汉英对比

第一讲汉英语言对比
一. 汉英语言特征对比
1. Parataxis & Hypotaxis
形合（hypotaxis ）：
The dependent or subordinate construction or relationship of clauses with connectives;
e.g. I shall despair if you don’t come.
(用连接词体现分句之间的依附或从属关系的结构)意合（parataxis ）：The arranging of clauses one after the other without connectives showing the relation between them; e.g. 下雨了，河水泛滥，冲毁了房屋。

分句之间不靠关联词而依仗次序来体现相互关系)
1、“中国语里多用意合法，联结成分并非必须；西文多用形合法，联结成分在大多数情况下是不可缺少的”。

--王力
2、英语重形合，意思是指英语语言符号之间有较强的逻辑关系，语言信息的表达依靠符号按一定的语法逻辑关系排列组合，通过各种有形的联结手段来传达一定的意思。

3、英语词汇中就有通过词的形式变化，如派生词、名词复数形式、动词的各种时态形式和人称代词格的形式，来表示意义的变化。

在句子结构上，句子的各个成分要由各种连接词（and, but, because, so, etc.）、介词（of, with, in, etc.），关系词（who, when, where, which, that, how, etc.）和状语功能的分词结构（-ed和-ing）等连接起来，句子组织严密，层次紧紧扣接，呈现空间性树形结构。

例如：
--What is equally questionable is whether a college degree, as such, is proper evidence that those new skills that are truly needed will be delivered.
4、相比之下，汉语重意合结构比较松散，很少用连接词，多用小句。

句子简洁明快，干净利落，句子结构呈流散铺排式。

例如：车未停稳，切勿上下。

Exercises
①近闻夫人健康如常，颇感欣慰。

It is a supreme comfort to me when I am informed that you are as healthy as ever.
亡羊补牢，犹未为晚。

② It is not too late to mend the fold even after some sheep have been lost
③风住了，路上还很静，我走着，一面想，几乎不敢想到我自己。

The wind stopped and the road was still quiet. As I walked along thinking, I hardly dared to think about myself.
二．Dynamic VS Stative
English: noun advantage, high frequency of noun usage, stative narration eg. He is a chain-smoker of cigarettes. (stative)
He smokes cigarettes one after another. (dynamic)
There are white clouds in the blue sky. (stative)
White clouds are floating in the blue sky. (dynamic)
Chinese: verb advantage, high frequency of verb usage, dynamic narration
①夸奖一回，奉承一回，把老太太的心都说活了。

（《红楼梦》）
All their praise and flattery are having some effect on the old lady.
②这充分说明，中国人独立自主的民族精神具有巨大的力量。

A. This fully testifies that the independent national spirit of the Chinese people has tremendous strength.
B. This is a full testimony to the tremendous strength of the independent national spirit of the Chinese people.
③扫除了这些障碍，中美关系就可以更好地发展，可以给双方带来更大的经济利益。

A. If these barriers are cleared away, Sino-US relations can be better developed, and both sides can get more economic benefits from it.
B. Removal of these obstacles can lead to better development of Sino-US relations and more economic benefits for both sides.
④中国幅员辽阔，自然资源丰富，廉价劳动力充裕，税收低，消费者市场不断增长，基础设施不断完善。

China boasts vast territory, abundant natural resources, rich inexpensive labour, low taxation, a growing consumer market and improving infrastructure.
⑤我们不能不看到发展中国家与发达国家之间的经济差距在继续扩大，发展中国家的经济状况也很不平衡。

One cannot but notice the widening economic gap between the developing and developed countries and the general imbalance in the economic situation among the developing countries themselves.
⑥随着本地区经济的蓬勃发展，亚太区域的经贸联系日益密切，经贸合作不断加强。

The booming regional economic development will lead to increasingly closer economic and trade ties as well as ever stronger cooperation in this regard in the Asia Pacific Region
⑦我们希望亚太各国密切合作，共同繁荣。

We hope to see closer cooperation and common prosperity of all countries in Asia-Pacific.
三．英语较常用物称表达法，即不用人称来叙述，而让事物以客观的口气呈现出来。

汉语则较注重主体思维，这种思维模式以“万物皆备于我”作主导，往往从自我出发来叙述客观事物，或倾向于描述人及其行为或状态，因而常用人称。

当人称可以不自喻时，又常常隐含人称或省略人称。

汉语重人称，英语重物称，这一
特点主要表现在如何使用主语和动词这两方面。

只要用功读书，就能提高成绩。

（隐含主语）游泳非常消耗体力。

（主语非名词）刮风了，下雨了。

（零位主语）
动词root, snow, father, creep, obey, witness, see, find, set, take
他惊吓得呆立不动了。

Fear rooted him to the spot. (cause sth. To stand fixed and unmoving)
屠户被众人局不过，只得连斟两碗喝了，壮了壮胆，把方才这些小心收起，将平日的凶恶样子拿出来。

（《儒林外史》第三回）
Butcher Hu had to give in. Two bowls of wine bolstered up(give support to,reinforce) his courage, making him lose his scruples and start his usual rampaging.
例句
他常常选择不同的时间和季节，多次重游各地名山，反复观察变换的奇景。

Famous mountains in various places would find him coming back for revisits during different seasons. There he was, marveling at the kaleidoscopic spectacles during the different hours of the day.
例句
当下刘老老听见这般音乐，且又有了酒意，越发喜得手舞足蹈起来。

（cause sb begin to do sth. Set sb doing sth）
Now the music, on top of the wine, set Granny Liu waving her arms and beating time with her feet for sheer delight.
他一见到她，心就怦怦直跳。

The sight of her set his heart beating faster.
他忽然愤怒了。

从愤怒里又发了杀机，圆睁着眼睛，大声向使女们叱咤道：…… Fury took possession of him. And in his fury he felt the urge to kill. With eyes starting from his head, he roared at the maids….
例句
老境却如此颓唐！他触目伤怀，自然情不能自已。

To think that he should now be so downcast in old age! The discouraging state of affairs filled him with an uncontrollable feeling of deep sorrow, and his pent-up emotion had to find a vent. （张培基译）
No one could have foreseen such a comedown in his old age! The thought of this naturally depressed him, and as he had to vent his irritation somehow, he often lost his temper over trifles. （杨宪益译））
四．Active vs. passive
（1）这儿讲的是英语。

English is spoken here.
（2）他遭到了邻居们的嘲笑。

He was laughed at by his neighbor.
（3）希望你有机会来中国访问。

It is hoped that you will have a chance to visit China.
英语中被动语态的各种用法都有一定的理由，归纳起来有4个：
1）着重被动的动作；2）突出动作承受者的重要性；
3）不知道或无须说出动作的执行者；4）便利上下文的连贯、衔接。

五．Complex vs. simplex
“英国人写文章往往化零为整，而中国人则化整为零”（王力）。