模式的差异深深地影响了他们的各种生活方式,尤其体现在语言上。思维模式是一个非常复杂抽象的概念,与哲学密切相关。在这篇论文中我将主要阐释英民族的个体性思维和汉民族的整体性思维,因为它们之间的差异是思维模式中最突出的一面。英民族偏爱个体性思维,这使他们在认识世界时惯于将认知对象划分为小个体。然而,汉民族偏爱整体性思维,将世界看成一个整体。语言深刻地反映了思维模式的这种差异,因此就形成了英语的形合特征和汉语的意合特征。这篇论文侧重阐述语言中的形合和意合特征以及它们各种的形成原因----思维模式。英语民族的人民惯于利用形合标志连接句子成分,而汉民族却常常应用自身的直觉来体会世界。这篇论文将通过英译汉的翻译和统计数据来证实此观点。
[关键词]英汉思维；对比；语言；英语；汉语
1.Introduction
ThefamousWhorfhypothesisthinksthatlanguageshavedeterminingeffectsonmodesofthought,whichisformedrelativelytolanguagesanddifferentlanguageswillbringondifferentthinkingpatterns.[1]p35LiuMiqing(刘宓庆)holdstheopinionthatmodesofthoughthascontrolledoverlanguages[2]p35,andlanguagesaretheconcretemanifestationofmodesofthought.Inmyopinion,modesofthoughtdecidetheuseoflanguages,andthereasonshowlanguagesareinfluencedbymodesofthoughtshouldbeexaminedfromtheirrelationship.
Modesofthoughtandlanguagesinfluenceandreflecteachotherclosely.“Thinkingpatterns,thoughtcharacteristicsandthinkingstylesarethephilosophicalmechanismoflanguageproduction.Languageactuallyattachescloselytothethoughtthatistheprofoundmechanism.”[3]p166Thinkingpatternsarethedeep-rootedmechanismoftheforminganddevelopingoflanguages,andontheotherhandlanguageshelptopromotetheforminganddevelopingofmodesofthought.Languageisthecarrierofthinkingandabstractionofreality,andmodeofthoughtistheconsciousactivityinwhichpeople’smindsreflectandrealizetheobjectivereality.[4]p36Thedifferencesbetweenthinkingpatternsarethemainreasonsthatresultinthedifferencesoflanguageforms,soIthinkthestudyofthefeatures,thetransitionandtherelationshipoflanguagesshouldbestartedwiththestudyofmodesofthoughtwhichconnectcloselywiththeculturesandthelanguages.English-Chinesemodesofthoughthavetheirowncharacteristicsinthinkingcore,thinkingpattern,cognitionhabitsandthinkingprinciples.AsatoolforcommunicationthebasicattributeofEnglishandChinesearethesame,sotherearemanysimilaritiesduringthedescriptionandthinkingwiththetwolanguages.Butbecauseoftheinfluenceoftheirowncultures,therearemanydifferencesbetweenthetwolanguages,andbasedondifferentcomparisonfoundationtherearemanydifferentkindsofresults.
InthispaperEnglish-ChinesetranslationwillbegivenandanalyzedindetailsinordertounderstandthedifferencesofthemodesofthoughtbetweenEnglishandChinesethroughtheirlanguagemanifestations.StatisticswillbegiventoexplainthedifferencesofEnglishandChinese,whichisthefoundationformyanalyzingofthedifferencesoftheirownthinkingpatterns.Asweknow,therearemanydifferencesbetweenthetwolanguages,suchashypotaxisandparataxis,passiveandactive,staticanddynamic,impersonandperson.Butinthispassage,Iwillonlymainlydiscussfromonepointwhichishypotaxisandparataxis.AsNidastatesinhisbookthatstudyfromlinguistics,themostimportantdifferentcharacteristicbetweenChineseandEnglishisthedifferenceofparataxisandhypotaxis.[5]P13LiuMiqingholdstheopinionthathypotaxisandparataxisarethe“uniquecharacteristic”forEnglishandChinese.[6]P13Thecomparisonofthedifferencewillbedescribedthroughstatisticaldescriptionandthedeep-rootedreasonsofthinkingpatternswillalsobegiventoexplaintheformingofthelanguagedifference.
