英语论文-A Study of Cultural Connotations of Color Words Between English and Chinese.pdf

毕业论文 设计 i acknowledgements this thesis would not have been possible without the assistance of many people who gave their support in different ways to them i would like to convey my heartfelt gratitude and sincere appreciation first of all i owe my deepest gratitude to my thesis instructor ms deng liping whose valuable guidance strict requirement and constant encouragement have been indispensable to the completion of this thesis i would also like to give my sincere appreciation to all the teachers who have taught me in the past four years in my university life their excellent teaching has illuminated me and helped me lay a solid foundation for this thesis and my future work last but not least thanks also go to my classmates and friends for their frequent discussion constant support and encouragement while this thesis is being written 毕业论文 设计 ii abstract there is close relation between language and culture language is not only one part of culture but also a mirror of it the language of a nation reflects abundant cultural modality of the nation thus there are great cultural differences between chinese and english with different cultural backgrounds vocabulary is the most active factor in language and the meanings of color words in the vocabulary are abundant various nationalities have formed their unique color views in the long term history reflecting gorgeous national cultures because of different cultural issues cultural traditions psychological and historic backgrounds the cultural connotations of the english and chinese color words differ greatly thus these particular cultural connotations are cast under different environments of different nationalities there are a lot of similarities and differences on the meanings between english and chinese color words this thesis gives quite a few examples and idiomatic expressions to analyze the comparison of the connotations of some color words which explains the importance of deep understanding of cultural connotations of color words in trans cultural communication in analyzing the reasons why the differences arise this thesis puts forward the idea of overcoming the obstacles resulting from the differences which has great significance in smoothly carrying on cross cultural communication key words english and chinese color wordscultural connotationscomparison 毕业论文 设计 iii 摘摘要要 语言和文化之间有着千丝万缕的联系 语言既是文化的一部分 又是文化的一面镜 子 一个民族的语言折射出这个民族纷繁多彩的文化形态 根植于两种截然不同的文化 背景之中的英汉两种语言之间不可避免地存在着巨大的文化差异 词汇在语言中最活跃 词汇中的颜色词意义丰富 各民族在长期的历史沉淀中都形 成了各自独特的颜色观 折射出绚丽多姿的民族文化 由于文化内容 文化传统 历史 和心理背景不同 很多英汉颜色词的文化内涵差异较大 这些特定的文化内涵意义是不 同民族在不同的环境下铸就而成的 英汉颜色词在两种语言中的意义既有相同和相似之 处 也存在着很多差异 本文通过列举出一些颜色的惯用法和实例 分析了相当数量的颜色词在英汉语言中 的异同 并阐述了深刻了解颜色词的文化内涵在翻译实践中的重要性 在分析差异产生 的原因上 提出了克服差异所产生的障碍 对顺利进行跨文化交际有一定的指导意义 关键词关键词 英汉颜色词文化涵义比较 毕业论文 设计 iv contents acknowledgements i abstract english ii abstract chinese iii 1 introduction 1 2 revision of color words in english and chinese 2 2 1 implications of color words 2 2 2 the comparison of the meanings of basic color words between english and chinese 3 2 2 1 corresponding relationship of color words between english and chinese 3 2 2 2 non corresponding relationship of color words between english andchinese 4 2 2 2 1 usage dislocation 4 2 2 2 2 meaning vacancies 5 3 the study of the connotations of color words from cultural aspects 6 3 1 colors and national psychology 7 3 1 1 the cultural connotations of red 7 3 1 2 the cultural connotations of black 9 3 1 3 the cultural connotations of white 10 3 1 4 the cultural connotations of yellow 12 3 1 5 the cultural connotations of blue 13 3 1 6 the cultural connotations of green 14 3 1 7 the cultural connotations of other colors 15 3 2 colors and historic backgrounds 16 毕业论文 设计 v 4 conclusion 18 references 19 毕业论文 设计 1 a study of cultural connotations of color words between english and chinese 1 introduction people live in a colorful world and color plays a vitally important role in our lives as a powerful form of communication color is irreplaceable red means stop yellow means wait and green means go traffic lights send this universal message color is an impersonal existence of nature thus in essence it is the same to all the nations in the world there are various words in the world to describe colors which take up a great part in language every language has phrases and sentences that cannot be understood literally even if one knows the meanings of all the words in a phrase or sentence and understands the grammar of the sentence completely the meaning of the phrase or sentence may still be confusing and so it is the case of color words language and culture have a close relationship language is not only one part of culture but also a mirror of it language is an important tool for human beings to communicate with each other language is the symbolic representation of a people and it comprises their historic and cultural backgrounds as well as their approaches to life and their ways of thinking languages of different nations are subject to the social culture and in turn reflect special cultural contents of the nations respectively if people of one nation do not understand the cultural factors of another particular nation it is impossible for them to communicate effectively and smoothly thus communication can be carried on successfully only in the situation that language knowledge and cultural knowledge are put 毕业论文 设计 2 together there exist a great number