浅析英汉语言对比分析

Contrastive Study Between English and ChineseAbstractThe languages in different countries and nations have their own cultural background and thinking mode. For Chinese students, contrastive study can help them know the differences between English and Chinese, thus having a deep recognition of the importance of contrastive study.In translation, the differences in the cultural background and thinking mode lead to the translation differences between English and Chinese, especially in the language order aspect which makes it difficult to communicate with each language.Language order is the word and phrase arrangement which is related with the unit of words. English and Chinese differ from the origin, and due to the differences in the thinking ways, they seem to express the same thing in the different way. So it is meaningful to have a research on the subject of language order in English and Chinese translation.Key Words: Comparison；Culture and custom；Cultural background；Thinking model摘要浅析英汉语言对比分析摘要不同的国家和民族的语言表现出的文化背景和思维模式都有所不同。

对学习英语的中国学生来说，通过英汉语言的对比，可以使其认识到英语和汉语的差别，从而对英语学习能够有更深刻的认识。

在英汉语言的翻译工作中，正是由于不同国家和民族语言的文化背景和思维方式的不同才导致了翻译上的种种差别，尤其在语言组织的顺序中体现得淋漓尽致。

这种差异给语言之间的沟通与交流带来了巨大的障碍，所以英汉翻译中的语序问题研究就显得意义重大。

语序是指句子成分的排列次序,它体现了词语之间的关系。

英汉两种语言源自不同的语系,由于汉族和英语的民族思维方式不同,对同一客观事实就有着不同的语言表达顺序,因而有必要对英语和汉语的词序及其各种变化方式进行分析与研究。

