论英汉介词对比研究 08 淮师大
淮北师范大学
2012 届学士学位论文
A Comparative Study of English and
Chinese Prepositions
系别:外语系
专业:英语
指导教师: 陆阳
指导教师职称: 讲师
2012年5 月12日
A Comparative Study of English and Chinese prepositions
Abstract: Both English and modern Chinese are Analytical languages, but they are quite different from each other. As a kind of common part of speech, the role of prepositions in English and Chinese is so special, and many are complicated in use. Preposition is a closed set of part of speech either in Chinese or in English. But in these two languages, there are several controversial or difficult-to -grasp points. In Chinese, the sources of some prepositions are controversial; the degree of some Chinese prepositions’ grammaticalization is not sure; Chinese prepositions often can be omitted while using; Identities of the second part of Chinese circumpositions are also controversial; In Chinese, some prepositions have the same meaning, whether they can swap for each other is restricted by the syllable number of the word after it, whether it is spoken language or written language. Many people who are learning Chinese would be confused while learning or using. As for English prepositions, they are so verbal-like and forced in use that learners in China may make mistakes or be puzzled easily; some certain words like granted are lost their way home; many English prepositions are polysemic, which are also hard to learn and grasp. In the process of my contrastive analysis the prepositions in these two languages, there will be some use corpus to get the frequency of their occurrence, the number of them and the features of their distribution, so that our numbers and conclusions are based on language facts. There will also be quite a few examples from English dictionaries to check or prove them.
Key words: preposition, comparative, words sequence, ellipsis
中英介词对比研究
摘要:英语和现代汉语都是分析性语言，但二者的语言系统差异还是很大的。介词作为这两种语言中都存在的一类词，在各自的语言中地位都比较特殊，用法也比较复杂。虽然英语和现代汉语中的介词都是封闭类词汇，但在这两种语言中，介词都有存在争议或不容易掌握的地方。比如，汉语一些介词的来源的界定、部分介词的可省略问题、受所接词的音节数、语体色彩、习惯用法等因素影响的同义介词的互换问题，也是汉语介词学习过程中容易造成困惑的地方。而对于英语介词而言，其动词性强、使用的强制性的特点，直接影响到我们进行英汉互译方法的使用。英语介词的多义性也是我们学习和使用的难点。本论题属对比语言学汉英、英汉双向对比。在两种语言对比的过程中，我们在介词出现词频、介词数量、分布特点等方面的考察时使用语料进行统计，根据语言事实得出结论。并通过权威的英汉词典的例句的分析佐证。
关键词:介词，对比,语序，省略，
Contents
1 .Introduction (5)
1.1Brief Introduction of English and Chinese Prepositions (6)
1.1.1Origin of English Prepositions (6)
1.1.2Origin of Chinese Prepositions (6)
1.2 Comparison of prepositions’ Characteristic (6)
1.2.1 English Prepositions (7)
1.2.2 Chinese Prepositions (7)
2 Contrast between English and Chinese Preposition (7)
2.1 Comparison of Structure Type between English and Chinese Prepositions (7)
2.1. 1 Structure Type of English Prepositions (8)
2.1. 2.Structure Type of Chinese Prepositions (9)
2.2. Comparison of Meaning Type between English and Chinese Prepositions (9)
2.3 Quantity of English and Chinese Prepositions (12)
2.3.1 Quantity of Chinese Prepositions (12)
https://www.wendangku.net/doc/5f7746243.html,parison of Position in Sentence between English and Chinese prepositions (13)
2.4.1 Position between Prepositions and Verbs (13)
2.4.2 Position between English Prepositions and Nouns (14)
2.4.3 Prepositions Used as Adverbial Modifying Verbs (14)
2.4.4 Prepositions Used as Attributive Modifying Nouns (14)
3 Conclusion (15)
References (17)
A Comparative Study of English and Chinese prepositions
1 .Introduction
Preposition, is a class of function words in Chinese and English languages, they cannot make a sentence components in the pragmatic alone, they can be formed as components of sentences when form a structure with nouns and pronouns. As function words, they are very important in the respective language. In English, the preposition is the most important parts of connection between the words. nouns and nouns, verbs and nouns, adjectives and nouns are often expressed by prepositional relations.（魏跃横，2003）English sentence-making almost inseparable from the preposition, so English is" a language of Preposition"（(F，T，wood, January ,1998). Prepositions also occupied an important position in modern Chinese syntax system; we can apparently appreciate this point through the Chinese prepositions on the history and current situation. Semantically, prepositions can indicate object, time, place, reason and so on. As function words, prepositions were often omitted, the usage is complex, the same meaning of prepositions can be used interchangeably, but others cannot be replaced because of the different style and the word syllable number. The complexity usage as well as the differences in usage of prepositions in English and Chinese lead to our Chinese learning English and foreigners learning Chinese puzzled, it is difficult to grasp the target preposition usage. That’s to say, as two different language systems, Chinese prepositions and English prepositions are not corresponding and equivalent in carrying semantic information. Based on the above points, it’s necessary to make a further study of Chinese and English prepositions, to help and enlighten our language application, English teaching, foreigner Chinese teaching, Chinese-english translation, and the contrastive linguistics theory research.
