Linguistic Features
of Chinese and
English
MEIIRGUL YERKINBEK
ZHADYRA TULEGENOVA
Introduction :
Overview:
Chinese and English belong to distinct language
families.
They demonstrate significant differences in
morphological features and sentence
structures.
This presentation examines these languages'
origins and key linguistic features.
Language Families Overview
Language Family Subgroup Region
East Asia,
Chinese Sino-Tibetan Sinitic
Southeast Asia
Europe, North
English Indo-European Germanic (West)
America
Morphological Features of Language Units
Aspect Chinese English
Extensive use of inflections. Verbs inflect for tense
No inflection. Word forms do not change based on
(e.g., "walk" vs. "walked"), nouns for number (e.g.,
Inflection tense, number, or gender. Time, aspect, and number
"cat" vs. "cats"), adjectives for comparison (e.g., "big"
expressed through context or particles
vs. "bigger").
No grammatical gender distinctions in nouns or Grammatical gender exists in pronouns (he, she, it),
pronouns. Pronouns like "他" (he), "她" (she), "它" (it) but not in most nouns. Some professions or objects
Grammatical Gender
exist, but verbs or adjectives do not change for may be gender-specific (actor/actress), though largely
gender. neutral.
Primarily morphologically simple. Words often
Rich morphological inflection. Uses prefixes and
formed by compounding (e.g., "电脑" - computer, "电
Word Formation suffixes (e.g., "un-" in "undo", "-s" for plural in "cats").
话" - telephone). Few affixes, more focus on word
Word structure is more complex.
combination.
Plural is often inferred from context or numerals (e.g.,
Plurality 一本书= one book；两本书 [liǎng běn shū] = two Marked by adding an -s or -es suffix (e.g., "books")
books)
Non-tonal language. Stress may change meaning
Mandarin is a tonal language (e.g., "妈" mā - mother,
Tone (e.g., "record" as a noun vs. verb), but does not create
"马" mǎ - horse). Tone affects word meaning.
entirely new words.
Morphological Features of Language Units
In terms of morphological features, Chinese and English share a few similarities, though they
belong to different linguistic families:
1 2 3
Word Formation Word Class Fixed Word Forms
Both distinguish In both languages,
Both languages use
between nouns, verbs, verbs in their base
compounding to create
and adjectives, even forms remain
new words (e.g.,
though they may not unchanged (e.g.,
Chinese: 手机 [shǒ ujī] =
mark them in the same Chinese: 看 [kàn] =
"handphone"; English:
way. "look"; English: "look").
"smartphone").
Sentence Structures
Aspect Chinese English
Typically SVO (Subject-Verb-Object) (e.g., 我看书
Word Order Strict SVO word order (e.g., "I read books")
[Wǒ kàn shū] = "I read books")
Uses particles like "吗" (ma) to turn statements into Uses subject-auxiliary inversion (e.g., "Are you a
Questions
questions (e.g., 你是老师吗? = "Are you a teacher?") teacher?")
Relies more on auxiliary verbs and modals (e.g., "do",
Uses particles to indicate sentence mood or aspect
Use of Particles "will", "should") to express questions, tense, or mood.
(e.g., "吗" for questions, "了" for past actions).
Less reliance on particles.
Negation is formed by using negation words like "不"
Negation involves auxiliary verbs and negation words
Negation (bù - not) or "没" (méi - not have) before the verb (e.g.,
like "not" (e.g., "I am not going", "I did not go").
"我不去" - "I am not going").
Sentence Structures
In terms of sentence structures, Chinese and English share a few similarities:
1 2 3
SVO Word Order Adjective Placement Question Words
Both languages place Both use question
Both languages
adjectives before nouns words (who, what,
generally follow the
(e.g., Chinese: 红苹果 where) at the beginning
Subject-Verb-Object
[hóng píngguǒ ] = "red of sentences to form
(SVO) structure for
apple"; English: "red wh-questions.
basic sentences (e.g.,
apple").
Chinese: 我看书 [Wǒ kàn
shū] = "I read books";
English: "I read books").
Conclusion
Chinese and English exhibit significant
linguistic differences, shaped by their
distinct origins and morphological and
structural features.
The comparative study of these languages
offers valuable insights into linguistics,
education, and translation.
Thank You !
