英汉植物词文化内涵的比较研究

1、 a comparison of cultural connotations of plant words in english and chinese 温州医学院本科毕业论文( 2010届 )论文题目 a comparison of cultural connotations of plant （英文） words in english and chinese论文题目英汉植物词文化内涵的比较研究（中文） 专业学院 仁 济 学 院英语学号班级2006（02）班0606041043作者姓名指导老师 朱小燕 刘春征完稿时间 2010.04.30 成绩 目 录abstractiii摘要iiioutl

2、ineiv提纲v1. introduction12. theoretical foundation22.1 the definition of cultural connotation22.2 the character of plant words22.3 the function of plant words33. cultural connotations of plant words in english and chinese43.1 plant words with similar cultural connotations in english and chinese43.2 p

3、lant words with different cultural connotations in english and chinese43.3 factors which influence the similarities and differences53.3.1cultural concept53.3.2 historical transition53.3.3 social custom63.3.4 religious belief64. the poetic images of plant words in english and chinese64.1 typical plan

4、t images with similar cultural connotations in english and chinese64.2 typical plant images with different cultural connotations in english and chinese84.3 comparison of the cultural characteristic of plant images in english and chinese94.3.1 comparison of the combination of “meaning” and “image”94.

5、3.2 comparison of the “truth” in art105. the application tendency of plant words in english and chinese105.1 convergent inclination105.2 factors that influence the convergent inclination115.2.1 open mind115.2.2 new thinking115.2.3 globalization116. conclusion11works sited13a comparison of cultural c

6、onnotations of plant words in english and chinesezhu xiao yanabstract: this paper first explores the theoretical foundation that is related to cultural connotations. it then tells the similarities and differences of the cultural connotations between english and chinese plant words in detail. also th

7、e factors that influence the similarities and differences will be mentioned. after that it focuses on the poetic images of plant words and explains the cultural characteristics of plant images in english and chinese. it finally discusses the application tendency of plant words in two languages. the

8、methods used are comparative analysis, induction and reference of previous studies. through the study of plant words, we may have a further understanding of them and it may promote the communication of two nations. in a word, plant words with different and similar cultural connotations in english an

9、d chinese are universal and the convergent inclination will be possible in the two languages.key words：comparison; plant words; cultural connotation 英汉植物词文化内涵的比较研究 朱小燕摘要: 本文首先讨论了与文化内涵相关的一些理论基础；然后详尽地阐述英汉植物词文化内涵的异同点及引起它们异同点的因素；之后将着重讲解英汉植物词在诗歌意象中的异同点及其所体现的文化特色；最后讨论了英汉植物词的应用趋势。采用的研究方法为对比分析法，归纳法和参考其他文献。通

10、过研究植物词语，我们能对其有更深远的理解并使之促进两民族间的交流。总之，英汉中植物词具有不同文化内涵和具有类似的文化内涵是普遍存在的，而且趋同化在两种语言中将会可能存在。关键词: 比较；植物词；文化内涵a comparison of cultural connotations of plant words in english and chinese outline1. introduction2. theoretical foundation2.1 the definition of cultural connotation2.2 the character of plant words2.

11、3 the function of plant words3. cultural connotations of plant words in english and chinese3.1 plant words with similar cultural connotations in english and chinese3.2 plant words with different cultural connotations in english and chinese3.3 factors which influence the similarities and differences3

12、.3.1 cultural concept3.3.2 historical transition3.3.3 social custom3.3.4 religious belief4. the poetic images of plant words in english and chinese4.1 typical plant images with similar cultural connotations in english and chinese 4.2 typical plant images with different cultural connotations in engli

13、sh and chinese 4.3 comparison of the cultural characteristic of plant images in english and chinese4.3.1 comparison of the combination of “meaning” and “image”4.3.2 comparison of the “truth” in art5. the application tendency of plant words in english and chinese5.1 convergent inclination5.2 factors

14、that influence the convergent inclination5.2.1 open mind5.2.2 new thinking5.2.3 globalization 6. conclusion英汉植物词文化内涵的比较研究 提纲1. 引言2. 理论基础2.1文化内涵的定义2.2 植物词的特征2.3 植物词的功能3. 英汉植物词的文化内涵 3.1 英汉中文化内涵类似的植物词 3.2 英汉中文化内涵不同的植物词 3.3 英汉中植物词文化内涵异同的影响因素 3.3.1 文化观念 3.3.2 历史变迁 3.3.3 社会风俗 3.3.4 宗教信仰4. 英汉植物词的诗歌意象 4.1英汉

15、中文化内涵类似的植物意象词 4.2英汉中文化内涵不同的植物意象词 4.3 英汉植物词诗歌意象的文化特色比较 4.3.1 “意”与“象”结合的比较 4.3.2 艺术的“真”方面的比较5. 英汉植物词的应用趋势 5.1 趋同化 5.2 影响趋同化的因素 5.2.1 开放心理 5.2.2 趋新心理 5.2.3 全球化6. 结语13a comparison of cultural connotations of plant words in english and chinesers 2006（02）（english）zhu xiao yantutor: assistant liu chun zhen