2.TheexampleoftheEnglishtoChinesetranslation
2.1Englishoriginal
Weknowthatcleanenergytechnologieshavegreatappealtothedevelopingworldbeyondthevalueweinthedevelopedworldattachtotheircapacitytolimitclimatechange.Africa,forexample,barelyaccountsfor1%ofglobalgreenhousegasemissions.It’snotsurprisingthenthatourpartnersonthiscontinentaremoreconcernedwiththedevelopmentpotentialofsustainableenergy.ThepricevolatilityofAfrica’shydrocarbonimportshasplayedhavocwitheachstate’seconomyoverrecentdecadesandstymiedprogress.REEEP(RenewableEnergyandEnergyEfficiencyPartnership)’ssupportforprovenrenewabletechnologies,suchassolarwaterheatingandco-generation---whichofcourserelyonlocalproductswhichdon’tneedtobeimported---willgreatlyincreasethereliabilityofAfrica’senergysupply,andtherebyhelpspurdevelopment.
Thecreatingofamoreevendistributionofenergysupplywill,inturn,fuelnewemploymentandcommercialopportunities,particularlyinruralareas.Renewablesourcesthenwillhelptoaddressthesocialinequalityacrosstheglobethatweseeinthecurrentlymarkedandunacceptabledifferencebetweenrichandpoornationsintermsofaccesstoanduseofenergysupplies.[7]P269
2.2TheChinesetranslation
清洁性能源技术因为能够缓解气候变化而受到我们发达国家的青睐。同样，这种技术对发展中国家也有巨大的吸引力，但其价值却不止于此。例如，非洲的温室效应排放量勉强占世界总量的1%。因此，我们在本大陆的伙伴更加关注可持续性能源的发展潜能也就不足为奇了。最近几十年来非洲烃进口价格的不稳定性已经给各国经济造成了巨大破坏并妨碍了发展。再生性能源与能源效率合作组织（PEEEP）对已证实的再生性能源技术的资助，如太阳能热水器和热电联产技术—当然，这只依赖本地产品，不必进口—将大大增加非洲能源供应的可靠性，从而促进发展。
反过来，建立更均衡的能源供应可以提供新的就业和商业机会，尤其是在农村地区。在能源供应的选择与使用方面，我们看到富国与贫国之间存在着今人难以接受的显著差距，再生性能源将有助于消除这种全球性的社会不公。[8]P274-275
3.Themainaspectofthedifferences---hypotaxisandparataxis
ResultedfromdifferentthinkingpatternstherearesomanydifferentcharacteristicsbetweenEnglishandChinese.Thecompletestudyofthelanguagecharacteristicssurelywillrequiremanyeffectsandtime,sobasedonmyownlimitedknowledge,Iwillonlytrytoexplainthecharacteristicsofhypotaxisandparataxisandtheirformingresults.
Inmyownopinionthecharacteristicsofhypotaxisandparataxisarethemostimportantdifferences,andtheanalysisofthemcanletusbetterunderstandthetwolanguagesandtheirownmodesofthought.
3.1Thedefinitionsofthetwoconcepts
Thedifferencesofhypotaxisandparataxisshouldbeexaminedbasedonthetheory,andnextIwillfirstgiveadescriptionoftheirconceptsandcombinethemtotheEnglish-Chinesetranslationanalyzingsomesentencesindetails.
3.1.1Thedefinitionofhypotaxis
Thesocalledhypotaxisreferstothecasethatthecomponentpartsofasentencearejoinedtogetherbyusingdefiniteconnectives,suchaspreposition,relativepronouns,conjunction,affixes,etc.[9]P35
3.1.2Thedefinitionofparataxis
Parataxismeansthatthecomponentpartsofthesentenceareplacedinadefiniteordertoindicatetheirrelationshipwithoutanyconnectivesinbetween.So,thesyntacticstructureappearstobesomewhatloose,butratherconciseandexpressive.[10]P36
3.2Example
(1)Englishoriginal:
Weknowthatcleanenergytechnologieshavegreatappealtothedevelopingworldbeyondthevalueweinthedevelopedworldattachtotheircapacitytolimitclimatechange.