1.1Brief Introduction of English and Chinese prepositions
1.1.1 Origin of English Prepositions
English prepositions are mostly evolved from the position al adverbs, such as“in” and “up” etc.The other is the Marginal Prepositions, and they can be divided into verb class marginal Prepositions, adjective class marginal Prepositions and numeral-class marginal Prepositions. The verb class marginal Prepositions can be divided into present participle, past participle and verb stem.（陈丛梅.2009 年，P50）
1.1.2 Origin of Chinese Prepositions
View from the point of the Chinese prepositions’ source, most of the prepositions are evolved verbs, there are few ancient prepositions have been inherited down. There are 13 prepositions“于、於、乎、自、以、与、为、用、由、及、爰、在”in shijing(《诗经》)；and 14 prepositions“当、自、及、比、于、在、诸、焉、乎、由、以、为、用、与”in lunyu(《论语》), but only “于、自、以、为、用、由、在”have been inherited down. Some prepositions are evolved from dialects, such as“奔、奔着、除掉、从打、管、起、自打”, but they are mostly orally.
1.2 Comparison of P repositions’ Characteristic
Preposition, also called small words, but occupies a pivotal position in both English and Chinese languages, especially English prepositions. Except for a few simple sentences, such as "I am a teacher". You can’t constitute a perfect sentence if completely abandon the prepositions. Both English and Chinese prepositions can indicate a variety of relationships. For example, English preposition "at" can indicate place, time, reason and some other relationships, Chinese pr eposition “在” can represent location, direction, time and so on. Considering the significance of language learning, it’s necessary to make a comparative study of both English and Chinese prepositions
1.2.1 English Prepositions
The vast majority of modern English prepositions have long been fixed, such as "at" “for "" in” “of". A few prepositions evolved from other parts of speech, and retain their characteristics, Such as “concerning” and“regarding” were evolved from the verb, “but’ and “since” from the conjunction, however, these words can be used as other parts of speech, such as “it never rains but it pours”, “but” is a conjunction. “We go to school everyday but Sunday”, “but” is a preposition. English prepositions introduce nouns, pronouns, or equivalent words or phrases to other words in the sentence, it can be expressed not only the location, time, object, method, reason, purpose, exclusion, but also fixed with some word phrases, and even can be used as an adverb or other words.
1.2.2 Chinese Prepositions
Chinese prepositions were mostly evolved from the verb, except for a few prepositions, such as“于”“对于”“至于”has been completely changed as the preposition, the majority of Chinese prepositions are retain the characteristics of the verb. It’s a verb in one condition but a preposition in other.Such as "他在上海" and "他住在上海" in these two sentences, the first “在” is a verb, but the second is a preposition. Chinese prepositions introduce nouns or pronouns to the verb or adjective. The vast majority of prepositions can be judged based on its role in the sentence; they can present location, direction, time, object, method, tool, reason, purpose,exclusion and disposal and other relationships. Such as "他在中学学习", “在”indicate the relationship of location. “我们都为他惋惜”，“为”indicate the purpose,“他喜欢用铅笔”，“用”indicate tool.
