ACompareofChineseandEnglishCompounds

1、A Compare of Chinese and English CompoundsAbstractComposition (or compounding) is one of the most important word-formation methods in both contemporary English and Chinese, the other methods being derivation and conversion in English while being simple word and abbreviation in ChineseThe words which

2、 arc formed by composition (or compounding) are called compoundsIn the development of English and Chinese there seems to be a trend by using compoundsCompounds playa decisive role in English and Chinese literature and pervade everyday lifeTherefore these phenomena provide large quantity ofexamples a

3、nd contrastive possibility between the 2 languagesBased on a review of lexicology and contrastive linguistic studies on compounds，this paper attempts to provide a comprehensive discussion of compounds and make a contrastive analysis of themThe features of compounds are shown in various aspects：morph

4、ological feature，phonological feat life, semantic feature and syntactic featureBesides，comparison is also made from a cognitive point of viewBy observing many examples, we try to illustrate some similarities and difference between compounds in English and Chinese.The thesis is to present a general c

5、haracteristics of compounds shared by the two languages, which have 2 or more bases, have special stress mode, have complex meaning and have different kinds of structuresCompounds in Chinese，however, can appear in various forms and involves a much broader field than compounds in English。一、The classi

6、fication of compounds in EnglishIn terms of part-of-speech，the classifications of compounds include：compound nouns：deadline, handbook driveway；compound adjectives：world-famous，bloodthirsty, dog-tired；compound verbs：nickname, outline，spotlight；compound pronouns：another, something, anybody, myself；com

7、pound pronouns：another, something, anybody，myself；compound conjunctions：whenever, whereas；compound prepositions：alongside，outside, throughout；compound numerals：twenty-five, ninetenth；1. Compound nouns in EnglishThe traditional classifications of compound nouns are based on the part-of-speech in Engl

8、ishThey are divided into 9categories：(1)adjective noun：hard disk, soft disk, clear-way(superhighway),dark lantern, easy chair, deadline(2) noun + noun: mouse mat, dream, team, code, paper knife, forgery ring, shoe lace.(3) adverb + noun: under-clothes, after-effect, upgrade.(4) gerund + noun：chewing

9、 gum, lodging house(5)present participle + noun"working party, leading article, ruling class, floating bridge(6) verb + nounSwearword, breakwater, driveway, jumpsuit(7) noun + verb：nightfall, window-dress, toothpick.(8) verb + adverb：show-off, slip-up, put-off, follow-up(9) adverb + verb：outlet

10、, upset downfall, upstart.The shortage of these classifications mentioned above is too complex to see the inside semantic relations of compound nounsIt can overcome this shortage in a certain degree if the classifications are based on the syntactic features of the forming elements in componentsIn te

11、rms of syntactic relations between 2components in a compound noun, it can be divided into 6 groups：(1) modifier + head：Red tape science fiction clubfoot(2) subject + predicate：crybaby(the baby cries)，rattle snake(the snake rattles)(3) verb + objectHaircut (to cut the hair), backrest (to rest the bac

12、k)(4) subject + objectsugar cane(the cane yields sugar)，steam engine(-steam powers the engine)(5) parallel relationdeaf-mute (deaf and mute),transmitter-receiver(transmitter and receiver)(6) coordinative compound nouns(the whale is a killer)2Compound adjectives in EnglishWe can also generalize the c

13、lassifications of compound adjectives from 2 perspectivesCompound adjectives fall into 5 categories in terms of part-of-speechThey are centered as adjectives，verbs，nouns，prepositions and syntactic compound adjectives(1) Adjective is the head： noun + adjective：fat-free toll-free maintenance-free dust

14、-free interest-free adjective + adjective：wet-cold icy-cold red-hot present participle + adjective：steaming-hot smoking-hot soaking-wet adverb + adjective：ever-victorious over-cautious all-round(2) Verb is the head noun + present participle：peace-loving time-saving summer-flowering noun + past parti

15、ciple：heart-felt air-borne home-made adjective(or adverb) + present participle：easy-going familiar-sounding hard-working adjective(or adverb) + past participle：newly-developed well-balanced far-fetched(3) Noun (including noun+ suffixed) is the headnoun + noun + -ed：chicken-hearted honey-mouthed pape

