英汉主从同时复句的比较研究

A comparative study of simultaneous temporal clauses between English and Chinese

同时复句细分为点与点的同时、点与段的同时、段与段的同时,同时关系在整个时间系统中的特殊性在于它比前时、后时的语言表达更加复杂多样。英汉同时复句都以带从属关联标记when或“(当)……(的)时”的从属形式为主要表达形式。英汉同时复句也采用复合形式:英语用连词and;汉语用连词“而”或者并置两个无连接标记的分句。英语同时复句中时间从句可在前可在后,汉语时间分句往往前置。制约分句语序的因素主要有六个:整句平衡美感、信息组织结构、分句间逻辑语义关系、语篇连贯性、大脑加工信息难易度、语言与认知的象似性,它们的竞争与合作形成同时复句中分句间的顺序。

Simultaneity in a complex or composite clause is divided into that of point-to-point,point-to-period and period-toperiod.To express simultaneity,both English and Chinese use subordination as a major way and coordination as a minor way.In subordination,the English conjunction"when"and Chinese"(当dang)…(的de)shi(候hou)"are frequently used.In coordination,the English conjunction"and"and Chinese"er"are used.The subordinate clause can stand at the beginning or end of a simultaneous complex sentence in English while the temporal clause generally appears at the beginning of a simultaneous composite sentence in Chinese.This order is determined by competition and cooperation of six factors,namely,preference of a balanced sentence,principle of the information organization,logical relation of clauses,coherence and cohesion of a discourse,difficulty of processing information by the human brain,and iconicity of language and cognition.