A Contrastive Study Of Chinese Preposition "cong" And English Preposition "from"

As a preposition,"cong"is used frequently in modern Chinese; and in English ,"from"is used frequently ,too ."Their semantic category is corresponding , both of them can dominate place and time". In the course of teaching Chinese as a second language, we find a lot of foreign students whose native language is English have many kinds of problems in using Chinese preposition"cong".According to the errors of preposition"cong"in studying Chinese as a second language, this thesis contrasts Chinese preposition"cong"with English preposition"from", emphasizes their functional distinctions between semantic level and syntax level. Moreover, on the basis of the theory of image schema and metaphor, the principle of temporal sequence, this thesis attempts to explain the reasons of their distinctions. The purpose of the thesis is to find out why English can interfere in studying Chinese preposition"cong", so that the foreign students whose native language is English can use Chinese preposition"cong"correctly.On the study of semantic function, according to cognitive theories ,this thesis contrasts and analyses Chinese preposition"cong"with English preposition "from". The conclusion is as following:1. Both"cong"and"from"can introduce the starting-point and indicate the source of from which sth is taken. From the point of cognitive analysis, both of them can express the change of space relation, according to the source-path-goal schema, the statement before change is a starting-point ; the goal's change is taken from the source, so both of them can indicate the source of from which something is taken by metaphor.2."From"can show reason, distinction or difference, the material, the model and indicate separation etc, but"cong"can't. The reason is that different culture can cause different cognitive view. In a word, these meanings are related with its basic meaning"leaving source space", they are the result of cognitive metaphor.On the study of syntax, according to the errors of preposition"cong"in studying Chinese as a second language, this thesis mainly talks about two problems:1.The structure of prepositional phrases.With noun phrase and other words,"cong"can form prepositional phrases, such as noun of locality , verb and pronoun, but"from"prepositional phrases needn't. The reason is that"from"itself has the meaning of locality and"moving", so they can be omitted, but"cong"can't.2.The function of"cong"prepositional phrases. "cong"prepositional phrase can be a adverbial before the verb because of the principle of temporal sequence, but English is not dominated by the principle.In the last part, this thesis analyses many kinds of errors in using Chinese preposition.