浅谈文言文与英语在语法结构上的相似性.docx

浅谈文言文与英语在语法结构上的相似性.docx

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浅谈文言文与英语在语法结构上的相似性

毕业论文

题目：

浅谈文言文与英语在语法结构上的相似性

Title:

OntheResemblanceofGrammaticalstructureinClassicChineseandEnglish

2009年5月20日

Acknowledgements

Firstandforemost,Iwouldliketoextendmysincerethankstoalltheteacherswhogavemelecturesduringthepastthreeacademicyears.Ihavebenefitedsomuchnotonlyfromtheircoursesandlecturesbutalsofromtheirconstantencouragement.

Mydeepestgratitudeandrespectgotomysupervisor,XiaYunhong.Itisforherconstantencouragement,criticalinstructions,hergreatcareandpreciousadviceandsuggestionsthatthispaperappearsinthepresentform.

Finally,myappreciationgoestomyaffectionateparents,andtherestofmyfamily.Throughoutthedevelopmentofthispaper,theyhavebeentherealwaysgivingmecontinuoussupport,encouragementandunderstanding.Theirloveandsupportencouragemetopursueprogressallthetime.

Abstract

AlthoughEnglishandclassicChinesearenotrelativelanguages,theyhavemanycommoncharacteristicsongrammar,forexample,aninterrogativepronounshouldbeputinthefrontofthesentence.Theseinterrogativepronounshavethecommonfeaturesofputtinginthefrontofthesentencesandalsohavedifferences.UsuallytheinterrogativepronounsofclassicChinesehavebeenputinthefrontoftheverbsorprepositions,whileinEnglishtheyhavebeenputattheverybeginningofthesentences.What'smore,theattributivecanbeputatthebackofthesentencesinbothEnglishandChinese.ThesimilarityisthattheattributivecanbeputatthebackofsentencesinbothEnglishandChinese.Basedonthestudyofthesecommonfeatures,similaritiescanhelpthestudythetwolanguages.Researchesonthefeaturesoflanguagesaremorethantheresearchesabouttherelationsbetweenlanguages,sothispaperisgoingtodiscussthisissueinmorphologyandsyntax.

Keywords:

conversion；inversion；Postpositionalattributives

摘要

英语和古汉语虽然不是亲属语言，但是他们有许多句法共性，比如:

疑问句中疑问代词要前置，这是疑问代词在疑问句中的共同点，又有所不同，古汉语的疑问代词只前置到谓词或介词的前边，而英语的疑问代词一般是在句子的最前端;再如:

两者定语都有后置的特点，他们定语的位置都很灵活，可前可后，但又不尽相同，不同之处是英语由于形态十分丰富，后置定语的形式多样化，不仅可以是短语也可以是句子，而古汉语的后置定语一般不能跟句子;通过以上这些语法共性的研究，以了解他们之间的异同并探索他们之间存在的共性。

众多前人对比较语言之间的特点研究较多，而对文言文和英语之间的关系只做了简要的研究和探讨,并未系统较全面的做出总结,在翻译实践方面的研究也还比较欠缺。

本文试图在前人研究的基础上,从词法句法等方面进行探讨。

关键词：

转类；倒装；后置定语

Contents

Introduction1

I.BriefIntroductionoftwolanguages'grammaticalstructure2

II.AnalysisofMorphology3

2.1Conversion3

2.2Causative&Conation5

2.3Inversion6

2.4Fayuci8

III.AnalysisofSyntax8

3.1Interrogativepronoun8

3.2postpositionalattributives10

Conclusion14

Bibliography15

Introduction

Languageisobviouslyessentialforhumanbeings.Foryears,peoplehavetalkedmoreaboutlearningEnglishthanclassicChinese,whichshouldhavebeenregardedmoreimportant.Actually,classicChinese,withitslonghistory,isrichincontent,andhasitsowncharm.

