Different Ways of Expressing Direction in the Verb Phrase in Chinese and English

【Abstract】In cross-cultural communication， the very significant content of culture is “Language”. Here in this thesis the author will focus on one specific topic in language—expressing direction in the verb phrase in Chinese and English. In the thesis， the author tried to discover both similarities and differences in the two languages， to show some guidance for language learners， and keep them from the interference of mother tongue.

【Key words】globalization; directional; literal; figurative; idiomatic

【作者簡介】王麗（1982.09-），女，漢族，天津人，天津師范大學津沽學院外語系，講師，碩士研究生，研究方向：英美文化。

Introduction

Direction can be expressed in the English verb phrase by a variety of construction. These can be divided into four categories： Verb + Prepositional Phrase; Prepositional Verb; Phrasal Verb; Phrasal-Prepositional Verb. The term we shall use to include all four categories is “ directional verb phrase”. In English there are about 30 particles and preposition， which can be used in directional verb phrases. Chinese students learning English encounter problems with the use of prepositions and phrasal verbs similar to those of foreign students learning to use Chinese directional verbs.

1. Characteristics of Chinese directional verbs

1.1 In Chinese， directional verbs can be used independently， acting as the predicate of the sentence：

For example： 張三來了。

1.2 When directional verbs are used in conjunction with a main verb， the following points can be noted.

⑴“來”and “去”indicate action in opposite directions， with the speakers position as point of reference. e.g. 請今晚到我這兒來。

⑵When “上，下，進，出，回，過，開，起” act as single-character directional verbs， the direction expressed does not bear a strong relation to the speaker， but to another object or place. e.g. 登山隊爬上了高峰。

⑶The direction expressed by compound directional verbs“上來，下去…”etc. often relates to both the speaker and another object or place. e.g. 我們的車子開不出去。

1.3 The meanings of the single-character directional verbs are given below. Compound directional verbs can be formed by adding“來”or “去”to each of the single-character directional verbs， with the exception of “起”，which can only take“來”。

1.4 We have divided the combination of main verb + directional verb into the categories below according to meaning： Literal， Figurative， Idiomatic.

⑴ Literal （字面義） e.g. 坐下 sit down; ⑵ Figurative （引申義） e.g. 唱起來start to sing; ⑶ Idiomatic（習慣義）The verb phrase has no directional meaning. The main verb and the directional verb combine， often with “得”or “不”， to produce a completely new meaning. Eg. 對不起。

2.Characteristics of English directional verb phrases

2.1 Structural Classification

⑴Verb + Prepositional Phrase? e.g. John fell on the floor.

⑵Prepositional verb? e.g. He listened to the radio.

⑶Phrasal verb e.g. The grandmother brought up the children.

⑷ Phrasal-Prepositional Verb.

2.2 Classification according to types of meanings

⑴ Literal：Both the verb and the particle keep their individual lexical meanings. e.g. bring in; ⑵ Figurative ：The verb phrase has a figurative meaning. stay over; ⑶ Idiomatic? eg. turn up.

3. Similarities and differences

3.1 Corresponding directional verb and particle in Chinese and English.漢語與英語中趨向動詞短語相同和相應的例子。例如：跑上來 run up.

3.2 Directional verb and particle in Chinese and English漢、英相似的趨向動詞短語的例子。例子：他愛上她了。He fell in love with her.

3.3 Directional verb used in Chinese 漢語中用趨向動詞短語而英語中不用的例子。例子：看上去不壞。It seems to be all right.

4. Conclusion

At the beginning of the paper， I analyze the respective characteristics of direction expressions in Chinese and English with proper examples. Then I put the two languages together to see the similarities and differences at expressing direction. The examples are also shown to demonstrate the ideas.

References：

[1]吳中偉.現代漢語句子的主題研究[M].北京大學出版社，2004.