The Comparison between the Chinese Grammar of Western Zhou Dynasty and Modern English Grammar.doc

the comparison between the chinese grammar of western zhou dynasty and modern english grammar【关键词】对比西周汉语语法英语语法词语活用省略倒装1.intruductionthe communication between people can not be conducted without language, so does the development of the society. both chinese and english are two kinds of human language, developing with the society. one language has certain influence on other languages, so the comparison between the chinese grammar of western zhou dynasty and the modern chinese grammar is feasible. through comparison, a lot of similarities have been found between english grammar and ancient chinese grammar. among them there are some specific phenomena that are not repeatable and some are generally existed. the specific phenomenon should be cast out. as the result, i am writing to compare chinese grammar of western zhou dynasty with english grammar from these three different scopes, the conversion of the word, omission, inverted sentence. at present stage, there are great many studies on english and ancient chinese respectively. but there are few studies of the comparison between these two. on the base of this, this kind of comparison will promote the comparative study of the language to a higher order of existence.2.conversion conversion is one of the rhetorical devices refers to that one words part of speech changes into another part of speech in order to meet some special need. so it is also called the rotating type. on the contrary, regular usage of their part of speech is their basic use. there also are differences between the basic use and the flexible use. in the 1920s, guoze chen put out of the concept of the conversion for the first time in the book named the syntax of the country. and this have been admitted by people and also got great attention. conversion in english refer to the part of speech of one word is turned into another part of speech of another word. the definition of conversion in english is the same as chinese. moreover, conversion was particularly common in ancient chinese and english.2.1 conversion of the nounconversion of the noun in western zhou dynasty is also called the flexible use of the noun. but the noun works as adverbial modifier, attribute and the predicate in the judgment sentence can not be defined as the conversion of the noun, because those are among basic usages of the nouns. following are some concrete conversion.first, the noun is used flexibly as general verb. in the era of yin and shang dynasty, it was an uncommon phenomenon that the noun could be used flexibly as the verb. then, until the era of western zhou dynasty, this kind of phenomenon appeared and developed quickly.eg.采菽采菽,筐之莒之(诗经小雅采菽)in this sentence， the originalnoun“筐”here works as a verb. the meaning is to hold with the basket. this kind of usage has only appeared in the book of songs once. we cant find out this kind of筐 in other literatures of western zhou dynasty as well.“莒” was originally a noun,too. it means the round bamboo basket, which means holding the things with the bamboo basket.second, the meaning of the noun has been changed. in yin and shang dynasty, we can see the satisfactory example that meaning change of nouns. in era of western zhou dynasty, we still could see this kind of example, but not common enough.eg.时迈其绑,昊天其子之。（诗经周颂时迈）“时迈其绑”in the sentence means“make an visit to those friendly nation”。昊天其子之means“god regards me as the son”. the part of speech of“子” here is changed in purpose. the original meaning of“子” is the son, the child. third, change the way of nouns usage. it was the position noun in western zhou dynasty, but not the common noun that has this usage.eg.我疆我理，南东其亩。（诗经小雅信南山）originally meaning of“疆”and“理”is the bound of the field. the two are used as the general verb. this sentence means, we divide field circles and dig the irrigation canals and ditches.南东 these two words have parallel meaning. it is position noun that means enablessouthwards or eastwards.forth, noun uses as“asnoun”. if a noun is used flexibly as a verb, it means as something. if so, that this noun has been converted to be the verb.eg,命汝酮训，临君周绑。（尚书顾命）“临”in the sentence has the meaning of reasonable management of the country。but the“君” here is the noun that is used as the verb. here“君周邦”means working as zhou bangs monarch. in the era in western zhou dynasty,“君” was usually used as nouns and seldom used as the verb. in english, there are also different types of conversion of the nouns.first, in english, there are quite a lot of noun that can be used as the verb. a lot of the nouns that expresses the things can be used as the verb to have the meaning of movements.eg.i have booked a ticket.(book here is noun originally but it has been changed into the verb and there is object ticket after that.) second, some nouns that can express the body position can be used as verbs too.eg. would you please hand in your exercise books next monday?(hand here has been used as the verb and it also works as the predicate of the whole sentence.) third, some expressions that express some noun of the human being can be used as the verb too.eg. he insisted on staying up to nurse the child. he has soldered in america in his youth.forth, the nouns that express other material objects can be used as the verb too.eg. he floored the room.we decided to dam the river.fifth, some abstract nouns can be used as the verbeg. the attack must be properly timed.2.2conversion of the verbthere are three conditions of the verb conversion. first, this verb still keeps the morphological feature of the verb. second, the meaning has not basically changed. third, the predicate in the back of is not active or the verb in front of it is not guests verb. there are concrete conversions as the follow,first, the verb is flexibly used as the noun.eg.