Abstract:Negationisauniversallinguisticphenomenonforalmostallthelanguagesintheworld.Differentlanguageshavedifferentwaystoexpressnegation.Inthisarticle,theauthoranalyzestheculturalinfluencesontheformanduseofnegationbetweenEnglishandChineselanguages,soastoputsomeemphasisontheimportanceofcultureinfluencesinlanguageresearchandhelppeopleuselanguagesproperlyandaccurately.
Keywords:negationlanguageculturalinfluences
Languageistheprincipalmeanswherebyweconductourlivesandbelongstoatypicalsymbolthatrecordsandexpressesdifferentcultures.History,worldview,beliefs,values,religions,andsocialorganizationmayallbereflectedthroughdifferentlanguagesandlinguisticvarietiesinaculture.Languageisareflectionofculture.Sothelinguisticdifferencesareduetotherelativeculturaldifferencesandinfluences.Negationisauniversallinguisticphenomenonforalmostallthelanguagesintheworld.Differentlanguageshavedifferentwaystoexpressnegation.Negationisdefinedas“theabsenceoroppositeofsomepositivethingorquality”intheWorldBookDictionaryandinChinese“否定”isdefinedas“否定事物的存在或事物的真实性；表示否认的，反面的”.FollowingitwilldescribetheculturalinfluencesontheformanduseofnegationinEnglishandChinese.Andthentheimportanceofculturewillbeemphasizedinlanguageuse.
1.CulturalInfluencesontheFormofNegation
Culturehasgreatinfluenceuponlanguage.InEnglishandChinese,negationisalsoinfluencedbytwoculturesandespeciallyontheformofnegation.ChineseculturebelongstoHCcultureandEnglishculturebelongstoLCculture.In1976EdwardT.Halldefinedthetwoterms—HCandLCasthefollowing:“Ahighcontext(HC)communicationormessage”istheoneinwhichmostoftheinformationisalreadyintheperson,whileverylittleisinthecoded,explicitlytransmittedpartofthemessage.LCisjusttheopposite.SobecauseEnglishculturebelongstoLCcultureandChineseculturebelongstoHCculture,EnglishishypotacticandChineseisparatactic,EnglishismorepersethanChineseinnegativewords.Forexample,Englishnegativewordslikenot,no,never,hardly,seldom,few,nor,none,etc.andtheformsin3.3.IncontrasttoEnglish,thecommonnegativewordsinChineseare不(adv.),没（有）(adv./v.)and别(adv.).AndEnglishismorecomplexthanChineseinnegativestructures.Englishlanguageisalphabetic,sotheEnglish-speakingpeoplelikeabstractthinking,whichcausesexpressingthemselveswithcomplexstructures.Chinesecharactersarepictographicandideographic,andtheChinese-speakingpeoplearegoodatthinkingintermsofimage.Astothenegativestructure,EnglishnegationismorecomplicatedthanChinesenegation.Forexample,thestructureof‘not+all’canbepartiallynegatedandsometimescanbeabsolutelynegated.Forexample:Allthefriendsaren’tattheparty.Itmayhavetwomeanings:并不是所有的朋友都来参加聚会了or所有的朋友都没有来参加聚会.InChinesesentences,it’scleartodistinguishpartialnegationandabsolutenegation,forexample,全班同学今天都没有按时上课isanabsolutenegationand并不是全班同学今天都按时上课isapartialnegation.
2.CulturalInfluencesontheUseofNegation
Languageisthecarrierofculture.Culturehasgreatinfluenceonlanguagenotonlyintermsofformbutalsointermsofuse.Therefore,thereareculturalinfluencesontheuseofnegationinEnglishandChinese.
(1)InWesterncountries,English-speakingpeopleusetheaffirmativewaytoexpressanegativeresponse,andthenegativewaytoconfirmanegativestatement.Forexample,
a:A:Heisn’tfromChina,ishe?
B:Yes,heis.
b.A:Heisn’tfromChina,ishe?
B:No,heisn’t.
InEnglish,theresponsetothenegativestatementisinaccordancewiththecorrespondingstatement.Ifthestatementispositive,yesisusedandifthestatementisnegative,noisused.ButinChinese,peoplewillusetheaffirmativewaytoconfirmanegativestatement,andthenegativewaytodenyanegativestatement.Theanswerdependsonpeople’sattitudestowardsthequestionitself.That’stosay,ifyouagreetotheideasandyousay“yes”;ifnotthenyousay“no”.TheChineserelativeresponsestotheformerexampleare:
a.A:他不来自于中国，是不是？
B:不，他来自中国。
b.A:他不来自于中国，是不是？
B:是的，他不来自中国。
SobecausedifferentcustomsandthinkingmodesexistedinEnglishandChinese,peoplewillusedifferentevenoppositeanswerstoexpresstheirmeaningsofyesornoontheuseofnegation.
(2)InWesterncountries,peopleoftenhavethethoughtofequality.Theyliketotreatothersasequalsandprefertobetreatedinthesamemanner.Theypayenoughattentiononequalitythathasbeenthepublicprinciple.Ifusingsomepublictoolssuchasadvertisements,newspapers,etc.togiveawarning,theyoftenuseapositivewayandspeakinasmoothandsoftmanner.Forexample,theEnglish-speakingpeopleoftenusethesentence“Keepoffthegrass”toremindthepassers-bynottowalkonthegrass.