16、g1. introductioncultural connotation of plant words is an important part of culture communication. by analyzing the cultural connotation of plant words, we may have a further understanding of them. then we can compare the social culture of different nations to promote the communication. it may have

17、a great influence on the coagulation of cultures, the reconciliation of nations. it also has practical instructive significance to language teaching. some previous scholars have analyzed the cultural connotations of plant words in detail from different points of view. english scholars and chinese sc

18、holars have many standpoints about the study of connotations of plant words. there are some books written by foreign scholars with regard to the cultural connotations of plant words. when using plant words to express emotion, we may refer to plant metaphor. according to lakoff and johnsons conceptua

19、l metaphor theory, it was classed into three kinds, structural metaphor, orientation metaphor and ontological metaphor. as to express emotion, it would refer to emotional metaphor. and plant words was one kind of emotional metaphors in english. krzeszowski formulated a set of metaphors in 1997, amon

20、g them “a plant is a human being” was a typical conceptual metaphor.the chinese scholars also have their own viewpoints towards the cultural connotations of plant words. according to gu xueliang, everything has their appointed meanings, for example, many flowers and trees have their appointed meanin

21、gs, the combination of certain flowers and trees have their appointed meanings, the combination of certain flowers and trees also have their given meanings. in 2002, chinese scholars zhang ande and yang yuangang also published a book named a comparative study of the connotation of plant words. this

22、book mainly compares and analyzes the connotations of plant words. as there have been sufficient researches on the analysis of plant words between english and chinese, few people pay attention to the cultural connotations of poetic images of plants in english and chinese. so the most creative point

23、of this thesis is that i will focus on the poetic image of english poem and chinese ancient poems. nowadays people are not simply go in for material comforts , more and more pay attention to the spiritual pleasures, and poem is a part of spiritual pleasures. so it has realistic significance to analy

24、ze poetic images of the plant words. i will try to innovate on the poetic images of english and chinese and tell the factors which influence the similarities and differences in detail. besides i will try to explain the function of plant images in english and chinese.2. theoretical foundation2.1the d

25、efinition of cultural connotationin order to study the similarities and differences of plant words between english and chinese, and to give a distinct comparison, it is necessary to provide a clear definition of cultural connotation. at first we should know the definition of connotation. the advance

26、d learners english-chinese dictionary gives the meaning as: “an idea suggested by a word in addition to its main meaning”. (352) the longman modern english dictionary defines it as the implication of a word, apart from its primary meaning. (312)these two definitions show each word has its denotation

27、, the basic meaning and connotation, the additional meaning. when we learn a word, it is necessary to learn not only the denotation of the word, but also the connotation. zhang boming (275) defined the cultural connotation as the general meaning including connotative meaning and cultural meaning car

28、ried in different cultural circumstances. it includes the meaning added and the amplified meaning under special social and cultural background, and also includes the emotions and attitudes of some particular cultural colony.when dealing with cultural connotations of a word, we would like to associat

29、e them with different social surroundings, personal belief, life style and also with personal emotions and attitudes of some special social groups.2.2 the character of plant wordswe closely associate with nature when plant words are mentioned. people like to combine the appearance, color, shape and

30、traits of plants with some similar things in life. some plant words have no evitable link with natures, but derived from mythology, legend and allusion. also cultural connotations of some plant words are the reflection of cultures, mainly the influence of the culture of buddhism and the bible.beside

31、s, plant words have a long history which sprung from chinese agricultural civilization. because the han ancestors engaged in farming activities for a long time and had natural link between plants, there were abundant cultural connotations of plant words. the forming of plant words is determined by t

32、hought characteristic of human.as zen dan (85) said: “for the abundance and development of plant words, it is inevitable to spread and consolidate the moral concepts of han nationality.” from this point of view, plant words are given a wealth of content because of the need of advocating some ethics.

33、 while the english nations advocate rational civilization than ethics-oriented of china, they pay more attention to benefit and law, and their scientific spirit is free orientation, self-criticism, bold innovation, so their rational culture makes their rational language view. their language combines

34、 thinking materials with the function of expression ideas. it also reflects on the plant words.2.3 the function of plant wordsplant words have many functions, such as aesthetical happiness, information compression, pragmatic communication and cultural load and so on. in poems, some plant words are o

35、ften used to create beautiful poetic imagery. in ancient china, poets were fond of using willow, plum, bamboo, and pine etc, to express emotion or quality. combined with plant words, poems will present graceful sights in front of readers. this is the function of aesthetical happiness.as to the funct

36、ion of information compression, in yang yuangangs book, the comparative study of semantic words in english and chinese, he took an example about a rich young girl who falls in love with a poor man, which meets with opposition from the girls parents. the man wants the girl to elope with him, so he se

