DifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglishThinkingModes中英思维模式的不同.ppt

differencesdifferences betweenbetween chinesechinese and and english english thinking thinking modesmodes 1.visual thinking vs rational thinking the chinese is perceptual(感知的) in their comprehensive thought, but the english and other western nations lay have developed their own rational and analytic thinking modes. s2a. his weariness and increasing heat determined him to sit down in the first convenient shade. s2b. 他疲惫不堪，天气也越来越炎热，于是 他下定决心一碰到舒适的阴凉处就坐下休息。 s3a. shortness of time has required the omission of some countries. s3b. 由于时间不够，他取消了对某些国家的 访问。 in the above specimen of s1a, s2a and s3a, , the subjects are not any person or object but rather some state or concepts although the sentences are more person-oriented. yet in the chinese version, the persons concerned are used as the subjects to directly reveal the speakers concern. even when the chinese means to express some attitude or impression, they may not state it directly but rather use metaphor or indications by means of some specific images. e.g. s4a.he had sacrificed with less visibility in the policy decision. s4b.在决策过程中，他已经不那么抛头露面 了。 the concept of “visibility” in s4a is replaced by the image expression of “抛头露面” in s4b in which “头”(head) and “面”(face) are used to show his presence or visibility in the occasions. 2.generalizing thinking vs analytical thinking概括思维和分析思维 s6a: 尽管她很年轻，但她懂的东西比你多。 s6b: young as she is, she knows more than you. s6c: though she is young, she knows more than you know. s7a: 她气的连话都说不出来。 s7b: so angry was she that she couldnt speak. s7c: she was so angry that she couldnt speak. s8a: 只有这样才能解决问题。 s8b: only in this way can you solve the problem. s8c: the problem can only be solved this way. （the chinese sentences clearly demonstrate the difficulty in understanding chinese without necessary generalization. s6c, s7c and s8c are literal translation of the chinese, as most chinese learners of english more often than not would do. such translations reveal that the chinese learners tend to generalize the english expressions without sufficient attention to the analytical nature of the target language. similar instance just abound in both english and chinese literature at various levels ranging from diction（措辞）, semantic connotation（语义内涵）, denotation（字面意思）, syntactic structures to contextual preferences. its absolute unnecessary and impossible to list them one by one here.） 3.subject-oriented thinking vs object-targeted thinking the chinese habitually （习惯地）take the person or subject as the object in their intent thought while the westerners tend to take the nature as the object for their cognitive thought. s11a. another idea suddenly struck me. s11b: 我突然想到另一个主意。 s12a. the second world war brought him rapid battle promotion. s12b: 他在二战中屡建战功，晋升很快。 (the above english sentences, with the abstract subjects, sound quite natural to english readers, but would sound quite awkward to the chinese readers if literally transferred into chinese. the chinese translation, on the other hand, begins with the personal subject and sounds quite smooth and comprehensible to the chinese readers. ) s9a: 托马斯杰弗逊对美国的教育事业做出了巨 大的贡献。 s9b: american education was a great debt to thomas jefferson. 4.tortuous thinking vs straight thinking曲折思维 直接思维 s16a: what on earth do you mean by talking about these at that moment when we were all in high spirits? s16b：当大家兴高采烈时，你却谈论这些问题，到底 什么意思？ s13a: i met with my middle schoolmate at the entrance of the theater at 7:30 yesterday evening, when i havent seen for years. s13b: 昨天晚上7点半在剧院门口， 我遇到了我多年未 见的中学同学。 s14a: he didnt come because he was ill s14b: 他因为生病而没来。 （in consequence of such thinking modes, the chinese would organize their speech in logic order by telling the causes before describing the consequences, and offering some prepositions before the deductive reasoning, and describing the facts before offering the speakers attitude. and even in the spacious or sequential order, they tend to list from the more general to the more specific. as for the sequence of importance or significance, its not difficult to see why they would begin with the most important or significant and then move on to the less important or less significant. the english speakers, with the assistance of conjunctions and prepositions, can be more flexible than the chinese in this aspect.） 5.fuzzy thinking vs accurate thinking 模糊思维 准确思维 fuzzy thinking is more emphatic of the general impression or the general principle of reflection and is not so much concerned with the specific details of the objects or the relative information. the english, in contrast, lay great emphasis on the accuracy of description and speech. in chinese we have a word “气” (qi)-物质之气， 人生性命之气，能动的实体之气，正气. but how shall we understand these qi in english? actually they are greatly diversified in meaning, referring to material force, air, vitality, vital energy and