Chineseversion:
清洁性能源技术因为能够缓解气候变化而受到我们发达国家的青睐。同样，这种技术对发展中国家也有巨大的吸引力，但其价值却不止于此。
3.3Theanalysisbasedonthisexample
Inthisexamplethewordsintheitalicsarethemarkersofhypotaxis.FromthesentenceswecanseethatthereareninehypotacticmarkersintheEnglishversion,whileinitsChineseversiononlyfivemarkers.
Theconnective“that”isthemarkerofobjectiveclausetoshowthattheclauseafter“that”iswhat“Weknow”,butinitsChineseversionthephrase“Weknowthat”isnottranslatedliterally.InEnglishthephrase“Weknowthat”isthehypotacticmarkertoshowthatwhatstatedlateristhecommonknowledgeforus,andwhattheauthorwanttosayshouldbemarkedinthelanguageforms.WhileinChinesethephraseisnotneededtobetranslatedbecauseChineseisakindofparatacticlanguageanditplacestheemphasisonlogicalprocedure,functionandmeaning.InChinesesenseoverweighstructure,sothereaderscanunderstandthemeaningsbythemselves.
AlsotherearefourpropositionsintheEnglishoriginalversion,whichshowtherelationshipbetweenthephrasesbeforeandafterthesepropositions.WhileinChineseversionthereareonlyoneproposition,whichis“对”.
Whatismore,the“-ing”and“-ed”arealsothehypotacticmarkers,whichshowthedifferentdegreeofthestatesmakingtherelationshipbetweenthecomponentsveryclear,whileinChinesethereisnotanythiskindofaffixestoshowtheirrelationship.
3.4Thedescriptionofthetwoconceptsinmoredetails
JiaDejiang(贾德江)statesinhisbookofEnglish-Chinesecomparativestudyandtranslationthatthecohesivetiesincludingthreekinds,whichare:relativewordsandconjunctions,prepositionsandothermeanstoshowthechangingofthelanguageforms.[10]p78
AndnextIwillgiveasimpleclassificationtothehypotacticmarkersinordertobetteranalyzethetranslation.
3.4.1Therelativewordsandconjunctionwords
Therelativewordsincludingrelativepronoun,relativeadverb,connectivepronounandconnectiveadverbsuchas:who,whom,whose,that,which,what,when,where,why,howetc.Theyareusedtoconnectprincipalsubjectiveclauseandattributiveclause,subjectiveclause,objectiveclauseandpredicativeclause.
Theconjunctionwordsincludecoordinativeandsubordinateconjunctionsuchas:and,or,but,while,as,since,until,so…that…,unless,lestetc.whichareusedtoconnectwords,phrases,andclause.WhenwearewritingEnglishsentences,theseconjunctionwordsarecommonlyusedandcannotbeneglected.ButinChinesethesewordsareseldomused.[11]p102
(2)Exampletwo:
Englishoriginal:
It’snotsurprisingthenthatourpartnersonthiscontinentaremoreconcernedwiththedevelopmentpotentialofsustainableenergy.
Chineseversion:
因此，我们在本大陆的伙伴更加关注可持续性能源的发展潜能也就不足为奇了。
TheEnglishversionbelongstothe“It+be”sentencestructure.AccordingtotheCardiffGrammarbyHuangGuowen(黄国文)andFawcett,thiskindofsentencestructureiscalled“enhancedthemeconstruction”.[12]p27
AccordingtowhatisstatedbyPengXuanwei(彭宣维),therearethreekindsofenhancedthemeconstruction.“…therearethreekindsofenhancedthemeconstruction,whichareexperiential,evaluativeandexistential”.“…thesocalledexperientialisthecleftsentences，whichiscalledpredicatedthemesbyHalliday”[13]p27
SoaccordingtothetheoryaboveIthinkthephrase“Itis”isnotthethematicbuild-up.
Besides“it”isalsoatypicalhypotacticmarkerinEnglish,whichstandsforsubjectiveclause.InEnglishsuchkindofsentencesiscommonlyusedfortheirspecialfunctions.Suchstructurecanavoidpresentingalltheimportantmassageatthebeginningofthepassage,andittakesthefunctiontomakethesentencebetterunderstood.
