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Running head: WORD ORDER IN CHINESE AND ENGLISH SENTENCES.
Word Order in Chinese and English Sentences:
A Contrastive Analysis
Student: Chau Bich Van
Class: 4A.06
University of Pedagogy
Contrastive Analysis
Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Vu
December, 2009
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In linguistics, word order refers to the study of the order of the syntactic
constituents of a language, and different languages can employ different orders.
Correlations between word orders in different languages are of interest to
linguistics. They found that basic word order for most languages can be defined
in terms of the finite verb (V), the subject (S) and the object (O). There are six
theoretically possible basic word orders for the transitive sentence. And one of
the overwhelming majorities of world’s languages is SVO, which is the basic
sentence word order of the two most popular languages in the world: Chinese
and English. However, there are still many differences between the constituents
in sentences of two these languages. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to
make a contrastive view of word order in sentences in Chinese and English to
help learners recognize how similar and different they are. Furthermore, some
implications for language teaching are discussed to help students who usually
confuse Chinese with English acquire these languages better.
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Word orders in Chinese and English sentences.
Chinese word order is as important as in English. Basically, there is a
commonality between English and Chinese word order because both of them
have the SVO order for the major sentence constituents. However, it doesn’t
mean that all Chinese sentences have the same structure as English. Here, we
will compare Chinese and English word order in some familiar structures and see
exceptions.
In statement, two these languages have the same structure which subject
precedes verb which in turn precedes object. In the other word, it is called
Subject + Verb + Object order, which is a major word order in language system.
I learn Mandarin.
=> 我学中文 。
我 【wǒ = I】 + 学 【xué = learn】+ 中 文 【zhōngwén = Mandarin】。
In simple sentences, it finds easy to see the equivalence between Chinese and
English. Therefore, there is no difficulty in translation. However, unlike English,
verbs are not inflected in Chinese. Past tense, future tense, singular form and
plural form have no existence in Chinese. This makes memorizing “conjugation
tables” unnecessary.
He goes to the park.
=> 他去公园。
他 【tā = he】+ 去 【qù = go】+ 公园【gongyuán = park】。
We have two pens.
=> 我们有两支笔 。
我 们 【wǒmén = we】 + 有 【yǒu = have】 + 两 【liǎng=two】支 【zhī =
a measure word for pen(s)】 笔 【bǐ=pen】
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In this example, a new constituent appearing in Chinese sentences is called
measure word. In fact, Chinese uses measure words more widely than English.
They must be used whenever the noun is used with a numeral or after
determiners ‘this’ or ‘that’. In contrast, some nouns in English are used with
measure words, but others aren’t. Some examples can make this point clearly.
Two pieces of cake.
=> 两块糕
两 【liǎng = two】 块 【kuài = pieces】 糕 【gāo = cake】
That towel
=> 那条毛巾
那【nà = that】条【tiáo = a measure word for towel(s)】 毛巾 【máojín =
towel】
In general, the basic structure of the statement in Chinese and English is the
same although there are still some different components between two these
languages.
The word order between Chinese and English in negative sentences is in
contrast to in statements, especially the position of the negative component.
They are not teachers.
=> 她们不是老师 。
她们【tāmen = they】 不 【bù = not】 是 【shì = are】老师【laoshi =
teacher】
In English, there is the correlation between verb and the negative component.
“Not” is always put after the linking verbs. However, this correlation doesn’t exist
in Chinese because the negative components “不” has to be put after subject, not
verb. It must be wrong if we translate in literal meaning:“ 她 是 不 医 生”.
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Furthermore, the negative forms in English are quite complicated because of the
system of tenses. We have to put the auxiliary verbs after subject before adding
“not”. That leads to the different order in negative sentences.
I don’t like exams.
=> 我不喜欢考试。
我 【wǒ = I】 不 【bù = not】 喜欢 【xǐhuān = like】 考试 【kǎoshì =
exams】。
The auxiliary verbs as “do, does or did” make no sense in Chinese. Therefore,
the order in Chinese negative sentences is more simple than English. However,
that is also a problem for many learners who usually translate word by word.
In interrogative form, Chinese word order is totally different with English
because of rules for the positions of question words in Chinese. Instead of
standing in the beginning of the questions as in English, the question words such
as “What (什么), Who (谁), Where (哪里) and How about (怎么样)” are put at the
end of the sentence. Therefore, it has the form: Subject + Verb + (What, Who,
Where, How about)?