四黄既驾，两骖不猗。不失其驰，舍矢如破。（诗经小雅车攻）“驰”in this sentence works as noun，zhuxi explained that this means the method of gallop. gallop has been changed into the method of gallop. this kind of change is provisional using flexiblysecond, enabling movement of the verb. it is not using flexibly among the parts of speech of different words but the flexibly use of the verb in the verb. it can be divided into the usage of the meaning changing of verb and the enabling moving the usage of the verb.eg.：王子刺公之宗妇郗娉，为宗彝将鼎，永宝用，以降大福，保薛郗国。（宗妇郗娉盘铭）“降”in this sentence originally means landing, but here it means enable something to land. this is the enable movement of the usage of noun in this sentence.“降大福”means making the great good fortune lower. in english, there are a large number of verbs of english can be transformed into nouns, there is no great change in meaning sometimes.eg. i like quiet reading after supper. but sometimes there are certain changes in the meaning of sometimes.eg. women have an equal say in everything.(say here means have the right to speak2.3 the conversion of the adjectivethere are concrete conversions as the fellow:2.3.1the adjective was flexibly used as nounin the era in western zhou dynasty, it was very common that the adjective was used as noun.eg.有椒其馨，胡考之宁？（诗经周颂载芟）“馨”in this sentence works as the object center and there was attributes goes before. the usage of the“馨”in this sentence is the flexibly usage of the adjective.2.3.2the adjective was flexibly used as verbfirst, the adjective was used flexibly as general verb.eg.何草不黄，何人不矜。（诗经小雅何草不黄）“黄”in this sentence was not refers to the color yellow but means became yellow or withered. this can considered as flexible use.second, the enabling moving the usage of the verb. an adjective is used as the verb and has the meaning of making the object to do something. this is enabling moving the usage of an adjective. eg.燕及皇天，克昌厥后。（诗经周颂-）after the“昌”, there was an object comes as the fellow,. this was already used as a verb. the meaning of“昌”is not refers to the certain characteristic of some thing nut means make something prosperous. so it is flexibly used of the adjective.third, an adjective is used as the verb and has the meaning of how does the object behave, this is enabling moving the usage of an adjective.eg.丕显成康，上帝是皇。（诗经周颂执竞）“皇”in this sentence means consider something tobe beautiful.it is the usage of the meaning changing of nouns in english, there are following way of the conversion of the adjective.first, the adjective was used flexibly as general verbeg. dont idle away your rime.second, the adjective was used flexibly as nouneg. he is a dear.( dear here means a dear child)3. elliptical sentence economic principle is a common law in any kind of language1. whenever it is possibility that something can be omitted, they will be omitted. and this kind of sentence is called elliptical sentence. certainly, this is under the principle of having not barrier during the communication. the purpose of omitting is to strengthen the result and make the style of writing much more succinct.2moreover, in our daily communication, omitting is quite normal. by omitting, our language is much more succinct, but much more efficient. nevertheless, the speaker would like to have better communication result. that is their real purposes. omitting is in a very wide range, the subject, predicate, the object, the preposition and the adverbial modifier, etc. usually only one or a few compositions can be omit. but in english, various sentence compositions can be omitted. omitting has its conditions. chinese is a language only focus on meaning itself. so long as the context can be understood and expresses ones ideas, omitting can happen. grammar and logical rationality will be not taken into the consideration. in western zhou dynasty, there are two primary conditions of the composition omission first, if the environmental meaning of diverging from the context or speaking in a word is not clear, it is clear to replenish certain word. second, through there are something has been omitted in the sentence, but in fact, there is only one kind of possibility of word replenished. in english, it is a kind of languages that it is main point is the sentence structure. it should be rational and logical. sometimes in order to avoid repeating, make the sentence structure much more succinct and compact. one or more compositions will be omitted under the principle not influencing ones sentence structural. that is to say, the sentence structure will also be correct after omitting.3.1the way of omission in western zhou dynasty and that of english is almost the samefirst, omitting in dialogues. two speakers are both in the same linguistic context, communication will not be influenced by omitting some compositions.eg.-im hungry.-are you?(in this dialogue,“hungry” is omitted, because both two know what they are talking about)in chinese, there are also a lot of omission in.eg.谁其尸之？有齐季女。诗经召南采苹in this sentence, the“尸之”after the“季女”。second, omit the things that has been mentioned before. some compositions have already appeared before can be omitted in the latter sentence. it has appeared before, so there is no need to repeat.eg. he is much more smart than i thought.(“he was” was omitted after“thought”)in chinese, these is a sentence,子弗祗服厥父事，大伤厥考心。尚书康诰“子”in the second sentence has been omitted, because it has been mentioned before.third, omit the composition that will appear latter.eg. if you want me to, ill buy the umbrella(“buy the ticket” was omitted after“to” and appears in the late of the sentence). there three ways are the same both in chinese and in english.the omission in chinese.