对比语言学论文 10页

ReferenceContrastinChineseandEnglishTextName:常首鸣Code:2008142Class:08级外应2班\nAbstract:Referenceisoneofthemostimportantgrammaticaldevicesforcohesionoftext.Itisakindofsemanticrelationship,whichindicatesthatcertainitemsintextcanberetrievedfromelsewhere.ReferenceinbothChineseandEnglishlanguagescanbedividedintopersonalreference,demonstrativereferenceandcomparativereference.However,therearedistinctivefeaturesinthemanipulationofreferencesinthesetwolanguages,i.e.,morepersonalanddemonstrativereferencesareusedinEnglishwhilemorezero-referencesandrepetitionsofwordsinChinese,whichcorrespondstothefactthatChinesedemonstratesparatacticprominencewhileEnglishhypotacticprominence.Keywords:reference;cohesionoftext;contrastiveanalysis1．IntroductionAccordingtoHallidayandHasan’stheoryofthetextualcohesion,referencebelongstothegrammaticaldevicesforcohesion.Theypointthatinatextsomewords,insteadofbeinginterpretedsemanticallyintheirownright,makereferencetosomethingelsefortheirinterpretation；thatistosay,reference,asasemanitcrelation,servesasapointwheretheinterpretationofacomponentinthetextisdependentuponthatofanother.Fromtheperspectiveofpragmaticfunction,HallidayandHasancategorizereferenceintotwotypes：exophoraandendophor.Theformermeansthattheinterpretationofsomeelementinthetextisnottobefoundinthetextatall,butinthesituation,andthelatterisjusttheoppositesituationoftheformer；andendophorcouldbefurtherdividedintotwosub-types：cataphora—indicatingthatthepresupposedelementshouldbesomewhereinanearliersentence,andanaphora—meaningthattheelementwouldbefoundinthefollowingsentence.Thereforereferenceistheinterpretativerelationsbetweentheobjectanditsreferentwithintheinter-sententialstructure.AccordingtoHallidayandHasan’stheory,therearethreetypesofreference：personal,demonstrative,andcomparative,amongwhichthefirsttwoarethemajortype.ThepaperwillcontrastthethreecohesivedevicesinChineseandEnglishtextrespectively.\n2．PersonalreferencePersonalreferenceisrealisedbypersonalpronoun（suchasI,you,heshe,theyhimherthem,andsoon）,possessivedeterminer（your,his,her,their）,andpossessivepronoun（mine,hishers,theirs）；whileinChinesereferencerelationisestablishedbypersonalpronoun（他，她，他们）.Inlanguageuse,presonalreferenceisthethirdpersonpronoun,thethirdpersonpossessivedeterminer,andthethirdpossessivepronoun.AlthoughinChineseandEnglishtherearetwodifferentpersonalsystemswhichcannotcorrespondeachotherprecisely,thetwosystemsfunctionalmostalikeincohesion.Howevertheirdifferencescanbeobservedinthefollowingaspects：（1）ExpressionandFormMostEnglishpersonalpronounsuse“gender”,“number”,and“case”toexpressdiffferentforms；butoralChineseadopts“ta”asallthethirdpersonforms,thepronunciationindicatingnodifferencesbetweengender,peopleandobject,humanandnon-human,andinwrittenformthethreechinesecharacters—“他”、“她”、“它”werecoinedafter“theMayFourth”Movement,andwhenaddednumeraloraChinesecharacter“们”afterthethreecharacters,theirpluralformsarerealisedrespectively.InEnglishpersonalpronounhasthreecaseforms：subjectivecase,objectivecase,andpossessivecase；andChinesepersonalpronounhasnocasechanges,anditspossessivecaseisachievedbyaddingChinesecharacter“的”afterthecorrespondingpersonalpronounform.