A Comment on Two Chinese Versions of little Women

A Comment on Two Chinese Versions of little Women

Abstract:The differences between English and Chinese in lerms of the adoption of subject， voice， and stative & dynamic styles areshown in this paper through a contrastive study between the two Chinese versions of Little Women. The discussion aims to deepenour understanding of the differences between the two languages so as to facilitate the formation of a creative method for Englishteaching and help students solve problems they encounter in the process of second language acquisition.

Key words: eontrastive linguistics；subject；voice；stative & dynamic styles

1、Introduction

1.1 Introduction of the author

Louisa May Alcott was born in 1832 and died in 1888.She was the daughter of A. Bronsun Alcott, the “Sage ofConcord.” Her early surroundings were of a highly intelleetualand literary character, and she naturally took to writing whilestill very young.

In her sketch “Transcendental Oats” she describes in anamusing way the experience of a year at Fraitland, where anattempt was made to establish an ideal community.

Miss Alcott was obliged to be a wage-earner to help outthe family income, and so taught school, served as a governessand at times worked as a seamstress. Wearying of this, shewrote for the papers stories of a sensational nature, which wereremunerative financially, hut unsatisfactory to her as a literarypursuit, and she abandoned this style of writing.

After several attempts at literature,Miss Alcott wrote “LittleWomen,” which was an immediate success, reaching a sale of87,000 copies in three years. She afterward wrote “An OldFashioned Girl”,”Litfle Man”,”Aunt Jo’s Scrap Bag”,”The EightCousins”, and “Rose in Blocm”,besides other stories andsketches.

1.2 Introduction of the novel

This classic novel is about a family of women in CivilWar-era New England. The