of color terms in both chinese and english in some sense they express the same meaning in chinese and english however there are also many differences some color words differ greatly in meanings due to their different historic backgrounds conventional customs ways of thinking ways of living and their different habits of language expressions in these two countries ignorance of these dissimilarities would lead to inconvenience in communication thus to have a good master of the differences and similarities of the meanings of color words and their cultural connotations is a prerequisite for a better understanding of chinese and english cultures which will promote the cultural communication 2 revision of color words in english and chinese 2 1 implications of color words color a kind of natural phenomenon is a result of human s perception to the outside world there are a great variety of objects each of which has specific color with the evolution of human civilization the vocabulary related to colors which are called color words or color terms are used to express the color of certain object nowadays to some extent color words are regarded as a kind of common language for people of different countries however due to the great cultural historical and psychological dissimilarities color terms of different countries may also have various peculiarities it is said that there are more than 4000 colors in the world see matsumoto 2000 186 they can be considered as an extremely complicated color table different languages 毕业论文 设计 3 have different numbers of color terms in chinese 赤 橙 黄 绿 青 蓝 紫 the seven colors in the rain bow are considered to be the basic colors nevertheless in english it is usually considered that there are eleven basic colors namely white black grey brown red green yellow blue purple orange and pink see cheng ling 2005 what is worth mentioning is that the basic color term 青 in chinese does not have a corresponding basic color world in english 青 contains the meaning of three basic colors in english namely blue green and black so 青 can be translated as blue green and black for instance 青菜 is green vegetables 青椒 is green pepper and 青龙 is green dragon 青筋 is blue veins 青天 is blue sky and 青砖 is blue brick 青布 is black cloth 青衫 is black gown and 青丝 is black hair 2 2 the comparison of the meanings of basic color words between english and chinese color terms play a very important role in both chinese and english they are sometimes corresponding in translation nevertheless in most cases they are not a careful attention to the cultural connotations attached to the color terms their semantic correspondence and non correspondence between the two languages may help move away the communicative barriers between chinese and english and promote the cultural exchange and integration between them 2 2 1 corresponding relationship of color words between english and chinese even if different nations have different languages customs and different expressions of color terms their ways of thinking and social activities have something in common which makes it possible for color terms to have similar uses in different languages color 毕业论文 设计 4 terms offer a vivid visual image so the naming of objects with such terms reflects people s common recognition of objective things according to different skin colors human beings for example are divided into four major races whites 白色人种 yellows 黄色人种 blacks 黑色人种 and browns 棕色人种 moreover people use color terms to name countless things of the world including animals plants and inanimate beings such as white ants 白蚁 white light 白光 white terror 白色恐怖 white house 白宫 green tea 绿茶 green revolution 绿色革命 a green belt 绿化地带 red card 红牌 black market 黑市 and black hole 黑洞 2 2 2 non corresponding relationship of color words between english and chinese the situation that both the reference and association are corresponding mutually is limited mostofthemarenon correspondingoncertainoccasions the non correspondence relationship of color terms between chinese and english is mainly reflected in 1 the same objective thing or thought can be expressed with different color terms 2 the same objective thing or thought can be expressed with color terms in one language while can t in another language gu jiazu 红茶 black tea 青一块 紫 一块 black and blue 黄豆 soy bean 红豆 love pea 2 english chinese black eye 眼 圈发青 brown bread 黑面包 purple wine 红葡萄酒 secondly the phenomenon of usage dislocation of color terms is also reflected in their imaginary meaning or symbolic meaning in chinese vulgar interest decadence decline and porn are expressed with yellow while in english with blue for instance 下流的玩笑 黄段子 blue jokes 黄色影片 blue film envy jealousy are expressed with red in chinese while green in english for example 眼 红 害 红眼 病 green eyed be green with envy 2 2 2 2 meaning vacancies it is common that there are many phenomena of vacancies in different languages there are also a variety of reasons causing the corresponding vacancies between two languages living environment customs and habits different beliefs of religion different ways of thinking and different habits of language expressions it is no exception to the corresponding relationship vacancies of chinese and english color terms some color words are used in chinese but not in english see yang hongyan 2005 in chinese black is associated to words like mysterious evil illegal and sinister hence there are phrases like 黑幕 inside story 黑心 evil mind 黑色交易 illegal transaction 黑 毕业论文 设计 6 帮 