关键词：英汉对比; 文化风俗; 文化背景; 思维方式ICONTENTSCHEPTER ⅠINTRODUCTION (1)CHEPTER Ⅱ LITERATURE REVIEW (2)2.1 The Definition Of Contrastive Study (2)2.2 The Process of the Development of Contrastive Study in China (3)CHEPTER ⅢTHE SIGNIFICANCE OF CONTRASTIVE STUDY (7)3.1 Helping Learners Find the Focus of Study (7)3.1.1 Focus on Differences in Linguistic Aspect (8)3.1.2 Focus on Differences in Cultural Aspect (9)3.2 Helping Learners Avoid Chinglish (10)3.2.1 Avoiding Linguistic Chinglish (11)3.2.1.1 Avoiding Wrong Word Formation (11)3.2.1.2 Avoiding Wrong Matching of Words (13)3.2.1.3 Avoiding Wrong Use of Idiom (14)3.2.2 Avoiding Cultural Chinglish (16)3.3 Helping Learners Improve Their Translation Skills (17)3.3.1 Linguistic Skills (17)3.3.1.1 Differences in Word Order (18)3.3.1.2 Differences in Sentence Structure (19)3.3.1.3 Differences in Paragraph Structure (20)3.3.2 Cultural Skills (21)CHEPTER ⅣCONCLUSION (22)REFERENCES (23)ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (24)CHEPTER Ⅰ INTRODUCTIONSome American scholars developed an idea that most of the difficulties in foreign language study spring from disturbance of the mother language.If the mother language and a foreign language are different, the former will disturb the learning of the later. However, when they are the same, the former will help the learning of the later. It is called “language transfer”.Language transfer is positive when the two languages have much in common, and will be negative when they are different, which are called positive transfer and negative transfer. In their opinion language learners should pay attention to the differences caused by negative transfer.The purpose of contrastive study is to promoting positive transfer by contrasting the characteristics of the two languages. In the process of language study we often find that if the foreign language is familiar with the mother language, it will be easy to study. Take Korean and Chinese for example, there are a lot of words having the same pronunciation, so Chinese people will find it easy to study Korean. On the contrary, if the two languages are different, the study will be difficult. For English learners, it‟s a good way to do contrastive analysis between English and Chinese to help learn English well.Contrastive study will make English learners know the characteristics of the two languages. The contrast will tell us what should be focused on and in what way the negative transfer could be avoided. Chinese learners of English need to know how to avoid Chinglish and how to improve their skills, especially translation skills. They should make contrastive analysis on words formation, words matching, word order, sentence structure, paragraph structure and culture. Thus we can see the significance of contrastive English on English study.CHEPTER ⅡLITERATURE REVIEW ONCONTRASTIVE STUDYContrastive study between English and Chinese has developed for many years, but there are still so many people who don‟t realize the significance of contrastive study, even they don‟t know what contrastive study is. As a English major, I want to improve English level, for 10 years of English study, I‟ve found English is not as difficult as I imagined, maybe the reason is that I like both English and Chinese. Engels said, “You could know your own language only if you compared it with other languages.”1 So, when we learn a language, we should compare it with our own languages, thus having deep recognition of the characteristics of the tow languages. If we do so, we can improve our study efficiency.In China, so many linguists do lots of study on contrastive study, and base it on their study, I do a literature review on contrastive study between English and Chinese before I write my paper, this literature review includes:1) The definition of contrastive study2) The process of the development of contrastive study in ChinaI want to use this literature review to show the development of contrastive study, I hope more and more English learners would realize the significance of Contrastive study2.1 The Definition Of Contrastive StudyThe famous linguist Lv Shuxiang said, “Contrastive study means paying attention to the differences between English and Chinese…”Mr Xu Yulong made a definition of Contrastive study like this: Contrastive study is a branch of Contrastive linguistics, the purpose is to analyze and compare the two languages, to describe the differences and the common ground, especially their differences, and use this series of theory to solve problems in otherfields.Contrastive study is a branch of linguistics, it has the characteristics of theoretical linguistics and applied linguistics, the main task is to do comparative study, to describe and explain the differences between Englishand Chinese, and to use this series of theory to solve problems in other fields.2.2 The Process of the Development of Contrastive Study in ChinaThe theory of Contrastive study was established in China after 1990s. Before the contrastive English, there was another theory Chinese Cultural Linguistics, the researchers were advocated to put the analysis of vocabularyinto the cultural background to analyze the vocabulary‟s cultural function. Analysis of Chinese Cultural Linguistics was a foundation to the contrastive English in China. The famous linguists, Lu Shuxiang, Xu Yulong, Yang Zijianand Pan Wenguo etc, have always been called on to do some research on contrastive English from a macro view.Although the famous linguists, Zhao Yuanren, Wang Li and Lu Shuxiang and Gao Mingkai etc, has always called on English learners to use the contrastive study method, but the term contrast analysis, in china, has been regarded as a academic term since 1970s. Mr. Lu S huxiang‟s the balance to actively advocates research and practitioner. Mr Lu Shuxiang …S view on the research of contrastive study:1) Contrastive study is an analysis of errors and explain errors;2) We should do the research of contrastive study from the concept (or category ) set out in a language;3) By contrast, the ultimate aim is to explain the differences of the two languages.Mr Lu S huxiang‟s view on contrastive study is a significant direction for our words semantic research : Firstly, the contrast of vocabulary we should pay attention to the culture of semantic and realism, thus reach the purpose of second language acquisition, and also should pay attention to the explanation which is associated with the collision and vacancy phenomenon; Secondly, we should do thecontrast of word cultural semantic from the concept of (or category ) set out in a language; thirdly We must focus the ultimate aim of contrastive study is research their national culture and philosophic thinking.More and more Chinese people concern contrastive study in 1990s. In 1992, professor Xu Yulong‟s book Contrast Linguistics Overview was published. Contrastive study became an independent subject in China. Mr Xu defines contrastive study like this: Contrastive study is a branch of Contrastive linguistics, the purpose is to analyze and compare the two languages, to describe the differences and the common ground, especially their differences, and use this series of theory to solve problems in other fields. If we compare Xu‟s definition with the western linguists James and Fisiak‟s definition, we can find out Mr Xu‟s definition has the following progressive significance:1) It is clear that the properties of contrastive linguistics is a branchof linguistics, it no longer belongs to applied linguistics , Mr Xu thinkscontrastive linguistics includes theory of contrastive linguistics andapplied linguistics, thus adding theoretical color to contrastive English;2) On the analysis of contrastive study, Xu‟s definition emphasizesthe common ground of the two languages, the importance of thecontrast is their differences;3) The researching method is focus on the description of theirdifferences;4) To use the results to solve the problems in other fields.In 1994, Professor Yang Zijian Professor revised Professor Xu YuLongs definition of contrastive linguistics. He said, the contrastive linguistics is