Сравнение китайских и английских речевых связок в устных повествованиях

Category of linkages in English and Chinese oral narratives

English is a synthetic language and Chinese an analytic one, and there are both similarities and differences in terms of category of linkages used in oral narratives in these two languages.

Conjunctions. Conjunctions are used as linkages in both English and Chinese. For example in the 20 English texts we have cited the following conjunctions, and, but, when, as, while, after, before, because, so, even though, or, where, that, if, so that, etc.; and in the 20 Chinese texts we have cited the following conjunctions, 然后 ránhòu (then; and then)，那么 nàme (then)，结果jiéguǒ (consequently)，因为yīnwéi (because)， 所以suóyǐ (so)，可是kěshì (but)，不过búguò (but)，于是yúshì (thus)，而且érqiě (and that)，并且bìngqiě (in addition)，虽然suīrán (although)，如果rúguǒ (if), etc.. The majority of the linkages used in the texts are conjunctions, which is inconsistent with the characteristic of a narrative. But conjunctions of English and conjunctions of Chinese are still different in their positions and functions in a clause.

Adverbs. Adverbs are usually optional elements to the structure of a clause in both English and Chinese. The major function of an adverb is to modify a verb, a verb phrase, an adjective, another adverb, or a clause. But not all adverbs can serve as linkages in a narrative. In the English texts one such adverb is cited: then. And in the Chinese texts two such adverbs are cited: 后来 hòulái (then), and 首先 shǒuxiān (firstly). Quirk et al (1985:440) summarized four grammatical functions of adverbs: ajuncts, subjuntcs, disjuncts, and conjuncts, and the last one refers to the expression of “the speaker’s assessment of the relation between two linguistic units”. Then is an example of adverbs serving the function of conjuncts. Similar to adverbs like then in English, 后来 hòulái (then), and 首先 shǒuxiān (firstly) are used to show the relation between linguistic units, i.e. clauses or even greater units like texts, and they provide a temporal or sequential background for the following clause or text. According to the classification of adverbs made by Li and Thompson, “movable adverbs” are those which “may occur either before or after the topic or subject of a sentence” and “provide a semantic frame within which the event described by the sentence occurs” (Li and Thompson 1991: 320). 后来 hòulái (then), and 首先 shǒuxiān (firstly) are examples of this type.

Relative pronouns/adverbs. Relative clauses are common in English and they appear after the linguistic unit they modify and are usually linked by relative pronouns or relative adverbs with the main clause, serving as modifiers. In the 20 English oral narratives 123 cases of relative pronouns/adverbs are cited. In Chinese a clause can also be used as a modifier, but it is only embedded in the main clause before the linguistic unit that it modifies, without any special formal linkage. In 20 Chinese texts two such examples are cited: one is used by narrator 10, the other by narrator 12.

(1) 所以他把他已经摘好的满满的一篓......一篓芭乐拿走了。
Suóyǐ tā bǎ tā yǐjīng zhāihǎo de mánmǎn de yìlǒu ...yìlǒu bālè názǒu le.
So he takes away that full basket ... that basket of guavas that he has already picked.

(2) 我觉得它音响效果很好呀。他上那个楼梯的声音都很清楚。
Wǒ juédé tā yīnxiǎng xiàoguǒ hénhǎo ya. Tā shàng nàgè lóutī de shēngyīn dōu hěn qīngchǔ.
I think its sound effect is really good. The sound (that is made when) he is climbing the ladder is very clear.

In example (1) there are two modifiers before the noun phrase 一篓芭乐 yìlǒu bālè (a basket of guavas): one is a clause, 他已经摘好 tā yǐjīng zhāihǎo (he has already picked), the other is a reduplicated adjective, 满 mǎn (full). Both of them show that they are modifiers of the noun phrase by just using a structural particle 的 de. It is the same with the clause-modifier 他上那个楼梯 Tā shàng nàgè lóutī (he climes that ladder) in example (2).

Locatives: The locative is a special word category in Chinese, which refers to location originally. But they can also be used to refer to time through metaphor. For example, in the present research there are two locatives which are used as linkages in the 20 Chinese texts: 以后 yǐhòu (later; after), and 之后 zhīhòu (later; after). Fundamentally both of them mean a physical position or location of something or somebody, i.e. being behind or after another thing or person. But now they are mainly used to show “the time after...” and serve as a linkage, providing a temporal background for a consecutive event or act. Following are two examples taken from Text 5.

(3) 他走过去以后，从那边过来一个小孩子，uh...骑...骑...骑一辆脚踏车。
Tā zǒu guòqù yǐhòu, cóng nàbiān guòlái yígè xiǎo háizi, uh...qí...qí...qí yí liàng jiǎotàchē.
After he goes over, a boy comes over there, uh...riding...riding...riding a bike.

(4) 那个在树上摘...摘水果的那个老先生下来之后，莫名其妙的。
Nàgè zài shùshàng zhāi... zhāi shuíguǒ de nàgè lǎo xiānshēng xiàlái zhīhòu, mòmíng-qímiào de.
After that old man who is picking...picking fruit comes down, (he) appears baffled.

Obviously, 以后 yǐhòu (later; after) and 之后 zhīhòu (later; after) in the above examples link two clauses and provide a temporal background for the event or act narrated in the second clause.

Phrases. Phrases in both English and Chinese can be used as linkages between neighboring clauses in oral narratives, providing information of time, cause, sequence, etc. for the following clause. But the phrasal linkages in English and Chinese belong to different categories. In the 20 English texts two prepositional phrases are cited: by that time, and about the time; while in Chinese two noun phrases: ..的时候 ...de shíhòu (when; the time when), and 这/那（个）时候 zhè/nà (gè) shíhòu (at this/that moment), and four verb phrases: 过了不久 guò le bùjiǔ (soon; after a while), 过了一下 guò le yíxià (soon; after a while), （一）开始 (yì) kāishǐ (at the (very) beginning), and 接下来 jiē xiàlái (then; next), are cited. It is interesting to note that though the phrasal linkages in these two languages belong to different categories they are all related to temporal sequences.