Abstract: “Aspect” refers to the state(s) of an event observed by a speaker from a certain or a series of temporal viewpoints. According to the number of temporal viewpoints a speaker chooses or the event state(s) observed in a clause, aspects fall naturally into two types in both English and Chinese, viz. simple aspect and complex aspect. Simple aspect refers to the state of an event observed from one temporal viewpoint, and is realized by one form, while complex aspect refers to the states of an event observed from a series of temporal viewpoints, and is realized by a series of forms. As one of the essential components in time system, aspect exists in both languages at the level of meaning, while its realization forms are language specific. Based on the above re-definition and re-classification of aspect within the framework of Systemic Functional Linguistics, this paper continues to compare the realizations of simple aspects in English with those in Chinese. The research results show that in either English or Chinese, there are grammatical, quasi-grammatical and lexical simple aspects. However, in both languages, aspects of different grammaticalization degree present similarities and divergences on their components and numbers in a clause.

Keywords: Systemic Functional Linguistics; English simple aspect; Chinese simple aspect; realization; comparison

摘要： “体”是指言语者对事件在一定的或一系列的时间视点观察到的某一或系列进展状态。根据视点或观察到的事件进展状态的数量，体分为单一体和复合体。单一体指言语者对事件在某一时间视点观察到的单一进展状态，由一种形式体现；复合体指言语者对事件在一系列的时间视点观察到的系列进展状态，由多种形式体现。作为时间系统重要的组成部分，体在意义层面存在于英汉语中，其体现形式却因语言而异。本文在基于系统功能语言学理论对体进行上述界定的基础上，进一步比较了英汉语中单一体的体现形式，发现这两种语言均涉及语法体、准语法体和词汇体体现形式。而英汉语中不同语法化程度的体其体现形式在组成成分和数量特征上表现出一定的相似性和差异性。

关键词: 系统功能语言学, 英语单一体, 汉语单一体, 体现形式, 比较研究