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An Introduction to the Characterization of Chinese-English Language Differences and Their Cultural Traceability?

Language, as a component and carrier of culture, "arises and evolves as a result of human activities Dong Guangjie 1999: 14." Diverse languages exist in diverse cultures, and such cultural differences can be manifested through the differences in language, especially in the structure of linguistic representations. This paper is to look at the various representations of language separately. This paper analyzes the differences between Chinese and English languages from the various levels of language representation-words, syntax, and chapters, so as to explore the differences between Chinese and Western cultures hidden in the language differences, and further analyzes the differences in order to provide a little reference for the improvement of language mastery and cross-cultural communicative competence of English learners whose mother tongue is Chinese. The study is based on a study of the differences between Chinese and Western cultures.

I. Differences between Chinese and English Languages

The two languages, Chinese and English, belong to different linguistic families, and their environments and backgrounds of occurrence, development, and change are very different, and naturally, there are considerable differences in the various levels of linguistic representations.

1. Differences in vocabulary

1 Text. The verbal form of language preceded the written word, and because the transient nature of this expression made it impossible to retain its expressive information, mankind gave language a specific formalized expression, and the written word arose. Character creation in Chinese is characterized by the representation of form and sound and meaning. The pictographs of Chinese characters are two-dimensional, making maximum use of the dimensionality of the flat medium. Meaning in the Chinese language is expanded from individual words, and then to words, sentences, and even chapters. In contrast, English, as an alphabetic script, words are one-dimensional, and the 26 letters have no meaning when taken apart; a word can only be known by reading all the letters from the beginning to the end in order to know the meaning of the whole word. Alphabetic scripts also use similar word formation methods for some words, such as the use of endings and beginnings, but in general, the English language expresses a new thing, and tends to create an entirely new word, rather than using a combination of sounds and meanings.

2 Vocabulary. The differences in vocabulary between the Chinese and English languages are mainly in the application of vocabulary. The use of abstract nouns is much more frequent in English than in Chinese, and their number is also higher. In English, there are countless nouns that represent actions or features, i.e., nominalized verbs and adjectives, such as conceptualization, modification, wisdom, etc., so that the formation of abstract nouns, the application of the English language is extremely wide, and even in English, the use of abstract nouns, a feature of the more formal and standardized article line. This situation is much less common in Chinese. Abstract nouns in Chinese are often no different from adjectives and verbs in form, but more of a difference in understanding, which depends on the context and the communicator's intention. For example, the word "correct" is an adjective and an abstract noun in the expressions "he is correct" and "correctness is relative", which are not the same as "correct" in English. There is no distinction between the English "correct" and the adjectival nominalization "correctness". This difference in vocabulary is partly related to the syntactic structure of the two languages.

2. Differences in Syntactic Structure

The two languages, Chinese and English, also have great differences in syntax.

1 Static and dynamic. English is a static language structure, the meaning of the action is often by the cognate noun which is also mentioned in the lexical differences section or other word classes to express, while Chinese has a dynamic expression bias, the meaning of the action is directly expressed by the verb, so the verb is used more often. English tends to use fewer verbs, while Chinese is the opposite. The reason for this is that the sentence-making function of English verbs is much smaller than that of Chinese. English verbs are subject to strict subject-predicate relationship restrictions, a subject-predicate relationship, there can only be a main verb, this restriction on the verb directly leads to the nounization of the verb, that is, the change is static, which retains the significance of the verb, but also allows the sentence to be concise, strict and objective. So in the process of English to Chinese translation, we often encounter the need to change static to dynamic. 如：I am afraid I can't teach you swimming. I think my little brother is a better teacher than I. Translation: I am afraid I can't teach you swimming. In this example, teacher, if directly translated as teacher, is not suitable for the meaning of the original text and Chinese custom, so it is translated as a verb, and the result is more in line with the expression of the Chinese language.

2 Tree vs. bamboo forms. English has a lot of morphological changes to express a variety of grammatical relationships, and there are sixteen tense changes, plus all kinds of linking words and clauses, so the sentence structure is intricate. The core framework of the English sentence is the main, predicate, object structure, all the sentences are based on this basic structure as the base point to extend outward expansion kit, and constantly attached to a variety of secondary structure, constituting a kind of vine-like structure, that is, in the short trunk hanging on the fruitful grapes. The Chinese language has no morphological changes, so it only relies on the order of words and false words to express various grammatical relationships, and the sequence of actions is symmetrical with the order of words, i.e., it is expressed first, and is mentioned after it happens, which forms a linear horizontal structure, and the narration of a certain meaning or group of meanings relies on a series of linear syntactic units to advance layer by layer and unfold step by step. This is like a bamboo pole, where the information content is connected in sections and continues.