2 Comparisons between English and Chinese Preposition
2.1Comparison of Structure Type between English and Chinese Prepositions
Prepositions are widely used in English and they are of active meanings, you have to determine its meaning and usage according to the context, however, there are few prepositions
in Chinese and this made it difficult for Chinese students to learn English prepositions. Chinese prepositions are often used in front of the nouns or noun phrases to form a prepositional phrase, as an additional ingredient to verbs, adjectives to indicate time, method, condition, objects, etc.English Prepositions indicate the relation between nouns and pronouns in sentences. In other words, Chinese prepositions are different from that of English; we can easily see that the English Prepositions are more widely used than Chinese Prepositions, in the following charter; I will contrast type of structure and meaning to show the similarities and differences between Chinese and English prepositions.
2.1. 1 Structure Type of English Prepositions
There are five Structure types of English prepositions in the following:
1) Simple prepositions: a single preposition, such as “at” “in” “of” “since” etc.
E.g. a) The little boy is looking at the picture.
2) Compound prepositions: Consist of two prepositions, as “as for” “as to” “into” “out of” etc.
E.g. b) H e didn’t get married until he was into his forties. (O xford Advanced Learner’s English-chinese Dictionary, The sixth edition, and page927)
3) Double prepositions: Made by two prepositions, but not as fixed as a compound preposition, such as “from under” “from behind” “until after” “except in” etc.
E.g. c) He arrived in Australia on December 12, just 107 days out from England
4) Phrasal prepositions: Consist of phrase, such as “because of” “in spite of” “on behalf of” e tc.
E.g. Because of the bad weather, they canceled the sports meeting.
5) Participle prepositions: Consists of Present participle, such as “considering”
“concerning” “regarding” etc,
E.g. d) Call me if you have any problems regarding your work. (Oxford Ad vanced Learner’s English-chinese Dictionary, The sixth edition, and page1452)
2.1. 2.Structure Type of Chinese Prepositions
Chinese prepositional phrase is usually of a word or a fixed phrase. Such as 从、用、和、给、为着、经过etc., the Chinese prepositions were mostly evolved from the verb, so some prepositions become the verb in some contexts, such as许多同学都比我学得好,in this sentence the word “比”is a preposition, but it becomes a verb in “我们要比干劲，比速度，比质量”. Therefore, from a structural point of view, Chinese prepositions are more concise than that of English.
2.2. Comparison of Meaning Type between English and Chinese Prepositions
English and Chinese prepositions indicate location, orientation, time, method, reason, object in meaning, but there exist a number of difference in the expression, and I will explain the classification of the meaning in the following charter.
1) Prepositions indicating Location and direction
In China, we have 自、从、往、朝、向、到、在、于 etc.
E.g. e) 即从巴峡穿巫峡，便下襄阳向洛阳（杜甫《闻官军收河南河北》）
f) 后来屈原被流放到汨罗江。死在那里。
But there are dozens in English prepositions：such as about、above、across、after、along、among、around、at、before、behind、below、beneath、beside、between、beyond、by、down、from、in、into、near、off、on、over、through、to、towards、under、up、upon、with、within、without etc.
E.g. g) That happened in china.
h) An Arab was walking alone through the desert when he met two men.
i) More than a two hundred years ago ,a group of men、women、and hunger children moved from the east to the west.
2) Prepositions indicating time
In Chinese, we have 从、自从、到、在、当、于etc.
E.g. j) 我正是在这一夜回到我的故乡鲁镇的。（鲁迅《祝福》）
k)这宝贝女儿长到七八岁的时候，在家就说一不二了。（曲波《林海雪原》）In English we have: about、after、around、as、at、before、behind、between、by，during、for、from、in、into、of、on、over、past、since、through、till（until）、to、within etc.
E.g. l) After a while，it seemed that the sky was going to rain.
m)By the time he was ten, he had already built a chemistry lab for himself.
3)Prepositions indicating reason.
In Chinese, we have: 因、为、因为、由于etc.