Chinesepeopleoftentendtobeself-centered,andChinesepeoplewilladoptastrong-wordedstatement,usuallyuseanegativewayandexpresssomethingdirectlyandrigidly.Foeexample,inordertodescribethewarningthatremindsthepassers-bynottowalkonthegrass,Chinesewilldirectlyuse勿踏草坪(Don’twalkonthegrass)towarnpeople.People’swaysofspeakingandthinkingpatternsaredifferentareduetotheirdifferentculturalbackground.Therefore,theuseoflanguagesalsohasgreatlyinfluencedbythecultureandhasmanydifferences.
(3)InpidualismistheprincipleandthoughtofpeopleinWesterncountries.English-speakingpeopleareopen,frankandhonest.Theyaredirectinspeechandtheyuseyesornotoexpresstheirinpidualopinionsdirectly.TheChinesepeopletendtobesituation-oriented.Theymayseempassiveandaskalotofquestionsorprobeforinformation.Inactuality,theyarerelatingeacheventtothesituationandtryingtoviewittotally(Samovar,1995:231).SoChinesepeoplewilluseyesfornoandnoforyestoavoidhurting.Theuseofindirectnesshelpstopreventtheembarrassmentofrejectionbytheotherpeopleordisagreementamongpartners,leavingtherelationshipandthefaceofeachpartyintact.Sotheuseoflanguageisdeeplyaffectedbytheculturalinfluence.
Languageisasetofsymbolsandtherulesforcombiningthosesymbolsthatareusedandunderstoodbyalargecommunityofpeople.Languageispartoftheculture.Thereisnooneaspectofhumanlifethatisnottouchedandalteredbyculture.Theoriginoflinguisticdifferencesistheculturaldifferences.Culturereflectsandaffectslanguage.SothedifferencesontheformanduseofnegationbetweenEnglishandChineseareduetodifferentculturalbackgrounds.
3.TheImportanceofCulture
Cultureiseverywhere.Alltheexperience,education,languageandsooncreatedbyhumankindareregardedasculture,whateveritiscomprehensiveoneslikeworld-outlook,space-timeoutlook,philosophy,andvalueetc.oritisconcreteoneslikebasicnecessitiesoflife,marriageandfuneral.Allthesesociallifestyle,behavior,hierarchy,normandmoralandsoonallbelongtoculture.Culturehasmaterialcultureandnonmaterialculture.Materialculturereferstotangibleitemssuchascars,watches,televisionsets,andhorses.Nonmaterialculturecontainsintangibleelementssuchasvalues,norms,beliefs,emotions,attitudes,aspirations,lawsandsymbols.
Cultureisthedepositofknowledge,experience,beliefs,values,actions,attitudes,meanings,hierarchies,religion,notionsoftime,roles,spatialrelations,conceptsoftheuniverse,andartifactsacquiredbyagroupofpeopleinthecourseofgenerationsthroughinpidualandgroupstriving.Shapirooncesaidthediscoveryofculture,theawarenessthatitshapesandmoldsourbehavior,ourvaluesandevenourideas,therecognitionthatitcontainssomeelementofthearbitrary,canbeastartlingoranilluminatingexperience.Cultureislearned:frominfancy,peopleneedtolearntheirpatternsofbehaviorandwaysofthinkingintheircultures.Differentcultureswillproduceandcreatedifferentrules,beliefsandbehaviors.Atthesametime,culturesaredynamicsystemsthatdonotexistinavacuum,sotheyaresubjecttochange.Cultureischangingandit’simportanttoknowandstudyculturetoavoidmakingmistakesinpeople’slife.
What’smoreimportantisthatcultureisbasedonsymbols,especiallybasedonlanguage.Theemergenceoflanguagewasthegiantstepthatmadepossibletheremarkableandintricatesystemwecallculture.Ananthropologistsaidthathumanculturewithoutlanguageisunthinkable.Languagethusenablespeopletocommunicatewhattheywoulddoifsuch-and-suchhappened,toorganizetheirexperiencesintoabstractcategories,andtoexpressthoughtsneverspokenbefore(BatesandPlog).Becauselanguageisareflectionofcultureandlanguageisaffectedbyculture,sotheimportanceofcultureshouldbenoticedandemphasized.Culturefunctionsasanintegratedwholeandissystemic.Allinall,cultureneedstobepaidmuchmoreattentiontoandcultureisimportant.
Negationisauniversallinguisticphenomenonforalmostallthelanguagesintheworldandisimportantaswellasfrequentineverydaysocialinteractions.WhenpeoplearetryingtorecognizetheformofnegationandeventouseitinEnglishorinChinese,pleasedonotforgettopayspecialattentiontotheculturaldifferencesandinfluencesbetweeneachother,becauseanylanguageisareflectionofculture.Onlycanyourealizetheimportanceofculturalinfluences,peoplewillimprovetheirwayofusinglanguageproperlyandcorrectly.
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个人简介：
朱安莉，女，军事经济学院基础部外语教研室教员；研究方向：比较语言学。