3 Morphology and meaning. English is a morphological language, and the structural relationship and ideological expression of words and sentences are realized through morphological changes and the formal means of language. Sentence components must be connected to each other by conjunctions, prepositions or relational words, the inter-language logic is stronger, emphasizing the subordination, parallelism, modification and contrast between the components, is a heavy form of structure. Chinese, on the other hand, expresses thoughts in a way that thinking is directly externalized in language, which is a kind of indirect expression, so it is a non-morphological language. Words and sentences rely on their own semantic coherence and dependence on the context to reflect their logical relations, and there are fewer auxiliaries between the constituents, and the subordination between the parts will not be reflected intentionally, and the reasonableness of the semantic collocation determines the accuracy of its semantic information, and it is a structure that is heavy on the meaning and harmony. "Chinese is a meaning and parataxis language, with a loose structure, scattered form but concentrated spirit, and concise wording ...... English is a form and hypotaxis language, with a rigorous structure." Ma Bingyi, 2006

3. Differences in Chapter Structure between Chinese and English Languages

1 Angle and Chapter Spread Thinking.


Chinese and English language in the line of exposition of the point of view when the use of person is different. In miscellaneous articles and reviews, English and Chinese articles use the first person, but most Chinese articles use the first person plural, i.e., "we", which is significantly less in English than in Chinese articles on the same subject. As for the presentation of ideas in the exposition of the chapter, English is linear, while Chinese is spiral. The so-called linear linear, that is, the paragraph is a linear expansion, the first topic sentence, after the natural connection of the example sentence, and then end; or the opposite, the first example sentence, and finally to the end of the topic sentence, which is not attached to any content unrelated to the theme. The so-called spiral spiral means that the writer does not directly argue the theme of the paragraph, but rather discusses it on the periphery of the theme, illustrating the problem from a variety of indirect perspectives. In addition, English is a subject-significant language, which highlights the subject; except for elliptical sentences, every sentence must have a subject. Chinese, on the other hand, is a theme-significant language, which emphasizes the theme rather than the subject. Some of the subjects of certain sentences in Chinese chapters can be omitted, and some must be omitted, otherwise it will be awkward to understand.

2 Differences in the articulation of Chinese and English chapters.

2 Differences in Chinese-English Parts.

In terms of the articulation between sentences, including complete sentences and clauses, and between paragraphs and segments, there are differences in the methods and means used in English and Chinese. As discussed above, English is a more grammatically rigorous language that emphasizes morphology. This is reflected in the fact that sentences, segments or paragraphs are usually connected by certain function words, such as and, but, if, as, before, when, however, and certain specific phrases and clauses. These function words indicate different functions or ideas, such as cause and effect, comparison, transitivity, concession, conditionality, etc. In a main-subordinate compound sentence, the clauses are distinct, and the subordinate clauses must be guided by the main-subordinate connecting words. In parallel sentences, the clauses are connected by parallel conjunctions or semicolons or commas. In contrast, in meaning-heavy Chinese, some sentences or clauses are sometimes not divided into main-subordinate relationships, but are simply juxtaposed together and linked by meaning, with function words or linking phrases used less often, as is often the case in both ancient and modern Chinese.

The difference between Chinese and Western cultures

The difference between Chinese and Western language representations reflects the difference between Chinese and Western cultures. "Language is the crown stone of culture - without language, there is no culture Deng Yanchang 1989: 159." Therefore, to study the differences in culture, starting from the differences in linguistic representations may not be the only means, but it must be a proven means. Through the two languages of Chinese and English, the following differences between Chinese and Western cultures can be seen.