What do you say? => 你说什么？
Literally it means: “You say what?”
In this example, we can recognize that the word orders in the Chinese and
English sentences are reversed. This reverse usually leads learners to mistakes
if they can’t catch on to this rule. However, to the question words “Why (为 什 么),
How (怎 样), When (什 么 时 候) and Which one or Which (哪 一 个)”, they have
position as same as English, i.e. they are placed at the beginning of the sentence.
Why do you like him?
=>为 什 么 你 喜 欢 他 ？
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When do you come?
=> 什 么 时 候 你 来 ？
From these examples, we can infer a formula for this type of sentence in Chinese.
That is “Why (为 什 么), How (怎 样), When (什 么 时 候) and Which one or
Which (哪 一 个)” + Subject + Verb. In addition, these question words can also be
put after the subject: Subject + (Why, How, When, Which, Which one) + Verb.
For example: instead of saying : “ 为 什 么 你 喜 欢 他 ?”, we can say “你 为 什 么
喜 欢 他 ?”. It can be considered as a special feature in word order in Chinese.
The different positions of the question words diversify sentences in Chinese.
Furthermore, the differences between Chinese and English is not only in WH
question but also Yes-No question. In Chinese, the basic syntax of a question is
the same as that of a statement, whereas in English it usually is not. While a
linking verb or an auxiliary verb should be used in the beginning of the sentence
to form a yes-no question in English, the 吗【ma】particle is used at the end of
the sentence or a positive / negative sentence structure in Chinese. Here are
some examples to show the differences in yes/no question of two these
languages.
Does she want to drink tea?
=> 她要喝茶吗 ？
Literally it means: “She wants to drink tea+ MA particle?”
Are you his elder sister?
=> 你是他姐姐吗?
Another way to make a yes/no question in Chinese is to use a positive / negative
sentence structure. To the above examples, we can also say “她要不要茶？” or
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“你是不是他姐姐 ？” The phrases“要不要” or “是不是”are called a
positive / negative component. This style of question doesn’t exist in English.
English speakers don’t say “She wants or doesn’t want drink tea?” Therefore, the
word order for this structure in these languages is absolutely different.
Another respect which leads to the difference between Chinese and English in
word orders in sentences can be seen in verbal modifiers. In Chinese all the
adverbs and adverbials, which are modifiers for verbs and verb phrases
respectively, occur before verbs and verb phrases, whereas they can occur
either before or after verbs or verb phrases in English.
They sit under the tree.
=> 他们在树下坐 。
In this example, the adverbial of place “under the tree” is put after verb in English.
However, in Chinese, it is put after subject. “They under the tree sit” does not
make sense in English. Therefore, we can infer the position of adverb of place in
Chinese sentence: “Subject + Adverb of place + Verb”
I study in the University of Pedagogy. => 我在师范大学学习。
Beside adverb of place, the position of adverb of time in Chinese and English is a
bit different. In Chinese, the adverbial of time can be placed not only at the
beginning of the sentence but also before verb.
I eat bread everyday.
=> 每天我吃面包/ 我每天吃面包。
We have these formulas: “Adverb of time + Subject + Verb + Object” or “Subject
+ Adverb of time + Verb+ Object”. In English, adverb of time can be placed at the
beginning of the sentence like Chinese, but not before verb.
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Unlike the adverbial of time and place, the position of adverb of manner in
English and Chinese is similar. It can be placed before the verb and used to
modify the verb.
He patiently taught me.
=> 他耐心地教我。
However, in English, adverb of manner can be put after verb as in this example:
Yesterday I studied conscientiously at home. => 我昨天在家努力习。
Literally it means: “I yesterday at home conscientiously studied”.
Although the main SVO order is still maintained, the subordinate constituents
makes word orders of these languages different.
Besides, word order also plays an important role in Chinese. It not only
refers to the linear ordering between syntactic constituents in a sentence, but
also indicates to tell who is doing what to whom. And the importance of word
order in Chinese can perhaps be best illustrated with the following pair of threeword sentences with identical words and minimal difference in the ordering of two
of the words.
来人了
=> Some people have come.
人来了
=> The person/people (whoever we are expecting) have come.
