A Contrastive Study Of Comparative Ellipsis In English And Chinese:A Systemic Functional Linguistic Approach

Comparative constructions usually compare the same attribute of different carriers or different carriers of the same attribute.In order to achieve the diction and meaningfulness,some repeated syntactic components of the two comparative items or components presupposed in the context are often omitted,thus the comparative ellipsis is widely found both in English and Chinese.In the experiential metafunction,comparative ellipsis enables a closer semantic connection between the comparative items and presents the comparison point between the comparative subject and object visually.In the textual metafunction,comparative ellipsis is also an important cohesive device and a focus prominent device,aiding in drawing attention to the comparative point of comparison.However,the causes of differences between English and Chinese have not been fully explained in the current research,nor have the questions of whether comparative ellipsis should be analyzed semantically as individual comparatives or degree comparatives,syntactically as phrasal comparatives or clausal comparatives,and whether the semantic interpretation and syntactic recovery mechanism of comparative ellipsis in different languages can be explained within a unified theoretical framework.In view of the current research situation,this study takes systemic functional linguistics as the theoretical framework to compare the functions and rules of comparative ellipsis,and the differences in semantic interpretation and syntactic recovery of ellipsis in English and Chinese.Systemic functional linguistics is universal and applicable to cross-linguistic research.At the semantic level,the transitivity system,which realizes the experiential metafunction,provides an analytical model for understanding the semantic information of the omitted parts.And the mood system which realizes the interpersonal metafunction and theme system which realizes textual metafunction also help to analyze the semantic function of ellipsis.At the syntactic level,the syntactic analysis approach of the Cardiff model is able to visualize the componence,filling and exponence relations between the syntactic categories of comparative constructions,and can recover the omitted syntactic components according to the transitivity system.Comparative ellipses between English and Chinese comparative constructions can be interpreted from the internal and external aspects of the discourse as well as from the surface and the depth of the language.Systemic functional linguistics views context as a comprehensive contextual idea that includes situational context,cognitive context,and cultural context.This study uses a systemic functional linguistics approach to answer three research questions based on the features of comparative ellipsis in English and Chinese:(1)What are the ellipsis patterns of each type of English and Chinese comparative constructions,what semantic functions are achieved,and what syntactic features are presented after ellipsis?(2)Various ellipsis methods are used in comparative constructions in English and Chinese.What are the various methods for giving a complete and accurate semantic interpretation of the ellipsis parts and how to recover the omitted syntactic components?(3)How can the variations of ellipsis rules,semantic interpretation,and recovery techniques for omitted parts in English and Chinese be explained theoretically?The purpose of this study is to make a contrastive study on the comparative ellipsis in English and Chinese using the principle of"meaning-centered,form realizing meaning",with the description of examples serving as the main approach and the explanation of reasons serving as a supplement.Regarding the first concern,it has been determined that English comparative constructions are compound sentences in which the comparative subject and object clauses are connected by comparative markers in a parallel comparison connection.Chinese comparative constructions consist of simple sentences that relate the comparative subject and object using prepositional comparative markers.The English and Chinese comparative constructions are specifically expressed in three types of omission:(1)When nominal ellipsis occurs in the comparative item,the subject and complement of the English object clause will be omitted as a whole under the presupposition of the subject clause;the head of the nominal group can also be omitted,and the qualifier and modifier will be elevated to be the head.In Chinese comparative constructions,the comparative item can be omitted when continuing the preceding noncomparative sentences.The ellipsis of the subject or complement in the object-filling clause is less prominent in Chinese comparative sentences,unless it uses quasiattributive structures to clarify the transitivity systems of the situation within the comparative item.(2)In the verbal ellipsis,the English object clause can omit the same process verb when the subject and object clauses are compared by phrases of varying degrees of explicit participants.The subject-predicate structures of English comparative sentences will be omitted when the subject and object are compared against environmental factors as time or place.The subject and comparative adverbial of Chinese comparative constructions may be filled with phrases after nominalization,which results in verbal ellipsis in the adverbial-filled clauses.Nevertheless,this phenomenon must occur in clauses with the predicate extension of the word "de"("得").