“be”与“有”:存在论视野下英汉基本存在动词对比

“Be”and“有”: A Contrastive Analysis of the Basic Existential Verbs in English and Chinese from the Perspective of Ontology

本文以存在论为视角探究英汉存在动词"be"与"有"的差异,阐明英汉分别选择"be"和"有"充当基本存在动词的存在论理据。同时,本文考察"be"与"有"的动词性差异,借以阐发"be"具有时间性特质,而"有"具有空间性特质,其深层缘由在于西方哲学和中国哲学对"存在"与"时间"的理解存在明显差异。

From the perspective of ontology this article probes into the differences between the existential verbs ＂be＂ in English and ＂有＂（have） in Chinese, and presents the ontological rationale for the selection of ＂be＂ to be the basic existential verb in English and ＂有＂ in Chinese. It also looks into the verbal discrepancies respectively demonstrated by the two verbs in the two lan- guages, with a view to making it clear that ＂be＂ has the trait of temporality while ＂有＂ has the trait of spatiality. The deep-seat- ed reason for this can be accounted for by the divergent interpretation of ＂being＂ and ＂time＂ expressed in Western and Chinese philosophies.