英语语篇中“衔接”的时间性关系分析

An Analysis on Time Relations in Cohesion of English Discourse

形合与意合是英汉两种语言之间的重要区别,其表现形式是语篇逻辑关系衔接的显隐不同。在对两个句子进行衔接时,如果时间关系上存在同时性或先后性,英语的时间性特质决定了更多时候采用时间逻辑角度去衔接。这使得一些描述时间关系的介词或连词呈现一词多义现象并具有描述其他不同逻辑关系的功能。本文正是以英语的时间性特质为角度,以with、before、when和while四个词为例,阐述时间关系与英语语篇的衔接,为英语语言学习提供可资借鉴的视角。

Hypotaxis and parataxis are the obvious differences between English and Chinese, the manifestation of which majorly lies in the cohesion of textual logical relations. In joining two sentences that occur simultaneously or successively, the importance attached to time relation in English determines that the two sentences are connected logically in time. Therefore, some prepositions and conjunctions related to time present different meanings and can describe different relations. This paper expounds time relation and the cohesion from the perspective of time characteristic in English, taking the words “with, when, and while” as examples, so as to provide a reference perspective for English learners.