16、r-backed adjective + noun十-ed：Short-sighted tender-hearted sweet-tempered adjective + noun：full-length white-collar red-letter verb+noun：Break- neck telltale cut-rate(4) Preposition + noun phraseIn modern English，a lot of prepositional phrases lie in front of nouns and modify themFor example：At-risk

17、：Men over 45 are becoming the new at-risk population for significant problems with anxiety and depression(5) Sentence-like combination of wordsMany phrases and sentences have become compound adjectives：devil-may-care dog-eat-dog run-of-the-millIn terms of syntactic relations，compound adjectives can

18、be divided into 6 categories：(1) adjective + adverbial comparative adverbialstone-deaf(as deaf as a stone)，dog-tired(as tired as a dog after a long chase) degree adverbialsteaming-hot(so hot as to steam)wringing-wet( 30wet that it needs wringing) cause adverbialhome-sick(sick because of being away f

19、rom home or family)travel-worn(worn because of traveling) place adverbialworld-famous(famous in the world), oven fresh(fresh from oven)(2) verb+adverbial mmanner adverbialhard-working( to work hard), quick-frozen(to be frozen quickly)degree adverbialfar-reaching( to reach far)Half-baked (to be baked

20、 partially)time adverbialsummer-flowering(-to flower in summer), newborn (to be born recently) place adverbialocean-going (to goon the ocean)。home-made(to be made at home)(3) subject + verbverb predicate：hen-pecked (hen peck(cocks), book-filled books fill (the room).predicativethreadbarethe thread(o

21、f sleeves)is bare, heartsick(the heart is sick)(4) verb + objectpeace-loving (to love peace), time-saving( to save time)(5) attributenounattribute is adjectivefull-length(o full length)，whitecollar(white collar) attribute is s genitiveBull-necked (bulls neck), chicken- hearted ( chickens heart)(6) C

22、oordinative relationbitter-sweet (bitter and sweet), deaf-mute(deaf and mute),3Compound verbs in EnglishThere are far fewer compound verbs than compound nouns or compound adjectives. A high proportion of them，moreover, are formed by other processes than compounding, namely back-formation and convers

23、ionBack formation is most commonly from nouns in-er (ghostwriterghostwrite)，or adjectives in ed (hen-peckedhen peck); conversion is generally from compound nouns(blacklist (N)blacklist(v). Most compound verbs that arise directly from compounding have a preposition as the first base，as in over-react

24、outlast, underestimateThe following types of compound verbs are distinguished according to the component bases involved(1) noun + verbbaby-sit brainwash chain-smoke(2) noun + nounSnowball stone-wall bar-code(3) adjective + nounBlacklist fast-track shortchange(4) preposition + nounverbBackdate backgr

25、ound bypass(5) verb + verbblow-dry cook-chill freeze-dryThe three parts mentioned above show great productive features and provide contrastive possibility with Chinese compounds二、The classifications of compounds in ChineseAccording to some scholarsalmost all the Chinese characters are compounds, the

26、 classifications in terms of part-of-speech are too complex，while it is simpler and clearer to tell the relations between or among the elements in compounds in terms of syntactic featureSo the thesis only attempts to tell the classifications based on syntactic featuresIn terms of relations between(o

27、r among) elements, Chinase compounds can be divided into 6 categories：coordinative compounds(head + head)Coordinative compounds are formed by two elements combined together and show either the same meaning or opposite or the relevant meaningEvery element in this compound is of equalityFor example：道路

28、，人民。2Modifier +head compoundsIn this kind of compounds, the first element modifies or determines the second，and the second element is the main componentFor example, in the compound手表，手modifies表，and表is the main component.3”verb + complement” compoundsThis kind of compounds is formed by a verb and its

29、 complementary elementFor example：扩大，埋没，提高.4”verb + object” compoundsThis kind of compounds is formed by a verbal element and its object，which is usually a nounFor example：命令，司仪，司令，理事.Sometimes the second element is a verb or an adjectiveFor example：挨骂，挨批，上算5“subject+ predicate” compoundsThe relatio

