A Contrastive Study On Existential Constructions Between Chinese And French

Existing is one of the basic states in the world. Reflecting this state, the existenceconstructions can be found in many languages and has long been discussed throughdifferent aspecets by linguistics. This essay tries to analyse the existence constructions inChinese and Frenche and make a constrast, aiming to find the similarities as well as thedifferences of the basic patterns,the noun, the verb, and location word.The essay is divided into5parts:The first part makes an overall review of the studies done in the field concerned，andbriefly points out problems existing. In the first part, boundaries are set specefically forthe research of the essay in sentence patterns and sematics.The second part contrasts the basic pattern of existence constructions in Chinese andFrench. In French, the patterns are "il y a+NP+LP" and "NP+VP+LP", while in Chinesethere are those marked by the verb "you","shi","zhe",etc. The sentence order is the majordifference in the two languages; however the intrinsic elements correspond with theircounterparts in each other. And also, among the NP, VP, and LP, LP is the only part inFrench that can be omitted, while in Chinese, NP is the only one that cannot be omitted.The third part contrasts the basic elements of existence constructions. The NP, VP,and LP in both languages are sematically similar. The NPs are usually active. The VPshave differences considering its agent-recipient relations with the NP. The LPs aredifferent in structure.The forth part discusses major differences that appear when the existenceconstructions are translated from French to Chinese. Based on "La Comédie Humaine"and its translation by Fu Lei, contrasts are made on the exsistence constructions.The fifth part summarizes the essay and states some points that needs to improve inthis essay.