从话题的句法功能看汉英语言的主客融合与分离特质

Syntactic Functions of"Topic"and Integration and Separation of Subject and Object between Chinese and English

有关汉语小句话题的句法功能,学界观点不一。文章从功能视角,对比参照英译文,探讨该议题,目的是揭示观点不一的内在根源。研究发现,汉英在非典型非标记性参与者角色话题主位、标记性参与者角色话题主位、环境角色话题主位以及多重话题主位的句法体现形式上存在差异,主要表现为:汉语话题不受形式范畴的制约,其建构和识别依赖于主体和语境,句法功能具有多种解读倾向;英语强调成分的分割与边界,小句结构偏重形式化表征,话题的句法功能识别较为明晰。汉英的这种个性差异源于中西哲学基本思维方式的不同:汉语主张天人合一、主客融合;英语注重本体追问、主客分离。

There are different views on the syntactic function of"Topic"in the Chinese clause.From a functional perspective,this article discusses the syntactic functions of“Topic”in Chinese clauses with reference to their English translations,aiming to reveal the underlying causes of relevant disputes.The results show that Chinese and English differ from each other in the syntactic representations of atypical unmarked participant role topical Theme,marked participant role topical Theme,circumstantial role topical Theme and multiple topical Theme.Chinese“Topics”are not restricted by formal categories;their construction and identification depend on subject and context;and in turn,their syntactic functions may be interpreted in different ways.By contrast,English stresses the segmentation and formal representations of grammatical elements,and therefore,the syntactic functions of“Topics”are relatively clear.The aforementioned differences in the two languages might be ascribed to the discrepancies in the basic philosophical thinking modes:Chinese values the unity of man and nature and the integration of subject and object while English emphasizes ontological inquiry and the separation of subject and object.