a branch of linguistics, it has the characteristics of theoretical linguistics and applied linguistics, the main task is to do comparative study, to describe and explain the differences between English and Chinese, and use this series of theory to solve problems in other fields. The definition determines the nature of contrastive linguistics and target, thus it has promoted the development of contrastive study inChina.In 1990s, the linguists in China made great progress on the contrastive study, Liu Biqin, Xu YuLong, Yang Zijian and Pan Wenguo etc. have written lots of books to explain their views of contrastive English. The Chinese Association of Contrastive English have made great contribution to the establishment of contrastive English linguistics under the leadership of professors Liu Chongde and Yang Zijian. All contrastive English linguistics books that were published in the early 1990s are involved in the research of contrastive study in the aspect of theory and application, and in analyzing the theoretic and practical value of the contrastive research on English and Chinese. Professor Xu Yulong‟s new published book Contrastive Linguistics(2003) highlights that people should use the evidence to carry on the study of contrastive linguistics so that strengthen the reliability and usage of research achievement. After professor Xu, there are seven contrastive linguistics books published, namely, Lian Suxiong‟s book Study on Contrastive English (1993), Yu Yungen‟s book Contrastive English Linguistics (1994), Xiong Wenhua‟s book Contrast Linguistics Application Overview (1997), Pan Wenguo‟s book Outline on Contrastive English (1997), Shao Zhihong‟s book Analysis of Contrastive study (1997), Ke Ping‟s book Contrastive Linguistis (1998) and the book Analysis of Language(2002) written by He Shanfen.Professor Pan Wenguo is one of the famous scholars in the fields of contrastive English research in China in recent ten years, who published a series of books that to illustrate the theoretic establishment of contrastive English research. Professor Pan‟s book Outline on Contrastive study (1997) is named as “ a book has the most deep impact on the field of contrastive language since 1990s”, which inherits the philosophy view of Hong Baote, studying the features of grammar, sentence, the order of language and organization of words, pointing out that the English is basically a kind of morphological language. On the contrary, Chinese is a semantic language, he discusses the psychological and cultural reasons that form the characteristics of grammar, order of language, sentence and words from thelanguage philosophy angle. Meanwhile, professor Pan appeals that people should change their point of view to research contrastive study, and start to research it from Chinese, set up Chinese grammar scope and theory system according to Chinese characteristics, and deal with the discriminative relationship between generality and personality properly.In the recent years, intercultural communication becomes more and more important, especially language communication. Language is the carrier of culture, but the language in different countries and nations has its own background and thinking mode, so we should know the differences between the different languages. If we do this, we can avoid some mistakes in intercultural communication, and we will learn English better. Contrastive study is the focus of English study, so I believe more and more English learners will pay attention to contrastive study and they will realize the significance of contrastive study. Maybe contrastive study should be applied in teaching and learning. By this way, we can recognize the value of contrastive study. We should combine the theory of contrastive study with practice, thus reveal the value of contrastive study completely.On the basis of the above research, I want to write a thesis on the significance of contrastive study. In my paper, I analyze the significance of contrastive study from the English learners‟point view, and also analyze the common mistakes in English expressions, thus help learners know the differences in expressions between English and Chinese to avoid Chinglish and improve translation skills.CHEPTER Ⅲ THE SIGNIFICANCE OFCONTRASTIVE STUDYThe purpose of contrastive study is to promot positive transfer by contrasting the characteristics of the two languages. In the process of language study we often find that if the foreign language is familiar with the mother language, it will be easy to study. Take Korean and Chinese for example, there are a lot of words having the same pronunciation, so Chinese people will find it easy to study Korean. On the contrary, if the two languages are different, the study will be difficult. For English learners, it‟s a good way to do contrastive analysis between English and Chinese to help learn English well.Contrastive study will make English learners know the characteristics of the two languages. The contrast will tell us what should be focused on and in what way the negative transfer could be avoided. Chinese learners of English need to know how to avoid Chinglish and how to improve their skills, especially translation skills. They should make contrastive analysis on words formation, words matching, word order, sentence structure, paragraph structure and culture. Thus we can see the significance of contrastive English on English study.3.1 Helping Learners Find the Focus of StudyEnglish and Chinese have many significant differences which make English learning a serious challenge for Chinese learners of English as they belong to two language families. Chinese uses a logographic system for its written language, while English uses an alphabetic system. Chinese characters are not made up of letters as English words, so it is a great difficulty for Chinese learners to read or spell English words. The differences are not just in words but also in phrases, sentences and paragraphs. To learn English well, English learners must make a comparison between the two languages to findout their differences.Every language has its own cultural background which makes it different with others and of course makes it difficult to learn. Chinese and English are different because of the differences in natural environment, mode of thinking, values, history and life style. The different living situations decide their different values and viewpoints.Therefore English learners should focus on finding the differences in language and culture before they can learn English well.3.1.1 Focus on Differences in Linguistic AspectMost English learners find that when English and Chinese have much in common, it‟s easy to learn. For example, “goldfish”in both languages are constituted by the meaning of “gold”and “fish”. It‟s easy for learners to understand it. But some words or phrases can‟t be constituted like this. Take “important matter”for example. It means a big issue. But some Chinese people may use “big thing” to express it. “Big thing” means some object with big volume.The negative transfer will influence the study of a language, so we should focus on the differences between them. The differences are not only in words, but also in phrases, sentences, paragraphs, sections and chapters. There are more examples.“For the latest couple of years the third industry in our country has been developing very fast”. Here “third” is a wrong word. It should be “the tertiary industry”because it is established by usage. “The service industry”is right because it means the industry that offers services.“It‟s hard to do business in light senses.”Here “light seasons”is a wrong expression. We use “slack seasons”to express the time business is slow.“I have no English name”is another sentence we heard from manyChinese people. It should be “I don‟t have an English name.”Chinese sentences are based on meaning while English sentences are based on grammar. In Chinese the standard of a sentence is whether it expresses a complete meaning. In English, however, the standard is whether the sentence is with a complete structure.For example：看样子要变天了。