Theconjunctionword“then”after“notsurprising”isthesecondhypotacticmarkerinthesentence,whichmeans“so”inthesentence.Itisrightlytranslatedto“因此”toshowthecloserelationshipbetweenthissentenceandthefollowingones.InChinesetheword“因此”isusedtobethefirstwordinthesentence,whichclearlypredicateitsrelationshipwiththecontentabove.
Theword“that”isthethirdhypotacticmarkerthatfollows.“notsurprising”istheidentified,sotheword“that”clearlymarksthatthecontentafteritwillbetheobjectthattheidentifierrefersto.AsfortheChineseversionthoughitisakindofparatacticlanguage,therearealsomanyhypotacticmarkersinthefirstparagraph.Ithinkthereasonisthatthepassageselectedisscientificexpositioninsteadofessay.Weknowthatinscientificexpositionthelogicisrequiredstrictly,fortheauthorsshouldclearlystatetherelationshipbetweenthedetails.
BelowIwillselectashortsentencefromanessaytoshowtheparatacticcharacteristicsofChinese.
(3)Forexample:
Chineseoriginal:
不必说碧绿的菜畦，光滑的石井栏，高大的皂荚树，紫红的桑葚……
Englishversion:
Ineednotspeakofthegreenvegetableplots,theslipperystonecopingroundthewell,thetallhoneylocusttrees,orthepurplemulberries.[14]p154
FromthecomparisonbetweentheChinesesentenceanditstranslation,wecanalsoseethefeaturesofparataxisandhypotaxis.InChinese,therearenoconjunctions,andphasesareconnectedbymeanings.
ForitsEnglishtranslation,withtheuseofhypotaxis,subjectstructuresaredecidedtobethecenterofsentencepattern,so“I”,thesubject,isadded.SowemayseefromtheexamplethatforChineseparallelstructurestheirparatacticmeaningcanbetranslatedintohypotacticconnectionaccordingtotheEnglishhabits.
FromthecomparisonabovewemayseethatEnglishandChineseformdifferentsentencestructures.Whenmakingsentences,Chinesepeoplepreferthemethodoftaxis,whilewesternpeoplepreferconstructionmethod.InEnglishsentences,manyconjunctionwordsareusedtolinksentencecomponentsaroundthesubjectandpredicate,sowemayseethesentencesareexpendedfromthecorewords.FromthiswemayseethatChineseisaparatacticlanguagethatcontainsmanyimpliedmeaningsbetweenthelines.Onlyinsimplesentencescantheauthorexpressabundantmeaningswithartisticconceptions.
3.4.2Preposition
Theprepositionincludessimpleonessuchas:with,in,ofetc.andthecompoundonessuchas:inside,onto,upon,withinetc.andphrasalprepositionsuchas:accordingto,alongwithandapartfrometc.AccordingtothestatisticbyG..Curmethereareabout286prepositionsinEnglishtotally.PrepositionisthemostactivewordclassinEnglishlanguage,whichisthemainmeanstoconnectthewords,phrasesandclauses.[15]102
R.Banderhaspointedoutthat“…Overninetypercentofprepositionusageinvolvestheseninepreposition:with,to,from,at,in,.[16]102
Thenumberofprepositioninthistranslationisasfollowings:
thefirstparagraphthesecondparagraph
NO.inEnglish2012
NO.inChinese44
Sofromthetableabovewemayseethattherearetotally32prepositionsinEnglishtoshowtheslightrelationships,whicharemorethanthatinChinese.
ButintheChineseversionthereareonly8prepositions,mostofwhicharetransferredfromverbs.GaoMingkai(高名凯)oncepointedoutthattheChinesepeopledon’tliketousetoomanyemptywordswithoutbasicmeanings,andtheyjustdisposeofthethingsandmeaningsinordertoleadthereaderstounderstandtheconnectionsbetweenthem.MostoftheChineseprepositionsare“borrowed”fromverbs,andstrictlyspeaking,fortheso-calledEuropean-orientedprepositionindeedmostofthemarenotthetrulypreposition.[17]p18AsamatteroffactChineseprepositionsareinfluencedbywesternlanguagesandseemtohavethecharacteristicofproposition.InChinesesomepropositionsareoriginallyverbssuchas“在”、“向”、“进”、“到”、“沿”、“拿”etc.Thesepropositionsarealwaysomittedespeciallyinspokenlanguage.