弗问弗仕，勿罔君子。诗经小雅节南山. the character after the“问”and the“仕”is the“君子”。because it will be mentioned in the second sentence, so they have been omitted in the first sentence.forth, this is the way only happens in western zhou dynasty is the. front and back omission. this it is ensuing chapters that bear hereinbefore omit to some extent, have in the article covering with ensuing chapters omit to some extent again.in chinese, there is a very famous sentence他山之石，可以为错。他山之石，可以攻玉. the complete sentence should be“他山之石，可以为错攻玉”。there are both omissions in the first sentence and the second sentence. in the first sentence, the omitted words is the“攻玉”，and in the second sentence, the omitted words is the“为错”。3.2 concrete omitting3.2.1 omitting subject or predicateomitting of the subjects is very common in chinese in western zhou dynasty. this kind of omitting is based on that both sides know what the subject is.it can be omits.eg.王日:哉!令女作司土,官司田.(哉簋铭)the first subject that has been omitted should be“余” which means“王”.the second subject omitted should be“女”,it has been omitted because it appears before.omit the predicate is not as that of the subject. it is relatively rare. because what the subject is generally expressed is old information, but the predicate usually expressed new information. certainly, special structure is the exception. but the predicate can be omitted in the question sentence in chinese in western zhou dynasty.eg:谁其尸之？有齐季女（诗经召南采苹）the predicate here in this sentence“尸之”is omitted. it is also appears before here.3.2.2omission of the subject and predicate in englishin english, omission of the subject always happens in the following case.first, it appears in the imperative sentenceeg: give me your book, will you? the original sentence should be you give me the booksecond, in the sentence pattern ofthere be, sometimesthere can be used withouteg: must be somebody waiting for you.“there” has been omittedthirdly, in the informal recreation and sports article, the relative can be omitted in attributive sentence.eg: theres somebody wants to meet you. in this sentence,whothat goes after“somebody” has been omitted.forth, there are some other situations has the omitting of the subject.eg: looks like rain.the subject“it” is omitteddont know. the subject“i” is omittedomission of the predicate happens in english in parallelism.eg: only one of us was injured and he just slightly.the predicate was omitted after“he”every street had a story, every person a memory.the predicate is omitted after“person”3.2.3 omission of the objectomission of the object in chinese of western zhou dynasty.omit verbs. the verbs and objects are a group of relative sentence compositions. sometimes save the verb and keep the object. when the object is omitted, there are two kinds. the first is the omission of the general object, another is the omission of the indirect object in the sentence structure with double objects.eg:思皇多士，克生王国。维周之桢。（诗经大雅文王）the object“多士” in the example is omitted after“生”in english, if the object is after the transitive verb. usually it can not be omitted. but in daily dialogue, it can be happen under certain situation. that is the verb has been mentioned before and there is quantifier after the predicate.eg.if you need any of that books, i can give you plenty.(“of the books” is omitted after“plenty”)3.2.4 omission of the preposition or objectthe omission of chinese function words and objects of western zhou dynasty.the preposition and object of preposition are relative. sometimes, save prepositions. sometimes, keep the object; om. both these two kinds happen in chinese of western zhou dynasty,eg:王命卿士，南仲大祖。（诗经大雅常武）the preposition“于”before“大祖” is omitted. omit the object after the preposition. the objects after prepositions like“用”“以”“与”can be omitted.eg:此绑之人，不可与明（诗经小雅黄鸟）“之”in the sentence is omitted.and in english, the use of the preposition is very extensive and flexibly, the omitting the preposition is more obvious in the informal recreation and sports article. the omitted of the preposition is always happen but not the omitting of the object after the preposition. when the preposition appear after the time, it can be omitted such as before these words on, in, at, foreg. lily will go to chongqing saturday.(“on” is omitted)i have been reading the novel the whole afternoon.(“in” is omitted).“in” is also often omitted before expressions like“ way.”you can investigate the matter anyway you like.(“in” before anyway is omitted)3.2.5 omitting of the adverbial modifieromission of the adverbial modifier in chinese of western zhou dynasty. the phrase can be omitted, save the part of the adverbial modifier sometimes, omit the language part in the centre sometimes in the form.eg:卿士、邦君麻冕蚁裳。（尚书顾命） in this sentence, the adverbial modifier“皆”is omitted before“麻冕蚁裳”eg:被筮告，再三渎。（周易*蒙村）, in this sentence“筮”which is the key words in the sentence is omitted.omission of the adverbial modifier in english happens in certain situation. eg: return soon as possible. this is a telegram term.as, used as adverbial is omitted before the“soon.”3.3 through comparisonwe can tell that the ellipsis is very common both in ancient chinese and english. but the way of omitting is different. in chinese，omitting is according to the context. but in english, it usually happens in communication and the informal article. but the omitting of the preposition is almost the same. especially the omitting of the preposition of the time, place etc. the similarity will made the translation much more easy.4.inversion sentencethe inverted se