Tostudyaforeignlanguage,firstofall,mothertongueshouldbelearntwelltoformafoundationoflanguage,suchaslanguagesense,languagestructure,andtheperceptionofthelanguage.Thus,wecanunderstandtheforeignlanguagebetter.

Whatismore,althoughEnglishandclassicChinesearenotrelativelanguages,theyhavemanycommoncharacteristicsonexpressionandongrammaticalstructure.So,thereissomethingwecantakeadvantagetostudybothlanguages.ThisthesisisgoingtotalkaboutthesimilaritiesonthegrammaticalstructureinClassicChineseandEnglishfromtheaspectsofmorphologyandsyntax.Bydoingso,wecanpromotethecommunicationofdifferentculturesandcanuseispracticallyintranslationwork.

I.BriefIntroductionofTwoLanguages'GrammaticalStructure

AlthoughEnglishandclassicChinesearenotrelativelanguages,theyhavemanycommoncharacteristicsonexpressionandongrammaticalstructure.

Chineseisalanguagestructuredin“subject+verb+object”（SVO）forlongtime,withitsobjectsusuallybehindpredicatesorprepositions.However,inclassicChinesetheobjectsaremoreflexible.Theyareusuallybeenputinfrontofthepredicatesortheprepositions,namely,theobjectsfronting.It'sdifferentfromthemodernChinese,butjustthesameasinmodernEnglishundertheconditionthattheobjectsareinterrogativepronouns.

InEnglish,complementsthatcompletethemeaningofSubjectorObjectarecalledsubjectcomplements（Sc）andobjectcomplements（Oc）.ScequalstotheadverbialinthedeterminesentencesordescriptionsentencesinclassicChinese.Ifanadverbialactsasapredicate,itshouldcombinewiththelinkverbinfrontofit,butintheclassicChinesethedeterminesentencesdonotuselinkverbs,sotheonewecallpredicateinclassicChineseshouldbetheadverbialinEnglish.

TherearefivebasicsentencepatternsinEnglish:

E1Subject+linkVerb+predicative

E2Subject+Verb（vi.）

E3Subject+Verb（vt.）+Object（direct）

E4Subject+Verb（vt.）+Object（indirect）+Object（direct）

E5Subject+Verb（vt.）+Object（direct）+Objectcomplement

Sentencesdiversifybyaddingorreducingattributes,adverbialmodifiersorchangingwordorder.

TherearesixbasicsentencepatternsinclassicChinese:

C1Verb+（Object）

C2Subject+Object

C3Subject+Verb+Object

C4Subject+Verb+Object（immediate）+Object

C5Subject+Verb1+concurrent+Verb2+Object

C6Subject+Verb1+（Object）+Verb2+（Object）

Sentencesdiversifyalsobyaddingattributes,adverbialmodifiersoringredientsomission.

Wordsarethebasicformationoflanguage,solet’stakealookonthesimilaritiesinmorphologyaspectfirst.

IIAnalysisofMorphology

Asthemostessentialelementoflanguages,wordsfunctiononthesamewayintwolanguagesshouldbepaidcloseattention.Thefollowingpartisgoingtotalkaboutfouraspectsoftheissue,includingwordsconversion,theusingofCausativeandConation,wordsinversion,aswellasthefayuci.Thewordsconversiongoesfirst.

2.1Conversion

Thedefinitionforconversionisthat"Donotchangetheformofwordsbutthecategorytoformawordwithnewfunctioningrammarornewmeaning".Thiswordformationfeatureswithnoaffix,whichisalsoknownas"zero-derivation".InEnglish,agreatdealofwordscanbeconversed,andthe"zero-derivation"formationisconsideredasaprolificmethodofwordformation.

2.1.1Wordsturnintonouns

Anumberofverbsandadjectivescanbeconversedtotheircorrespondingnouns.Forexample:

（1）Hewalkedforawhile.V.

Hewentforawalk.N.

（2）Shehasbeensickforworks.Adj.

Theydidtheirbesttohelpthesickandthewounded.N.