(4)Forexample:
Englishoriginal:
Renewablesourcesthenwillhelptoaddressthesocialinequalityacrosstheglobethatweseeinthecurrentlymarkedandunacceptabledifferencebetweenrichandpoornationsintermsofaccesstoanduseofenergysupplies.
Chineseversion:
在能源供应的选择与使用方面，我们看到富国与贫国之间存在着今人难以接受的显著差距，再生性能源将有助于消除这种全球性的社会不公。
IntheEnglishoriginaltheprepositionsare:to,across,in,between,in,of,toandofonebyone,whilefortheChineseversionthereareonlythreeprepositions,whichare在……方面,与……之间,于.Prepositions--thehypotacticmarkerswhicharemorecommonlyusedinEnglishcanbeclearlyseenfromthiscomparisonexample.
Butthisdoesn’tmeanthattheChinesepeoplespeakwithoutlogicalreasons,forwithoutthepropositionwecanalsounderstandthemeaningimpliedinthem.IntheChineseversionwithoutanyconjunctionsandmanyprepositionstheauthoronlysimplyconnectsthreephraseswithoutanyhypotacticmarkbetweenthem,butwecanalsofullyunderstandwhattheauthorwantstoexpress,forthereasonthatChineseisakindofparatacticlanguage.
3.4.3Otherconnectivemeans
Thethirdclassificationofso-calledotherconnectivemeansreferstomorphologicalchangingforms,suchasthemorphologicalchangingformsofaffix,gender,number,style,tense,voice,comparativeformandpersonalpronoun.etc.[18]104
(5)Forexample:
Englishoriginal:
ThepricevolatilityofAfrica’shydrocarbonimportshasplayedhavocwitheachstate’seconomyoverrecentdecadesandstymiedprogress.
Chineseversion:
最近几十年来非洲烃进口价格的不稳定性已经给各国经济造成了巨大破坏并妨碍了发展。
FromtheEnglishoriginalversionwemayseethat“’s,s,-ed”arethemorphologicalchangingforms,whicharetotallyseven.WhileintheChineseversion,theonlymorphologicalchangingformsare“的”and“了”.Chineseisakindoflanguagewithouttoomanymorphologicalchangingformsandthesubstitutewordssuchas“it”and“there”.Inaword,Chinesetrytoomittheunnecessaryformaldecorationsemphasizingparataxis,andtherearelesshypotacticusagesinChinesethanthoseinEnglish.
3.5Theconcludedstatisticalresults
WecanhaveaclearviewofthegreatdifferencesbetweenEnglishandChinesefromthecomparisonoftheabovetranslation,fromwhichwemayseethatEnglishisakindofsyntheticlanguage.Andthesyntheticcharacteristicistousethemorphologicalchangingformstoexpressthegrammarrelationships.ThedefinitiongivenbyWebster’sNinthNewCollegiateDictionaryis:Asyntheticlanguageis“characterizedbyfrequentandsystematicuseofinflectedformstoexpressgrammaticalrelationships.”[19]p1(Heresyntheticnearlymeanshypotaxis,whichismyowninterpretation.AsforthedetailsIwillhavetoneglectforconciseness.)
FromtheChinesetranslationversionandtheformabove,wemayseethattheChinesesentencesseldomusetheformallanguageconnectingforms.Chineseplacestheattentiononcovertcoherence.
4.Theinfluenceofthinkingpatternsonlanguagesespecially,hypotaxisandparataxis
FromthecomparisonsIpresentabovewemayseethatthedifferencesbetweenhypotaxisandparataxishaveresultedinthedifferentsentencestructuresandlanguageexpressionforms.Theformingofthesedifferences,inmyopinionmustbetracedbacktothediversityoftheirthinkingpatterns,fortheyarecloselyconnectedwiththewaytorecognizetheworldandtojudgewhatisthemostimportant.
