The Comparison of Word Orders of Inverted Sentences in Ancient Chinese， with their Modern Chinese and English Expressions

張史春子

The Comparison of Word Orders of Inverted Sentences in Ancient Chinese， with their Modern Chinese and English Expressions

張史春子

The linguistic system of ancient Chinese has a amazing similarity to the linguistic system of modern English. This passage reveals the similarities of the word orders of the inverted sentences in ancient Chinese and its modern English expression.

word order inverted sentences ancient Chinese modern English

It is widely accepted that Chinese and English belong to two totally different linguistic systems. However， the linguistic system of ancient Chinese has an amazing similarity to that of modern English. To clarify the connection can simplify English learning procedures for Chinese.

A. The comparison of word order of the inverted sentences in ancient Chinese and their modern English expression.

1. Inverted sentence in ancient Chinese shares the same word order with its modern English expression

a. Subject postposition （to show a strong emotion toward the subject）

Example：甚（Adverbial）矣，汝（subject）之不惠！（《列子·愚公移山》）

How（Adverbial）foolish you（subject）are

Regular word order：汝之不惠甚矣！

The two sentences both put their subjects behind the modifier to emphasize the extent of foolish of the people received the criticism

b. Object ahead （to emphasize the object）

1） Object ahead when it acts as the object of the verb originally in an interrogative sentence.

Example：大王來何（Object）操（verb）？（《鴻門宴》）

What（Object） does the emperor carry（verb）with him？

Regular word order： 大王操何來？

The two sentences are both in the interrogative sentences and according to the language-using habits of ancient Chinese and modern English， the object should be put before the verb to form the interrogative mood.

c. Attribute postposition （to emphasize the headword）

1）Head word +attribute +者

Example：客（Headword）有吹洞簫者（attribute），倚歌而和之。（《赤壁賦》）

There was a guest who was playing Xiao（Headword attribute）， and Iaccompanied his lyrics.

Regular word order：有吹洞簫客，倚歌而和之。

“吹洞簫”is a verb-object phrase， and it becomes a attribute modifying headword “客” by plusing “者” and follows the headword. In modern English ， we should use attribute clause “who was playing Xiao ”which still follows the headword “guest ”， so the word order of the inverted sentence of ancient Chinese and its modern English translation keep the same.

2） Headword+之（而）+attribute+者（“之” is the mark of headword preposition.）

Example：馬（Subject）之千里者（attribute），一食或盡粟一石。（《馬說》）

The horsewho（Subject）can run a thousand mile without stop（attribute clause） sometimes eat……

Regular word order：千里馬，一食或盡粟一石。

“千里”is a noun acting as verb here which means “run a thousand mile without stop”， and it becomes a attribute modifying headword “馬” by “之” and“者”， and follows the headword. In modern English ， attribute clause“who can run a thousand mile without stop” still follows the headword “horse ”， so the word order of the inverted sentence and its modern English translation keep the same.

d. Postposition of preposition phrase

1） Most of the time when a prepositional phrase constituted by preposition “于” acts as a complement in the sentence.

Example： 青取（Predicate）之于藍(lán)（adverbial modifier）而青（predicate）于藍(lán)（adverbial modifier ）。（《勸學(xué)》）

Indigo-blue is taken from blue（Predicateadverbial modifier）but it is bluerthan blue（Predicateadverbial modifier）.

Regular word order：青于藍(lán)取之而于藍(lán)青.

“于藍(lán)” acts as the adverbial modifier following the predicates “取” and“青” respectively，and in modern English ， “from blue”and“than blue ” still follow the predicates ，and the word order doesn’t change.

B. Conclusions

To sum up， the passage has given an all-round analysis of the similarities between the word orders of the inverted sentences in ancient Chinese and its modern English expressions. Hope this passage can give beneficial reference to translating ancient Chinese into modern English.

WORK CITED：

［1］王力.古代漢語［M］.北京：中華書局，1964.

［2］張振邦.新編英語語法教程［M］.上海：上海外語教育出版社，1983.

（作者單位：上海海事大學(xué)外國語學(xué)院）