1. Vocabulary

Vocabulary should be one of the elements of the language that has the closest relationship with culture. The character and thinking characteristics of a nation can be reflected by the characteristics of the words used by that nation. The thinking characteristics of the Chinese nation include the importance of wholeness, synthesis and ambiguity. Dong Guangjie 1999:15 This is perfectly reflected in the form of Chinese characters. Chinese characters, just like Chinese architecture, pay attention to the beauty of balance and symmetry, the layout is even, the style is perfect, and each character embodies the beauty of harmony, which fully demonstrates the thinking characteristics of the Chinese nation. Let's turn our attention to the West. Emphasis on self, is the western culture and western national consciousness is very important point, it can be said that the west is an individualistic society, such a society, naturally bred individualistic culture, which emphasizes that I was born independent, born free, born equal, born of sacrosanct and inviolable dignity, born with the value of existence. All of this is reflected in the English language, in the English letters have no meaning, only the capital "I" has meaning. Each letter of the alphabet is a unique entity, and it is only when it is combined in different ways to form a word that it has meaning.

2. Thinking

Chinese comprehensive and analytical thinking, focusing on intuition and concrete thinking, the importance of enlightenment, the importance of the whole, and thus the formation of a kind of emphasis on the intention to flow of the thinking of the stereotypes, and this kind of thinking, but relatively ignored the logic of the form of the argumentation of the considerations. On the contrary, the West, its heavy logic, rationality and abstract thinking of the stereotypes, but more emphasis on evidence-based formal argumentation and social statutes, thus forming a rational thinking stereotypes. All this is reflected in the language expression, as discussed above, Chinese prefers to use verbs, adjectives and other concrete words, while English tends to use abstract nouns to express the same content. In terms of syntax and chapters, Chinese writings are mainly articulated by the method of meaning and emphasize on summarization, so the ideas of "getting the meaning and speaking presumptuously" and "the words have the end but the meaning is endless" have always been the writing concepts revered by Chinese literati and writers and have become the style of Chinese people's expression of ideas. The English language, on the other hand, is articulated by means of form and function. The English language is articulated by means of form and function, and deductive reasoning is also evident in the chapters.

3. The difference between the individual and the group

Traditional Chinese philosophy is centered on the human being. Whether it is Confucius' "the nature of heaven and earth, people are precious" or Mencius' "everything is ready for me", they all emphasize the primacy of human beings. The Chinese are influenced by the traditional philosophical thought that all things are born with each other and are in organic contact. Since ancient times, the Han Chinese people have regarded nature and human beings as a harmonious and organic whole, the so-called "unity of heaven and man". Group culture, is China's humanism has always advocated, this advocacy, naturally triggered by the collective concept, and social personality esteem, and against individual personality and individualism. Subtlety, often reflected in the Chinese people's speech and articles, often from a very distant peripheral issues related to the beginning, the first to do a full padding, before entering the subject, so that we feel modest enough, elegant enough, not abrupt, there is room. The subjective consciousness and importance of human beings is quite strong in Chinese consciousness, while the English-speaking Western nations have placed nature in opposition to human beings from the very beginning, making nature an object to be transformed and conquered by human beings, and in the Western thought, human beings are born to know and rule nature, and human beings are the masters of all things in the world. Individual value is embodied by the self which can be independent of the group, and individual value is placed above the whole. They attached more importance to object consciousness, and the goal of thinking was often directed to the outside world, exploring the influence of the external world on human beings. In addition, in China, ancient society emphasized the authority of the state and imperial power; modern society emphasizes collectivism and the power of the collective. And the position, role and opinion of the individual in society have always been weakened. This difference in culture and way of thinking is reflected in the language that Chinese prefers to use human words as the subject, while English tends to use non-living words as the subject. In discourse structure, the narrative perspective prefers the first person plural.

Three Concluding Remarks

Through the above analysis of the differences between the representations of the two languages in words, sentences, and parts of speech, and the further analysis of the differences between Chinese and Western cultures, it is not difficult to see that the differences in cultures can be probed from the differences in the languages of the carriers and compositions of the two languages, while the differences in the languages can be found in the cultures. evidence and roots. Applying this point to the learning of foreign languages, through the constant comparison and contrast between the mother tongue, which is born out of our own culture, and the foreign language, which is derived from a foreign culture, we can imagine that the learning effect will be twice as effective with half the effort. Therefore, as a foreign language learner, understanding and grasping the culture in which the foreign language is spoken is also an indispensable aspect of the learning process, and cross-cultural communication ability is also an important criterion for judging cross-language communication ability.

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