试论英汉语言动态静态之差异——以《给我三天光明》的中译本为例

A Comparative Study on Static and Dynamic Between English and Chinese

英汉两种语言在表述某一动作概念时都有一个共同之处:既可以选择静态的表述方式,也可以选择动态的表述方式。由于英语中名词、介词等呈静态趋势的词语占优势,所以选择表述动作意义的方式时,常常是静态表述多于动态表述方式;而汉语因有多用动词的习惯,重视动能描写,因此,在选择表述动作意义的方式时往往是动多于静。借助《给我三天光明》的中译本,比较了中英两种语言在表达动作意义方式上的一个典型差别———动静态差异,并进一步分析了这种差别背后的深层原因,即:哲学观的不同;语言使用中的"词汇优势"各有侧重;以及思维方式的差异———主客体思维差异及抽象与具象思维的差异。

There is one thing in common for English and Chinese to describe the concept of an action： either static or dy namic. On the one hand, nouns and prepositions are pevailing in English, which make the language tend to be static. On the other hand, much attention is paid onto verbs, which make it more dynamic. A comparative study has been made into the differences between static tendency of English and dynamic feature of Chinese from The Story of My Life and its Chinese rendi tion. The findings are as follow： differences in philosophical notions; preponderance of words; and differences in modes of thinking.