A Contrastive Analysis Of Conjunctive Markers In English And Chinese

As a cohesive device, the conjunctive marker establishes cohesive relations among clauses, sentences etc. by presupposing the presence of other elements through the logical relations between different elements in a text. Conjunctive markers are the "texture" in the text, indispensable in linking the clauses and sentences into one semantic whole, and thus making them a text. The main purpose of this paper is to make a contrastive analysis of conjunctive markers in English and Chinese, and to make suggestions on methods of how to deal with conjunctive markers in translation.The paper comprises four parts: (1) to make an overview of the theories of conjunction that have been proposed by scholars from home and abroad, (2) to make classification of conjunctive markers based on Halliday's theory, illustrated by examples from authentic English and Chinese writing, (3) to identify the similarities as well as the essential differences (namely explicitness and implicitness) between conjunctive markers in English and Chinese, and (4) to suggest different methods of dealing with conjunctive markers in E-C and C-E translation based on contextual factors as well as differences between the two languages.