Lexics on Morphology and Semantics
SOMEBODY
Echo
Carol
Jane
Coco
Kiky
Contrastive Chinese and
English Word Formation
Productive affix
Echo
Productive affix
 English affixes :prefix infix and suffix
 Chinese affixes :prefix and suffix.
 English and Chinese affixes can be nouns, verbs,
adjectives and adverbs
 English affixes to identify people, things and shapes.
 Chinese affixes are mainly used to identify people.
 wine / tea / network / bar, motorbike-taxi/ mini -bus .
 酒吧，茶吧，网吧，
摩的，面的
suffixes expressing certain occupations
Painter
Speaker
Lawyer
Doctor
Engineer
画家
演讲家
律师
医师
工程师
suffixes indicating relative relationships
Son
Wife
Aunt
Uncle
No suffixes indicating
relative relationships in
English.
儿子
妻子
嫂子/姨子/姑子
小舅子/小叔子
Sometimes we can leave “子” out.
儿/ 妻/嫂/ 舅/叔
suffix use to describe the jobs or actions of people
Worker
工人
Matchmaker 媒人
Hostess
女主持人
Agent
代理人
Defendant
辩护人
Reader
Laborer
Leaner
Reporter
Eyewitness
读者
劳动者
学习者
记者
目击者
ier
ist
ar
ian
…..
Clothier
男装裁缝
Pianist
钢琴家
Vicar
教区牧师
Grammarian
文法家
…..
Liar
说谎者
Magician
魔术师
…..
Collier
Dentist
矿工the labor 牙科医生
who is
looking for
the mine
（矿
Brazier
火盆
Botanist
植物学家
Technician
技术人员
Ren: modern Chinese; more informal
Zhe :classical language; academic field
睡觉的人
睡觉者
Different in some cases
sleeper
骗者
骗人
liar
lie to somebody
Finally
There is not a fixed rule for the leaner to
grasp
 Pay more attention to the affixes and
learn the words individually
 Arrange the words together which have
the same affixes.
Contrasting Chinese and English
Derivation and Inflection
Carol Ho 0731100054
Derivation
- Process in which words are formed from existing words or
bases
1) by adding affixes,
2) by changing the shape of the word,
that the word class will be changed.
Inflection
- An alteration of the form of a word
1) by the addition of an affix
2) by changing the form of a base,
that indicates grammatical features
word class will not be changed
Derivation: -ly
Adjective  adverb
e.g. quick to quickly
However,
there are always exceptions.
Examples:
 He was famous even then.
即使在那是他已有名气了。
ji shi zai na shi hou ta yi jin you ming qi le
She spread the butter evenly on the bread.
她把奶油均匀地涂在面包上。
ta ba nai you jun yun de tu zai mian bao shang
 The dog came near.
狗走近来。
gou zou jin lai
It’s nearly done.
这件事快完成了。
zhe jian shi kuai wan cheng le
I nearly fell into the river.
我差点掉进河里。
wo cha dian diao jin he li
Inflection: -s
 Noun in plural form
e.g. dog to dogs
However…..
 can be countable or uncountable
 have different meanings
Examples:
air
airs
mixture of gases 空气(kong qi)
posturing 装腔作势 (zhuang qiang zuo shi)
force
forces
power 力量 (li liang)
military 军队 (jun dui)
minute
minutes
equal to 60 seconds 分钟 (fen zhong)
official record of a meeting 会议记录
(hui yi ji lu)
quarter
quarters
one of four equal parts 四分之一 (si fen zhi yi)
place of residence 住处 (zhu chu)
Comparative & Superlative
Comparative - of adjectives and adverbs
(more/-er)
- expressing a greater
degree or 'more'
Superlative - of adjectives or adverbs
(most/-est)
- expressing the highest or a
very high degree
In Chinese
• 3 stages
• not by inflecting
• but using an adverb
Comparative
Superlative
“比较”(bi jiao)，
“还”(hao)，“较”(jiao)
e.g. 比较流利 (bi jiao liu li)
“最”(zui)， “非常”(fei
chang) ， “极”(ji)
e.g. 非常流利 (fei chang liu li)
还流利 (hai liu li)
流利极了 (liu li ji le)
By the impact of Chinese
 adding “more” or “most” to ALL