30、n between the two elements in the compounds is similar to subject and predicate in a sentenceFor example：年轻，心疼，地震6complex compoundsThis kind of compounds is called complex compounds since they are combined by three or more elementsThe relations among them are also complex(1) adjective+【noun + noun】小

31、钢炮，小家庭，熟石灰.(2)【adjective + noun】+noun幼儿园，热水瓶，博物馆.(3)【verb + verb】+ noun检察官，计算机，练习本(4)【verb + adjective】+noun养老金，养老院(5)【verb + adjective(verb + complement)】+noun放大镜，漂白粉.(6)【verb + noun(verb + object)】+noun降压药，见面礼，顶梁柱.(7)【noun + verb】十noun手提包，手提箱，地震仪(8)【noun + noun】+ noun书生气，书名号，江米酒.As is mentioned ab

32、ove, we can draw a clear conclusion that the compounds in the 2 languages are formed by2 or more dements and used frequentlyBecause of this phenomenon，the present researcher believes they have the possibility of comparisonBy contrasting, we can find the similarities and differences between them and

33、help us master the two languages quickly三、Morphological Feature1 The morphological feature of compounds in English can be divided into 4 categories1. The combination of the unchanged baseTax free white collar airmail2The first element maybe in its special combining formAs in socioeconomic(socio一十eco

34、nomic, the combining form is sociosocial)Astrochronologist barometer psychoanalysis3The second element may have a suffix required by the compound typeFor example, theatre-goer (theatre+go+-er)The form in-er that occurs as the second root functions in the compound as simple forms4Both elements may ha

35、ve a form that is compoundspecific as in the noun laundromat (lauder-+-omat, laundrlaundry, 一omatautoma)This is very weekly productiveAstronaut autocrat pseudonym.The orthographic form of En1ish compounds can be generalized into 6 classifications：1The combination of the 2 elements without hyphen，suc

36、h as darkroom, greenhouse，checkpoint, airborne.2The 2 elements an linked by hyphen, such as tow-path, glow-worm， duty-bound3The 2 elements areseparated，such as melting pot, washing machine, 1aunching pad4The 2 elements are linked by a connective vowelSuch as geometer, handicraftThis isAll important

37、feature of neo-classical compounds since they normally have a vowel between the basesOther examples：archelogy, telegraph, speedometer, aonometer, sonochrome5. Two or more elements are linked by a preposition, such as tug-of-war.6The 2 elements are linked bys，such as crow's nest, birds-eye，no man

38、s land, tailor's chalk, drivers seat7. Just like English compounds, Chinese compounds are usually formed by 2 elements, such as买卖(买+卖)，电灯(电+灯)Some bases that used to form compound elements are seldom singly usedSuch as Chinese character裳试the compound衣裳. These characters are just like word-format

39、ion dements in English, in another word，like bound morphemes in EnglishThus，according to the component dements(free morphemes or bound morphemes)，Chinese compoundsCall be divided into 4categories：1Flee morpheme + free morpheme：火车，小心，报纸This kind is similar to the compounds that formedby2unchangedbase

40、s in English, such as white-collar2Free morpheme + bound morpheme：飞机，作家，画家There is occasional resemblance in English compounds，such as Pekingology, the second element is a bound morpheme-logy3Bound morpheme + free morpheme：无礼，无度，超支They are like the English compounds which the first dement in its com

41、bining form，such as socioeconomic4Bound morpheme + bound morpheme：准备，健康，基础. They are equal toThe English compounds that have combining-specific elements，such as Laundromat. BesidesThere arc more complicated compounds in the Chinese language, whichAre formed by more than 2 bases，such as鸡蛋糕Unlike Engl

42、ish compoundsIt is hard to distinguish Chinese compounds from phrases in terms of orthographic ground because Chinese characters are never hyphenated四、 Phonological FeatureEnglish compounds generally have a primary stress on the first element but a secondary stress on the second constituent, such as earth, quake,On the contrary, similar noun phrases have a stress on the nouns while a secondary stress on the adjectivesCompare compounds with the corresponding noun phrases：That sounds like a black bird【Compound】A Carrion crow is a blackbird【Noun phrase】when such a