E.g.n) 我真不明白，为什么欧阳修作《秋色赋》是，把秋天描写的那么速杀凄凉？（峻青《秋色赋》）
o) 因为工作关系，我们有过接触。
In English, we have: for、with、from、because、of、out of etc.
E.g. p) In fact, they were overenjoyed at these happy things.
q) They felt very weak from lack of sleep.
r) He did it out of gratitude for us.
4)Prepositions indicating method, tool and judging etc.
In Chinese, there are 按、按照、以、沿着、根据、替 etc.
E.g. s) 马上按计划行动.
t) 这边工厂林立，沿着弯弯曲曲的小河一直验身到远方。
In English, we have: by, in, with, on, according to, without etc.
E.g. u) These shoes were made by hand
v) She passed by with a smile.
w) We must do everything according to our policy.
5)Prepositions indicating object and relevance.
In Chinese, there are 对、对于、关于、同、跟、和、把、走、给 etc.
E.g. x) 起初给地主看羊。（吴伯萧《猎户》）
y) 对悠远的地球发展史来说，一百万年只是一个很短暂的时间；但和人类还有文字记载的历史相比，毕竟是太远来。（李四光《人类的出现》）
In English, there are to, by, of, at etc.
E.g. z) she sent a card to me.
a1) Be sure to take good care of your sister.
b1) A sister was led by Joe Hill in Salt Lake City in 1915.
6)Prepositions indicating affiliated relation.
There are no prepositions indicate affiliation in both ancient and modern Chinese, but we use ”之” in ancient Chinese when present affiliated relation, meanwhile, we put the word “的” after it in modern Chinese.
E.g. c1) 群臣吏民，能面刺寡人之过者，受上赏（《战国策*齐策》
d1) 然而即日证明是事实了，作证的便是她自己的尸骸。（鲁迅《纪念刘和珍君》In English, we have of、with etc.
E.g. e1) The population of the earth is increasing very much.
f1) There is the country with an especially large Indian population.
7)Prepositions indicating concessive.
There are no prepositions indicate concessive in Chinese, we only have conjunctions indicate concessive.
E.g. g1) 赵贵翁虽然不认识他，一定也听到风声，代抱不平.（鲁迅《狂人日记》）
In English, we have despite、in、in spite of etc.
E.g. h1) They went on working in spite of/despite its heat.
8)Prepositions indicating purpose.
We usually use 为、为了、为着、给in Chinese.
E.g. i1) 为了明天的幸福，努力吧！
j1) 为他着想，现在就走。
In English we usually use “for” to indicate purpose.
E.g. k1) His father saw him sitting on some eggs ,and asked what he was doing that for.
9)Prepositions indicating comparison.
There are 比、和、同、跟in Chinese.
E.g. l1) 他比我学习好。
But we use conjunctions like “than” “and” “but” to replace “和、同、比、跟.
E.g. m1) There was more whisky in it than soda. (Oxford Advanced Learner’s English-chinese Dictionary, The sixth edition, and page1826)
10)Prepositions indicate Opposition
There are no prepositions indicate opposition in Chinese, only verbs indicate opposition and approval. “Against” was used to indicate opposition in English.
E.g. n1) Public opinion was against the proposal.
In addition, there are some prepositions having more than one meaning in both English and Chinese, you need to determine their meaning according to the content.
E.g. o1) 长江发源于青海（“于”indicating location）
p1) 中国共产党成立于1921年。（“于”indicating time）
q1) 近来，他从事于文字改革工作。（“于”indicating object）
r1) I am going to see you at five. (“at” indicat ing time)
s1) I am glad at the news.（”at” indicat ing reason）
t1) The train is running at fifty kilometers an hour. (“at” indicating speed)
2.3 Quantity of English and Chinese Prepositions
2.3.1 Quantity of Chinese and English Prepositions
Prepositions are relatively stable and closed parts of speech, but the Chinese prepositions are different in functions, meaning, and usage due to the use of dialect, impact of the virtual degree and internal development. so the Chinese prepositions are relatively complicated and fuzzy, resulting in the language scholars are not consistent in enumerating, such as the word "问",it was often used as a preposition in some dialects, but it is more oral compared with its usage in the books or papers which many prepositional usage are not mentioned. And some attached morphemes, such as “着”、“了”、“过 ,they can be used interchangeably in many condition, some scholars were cited, while others are grouped together. Because of this, few scholars or linguists enumerate all the prepositions of the Chinese, but research them
based on the principles of their classification or some particular prepositions.