（2）ReflexivePronounThisisthemajordifferencebetweenChineseandEnglishinpersonalreference.Chinesepersonalform“自己”（self）includesbothMYSELFandYOURSELF（singualform）andsoon.Itcouldbeusedasreferencealone,havingtheindependentreferencefunction.Onthecountry,Englishreflexive,suchasMYSELFandTOURSELFandsoon,mustappeartogetherwiththecorrespondingpersonalpronoun,orbeputaprepositionbeforeit.Forexamples：[1a]我高兴得放声大笑。自己知道这是一次真正的精神解放。[1b]Ihappilylaughedaheartylaugh.Iknewitwasrealreliefofmind.\nIn[1b],“myself”cannotbeusedalone,andeven“I…myself”isstronglysuggestednottousedhere.（3）ThereisnorelativepronouninChinese.ItiswhereChineseisdifferentfromEnglish.ThereforeinmanyChinesetextspersonalpronouncanbeexpressedintheEnglishtranslationbythecorrespondingrelativepronoun.Herearesomeexamples：[2a]“Ihavehadsuchanicetime,”saidCarrie,whenitwasalloverandtheywerecomingout.“Yes，indeed,”addedDrouet,whowasnotintheleastawarethatabattlehadbeenfoughtandhisdefensesweakened.（TheodoreDreiser:SisterCarrie）[2b]“今晚我过得很愉快。”戏结束后他们走出戏院时，嘉莉说。“是的，确实很愉快。”杜洛艾也说。他还不知道，一场仗刚刚打完，他的防御已经被削弱了。（王惠君，王惠玲译：《嘉莉妹妹》）（4）PersonalpronounismorefrequentlyusedforreferenceinEnglishthaninChineseforinEnglishtextpersonalreferenceisexpressedinthecorrespondingChinesetranslationbylexicalcohesionwhichusesthepluralformoftheoriginalword.Itisatendencythatnominalphraseisusedtorefertoobjectsthathasnolife.[3a]Circumstancesarecertainlyimportant,butwhycan’twechangethem?Circumstancesaremanmadetobeginwith,andmanmuststruggleagainstthemconstantly.[3b]虽然环境的关系很大，但环境也是人造的。我们何尝不可以改变环境？人无论如何应该跟环境作斗争。In[3a]therearetwoplaceswhichcoulduse“them”toreferto“circumstance”,whileinChineseitisbesttousethemeaningfulword“环境”torepeat.InChinesethemostcommonformofreferenceiszeroreference.AccordingtoLiandThompson,zeroreferenceismoreusedinChinesethaninEnglish.[4a]她的话里也不含有负气的成分，可就是止不住那股辛酸的味儿一阵一阵冲上鼻子尖。[4b]Thoughshespokewithoutrancor,shecouldn’tcontrolasuddenticklinginhernose.\n3．DemonstrativereferenceDemonstrativereferenceisessentiallyaformofverbalpointing,andthespeakeridentifiesthereferentbylocatingitonascaleofproximity.InEnglishwordsusedfordemonstrativereferencecouldfallintothreefold：theselectivenominaldemonstratives（this,that,these,those）,definitearticleTHE,anddemonstrativesadverbs（here,there,now,then）.ComparingwithEnglish,demonstrativepronounsinChineseoutnumberthoseinEnglish,including“这”,“那”,andsomederivativessuchas这些/那些，这时/那时，这会儿/那会儿，这里/那里，这儿/那儿，这么/那么，这样/那样.AndtheuseageofChinesedemonstrativepronounisfarmorecomplicatedthanthatofEnglish.Chinesedemonstrativepronounscanbeusedassubject,object,adverbial,attribute,predictive,complement,andthelocationandtimeoftheparticipantintheprocessserveastheobservingpoint.Generally“this/here/now/these”and“这（时/里）”refertosomethingorsomebodyinspaceortimeclosetotheobservingpoint,“that/there/then/those”and“那(时/里)”farawayfromthepoint,andTHEisneutral.[5a]Thereseemstohavebeenagreatdealofsheercarelessness.ThisiswhatIcan’tunderstand.[5b]—Thereseemstohavebeenagreatdealofsheercarelessness.