A Compare of Chinese and English Compounds

A Compare of Chinese and English Compounds

Abstract

Composition (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 Chinese．The words which arc formed by composition (or compounding) are called compounds．In the development of English and Chinese there seems to be a trend by using compounds．Compounds playa decisive role in English and Chinese literature and pervade everyday life．Therefore these phenomena provide large quantity of examples and contrastive possibility between the 2 languages．

Based 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 them．The features of compounds are shown in various aspects：morphological feature，phonological feat life, semantic feature and syntactic feature．Besides，comparison is also made from a cognitive point of view．By observing many examples, we try to illustrate some similarities and difference between compounds in English and Chinese.

The thesis is to present a general characteristics 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 structures．

Compounds in Chinese，however, can appear in various forms and involves a much broader field than compounds in English。

一、The classification of compounds in English

In 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； compound pronouns：another, something, anybody，myself； compound conjunctions：whenever, whereas；

compound prepositions：alongside，outside, throughout； compound numerals：twenty-five, nine—tenth；

1. Compound nouns in English

The traditional classifications of compound nouns are based on the part-of-speech in English．They 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 gum, lodging house． (5)present participle + noun．\bridge．

(6) verb + noun．Swearword, 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, upset downfall, upstart.

The shortage of these classifications mentioned above is too complex to see the inside semantic relations of compound nouns．It can overcome this shortage in a certain degree if the classifications are based on the syntactic features of the forming elements in components．In terms 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 + object

Haircut (to cut the hair), backrest (to rest the back) (4) subject + object

sugar cane(the cane yields sugar)，steam engine(-steam powers the engine) (5) parallel relation

deaf-mute (deaf and mute),transmitter-receiver(transmitter and receiver) (6) coordinative compound nouns(the whale is a killer)

2．Compound adjectives in English

We can also generalize the classifications of compound adjectives from 2 perspectives．Compound adjectives fall into 5 categories in terms of part-of-speech．They are centered as adjectives，verbs，nouns，prepositions and syntactic compound adjectives．

(1) Adjective is the head： ① noun + adjective：

fat-free toll-free maintenance-free dust-free interest-free ② adjective + adjective： wet-cold icy-cold red-hot ③ present participle + adjective：

steaming-hot smoking-hot soaking-wet ④ adverb + adjective：

ever-victorious over-cautious all-round (2) Verb is the head

① noun + present participle：

peace-loving time-saving summer-flowering ② noun + past participle：

heart-felt air-borne home-made

③ adjective(or adverb) + present participle： easy-going familiar-sounding hard-working ④ adjective(or adverb) + past participle：

newly-developed well-balanced far-fetched (3) Noun (including noun+ suffix—ed) is the head ①noun + noun + -ed：

chicken-hearted honey-mouthed paper-backed ② adjective + noun十-ed：

Short-sighted tender-hearted sweet-tempered ③ adjective + noun：

full-length white-collar red-letter ④ verb+noun：

Break- neck telltale cut-rate (4) Preposition + noun phrase In modern English，a lot of prepositional phrases lie in front of nouns and modify them．For example：

At-risk：Men over 45 are becoming the new at-risk population for significant problems with anxiety and depression．

(5) Sentence-like combination of words

Many phrases and sentences have become compound adjectives： devil-may-care dog-eat-dog run-of-the-mill

In terms of syntactic relations，compound adjectives can be divided into 6 categories：

(1) adjective + adverbial ① comparative adverbial

stone-deaf(as deaf as a stone)，dog-tired(as tired as a dog after a long chase) ② degree adverbial

steaming-hot(so hot as to steam)．wringing-wet( 30wet that it needs wringing)． ③ cause adverbial

home-sick(sick because of being away from home or family)．travel-worn(worn because of traveling)

④ place adverbial

world-famous(famous in the world), oven fresh(fresh from oven) (2) verb+adverbial ① mmanner adverbial

hard-working( to work hard), quick-frozen(to be frozen quickly) ②degree adverbial

far-reaching( to reach far)．Half-baked (to be baked partially) ③time adverbial

summer-flowering(--to flower in summer), newborn (to be born recently)． ④ place adverbial

ocean-going (to goon the ocean)。home-made(to be made at home) (3) subject + verb

①verb predicate：

hen-pecked (hen peck(cocks)], book-filled [books fill (the room)]. ②predicative

threadbare[the thread(of sleeves)is bare], heartsick(the heart is sick)． (4) verb + object

peace-loving (to love peace), time-saving( to save time) (5) attribute——noun ①attribute is adjective

full-length(o full length)，white—collar(white collar) ② attribute is ‘s genitive

Bull-necked (bull’s neck), chicken- hearted ( chicken’s heart) (6) Coordinative relation

bitter-sweet (bitter and sweet), deaf-mute(deaf and mute),

3．Compound verbs in English

There 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 conversion．Back formation is most commonly from nouns in-er (ghostwriter—ghostwrite)，or adjectives in –ed (hen-pecked—hen 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 outlast, underestimate．The following types of compound verbs are distinguished according to the component bases involved．

(1) noun + verb

baby-sit brainwash chain-smoke (2) noun + noun

Snowball stone-wall bar-code (3) adjective + noun

Blacklist fast-track shortchange (4) preposition + noun\\verb

Backdate background bypass (5) verb + verb

blow-dry cook-chill freeze-dry

The three parts mentioned above show great productive features and provide contrastive possibility with Chinese compounds．

二、The classifications of compounds in Chinese

According to some scholars．almost all the Chinese characters are compounds, the 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 feature．So the thesis only attempts to tell the classifications based on syntactic features．

In terms of relations between(or 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 meaning．Every element in this compound is of equality．For example：道路，人民。

2．Modifier +head compounds

In this kind of compounds, the first element modifies or determines the second，and the second element is the main component．For example, in the compound手表，手modifies表，and表is the main component.

3．”verb + complement” compounds

This kind of compounds is formed by a verb and its complementary element．For example：

扩大，埋没，提高.

4．”verb + object” compounds

This kind of compounds is formed by a verbal element and its object，which is usually a noun．For example：

命令，司仪，司令，理事.

Sometimes the second element is a verb or an adjective．For example： 挨骂，挨批，上算 5．“subject+ predicate” compounds

The relation between the two elements in the compounds is similar to subject and predicate in a sentence．For example：

年轻，心疼，地震 6．complex compounds

This kind of compounds is called complex compounds since they are combined by three or more elements．The relations among them are also complex．

(1) adjective+【noun + noun】 小钢炮，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 above, we can draw a clear conclusion that the compounds in the 2 languages are formed by2 or more dements and used frequently．Because of this

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