(3)The remarkable feature of English comparative sentences in terms of clausal ellipsis is the clause omitted caused by embedded projection,and the object clause can omit the whole clause expressing the projected content under the presupposition of the subject clause.The English comparative sentence can also omit the whole clause expressing the comparison process in the question-answer sentences.However,the projected content is implied in the projective verb through metonymy in Chinese comparative constructions.There is no clausal ellipsis that omits the projected content,only the clausal ellipsis in the question-answer sentences.English and Chinese comparative constructions in different types of ellipsis show the subject-object separation and subject-object fusion in different degrees.English and Chinese comparative constructions have various methods for semantic interpretation and syntactic recovery in accordance with their respective ellipsis rules:(1)The parallelism of transitivity systems between the object clause and subject clause can be employed for semantic interpretation.When recovering syntactic structure,English adopts the discourse centering model,which primarily refers to the subjects being contrasted.In Chinese comparative constructions,the comparative subject and object are combined into a single syntactic level unit.The Chinese comparative constructions adopt the discourse focusing model,when the semantic interpretation is carried out,the relationship between the participants,the prominence of the antecedent and topicalization need to be comprehensively considered.After determining the antecedent,the ellipsis of the head can be recovered according to the determiner and modifier reserved by the object nominal group.(2)In the verbal ellipsis,English comparative sentence can make a parallel comparison between the subject and object clause,obtain the process components from the subject clause.English comparative construction can judge the syntactic function of the reserved components in the sentence with the help of the context.The verb of the subject clause in Chinese comparative constructions can control the object clause,and the object clause can obtain the process meaning from the verb of the subject clause.But in the process of syntax recovery,the comparative subject must be converted into the predicate extension structure and then copied to the object clause.(3)When the embedded projective clause ellipsis occurs,the English comparative constructions can be interpreted by comparing the contrast relationship of "counterfactuality-factuality" "anteriority-posteriority" and"unpredictability-already" between the subject and the object.English comparative constructions should make use of various subjunctive forms while they go through syntactic recovery.When ellipsis occurs in the question-answer sentences,both English and Chinese can use the comparative process in the question for semantic interpretation and syntactic recovery.Comparative ellipsis between English and Chinese differs in the subject-object separation and fusion mostly because of four things:(1)In terms of language type,English retains the features of the inflectional language,resulting in the word sequence"adjective-comparative marker-comparative object",which adheres to strict syntactic standards.Chinese is an isolating language,and the word order is "comparative markercomparative object-adjectives".(2)In terms of psychological cognitive factors,English and Chinese have different syntactic conventions and markedness,and correspondingly have different manifestations in iconicity and salience.(3)In terms of philosophical thinking factors,different psychological cognition manifestations in English and Chinese result from various philosophical thinking paradigms in China and the West.In Western philosophy,logical argumentation and rational analysis are pursued,and English comparative sentences are compared according to the degree.Chinese comparative constructions serve as an individual comparison,and Chinese philosophy adheres to the unified dialectic of intuition and thought.(4)In terms of national cultural aspects,the various philosophical formulations in English and Chinese originate from the different material,institutional and ideological cultures in China and the West.This study compares the comparative ellipsis between English and Chinese in the framework of systemic functional linguistics,summarizes the different ellipsis rules,semantic interpretation and syntactic recovery methods,and attempts to explore the factors that cause these differences.At the theoretical level,this study has enriched the description of ellipsis in systemic functional linguistics,and formed the concept of subject-object separation and subject-object fusion by enriching the idea of context,which has improved the explanatory power of systemic functional linguistics to language phenomena.At the practical level,the semantic interpretation and syntactic recovery of ellipsis explored in this study provide some reference value for language teaching,translation practice,language information processing and other fields.