comparative and superlative.
Actually…
• usually use with 3 or more syllables
e.g. beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful
• “-er” and “-est” for 2 or less syllables
e.g. small, smaller, smallest
• e.g. good, better, best; bad, worse, worst
Contrasts in Color Words Between
English and Chinese
Jane
0631100023
Yesterday, I went to a grocery store to buy
some brown sugar and black tea. When I
reached the shop I got the news that the
goods there were on a white sale.
Therefore, besides some brown sugar and
black tea, I also bought some purple wine
and brown bread.
昨天，我去杂货店买些棕糖和黑茶。当我
到了商店，我得到一个消息:这家店的东西
白色减价。因此，我除了买了些棕糖和黑
茶之外，我还买了一些紫色的酒和棕色的
面包。
No
It's incorrect
Color is just the byproduct of the spectrum
of the light which received by human eye
and processed by human brain.
The meanings of the color words are
different because of the differences in
cultural backgrounds
Translators always make errors in this
area because some color words have
derived meanings and cannot be
translated literally.
Red-红（hong2)
When red has the derived meaning, it
cannot be translated literally.
Western people associate "red" with
festivals and celebration.
Paint the town red.
狂欢痛饮
Red-红（hong2)
In China, 红 is a symbol of weddings,
festivals, happiness and energy. It is more
positive than it is in English. Also, it cannot
be translated into red literally.
红娘 match-maker, go between, not red
mother
红榜 honor roll, honor board, not red
board
Red-红（hong2)
In English, sometimes, "red" is a
derogatory term because people easily
associate it with the color of blood. "red"
relates to bloodiness, fanaticism, disaster,
and pettiness.
red-handed 正在犯罪
red tape
繁文缛节
Red-红（hong2)
"red“in some English phrases means
angry
see red
很生气
waving a red flag
做惹人生气的事
Red-红（hong2)
Some Chinese words with "红" cannot be
translated into "red"
红糖：brown sugar
红茶：black tea
红豆：love pea
Black-黑（hei 1)
If black means color, it can be translated
into “黑” literally. Also, in some idioms,
black can be "黑“.
For example, black comedy means 黑色喜剧
black list means 黑名单, black humor
means 黑色幽默
Black-黑（hei 1)
black in both Chinese and English is a
negative word. It relates to bad, darkness
and death.
black sheep 害群之马
black Friday
不吉利的星期五
black lies
恶意的谎言
In some idioms, black has positive
meaning.
in the black means gaining profit 盈利
White-白（bai 2)
Again, "white" has derived meanings
which cannot be translated literally.
Some Chinese words contains "白" which
will not be translated into "white"
白费事
all in vain
白手起家
to build up from nothing
白痴
idiot
White-白（bai 2)
Some English words with "white" cannot
be translated into "白"
white war
没有硝烟的战争，
white sale
大减价
white lie
善意的谎言，无伤大雅的谎言
Other Color Words
a blue moon
a green hand
green-eyed
purple wine
brown bread
千载难逢的机会
新手
嫉妒/眼红
红酒
黑面包
So, the translation will be like this
昨天，我去杂货店买些红糖和红茶。我到
了商店，我得到一个消息：这家店的东西
大减价。因此，我除了买了些红糖和红茶
之外，我还买了一些红酒和黑面包。
The Chinese Classifier in
Comparison with the English
Classifier
Coco
0631100006
Definition
 Classifiers are used along with numerals to
define the quantity of a given object or objects, or
with "this"/"that" to identify specific objects.
(measure word)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_measure_word
 Generally speaking
 Chinese: numeral + classifier =quantitative
structure
 English: no classifier
Examples
a (one) book
six cars
