A Contrastive Study of Chinese and English Languages Based on Liu Mingjiu’s English Translation of My Uncle Jules
This paper takes Guy de Maupassant’s original text “My Uncle Jules” and Liu Mingjiu’s English translation as its corpus. Following the four major research principles of contrastive linguistics, it conducts a Chinese‑English contrastive analysis across lexical, grammatical and discourse dimensions. At the lexical level, it compares Chinese‑English differences in word‑formation, semantics and collocations, and distinguishes the features of isolating versus inflectional languages. At the grammatical level, centering on the contrast between parataxis and hypotaxis, it compares subject‑predicate structures, word‑order patterns and clausal characteristics. At the discourse level, it analyzes cohesive devices, narrative logic and writing styles to identify disparities in coherence and narrative modes between Chinese and English. The study reveals that hierarchical differences between Chinese and English stem from discrepancies in language typology as well as Chinese‑Western modes of thinking and culture. Liu Mingjiu’s translation conforms to idiomatic English usage, enables smooth shifts between Chinese and English thought patterns, and balances literary aesthetic value with linguistic norms. This research offers illustrative references for literary translation, second‑language acquisition and Chinese‑English contrastive teaching. It also notes the limitations of single‑text‑based research and looks ahead to future contrastive studies covering multiple translations and text genres.
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