Theboldfacedwordsshowtheconversion.Theword"walk""sick"doesnotcontainonlyonepartofthespeech,itcanchangepartofspeechwithoutchangingtheirmorphology.ThesamehappenedinclassicChineseasfollowing:

（1）知之为知之，不知为不知，是知也。

《论语·为政》V:

知道

（2）手等有痛痒之知。

《神灭论》N:

知觉

（3）子路宿于石门，晨门日:

“奚自?

”《论语·宪问》V:

从，由

（4）知人者知，自知者明。

《老子》N:

自己

Theword"知""自"actasverbsandalsocanactasnoun,whichisexactlythewaythatEnglishwordsdo.

2.1.2Wordsturnintoverbs

It'scommonfornounsandadjectivestobeconversedintoverbs.Forinstance:

（1）Waterischangedintosteambyheatingintoicebycold.N.

Iamwateringthelawn.V

（2）Hehammeredthenailintothewall.N.

Wehavetonailthesigntothewall.V.

Usually,wecanusethenameoftoolstoexpresstheactioninEnglish."water"means"towater","nail"means"tonail".

HereareexamplesofclassicChinese:

（1）严刑罚，则民远邪。

信庆赏，则民轻难。

《管子·牧民》N:

奖赏

绝庆吊之礼。

《后汉书·王充传》V:

庆贺

（2）勾勾醉客夜徘徊。

《花楼望雪命宴赋诗》N:

逗留

勾注涂改甚多。

《跋司马公倚几铭》V：

用笔打勾

"庆"means"theprize"or"tocelebrate"intheclassicChinese,"勾"means"aperiodtimeofstaying"or"useapentocheck".

2.1.3Wordsturnintoadjectives

Wecanuseanountomodifyanothernounwithoutaddinganyadjectivesuffixesorchangingitsgenitivecases.Itcouldalsoregardasaconversion.

E.g.

（1）depthcharge（深水炸弹）

（2）dangerzone（危险区）

Generally,theconversionisacommonwordformationinbothEnglishandinClassicChinese.Itprovideusanopportunitytolearnthemwellbyrememberthesimilaritiesbetweenbothlanguages.

2.2Causative&Conation

2.2.1Causative

ThecausativeinEnglishisverystrictwiththeverb.Tofulfillacausative,verbsshouldbetransitiveandfollowedbyobjects.ThemostcommonestcausativesentencepatternisS+V+O（+Oc）.

（1）Weworkhardtomakeourcountryevenmorebeautiful.

（2）I'dliketogetTomtorepairmycar.

（3）Theresultssurprisedthestudents.

（4）Heseatedhissonbythewindowandlefttheroom.

ThecausativeinclassicChineseisaflexibleapplicationofconcurrentbutwithmoreconcision.Thecausativeverbscontainaconceptof"havesomethingdone".Ifwehavetomakeajudgementonweatheraverbisacausativeverbornot,wecancheckitwiththeconceptof"havesomethingdone",andithasnothingtodowiththeverbistransitiveornot.Intransitiveverbsactaspredicatesarealwaysregardedascausativeverbs.

Herearesomeexamples:

（1）项伯杀人，臣活之。

《鸿门宴》

（2）焉用亡郑以陪邻?

《烛之武退秦师》

（3）宜别图之，以济大事《赤壁之战》

（4）大王必欲急臣。

《廉颇蔺相如列传》

"活"means"tomakesomebodylive","亡"means"tolose","济"means"tofinish,todo","急"means"toworry".Allofthesecontainmeaning"tohavesomethingdone".

Languagesaremoreorlessalike.Wecaneasilyfigureitoutthattheactionortheconditionthatthesentenceexpressedarenotfulfilledbythesubjects,butbytheobjectsandpeopleitrepresented.Thecommonbetweenbothlanguagesisthatto"havesomethingdone",whichisthemostimportantfoundationforustogetknownofthecausativeverbs.

2.2.2Causative

Tospeakoftheconation,itmeans"somethinghasbeendone".Normally,itequalstothepassivevoiceinEnglish.Passivevoiceshave