4.1ThemaindifferentcharacteristicsofEnglishandChinese
Thedifferencesbetweenhypotaxisandparataxishavehelpedtoformthetwolanguagestheirownstyles.
InthecomparisonsandtheorystatedabovewehaveknownthatEnglishusesmanyconjunctions,prepositionsandotherconnectivemeanstomakelinksbetweenphrasesandwords,becauseofwhichthelanguageismorelogicalandbetterorganized.SoMaoRongguiholdstheopinionthatEnglishisakindoflanguagethatisfullofvirilequalities,forthecharacteroflinearlogic,organizationandration,whichhasledittobe“masculinity”.[20]p420
Ontheotherhand,Chinesehasgotitsownbeauty,whichdoesn’tpaytoomuchattentiontologicaldescriptionoftheobjectivereality.Furthermore,itisnotclingingwiththecriterionofthelanguagestructure.Chineseisakindoflanguagethatshowsthecharacterof“femininity”,andthecharmingofitliesinitsloosestructure.[21]p420
4.2Theexampleused
(6)Forexample:
Englishoriginal:
Renewablesourcesthenwillhelptoaddressthesocialinequalityacrosstheglobethatweseeinthecurrentlymarkedandunacceptabledifferencebetweenrichandpoornationsintermsofaccesstoanduseofenergysupplies.
Chineseversion:
在能源供应的选择与使用方面，我们看到富国与贫国之间存在着今人难以接受的显著差距，再生性能源将有助于消除这种全球性的社会不公。
4.3Thedifferenceofmodeofthought
Regardingtothis,thereasonsmustbeexaminedfromthedifferentthinkingpatternsandtheirformingreasons.
ThedifferencesofphilosophyandculturalbackgroundbetweenEnglishandChinesehaveresultedintherethinkingoftheHannationalityasanentiretythinkingcountryandtheEnglishpeopleindividualcharacteristicsofthinking.
4.3.1Chinesethinkingpattern----Entirety
TheChinesepeopleareconcernedmorewiththeirownbodiesinexpressingemotions,sointuitionthinkingisthemainfeatureoftheirmodeofthought,forwhichpeoplestudyobjectsasawholeandemphasizeentirety.Chinesephilosophyissystematicalnaturalism.[22]p420
4.3.2Englishthinkingpattern----Individualism
TheEnglishpeoplelinktheirownemotiontoplanetaryinfluenceandthenaturalelements,sotheypreferanalyticallogicthinking.Targetobjectsaresubordinatedintosmallpartsinordertobescrutinized,which,ofcourse,mayleadthemtoplacethecomponentsbeforethewholewhentheytrytoknowsomething.[23]p420
4.4UsingthetheorytoanalyzetheEnglish-Chinesetranslation
IntheEnglishoriginalthesentencecomponentsareasthefollowings:
SubjectRenewablesources
Predicatewillhelptoaddress
Objectthesocialinequality
ThemostcommonlyusedwordorderforEnglishisthestrictSVO.Englishsentencestakeverbsastheircores,whicharetheircentercontrollingalltherelationshipsbetweenthesentencecomponents.Exceptthepredicateverballtheverbstaketheformofindefiniteformtomakedifferencefromthepredicateverb,andmanyprepositionsandconjunctionsareusedtoconnectthephrasescontained.ForChineseitusuallymakesgooduseofverbstogetherinonesentencetopresentthethingsonebyoneaccordingtothetimewhenthethingshappened.[24]P57
Structuralismlinguisticspromotesthetheoryofconstituentincision,whichmeanstoseparatethesentencestophraseunities.[25]p31Moreovertheyprefertheconstituentanalysis,whichmeanstoconnectallofthelanguagecomponentstootherswhentheyareanalyzed.ThiskindofmethodwillchangetheEnglishtotherecognizedobjectsfromstructures.
FromtheEnglish-Chinesecomparisonabovewemayseethatbesidesthebasiccomponents----subject,objectandpredicatetherearealsomanyothercomponentattachedclosely,whichIwilllistthembellow.
Smallcomponents:
acrosstheglobe
thatwesee
inthecurrentlymarked
andunacceptabledifference
betweenrichandpoornations
intermsofaccessto
anduse
ofenergysupplies.