Chen chang lai had list 159 prepositions in his article, they are:“Monosyllabic prepositions(86 words):把、从、打、即、将、就、据、连、起、俟（qí依次）、为、问、于、自、挨、握、按、帮、本、奔、比、朝、趁、乘、冲、除、待、当、到、等、对、赶、给、跟、管、归、及、叫、教、较、借、经、距、尽、靠、亏、离、临、令、论、冒、拿、凭、让、任、知、上、使、顺、随、替、听、往、望、为、下、循、向、像、沿、依、用、由、在、照、至、逐、并、跟、合、和、同、以、因、与、被;Two-syllable prepositions（64个）:从打、打从、对于、关于、基于、鉴于、较之、就着、连同、自从、自打、挨着、按照、按着、本着、奔着、比较、朝着、趁着、乘着、冲着、除掉、除开、除了、除去、除却、待到、当着、等到、对着、赶到、根据、及至、借着、经过、距离、尽着、冒着、凭着、任凭、任着、顺着、随着、听凭、听任、通过、围绕、为了、为着、循着、向着、沿着、一任、依仗、依照、依着、扰如、仗着、照着、针对、遵照、作为、因为、由于;There are very few three-syllable prepositions, only few three-syllable prepositions received in the function word dictionary, such as“依仗着、针对着”, and they are all end with“着””. （陈昌来，2002年，P97）
There is on certain quantity of English prepositions, but there is no double that members of the English prepositions are far more than Chinese prepositions. There are 286 English prepositions according to G.Curme’s statistics.（彭启良, 1980年）
2.4 Comparison of position in sentence between English and Chinese prepositions
2.4.1 Position between prepositions and verbs
English prepositions and prepositional phrases are generally after the verb, while the Chinese prepositions and prepositional phrases are generally placed in front of the verb.
E.g. u1) You know everyone went the concert except by Adam. 你知道除了亚当，大家都去听音乐会了。
v1) I usually take a shower before my breakfast. 我通常在早餐前洗个澡。
w1) A lamp hung over the table. 桌子上方悬吊一盏灯。
Only three prepositions can be placed behind the verb in Modern Chinese, and they are “向、给、在”.But take two points into consideration: first, when these three prepositions placed after the verb, and generally they are adhered to the verb.
E.g. x1) 她递给我一张已经破损的纸。
Y1) 从失败走向胜利。
Second, the meanings expressed by these three prepositions are different when placed before and after the verb. Take “在”for example, 他在船上跳；他跳在船上，the former indicate the place, the latter indicate the results of the action takes.
2.4.2 Position between English prepositions and nouns
English prepositions also called the “prefix word”, because there are usually placed in front of the noun. But they also postponement in the following condition: First, in exclamatory sentences or indirect interrogative sentences. E.g. u1) what a mess I am in! v1) I do not know what they are talking about. Second, prepositional object is a question word, E.g. w1) what are you interested in? Chinese prepositions are always place d in front of the noun, E.g. x1) 有事要跟群众商量. y1) 他读了几本关于政治经济学的书.
