A Comparative Analysis On Chinese And English Parentheses

So far, in the grammar field the main parts of the sentence, such as subject, predicate, object, attributive, adverbial and complement, attract most attention of the linguists, while the elements that are not of the structure or grammar category are ignored. Parenthesis is a typical one among them. It is independent of the core structure and seems unimportant, but it bears significant textual and interpersonal functions, as a pragmatical element, it is an organic part of the speech, and has the functions of linking discourse and displaying the speaker's attitude and emotion. However, the research done before was most limited to the general survey about it, such as its characters, categories and pragmatical features, few linguists has probed into the comparative and analytic area. Based on the survey of hundreds of Chinese and English parentheses and their example sentences, the characteristics of parenthesis are summarized as follows: relative independence, flexibility and pragmatism. According to different pragmatical functions, parenthesis can be classified into two categories: connective parenthesis and modal parenthesis. Connective parenthesis includes those linking discourse structure and those linking textual relations and flow of speech. Modal parenthesis includes those of subjective attitude and those of special emotion. With the method of comparing and analyzing, we make a study in the component parts, expression laws and position forms of Chinese and English parentheses, and describe their generalities and individualities in accordance with different categories. Suggestions about teaching Chinese parentheses to foreigners are made at the end of this paper, such as inputting as a whole, connecting the context, contrasting and discriminating. The results of the research indicate that comparing is the fundamental way of studying languages, it results in a deeper understanding about the characteristics and rules of Chinese itself and significant proposals on the second language teaching. As the study of comparative grammar turns to the functional fields of discourse, semantics and pragmatics, the value of the research in parenthesis will turn out higher and higher, which will call up more and more attention from the linguists.