37、nds a letter to the girl which only draws an antelope on it. the clever girl receives the letter and draws a cantaloupe back. in english, the antelope includes the meaning of “elope”, while the fruit cantaloupe includes the meaning “cant elope”. in this story, they use picture message to send messag

38、e. (107)simialar to other words, plant words also have the function of pragmatic communication, which means formation of part of words or whole language characters that may influence the words pragmatic meaning in a context, as yang yuangang mentioned. (108)due to the different living environments a

39、nd life styles, both languages cohere with their own national spirits which reflect their own national philosophy of language, and that is the function of cultural load.3. cultural connotations of plant words in english and chinese3.1 plant words with similar cultural connotations in english and chi

40、neseone kind of plant words may have same or similar association in english and chinese. a nations culture may be reflected in the actual use of language. as noted by zhang boming “the overlapped association may be total, or partial. the reason behind complete or partial overlap of association lies

41、in the fact that the nations share similarity to some extent in terms of their natural living environment and cognitive mentality.”(491) here we take peach as an example.peach is a kind of fruits with good-looking shape and white touched with red, which is favored by people. thus both in english and

42、 chinese, people associate it with young and pretty girls. for instance, the sentence “she is a peach” means she is very beautiful and young. also peach refers to the wonderful things or excellent persons. for example, “the hotel was a peach”. it means this hotel is famous for good management.becaus

43、e people often associate peach with women, it is related to affection. chinese people use “桃花运” to refer to mens luck in romance. they regard the assumptive amour as “桃色新闻”, while it has no such association in english. in english, amour is called love affair. so the association of peach is only part

44、ially overlapped.the word “grass” means multitudinous both in english and chinese. the phrase “grass root” means the basic level, which is equal to “草民”，“草野” in chinese. “草” means the common people in china, and there are also some set phrases in chinese associated with grass, such as “草木皆兵”, “草菅人命”

45、. from above examples we know the plant words as a cultural symbol may have similar meaning between the two nations.3.2 plant words with different cultural connotations in english and chinesebecause of the different districts, different natural environments and different cultural backgrounds, many w

46、ords with identical denotation may have different cultural connotations. here we take mushroom as an example.dai weiping and pei wenbin in their book study on cultural words in english and chinese pointed out that mushroom often is the symbol of good luck, maybe which is due to its beautiful appeara

47、nce. it symbolizes longevity in ancient china, because of its health care function. in english idioms, they mainly focus on its growing speed and appearancemushroom cloud. the sentence “the city mushroomed quickly when the freeway was finished” indicates that after the freeway was finished, the city

48、 developed quickly. (129)lotus also differs in cultural connotations. in ancient chinese culture, people appreciated lotus which stand gracefully with light and elegant color. there were many famous poems about lotus. such as li bais poem “清水出芙蓉，天然去雕饰”, yang wanglis “接天莲叶无穷碧，映日荷花别样红”. these poems ex

49、pressed qualities of preserving their moral integrity without association with any evil person or thing. however in english, people are deeply influenced by greek culture, so the association of lotus mainly comes from greek mythology and homeric hymns. the phrase “lotus eater” means that people eat

50、fruit and forget moil pain, which extends in meaning people who only crave comfort. 3.3 factors which influence the similarities and differences3.3.1cultural conceptthe differences on moral idea and political environment influence the similarities and differences of cultural connotations. cai jigang

51、 in his book study on vocabulary comparison in english and chinese told that chinese advocate “the golden mean” and “keep the mind pure and undefiled”, while americans crave for greatness and success, also endeavoring to do their best, so there are few equivalent meanings between english and chinese

52、. (277) from the macroscopic view, the english culture is a kind of technical rational civilization and emphasizes on rationality. but chinese culture is a kind of traditional ethnic culture which emphasizes on sentiment. so there are many kinds of plants that associate with ethics in china. chrysan

53、themum stands for people who do not seek fame and wealth, bamboo stands for modesty, while in english few words have this function.3.3.2 historical transition historical transition is one of the main factors that influence the similarities and differences of the word connotations. this is related to

54、 the colonial history. we all know when the pilgrim fathers from england landed on the massachusetts coast in 1620, they not only brought the religious beliefs, but also their language. although in 1783 britain recognized the independence of the united states after the war of independence, the influ

55、ence of language remained, so was it in australia and new zealand. so the colonization made english widely used as a main or institutional language in many countries. this historical reason helps the blend of languages. on the other hand, the migration of one nation may cause the difference of word

56、connotations from other nations. the isolation from other nations will cause communication disorder, which often happened in ancient times with the traffic inconveniences.3.3.3 social custom the social custom comes into being during the development of human life. it shows in human habits, costumes,

57、and holidays and so on. we all know one plant may normally be seen in one country, but can not be seen in another country. that causes the different social customs in english and chinese. another example is rice, as cai jigang took in his book (277), there are around 68 words in chinese dictionary related to rice, but it does not have meticulous classification in english, because our staple food is rice while their main food in most english-speaking countries is bread. also potato is one of their main food. so they have many metaphor meanings