Relativizer in Chinese and English: Syntactic Difference and Its Consequences

Modern Chinese mainly adopts de as relativizer,and some elements like demonstrative and numeral can also function as relativizer under certain syntactic circumstances. In Chinese,different relativizers have different syntactic relations with their head. While the relativizer in English has multi- functions in contrast with its Chinese counterparts and therefore gives rise to a loose syntactic relation between relative clause and head in English. The above- mentioned features consequently bring about the sharp difference in syntactic generation and operation of relative clause between Chinese and English. In addition,the correct identification of relative clause in Chinese and English is also enlightening to translation teaching for English majors.