2.4.3 Prepositions used as adverbial modifying verbs
English and Chinese prepositions and prepositional phrases are different in permutation when they are modifying verb as adverbial. English prepositions’ permutation are verb, object, method, direction, time and reason. Chinese prepositions are arranged as the order of reason, time, direction, method, object and verb. E.g. z1) She often speaks to me in the manner of a superior in the office; 她在办公室经常用一种上级的语气和我讲话。
2.4.4 Prepositions used as attributive modifying nouns
English prepositions and prepositional phrases used as attributive modifying nouns, and they are generally placed in the back of the term, Chinese prepositions and prepositional phrases used as attributive modifying nouns, they usually placed before the noun, and a particle “的”after prepositions and prepositional phrases, E.g. a2) The river at the foot of the
hill; 在山脚下的那条河。
3 Conclusion
After the analysis and comparison of English and Chinese prepositions, we finally come to summarize the main similarities and differences between the English and Chinese prepositions. Preposition, is a class of function words in Chinese and English languages, they cannot make a sentence components in the pragmatic alone, they can be formed as components of sentences when form a structure with nouns and pronouns. As function words, they are very important in the respective language. In English, the preposition is the most important parts of connection between the words. nouns and nouns, verbs and nouns, adjectives and nouns are often expressed by prepositional relations. English sentence-making almost inseparable from the preposition, so English is" a language of Preposition"（(F，T，wood, January ,1998). Prepositions also occupied an important position in modern Chinese syntax system; we can apparently appreciate this point through the Chinese prepositions on the history and current situation. Semantically, prepositions can indicate object, time, place, reason and so on. As function words, prepositions were often omitted, the usage is complex, the same meaning of prepositions can be used interchangeably, but others cannot be replaced because of the different style and the word syllable number. The complexity usage as well as the differences in usage of prepositions in English and Chinese lead to our Chinese learning English and foreigners learning Chinese puzzled, it is difficult to grasp the target preposition usage. That’s to say, as two different language systems, Chinese prepositions and English prepositions are not corresponding and equivalent in carrying semantic information.The most consistent point of the two languages is that they are all “verb-like” and clearly virtual phenomenon. But they are different in form of expression, English depends mainly on its strong ideographic, the Chinese prepositions are mostly derived from the verb but also remain the usage of the verb. The obvious difference is whether the prepositions can be omitted or not. English prepositions are the mark of relationship between words, and they can’t be
omitted. On the other hand, Chinese is a tightening language; the prepositions can be omitted without affect the meaning when used as a function word. During modern Chinese and English contacting and evolving process, it is good to make a comprehensive analysis and comparison of such a part of speech in linguistics, linguistic typology, particularly, under the background of the exchange and connection between the two languages. It is also important to provide ideas and methods for language teaching during language study.
References
[1] Oxford Advanced Learner’s English-chinese Dictionary, The sixth edition
[2] Quirk, Randolph. A Grammar of Contemporary English [M] . London: Longman, 1973
[3] (英)F，T，Wood. English prepositional idioms dictionary (Preface), World Publishing Company.，January 1998 the first edition
[4]陈丛梅，《论实词虚化与英语边缘介词的词典表达》，《西南科技大学学报》（哲学社会科学版），2009 年 8 月，第 26 卷第 4 期：P50
[5] 陈昌来，《现代汉语介词的内部差异及其影响》，《上海师范大学学报》社会科学版，2002 年 9 月，第 31卷第 5 期：P97
[6] 彭启良，《翻译与比较》[M]北京：商务印书馆，1980
[7] 魏跃横，《英语中表示词的关系的重要手段》[J].《外语研究》，2003 年第 1 期，总第 77期：76-78
[8] 张秋葵,《英汉介词对比分析》，聊城大学学报（社会科学版）
[9] 中学语文课本（人教版）
Acknowledgements
I would like to extend my thanks to all the following people for their help and support during my research and completion of the paper. In the first place, I owe a great many thanks to Professor Lu yang, my thesis advisor. I would not have finished my paper without her patience and insightful suggestions. We met several times during the writing process and she clearly and carefully evaluated my topic, the methodologies and enlightened me a lot. I also appreciate his casual style of talking. In the second place, I want to give special thanks to my best friend Cong chunchen whose company and encouragement during my thesis composition really meant a lot to me. She kindly listened to my complaints and sorrows when I was tortured by the paper, and she brought me lots of happiness all the way long. Her friendship has always been my source of inspiration. Thirdly, my thanks go to all the people who once helped me and cared about me and all my teachers. My roommates Xiao chengjun and Yue kui answered my questions about the thesis. My friend Qi yaguang shared his thoughts on the paper with me. And thank other friends: Sun liang and Fengqiang for their companionship. Last but not least, I would like to say thank you to my dearest parents for their unfailing love and great support all these years. They are my ultimate strength, as always.