three workers
ten houses
five boys
一本书(yi ben shu)
六辆车(liu liang che)
三个工人(san ge gong ren)
十栋房子(shi dong fang zi)
五个男孩(wu ge nan hai)
no classifier
classifier
Ancient Chinese Language
There are no classifiers in Chinese.
“撤屏视之，一人，一桌，一椅，一扇，一
扶尺而已。” （《口技》）
“che ping shi zhi, yi ren, yi zhuo, yi yi,yi
shan, yi fu chi er yi.”
pass over the classifier
Chinese Idioms
七嘴八舌 (qi zui ba she)
everybody talking at the same time
九牛一毛 (jiu niu yi mao)
be infinitely small
三言两语(san yan liang yu)
in a few words
三头六臂(san tou liu bi)
super ability
 Passes over the classifier
In Certain Conditions
Classifiers are in English.
two groups of children
a blast of wind
两群小孩(liang qun
xiao hai)
一阵风(yi zhen feng)
four blocks of houses
四排房子(si pai fang zi)
a bar of chocolate
一条巧克力(yi tiao
qiao ke li)
Reasons
 The Chinese students are influenced by
the native language.
Chinese (classifier ) English (no classifier)
For example
八枝枪 (ba zhi qiang)
eight rifles
eight branch of rifles (wrong)
Reasons Cont.
 Classifiers are both in English and Chinese.
 “group”
“群” (qun)
 a cluster of islands  一群海岛(yi qun hai dao)
 a flock of sheep  一群羊 (yi qun yang)
 a swarm of bees  一群蜜蜂 (yi qun mi feng)
 a herd of cattle  一群牛 (yi qun niu)
“piece”
“张”, “块” (zhang,kuai)
a piece of coal一块煤(yi kuai mei)
a block of coal
wrong
a cake of coal.
a piece of chalk一枝粉笔(yi zhi fen bi)
a branch of chalk
Plural Classifier
 English: plural Classifier
 Chinese: singular Classifier
 two groups of children 两群小孩(liang qun xiao hai)
 three plates of dumplings 三盘饺子(san pan jiao zi)
 two pieces of papers 两张纸 (liang zhang zhi)
 streams of people 川流不息的人(chuan liu bu xi de ren)
Teachers
 sum up 
the classifier “群” (“group”)
and “piece”
 Important topic
 grammar exercises
making sentences
writing compositions
encourage using the classifier in oral English
 ……
The Contrast on Lexicalization Between
English and Chinese
Kiky
0631100043
Lexicalization:
the process of making a word to express a concept
Synthetic Expression（综合型表达法）: lexicalized
Analytic Expression （分析型表达法）
Degree of lexicalization: English is higher
Lexicalization of verbs in English and Chinese
 Causative Verbs
Causative
 Analytic Expression: (syntactic causative structure)
• English: make/have/get +object +complement
e.g. The pain made him cry out.
• Chinese: 使/令/让 + object +complement
e.g. 这则新闻使大家振奋了精神
(zhe ze xin wen shi da jia zhen fen le jing shen.)

Synthetic Expression:
Derivation words, Single-morpheme words
Derivation words

Constructed by affixes:
en-
enrich
使…富有
dis-
dispirit
使…沮丧
-fy
identify
使…等同于
-ize
modernize
使…现代化
We should make our country become
modern.
We should modernize our country.
Derivation words

Zero derivation (Conversion):
Noun → Verb
light
光 → 使…发光
* We made the room light by a lamp.
We lit the room by a lamp.
Single-morpheme words (simple words)
excite
to cause to lose calmness and
have strong feelings
使兴奋，使激动
Cause

L1 interference --- Negative Transfer
Solution

Contrastive results between English and
Chinese
Reference
 陈定安（2006）- 《英汉比较与翻译》pp.48-49, 63-64, 72, 129-138
 何善芬 （2002）-《英汉语言对比研究》pp.104-112
 Lexicalization (2003-2008), TheFreeDictionary, from:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/lexicalization
 严佳，卞浩宇（2007）- “从词化程度看英汉使役关系表达的异同”
from: http://wy.yuloo.com/wenzhang/2008-02-06/71830.html
 白国芳（2007）- “英汉动词词化模式及词化程度比较分析”
 陈文（2007.11）- “中英文中红，白，黑颜色习语的翻译”