Surface cues and pragmatic interpretation of given/new in Mandarin Chinese and English: A comparative study

2012 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 490-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shu-Hui Chen ◽  
Shu-Chu Chen ◽  
Tung-Hsien He
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Pragmatic Interpretation ◽  
Chinese And English

Accusative case in passives

Linguistics ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grant Goodall
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Double Object ◽  
Standard View ◽  
Accusative Case ◽  
Passive Construction ◽  
Chinese And English

Abstract The standard explanation for Ν Ρ movement in the passive construction has been that the N P must move into the nominative position because no accusative case is available. This paper examines the implications for this view of some double-object constructions in Mandarin Chinese and English that are ungrammatical as active clauses but improve significantly as passives. These facts are unexpected under the standard view of passives, but I suggest that they can be explained if we assume that the second object is not licensed for case in the active versions but is able to check accusative case in the passive version, thus arguing that accusative case is available in passive clauses.

Parental numeric language input to Mandarin Chinese and English speaking preschool children

2010 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 341-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALICIA CHANG ◽  
CATHERINE M. SANDHOFER ◽  
LAUREN ADELCHANOW ◽  
BENJAMIN ROTTMAN
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Mathematical Performance ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Language Input ◽  
Chinese And English ◽  
Syntactic Frames ◽  
Preschool Aged Children

ABSTRACTThe present study examined the number-specific parental language input to Mandarin- and English-speaking preschool-aged children. Mandarin and English transcripts from the CHILDES database were examined for amount of numeric speech, specific types of numeric speech and syntactic frames in which numeric speech appeared. The results showed that Mandarin-speaking parents talked about number more frequently than English-speaking parents. Further, the ways in which parents talked about number terms in the two languages was more supportive of a cardinal interpretation in Mandarin than in English. We discuss these results in terms of their implications for numerical understanding and later mathematical performance.

Forward and backward transfer of sentence processing cues in English and Mandarin Chinese: A call for approximate replication of Liu, Bates, and Li (1992) and Su (2001)

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Stephen Skalicky ◽  
Victoria Chen
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Competition Model ◽  
Functional Explanation ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Processing Strategies ◽  
Forward Transfer ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Chinese And English

Abstract The Competition Model has served as a functional explanation of cross-linguistic influence and transfer for more than 30 years. A large number of studies have used the Competition Model to frame investigations of sentence processing strategies in different types of bilingual and multilingual speakers. Among the different bilingual speakers investigated, Mandarin Chinese and English bilinguals represent a clear testing ground for the claims of the Competition Model. This is because of purportedly stark contrasts in sentence processing strategies between the two languages. Previous studies investigating sentence processing strategies of English L2 and Mandarin L2 bilinguals suggests forward transfer of L1 cues to the L2, moderated by L2 proficiency. In this paper, we argue for replication of two of these studies, namely Liu, Bates, and Li (1992) and Su (2001). These studies continue to be cited today as evidence of differences between English and Mandarin sentence processing strategies which is in turn taken as support for the predictions of the Competition Model. However, both studies presented methodological limitations in terms of measures of proficiency, participant and stimuli selection, and the statistical analysis. We suggest approximate replication of both of these studies and provide suggestions for how such replications might be conducted.

scholarly journals A Comparative Study on Chinese and English Animals Idioms and Translation Strategies

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 231
Author(s):  
Jili Liu
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Translation Strategies ◽  
The Comparative Study ◽  
Compare And Contrast ◽  
Chinese And English ◽  
Translation Principles

Idiom, being an indispensable constituent of language, is the quintessence of the erudition. Every civilization has its own characteristics on the ground that there are some discrepancies in history, geography, customs, etc., among divergent sovereign states. Therefore, it is unambiguous that there subsists divergences in metaphorical objects and its implication of animal idioms among distinctive erudition. This paper attempts to compare and contrast English and Chinese animal idioms from its metaphorical objects and meanings and they can be categorized into four types. It is widely acknowledged that some animal idioms have equivalent connotations in culture. However, the majority of them have diverse implications among distinctive countries. On this basis, many exemplars are cited to make clear translation strategies of Chinese animals idioms. The author will interpose several interpretation principles a. Equivalent Translation, Reserve Image; b. Corresponding Translation, Change Image; c. Compromising Translation, Abandon Image. The author expects these translation principles will provide some constructive clues for translators. Here the author will mainly illustrate the translation strategies of idioms that have same metaphorical objects and maintain different metaphorical meanings as well as idioms of metaphorical vacancies on the basis of the comparative study on Chinese and English Animals idioms.

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