Abstract:Inanimate Sentences of English and animate sentences of Chinese are two common kinds of sentences. “The structure of inanimate sentence is one of the most important sentence patterns in English” (王铁英，2008). From the previous studies, the most important sentence pattern in Chinese is animate sentences. Every language owns its particularity. This particularity contains cultural elements and the way of thinking. This paper will analyze the impersonal orientation of English subjects and the personal orientation of Chinese subjects from cultural perspective. The key to the question is to understand the relationship between inanimate sentence and impersonal orientations; to know the common of animate sentence and personal orientations. Finally, this paper will discuss the differences between traditional Chinese culture and traditional western culture, and try to analyze the relationship between culture and language.
Key words: impersonal orientation; personal orientation; cultural perspective; subject
中文摘要:英语无灵句和汉语有灵句是我们常见的两种句式。用王铁英的话来说：“无灵句是英语中最重要的一种句式。”相反，有灵句则是汉语中最重要的一种句式。每一种语言都有其特殊性，这种特殊性包括了文化因素和思维模式。这篇文章的一个关键性问题是必须理清无灵句以及物称化倾向；有灵句以及人称化倾向的关系。本文从文化角度分析英语主语的物称化倾向和汉语主语的人称呼化倾向。在此基础上分析传统中国文化和传统西方文化的不同，并分析语言和文化的关系。
关键词：物称化倾向；人称化倾向；文化角度；主语