—Yes,that’swhatIcan’tunderstand.TheprecedingtwoexamplesindicatethedistanceinthesystemofEnglishdemonstrativereference.IndialoguethereissometendencyforthespeakertouseTHIStorefertosomethinghehimselfsaidandTHATtorefertosomethingsaidbyhisinterlocutor.SincetheChinesedemonstrativeismainlymadeupby“这”和“那”,herethediscussionwillfocusonthedemonstrativefunctionbetween“this/that”and“这”和“那”.Althoughsemanticly“这”istheequivalentof“this”inChineseand“那”“that”,functionallythereexistsadistinction.“that”islowerthan“this”intermsoffrequency,whereas“那”ishigherthan“这”.Andfollowingarethespecificdifferences：（1）InChinesetext“这”canbeusedtorefertowordsspokenbysomeoneelseor\nsomethingmentionedbyotherpeople,butinthesamecaseEnglishtakes“that”astheonlyoption.[6a]当然，他不够坏，最坏的是那个知青，他讲：“关了灯，大美人儿和丑八怪一样，全是猪八戒他妈……”这是另一种坏法，人啊，人。（张辛欣、桑晔：《北京人》）[6b]Allthesame,hewasn’treallysobad.Thereallybadpersonwasthatboyinthecountryside.Irememberhesaidthatonceyouturnedoffthelight,itdidn’tmatterwhethersomebodywasprettyorugly.Itwasallthesame.Itwasallfuckinganyway…Thatwasanawfulthingtosaybyanystandards.Oh,people,people.（DeliaDavinandChenLingfang:TheChineseProfiles）In[6a]“这”referstowordsspokenbytheold“intellectual”,whileinthecorrespondingtranslation[6b]“这”hastobeexpressedby“that”.（2）InChinesetext“这”canbeusedtorefertowhatjusthappenedintheprecedingtext,butinEnglish“that”istheonlychoiceforthesamesituation.[7a]林黛玉便知是凤姐来了，连忙立起身说道：“我从后院子去罢，回来再来。”宝玉一把拉住道：“这可奇了，好好的怎么怕起他来。”（曹雪芹：《红楼梦》）[7b](AtthispointsomemaidsinthecourtyardannouncedXifeng’sarrival.)Daiyuatoncestoodup.“I’llgooutthebackwayanddropinagainlater,”shesaid.Baoyucaughtherhandprotesting,“That’sastrangethingtodo.Whyshouldyoubeafraidofher?”（TranslatedbyYangXianyiandGladyYang：ADreamofRedMansions）In[7a]“这”cataphoricallyreferstoDiyu’sleavingwhichistranslatedby“that”in[7b].（3）InChinesetext,“这”and“那”issubjecttopsychologyorsightwhentheyareusedtoexpresstheconceptofdistance；inEnglish,ontheotherhand,theconceptshowedby“that”and“this”isclosetowhatitisintherealworld.[8a]她到现在还记得很明白的是五六年前的土地庙的香市中看见一只常常会笑的猴子，一口的牙齿那么白！但这也是她最后一次快乐的纪念……\n（茅盾：《子夜》）[8b]Shecouldstillrememberthemonkeyshehadseenseveralyearsbeforeatatemplefairathome—itkeptgrinningandshowingamouthfulofgleaningwhiteteeth.Thatwasherlast,happymemory…In[8a]although“五六年前”isarelativelyremotememory，“she”feelsitisabitlikewhatjusthappened.Thereforetheauthoruses“这”,whichexpressesacloseconcept,toanaphoricallyrefertowhathappened“五六年前”.HoweverintheEnglishversion,“这”istranslatedby“that”,whichindicatesaconceptfarawayfromwhatishappeningnow.（4）Intheoriginaltext,whentheauthorreferstotheprecedingstatement,Chineseuses“这”andEnglish“that”.[9a]ButtherewassomethinginFrancescaJohnsonthatdidinteresthim.Therewasintelligence;hecouldsensethat.（R.J.Walter:TheBridgesofMadisonCountry）[9b]可是弗朗西斯.约翰逊身上确实有足以吸引他的东西。她善解人意，这他看得出来。(梅嘉译：《廊桥遗梦》)In[9a]“that”anaphoricallyrefersto“therewasintelligence”，but[9b]“that”isreplacedby“这”，whichanaphoricallyrefersto“她善解人意”.4．