A Contrastive Study Of English And Chinese Syllables

This thesis is a systematic contrastive study of English and Chinese syllables mainly focusing on their differences.There are several weak points in contrastive study of English and Chinese syllables. The first is that the contrast study mainly focuses on the phonetic aspect, much work is done in structure while other important aspects such as function and usage are neglected. The second is that it tends to compare Chinese syllables by the standard of English syllables, so the characteristics of Chinese syllables are not fully studied. The third is that the studies especially studies on the differences are not systematic.To counter these weak points of the former studies, mainly using inductive method, statistical method, contrastive method and descriptive method we have done some work in the following aspects: Firstly we compare English syllables and Chinese syllables in many aspects. From inside, we compare them in constituents, structure types, and structure layers. From outside, we compare them in juncture, usage and function; Secondly, we pay more attention to the differences than similarities. From different aspects, we have got several pairs of relative characteristics: being pieced together and unity; diversity and simplicity; one dimension and multi-dimension; continuity and discreteness; nonreversibility and reversibility; structurity and meaning-directivity.; Thirdly ,we do it on different levels and in a systematic way. We make a summary of the main characteristics of English and Chinese syllables. And at last we summarized them in relative linearity and nonlinearity.The thesis has both theoretical value and practical value. From the theoreticalpoint of view, it can not only help us to get a deeper understanding of English and Chinese syllables but also can help us to understand the essential characteristics of English and Chinese languages. The basic unit of a system can usually show the nature of the system. A syllable is the smallest phonetic structure unit that can be felt naturally. By analyzing the differences between English and Chinese syllables can help us to understand the main characteristics and the differences of the two languages. English syllables have linear features because English language is a grammatical language. Chinese syllables have nonlinear features because Chinese belongs to semantic language. From the practical point of view, the systematic contrastive description and summary of the main characteristics of English and Chinese syllables on different levels also have some value in guiding English and Chinese teaching practice in our country.