A Contrastive Study of Word Sequence of English and Chinese Nominal Groups: A Systemic Functional Approach

Manliang Li,Guichao Zhang

doi:10.5539/ells.v7n3p53

Abstract

Nominal group is always a heating study object for linguists. There are many scholars who have shed light on this field. However, among the current studies, most of them are just confined into the language of English. The contrastive study of nominal groups in English and Chinese, especially the study of the word sequence of modifiers, is rarely to be found. This paper, adopting a systemic functional approach, mainly conducted under the guidance of Halliday’s interpretation of nominal groups from the experiential point of view, attempts to make a contrastive study of the similarities and differences between Chinese and English nominal groups with respect to the word sequence of their modifiers. On the one hand, this paper is a tentative study of word sequence of the modifiers both in Chinese nominal groups and English nominal groups, aiming to make a general description of them; on the other hand, through the contrast, we are trying to enable the readers to have a better understanding of the mechanism of the modifiers in nominal groups in both languages.

Highlights

Quirk et al (1985, p. 1238) held that “just as the sentence may be indefinitely complex, so may the noun phrase
This paper is a tentative study of word sequence of the modifiers both in Chinese nominal groups and English nominal groups, aiming to make a general description of them; on the other hand, through the contrast, we are trying to enable the readers to have a better understanding of the mechanism of the modifiers in nominal groups in both languages
There are many scholars who have shed light on this field already, such as Quirk et al (1985), Halliday (1994/2000) and Fawcett (2008) and so on. They all make an elaborative analysis on nominal groups. These studies are mainly concentrated on the discussion of English nominal groups, and few studies have been conducted in Chinese nominal groups, not to mention the contrastive study between the nominal groups in both languages

Summary

Introduction

Quirk et al (1985, p. 1238) held that “just as the sentence may be indefinitely complex, so may the noun phrase. 1238) held that “just as the sentence may be indefinitely complex, so may the noun phrase. This must be so, since sentences themselves can be reshaped so as to come within noun-phrase structure.”. There are many scholars who have shed light on this field already, such as Quirk et al (1985), Halliday (1994/2000) and Fawcett (2008) and so on. They all make an elaborative analysis on nominal groups. These studies are mainly concentrated on the discussion of English nominal groups, and few studies have been conducted in Chinese nominal groups, not to mention the contrastive study between the nominal groups in both languages

Objectives

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion