An Interpretation Of Language Variation In China English From The Perspective Of Transfer Theory

Variations refer to differences in pronunciation, grammar, or word choice within a language. Language variation is a universal phenomenon of human language. Language variation in language communication is a communicative strategy more than a special language phenomenon. The aim of variation studies lies in comprehending truly living language, making a further understanding of process of language change, forecasting and interposing language development.Variation in a language may be related to the region in which the language is used. As a product of regional variation of English, China English used as a foreign language in cross-cultural communication is the integration of two different languages and cultures. Language variation in China English is also a communicative strategy. In order to achieve better communicative intentions, language variation is inevitable in China English.Based on transfer theory, this paper makes a qualitative research and inquires into the phenomenon of language variation in China English. From the perspective of positive transfer, this thesis places emphasis on expounding English variations in Chinese socio-cultural context. Two questions are to be answered: What are the characteristics of China English? How does English realize its variation in Chinese socio-cultural context? The findings indicate that variations in China English are mainly revealed at lexical, syntactic, textual and grammatical levels. At the lexical level, they are revealed in borrowings, coinage and semantic change transferred from Chinese culture. At the syntactic level, they are revealed in parataxis and the topic-prominent sentence structure. At the textual level, they are revealed in spiral, inductive and paratactic text structures in letters, news, essays and poetry. At the grammatical level, they are revealed in some nativized structures transferred from Chinese in word order, sentence order and possessive construction. The variations in cross-cultural communication are the results of users' conscious or unconscious choices, which are influenced or partially governed by Chinese linguistic and cultural transfer.Language variation in China English has positive influences on society. It contributes to the spread of Chinese civilization and culture, enriches linguistic expressiveness and fits in with the needs of language communication. At the same time, it has negative influences, namely, lashes and hampers linguistic standardized construction. Therefore, in order to impose restrictions on negative influences China English may exert, we should make an earnest study of China English and propose standard general plans so that China English can grow soundly and systematically.