ComparativereferenceComparativereferenceisexpressedbythecomparativeformofadjectiveoradverbandotherwordsthatbearthecomparativemeaning.Asanycomparisoninvolvesatleasttwopersonsortwothings,itisnaturalforthereadertosearchtheitemsthatarecomparedinthecontextwhentheynoticethecomparativewords,andhencethecomparativereferencecomesintobeing.Therearetwosub-typesofcomparativereference：generalcomparisonandparticularcomparison.Generalcomparisonexpresseslikenessbetweenthings.Thelikenessmaytakestheformsofidentity,wheretwothingsare,infact,thesamething,orofthesimilaritywheretwothingsarelikeeachother.GenerallyEnglishoftenusessuchwordsas\nsame,identical(ly),equal(ly),similar(ly),likewise,so,such,other,different,otherwiseandsoonincomparativereference，Chinese同样（的）,相同（的）,同等（的）,类似（的）,其他/它的,不同（的）,别的,不然andsoon.[10]Tomgetstendollarsaweekforpocketmoney.Bobreceivesasimilaramount.In[10]thesecondclausecannotbeunderstoodwithoutthefirstone；andtheaccurateunderstandingofthesecondclausedependsuponthemeamingof“similar”whichhasitsownreferent—“tendollars”inthefirstclause.[11a]天空积满了灰色的云块，呆滞滞的不动。他脸上的气色和天空差不多。（茅盾：《子夜》）[11b]Theskywasheavywithbecalmedbanksofgreycloud,hisfaceascloudedasthesky.Particularcomparisonexpressescomparabilitybetweenthingsinrespectofaparticularproperty.Thepropertyinquestionmaybeamatterofquantityorofquality.Inparticularcomparison,Englishmainlyadoptsthecomparativeformsofadjectiveoradverb,Chineseuseslexicalandgrammaticaldevicessuchas更,更加,再,比较,这么andsoon.[12]JohntookfourhourstoreachLondon.Bill,ontheotherhand,wasdrivingmoreslowly.Inthisexample,“moreslowly”isthecomparitiveformof“slowly”whichrefersto“fourhours”,semanticallyrelatedtothefirstclause.[13a]“整整30万！再多，我们不干；再少，他们也不干！”（茅盾：《子夜》）[13b]“300,000,aroundnumber！Nomore,noless,wecan’taffordmore,andtheywon’tdoitforless.”ThereexistsnoobviousdifferencebetweenChineseandEnglish,namely,theyexpressthecomparativemeaningbythecomparativeformsofadjectiveoradverb.Butonepointincomparativereferenceshouldbepointedout：inadditiontothelexicalandsyntacticdevices,Englishcanstillexpressthecomparativemeaningbythemorphologicalchangesofword,namely,thecomparativeformofadjectiveand\nadverb；Chinese,havingnosuchchanges,isonlydependentuponthelexicalandsyntacticdevicestoachievethegoal.5．ConclusionFromthediscussionabove,itcanbeconcludedthatChineseandEnglishareidenticalbothinthereferencetype—personalreference,demonstrativereference,andcomparitivereference,andinthereferencefunction—byreferencethespeskercouldusetheconcisereferenticalformtorefertothecontentwhichhasorwillbementionedinthecontext,achievingabetterrhetoricalresult,andwhatismore,thetextwouldbeconstructedmorecompactinstructurebyreferencedeviceswhichcouldknitthetextintoasemanticallyperfectwhole.Ontheotherhand,thedifferencesbetweenthespecificmanipulationofreferenceareworthmentioning.Intermsofthefrequency,inChinesetextpersonalpronounanddemonstrativepronounareoutnumberedthoseinEnglishone,whilezeroreferenceandrepetitionofnounaremorecommoninChinesetextthaninEnglish.Chinesedemonstratesparatacticprominence,stressingthecompletenessofthecontent,andthespecificreferenceform,therefore,isomittedinsomeplaceswhereitcouldappear；Englishisprominentlyhypotactic,highlightingthecompleteandrestrictsyntacticstructure,andherebythereferencedeviceisrequiredtoaccuratelyuseindueplacesbygrammar.\n参考文献：[1]Halliday&Hason.1976．CohesioninEnglish．London:Longman．[2]胡壮麟．语篇的衔接与连贯[M]．上海：上海外语教育出版社，1994．[3]黄国文．语篇分析概要[M]．长沙：湖南教育出版社，1988．[4]何善芬．英汉语言对比研究[M]．上海：上海外语教育出版社，2002．[5]朱永生，郑立信，苗兴伟．英汉语篇衔接手段对比研究[M]．上海：上海外语教育出版社，2001．[6]冯庆华．实用翻译教程[M]．上海：上海外语教育出版社，1997．