Two above examples are clear illustrations about the change of words order
which affects the meaning of the speaker. Although two these sentences are built
from the same words, they have different meaning. In other words, unlike
English, definiteness versus indefiniteness of the noun phrases is not expressed
by having different words (definite and indefinite articles in English) but by
changing the ordering between words. The change in meaning does not depend
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on having some words with tangible sounds, but rather comes from their order.
Another example of the same kind is:
桌 子 上 有 书。 =〉There is/are book(s) on the table.
书 在 桌 子 上。 =〉‘The book(s) are on the table.’
Both sentences are talking about the relationship between table and book.
However, due to the differences in word order, they have different meanings. The
book in the first sentence is indefinite. It can be any book which both speaker and
hearer do not know. In the other, the speaker and hearer are aware of the
book(s) which may have been introduced earlier. And from the above examples,
we can see that word order in Chinese affects a lot the meaning of sentence.
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Nowadays, much as English is an international language, Chinese is also spoken
the most widely in the world. More and more people learn Chinese as a second
language, even English speakers. Therefore, through a contrastive view into
Chinese and English word order in sentences, I would like to discuss some
implications for teaching Chinese for English speakers.
It is common that most students tend to transfer their mother tongue into the
target language. This can lead to misunderstanding due to differences in many
aspects between two languages. And one of the most common mistakes is of
word orders in sentences. As Chinese sentence level word order is much
different from English, English learners may encounter lot of difficulties in
arranging the syntactic constituents in the correct way in Chinese. As a result,
the teachers should compare the order in their mother tongue with the order in
Chinese because contrastive knowledge in students’ mother tongue and the
target language somehow also gives students a clear distinction. For example,
learners easily make mistakes of putting adverbials in the wrong place because
their positions in Chinese and English are quite different. Thus, comparing two
languages in teaching is very important. Teachers should emphasize the
differences in structures of two languages in order that students can recognize
the differences between two languages and avoid mistakes in transference.
Moreover, word order in Chinese sometimes affects the meaning of speakers.
Teachers, therefore, should help students aware the importance of word order in
sentences. If they arrange the components in the wrong position, their sentences
may make no sense. I myself used to experience this problem. Because of being
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affected English structures, I often apply them in Chinese. Once I told my
Chinese friend that “昨 天 我 学 习 在 宿 舍 跟 我 朋 友。” I meant that
“Yesterday I studied with my friends in the dormitory.” However, the order of
words in my Chinese was wrong because they were put in the order of English,
therefore, my Chinese friend didn’t understand what I said. Besides, if we use
words in wrong order, hearers may misunderstand our meaning. Hence, when
teaching Chinese or English, teachers should help students aware the
importance of using the correct structures in order not to make misunderstanding
transference.
In Vietnam, more and more students learn both English and Chinese as their
second languages. However, that confuses them with using two these languages
in practical because they have differences in constructing sentences as well as
ordering words in the sentences. Therefore, Vietnamese students who are
studying both these languages should make a comparison of Chinese and
English word order beside Vietnamese. It helps them use these languages better.
In general, the awareness of Chinese and English word order also helps students
develop their linguistic skills in both languages.
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In conclusion, each language has its own sentence word order. Especially in
Chinese, word order plays an important role in communicating meaning in
informal speech. A contrastive analysis in this aspect between Chinese and
English, therefore, is very necessary and interesting as it expresses many
differences in word order of some familiar types of sentences in the two
languages. Moreover, the study also suggests some implications for teaching
language for high school students who want to learn Chinese better. And I hope
that this paper, to a certain extent, will help much for further exploration in this
area and provide language teachers some idea for their teaching.
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References:
“Word order.” Rohan Academic Computing. 6 July. 2009. San Diego States
University. 10 Dec. 2009 <http://www.
rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/chinese/aspect/wordorder.html>
Learnchineseeveryday.com. 10 October. 2009. 11 Dec. 2009
<http://www.learnchineseeveryday.com/2009/10/10/chinese-sentencestructure-and-word-order-i/>
“Word order”. Wikipedia. 22 November. 2009. Wikipedia Foundation. Inc. 11 Dec.
2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_order>
“Word Order in Chinese.” Bright Hub. 20 July. 2009. Bright Hub. Inc. 25 Dec.
2009
<http://www.brighthub.com/education/languages/articles/42645.aspx>