Chinese versus English conventions



There are things we take for granted and never question until we come up against another way of doing them. And then we see that there is nothing natural or correct about our way. It is just a convention - one that just as easily could have been the opposite.

Chinese provides an illustration of one such way of looking at things differently. Here are a few examples of how English conventions are expressed in the opposite manner in Chinese.


Order of personal names


This is well-known. In English, the given name comes first, and the family name last: John Smith.

In Chinese, the family name comes first, the given name last: 孔夫子 [Kong Fuzi - Confucius].


Availability of first and last names


In English, there is a large number of last names, but a much smaller pool from which to choose a first name.

In Chinese, there are only a few hundred last names. On the other hand, the first name could be almost anything from the language, reflecting the parents' hopes and imagination.


Order of components in addresses


In English we go from specific to general:
Mr. Lee
Apartment 504
123 Pine Street
Ottawa
Ontario
Canada

Chinese prefers to narrow things down, gradually honing in on the exact location:
加拿大 [Jianada - Canada]
安省 [An sheng - Ontario province]
渥太华 [Wotaihua - Ottawa]
松树路 [Songshu lu - Pine Street]
一二三 号 [yi er san hao - No. 123]
五零四 公寓 [wu ling si gong yu - Apartment 504]
李先生 [Li xiansheng - Mr. Lee]

Order of compass directions


English first says North or South, then East or West: Northeast, Southwest, etc.

Chinese first says East or West, then North or South:
东北 [dongbei - Eastnorth]
西南 [xinan - Westsouth]

Order of reading


The binding is on the left as you hold an unopened English book, and you open it on the right.

With a Chinese book, the binding is on the right, and you open it on the left.

The lines of text in an English book proceed horizontally from top to bottom of the page. The direction of text within the line is left to right.

The lines of Chinese text proceed vertically from right to left. The direction of text within the line is top to bottom.


Order in dates


An English date, in one style at least, proceeds from smaller time periods to larger:
The 23rd of April, 2012

The Chinese equivalent is:
二零一二年四月 二十三号 [er ling yi er nian, si yue, ershisan hao - 2012 year, month 4, 2 10 3 number]

Order in times


In formal English, we would express a time such as 3:25 as "twenty-five after three", and 8:50 as "ten minutes to nine". (Of course, with the modern prevalence of digital timepieces, this is giving way in informal speech to "three twenty-five" and "eight fifty".)

In Chinese, these times would be expressed as:
三点二十五分 [san dian ershiwu fen - three hours two ten five minutes]
九点差十分 [jiu dian cha shi fen - nine hours less ten minutes]

Percentages and fractions


English lists the part, then the whole from which the part is taken:
fifty per cent
one-third

Chinese tells you what the whole is first, then how many parts are being considered:
百分之五十[bai fen zhe wu shi - hundred parts fifty]
三分之一 [san fen zhi yi - three parts one]

Grouping of numbers


English groups numbers by multiples of 10 cubed. That is, thousands, millions, billions, etc.

Chinese groups numbers by multiples of 10 to the fourth power. That is:
万 [wan - 10^4 or ten thousand]
亿 [yi - 10^8 or 100 million]
兆 [zhao - 10^12 or one trillion]

Short names for numbers


In English, when we want to say the number 140 ("one hundred and forty") quickly, we might say "one forty".

In Chinese, the quick version of 140 一百四十 [yi bai si shi - one hundred four tens] is 一百四 [yi bai si - one hundred four]. That is, the English speaker drops the "hundred", the Chinese speaker drops the "tens". (And they wouldn't think 一百四 means 104 because that would be expressed 一百零四 [yi bai ling si - one hundred zero four].


Discounts


In English, a sale item might be marked "10% off".

In Chinese, the item would be marked 九折 [jiu zhe - nine "bent"].


An observation


Did you notice that there is an element of consistency in each language's approach? English orders things from smaller to larger, Chinese from larger to smaller:
English Chinese
Name Given name, family name Family name, given name
Address Person ... country Country ... person
Dates Day, month, year Year, month, day
Times Minute, hour Hour, minute
Fractions Parts, whole Whole, parts

If the individual choices are random, then it is odd to see such patterns within a language. Is there perhaps something larger at work on the language? Could that something be the culture in which the language is formed?

At the risk of making a completely unsupported sweeping generalization, in English, the placement of the individual in the first, most important position could be a relection of the individual at the centre of society. In Chinese expressions, the group comes first and the individual last, and that could reflect the primary importance of the group in society, with the individual expected to play a part in support of the group. At any rate, it's interesting to speculate.




Last revised: 2012.11.11                                       Send me a comment                                       home