浅析英语和汉语在主位标记性上的对比——以新闻报道为例

主位的标记性是一个相对的概念。鉴于英语和汉语不同的语言特点,"无标记"和"有标记"的定义需要根据具体情况进行区别,不能一概而论。文章通过对来自VOA的一段新闻报道及其译文的对比分析,可以发现英语和汉语在主位的选择上既有不同之处又有相似之处。一方面,由于英汉两种语言在句式结构和句法关系等方面的差异,系统功能语言学关于英语里的"有标记主位"和"无标记主位"的概念并不适合于中文;另一方面,如果语义决定了英语和汉语可以选择相同的句式结构,那么他们在主位上的选择就容易产生共同点。

The markedness of the theme is a relative concept.In view of the different language characteristics of English and Chinese,the definitions of"unmarked"and"marked"need to be distinguished according to specific circumstances and can’t be generalized.Based on a comparison of a news report from VOA and its Chinese version,this essay discusses the difference and similarity between English and Chinese on the choice of the theme.On one hand,due to their different structures in sentences and syntax,the concepts of"marked theme"and"unmarked theme"do not apply to the Chinese language.On the other hand,the two languages tend to have the same choice in the theme when their sentence structures are similar.