Comparison of Chinese and English in the Principle of Temporal Sequence

【Abstract】Chinese follows the Principle of Temporal Sequence in expression，however，English doesn’t.Based on the principle， this present paper will make a comparison of Chinese and English expressions from two aspects of syntax and words，thereby getting known more about the important principle and mastering it better.

【Key words】Principle of Temporal Sequence；word order； conjunction predicate

【 作者簡介】王玨青，西北農林科技大學。

Languages have the feature of linearity，which means linguistic units are arranged in a certain order.The choice of word order need to follow certain principles. Jakobson pointed out that in a combination of S1 and S2，the sequence of them generally corresponds to the time relationship of what they describe.On this basis，Dai Haoyi initiated cognitive-based Chinese functional grammar， and raised the Principle of Temporal Sequence（PTS）： the relative sequence of two syntax units depend on the chronological order of the state in the realm of concept that they represent.

We can verify the PTS proposed by Dai Haoyi from the sequences of sentence and sentence even word and word.Meanwhile，through the analysis on the order of sentences in English and Chinese that express the same meaning，it could be more clearly to compare the differences between Chinese and English word order.

1. The word order between sentences and sentences

It is mentioned that Principle of Temporal Sequence（PTS） is the relative sequence of two syntax units depend on the chronological order of the state in the realm of concept that they represent.That is to say，in Chinese，usually what happens first is explained first and what happens second is explained second.However，English doesn’t follow this principle although it has the same structure of SVO with Chinese.Take the same three sentences as examples：我下了課， 再去圖書館.（I go to library after class.）

We can find that Chinese is in chronological order strictly，while the formation of English sentence patterns depend on logical order，which is reflected in sentences as a preposition or conjunction，such as “after，as soon as， until，as long as”.These words connect the relationship of two sentences tightly， which are well-structured but with loose sentence pattern.Conversely，there is just only one language sequence for one sentence in Chinese，depending on the order of what happens.

2. The word order between words and words

Usually the two verbs are used together in the situations of sequence of actions，purpose of actions，compound verbs，adverbial and comparison sentences.

In English，people used to use fixed phrases or prepositions to connect two actions.At times when two verbs are used together，the later one is the purpose of the whole sentence and it follows the PTF.

In the types of Chinese compound verbs，verb-resultative construction must follow the PTS，and the importance of this principle is clear.The principle of sequence can control the position of adverbial. In Chinese，different position results in different meanings.Besides， the PTS applies to Chinese comparison. Comparison has fixed pattern in English：comparative degree+than，which can omit the process of comparing and drawing a conclusion.

Chinese strictly follows the principle of temporal sequence，while English is much freer than Chinese. Although English isn’t chronological like Chinese，it also have clear logical relationship and sequence. In general， in the principle of temporal sequence， the differences between English and Chinese are as followed：

In Chinese，what happens first is put before what happens later；while English follows the strict sentence patterns.

In Chinese，the result of an action is put by compound verbs，which also follows the PTS；while there are some verbs that can express result of actions in English，such as “finish”，and it doesn’t follow the time principle.

Chinese has quite strict syntax and order；while English has loose language order and strict sentence patterns.

The PTS is most common principle in Chinese grammar. As long as we follow it，can we master the most native expressions and distinguish the cognitive even cultural difference between Chinese people and English-speaking people.

References：

[1]戴浩一.時間順序和漢語的語序[J].國外語言學，1988，1：10，17-18.

[2]楊德峰.時間順序原則與“動詞+ 復合趨向動詞”帶賓語形成的句式[J].世界漢語教學，2005，3：56.