英语无灵主语句与汉语有灵主语句所体现的中西认知差异

许韫祎

Abstract：Differences exist between English and Chinese， especially in the syntax. This paper will investigate the reasons for the linguistic phenomenon from the perspective of cognitive linguistics. It draws a conclusion that knowing such differences in cognition can avoids Chinglish.

Keywords：cognition difference； cognitive linguistic； inanimate/animate-subject sentences

【摘 要】中英文差异大，在句法方面表现明显。本文从认知语言学角度出发，探究该句法特征背后的认知差异。并从语言学习者的角度，就如何避免中式英语提出思考。

【关键词】认知差异；认知语言学；英汉主语对比

I. Inanimate-Subject Vs. Animate-Subject

Differences exist between inanimate-subject sentences and animate-subject sentences. Contrast will be delivered from different aspects as follows and analysis of translation will be given.

1.1 Nominalization Vs. Innominalization

Nominalization means that subjects are transferred from verbs or adjectives. Nominalization is the single most powerful resource for creating grammatical metaphor （Halliday， 1994：352）. In English， nominalization is the fundament of the cause of inanimate-subject sentences. By contrast with Chinese sentences， this feature is obvious. For example：

（1a） I am late because my kids are sick.

（1b） The reason for my being late is that my kids are sick.

（1c） 我迟到是因为我的孩子病了

1.2 Objectivity Vs. Subjectivity

Animate-subject sentences can directly express the thinking process. Cognition linguistics thinks during humans intelligence developing process， self-cognition appears first， and then appears the outside worlds reaction to himself. Such expression is commonly seen in casual conversation or to express an idea with strong personal intention.

Inanimate-subject sentences are more practiced in English， especially in formal conversation or genre. In inanimate-subject sentences， nominalized verbs and adjectives rather than nouns are used to represent a concrete meaning. For example：

（2a）Two months after his mother died in 1921， he and Clementine lost their daughter. She was three years old. They loved her.

（2b） In 1921， the death of his mother was followed two months later by the loss of his and Clementines beloved three-year-old daughter （Dong Hongle， 2002： 31）.

（2c） 在1921年，他的母親死了，两个月后，他和克莱门特心爱的女儿也死了。

First， （2a） uses three sentences — two simple sentences and one complex sentence， which are all animate-subject sentences. On the contrary， （2b） uses one sentence which contains all information in （2a） and shows the inner logic relationship between the three sentences in （2a）. Second， expression in （2b） contains metaphor. The processes of “die” and “lose” are replaced by nouns “death” and “loss” as subordinate parts.

II. Cognition Differences

This paper thinks cognition differences are behind the differences between inanimate subjects and animate subjects.

2.1 Cognition toward Nature

For Chinese people and western people， their cognition toward nature differs much.

Chinese peoples cognition toward nature is that human should make harmony with nature. Chinese people focus more on social regulations. Nature， in Chinese peoples view， represents regulation and rules. Chinese philosophies， led by Confucius， study the nature out of the curiosity about social， political and ethical issues and rules rather than about science.

On the contrary， western people pay more efforts to exploring nature environment and endow more attention to nature. The Greeks thought systematically about the cosmos and their relationship to it， which led not only to the invention of pure science， the essence of which is the pursuit of objective knowledge about the world in which we live （Lamm， 1996：62）.

2.2 Cognition toward Human

Both Chinese people and western people advocate Humanism. However， there exists difference between these two kinds of Humanism.

Due to the subjective consciousness of Chinese people， Chinese people tend to describe the environment from the perspective of self-intuition and cognition， while western people focus more on humans ability of analysis and speak in a more objective way.

III. Conclusion

“Inanimate subject or animate subject” is one of the differences between English and Chinese. From the cognition linguistics， Chinese peoples cognition toward nature and human is human and ethical centered， which leads to Chinese languages subjective prominence： animate subjects. In contrast， western cognition toward nature and human is analytical and conscious， which leads to English expression featuring objective prominence： inanimate subjects.

References

Halliday. M. A. K. 1994. An Introduction to Functional Grammar[M]. London： Edward Arnold.

Lamm， R. C. 1996. The Humanities in Western Culture， 4th edition[M]. London： Brown & Benchmark Publishers.

董宏樂. 2002. 概念语法隐喻与英文写作能力的提高[J]. 国外外语教学， （3）：30-34.