AccordingtothetheoryIstatedabovewemayknowthatforEnglishthetargetobjectsaresubordinatedintosmallpartsinordertobescrutinized,which,ofcourse,mayleadthemtoplacethecomponentsbeforethewholewhentheytrytoknowsomething.Sowemayseethattheauthorformsintheirmindthedetailsoftheirrecognitionandthenconnectthemtogetherusingthelanguageforms---hypotacticmarkers.Forthesmallcomponentslistedthereareatlessahypotacticmarkertolinkitwiththecomponentsbehind,sothedescriptionismoredelicate.
TheChineseisintuitional,paringwithEnglish,Chineseismorecompactandfaintness.Inintuitionalthinkingpeoplestudyobjectsasawholeandemphasizeentirety.Sowhenpeopleareorganizingorunderstandinglanguage,theyprefertostartfromtheentiretyandgetthewholefeelingfirst.
IntheChineseversiontherearethreephrases,whichareplaceddirectlytogetherwithoutclearconjunctions.Thephrases“我们看到富国与贫国之间存在着今人难以接受的显著差距”and“再生性能源将有助于消除这种全球性的社会不公”areuniquesentencesinChinese,butcanbedirectlyplacedtogether,whichisunacceptableinEnglish.Butthoughthereisnotanyconjunctiontolinkthemitcanalsobeclearlyunderstood.SothereaderscouldnotjudgetherelationshipfromthelanguageexpressionjustlikethatinEnglish.Inordertounderstandthemeaningsimpliedinthephrasesthereadersmustjudgefromahigherdegree----intuition.Inaword,basedonvisualizedmodeofthought,Chinesetendstoexpressabstractconceptusingparatacticformsthatcontainsmanyimpliedmeaningsbetweenthelines.Onlyinsimplesentencescantheauthorexpressabundantmeaningswithartisticconceptions.
AswhatIsaidabovethestrictSVOsentencestructureiscommonlyusedwordorderinEnglish,whilethesentencestructureforChineseisnotsostrictlyrequired.UsuallyseveralSVOstructurescanbeplacedonebyonetoexpresssomethingsinonesentenceonly.InmyownopiniontheSVOphraseisperfectlyusedtoconnectthesmallcomponentstogether,andthedetailedcomponentsarewheretheEnglishpeoplestarttheirthinking.InthisconditionIwouldliketoassimilatethepredicateverbtothetrunkofthegrapethatcombinesallthegrapestogether.WhilefortheChinesethewholeintuitionisformedatfirstandthenthephrasesareplacedonebyonewithoutusingtoomanyconnectingformsjustlikethebamboojointswhichgrowonebyone.
Wangying（王寅）thefamousprofessoroncesaidthatsomelinguisticslivelycompareEnglishstructureas“grapestructure”,forthemaintrunkofthegrapeisveryshortwithmanyfruitattachedonittoformverylongsentences.Differentfromthat,theChinesesentencesareshorter.Thephrasesareusuallyplacedonebyonetoexpresstheauthor’smeanings.Chineseinformationstructuresarejustlikethebamboojoints,withthejointsconnectedoneendbyoneend,soChineseiscalled“bamboostructure”.[26]p2
5.Conclusion
FromthecomparisonoftheEnglish-Chineselanguagesandtheirmodesofthought,wemayseethattheyareofonethingbuttwoaspects.Resultedfromdifferentculturalbackground,thedifferencesoftheirmodesofthoughthavegreatlydeterminedtheirownlanguages.Ontheotherhand,thelanguagesalsoreflectandinfluencedtheirthinkingpatterns.SoinordertolearnEnglishwellandbettermasterthetwolanguagesthethinkingpatternsshouldbestudieddeeply.Inmyownopinion,thestudyoflanguagesfromthedegreeofthinkingpatternwillgreatlybenefitthelearners.Forexample,itwillgivetheguidetotheteachingofsecondlanguageandthewritingofcomposition.Ofcoursemodeofthoughtbelongstophilosophy.Soitisaverycomplicatedconcept,andtogodeepintoitwillneedaverylongtimeandalsorequiresmanyefforts.
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