sinister gang and 黑户 unregistered resident however when they are translated into english inside evil illegal sinister and unregistered are used respectively to meet with the chinese term black the color word white in chinese also has various usages but not all of them are translated into the word white in english such as 白菜 chinese cabbage 白搭 no use 白费事 all in vain 白痴 idiot 白眼 treat people superciliously 白衣战士 medical worker etc the situation of the usage of the color word yellow is also different for instance 黄 豆 soybean 黄 历 almanac 黄道吉日 an auspicious day 黄金时间 primetime etc take the word red of the chinese language for another example 红人 a favorite with somebody in power 红榜 honor roll 红利 bonus 红运 good luck 红豆 love pea 生意 红火 flourishing business the similar situation is also usually encountered in translation from english to chinese such as black sheep 不孝之子 to feel blue in the blues 情绪低落 out of blue 意想不到 green hand 新手 green power 金钱力量 worth a red cent 分文不值 white lie 善意的谎言 white elephant 昂贵而无用之物 yellow dog 卑鄙家伙 3 the study of the connotations of color words from cultural aspects changes in the meanings of color words are determined by culture of which the substantial content is in turn reflected by the cultural meaning many english and chinese color words differ in meaning owing to different cultural contents traditions psychology and the cultural connotation differences are likely to cause errors in comprehension and 毕业论文 设计 7 expression because of the spread of the modern science and technology and exchange of ideology and culture the modern views on the colors of various nationalities are reaching unanimity however it is in virtue of the factor of culture that different national languages still have a different view of the color as pointed in the book of language and culture each color word almost has two meanings the basic and direct meaning and its cultural extended meaning gu jiazu also roll out the red carpet for somebody to give a lavish welcome there are also some similarities in expressing people s mood english speaking countries tempt to use to become red faced when they are embarrassed or when they are shy or feel shame this is the same as 脸红 in china chinese people always use 脸 红 to refer to embarrassment because red is an eyes attracting color which indicates danger in both the west and the east see yang hongyan 2005 especially in traffic red is used as a signal of alarm so there are some phrases about red in this area in both chinese and english such as 红 灯 红色警报 红牌 in chinese and red traffic lights red alert a red card that is given to the people who break the traffic rules as a punishment in english in both the two languages red has the connotation of pornography both the red light district in english and 红灯区 in chinese convey the same connotation which is the symbol of whorehouse in the ancient times and 红杏出墙 is used to refer to those women who are not loyal to their husbands there are also a lot of dissimilarities between chinese and english in their connotations of red in china red always indicates some satisfied things or events especially in the wedding nevertheless in western countries people always avoid wearing red clothes in a wedding since red has the connotation of devil so it is more suitable and sensible not to dress in red when attending a wedding party in western countries red sometimes is the omen of hoodoo in western countries in the concept of english 毕业论文 设计 9 nations red has a close relationship with blood and sacrifice such as red hands red battle which can not be literately interpreted as 红手 and 红色战争 but they mean hands that are full of blood and a furious battle and in the culture of bullfight battle always gets mad at the sight of red things and the red flag or the red rag always refers to something which makes people angry such as like a red rag to a bull which means the reason of making people angry see li changyou 2005 yet in china a red rag only means a rag in red color 红布 3 1 2 the cultural connotations of black black is a warm and dark color and it indicates gloom in both china and english speaking countries so black usually has a negative effect and is connected with something evil people in england and the usa always dress in black when they attend a funeral to show their mourning to the dead chinese people tend to wear black weeds to present at a funeral and in english black friday refers to the friday when jesus suffered from tribulation before the easter day see chen yongye 2005 so it is a depressing day english speaking countries consider black to be misfortune and disaster such as black box there is a black box in each plane which is used to take a note of all the information of the flying if there is an air disaster it could be used as a proof to analyze the causes of the disaster so black box has the close relationship with evil and disaster and it is called 黑匣子 in china in both china and those english speaking countries black has something to do with stubbornness cheat and evil such as black hearted 黑心肠 means someone is very malicious and both in the two languages it means people who not only have an evil mind 毕业论文 设计 10 but also often do harm to others and the word black in black sheep 害群之马 a black deed 恶劣透顶 and a black lie 不可饶恕的谎言 all contain the similar meaning as in the expression black hearted in chinese 黑 is also related with evildoer and evil deed such as 黑帮 黑社会 means sinister gangs 黑幕 means inside story of a plot and 黑货 means smuggled goods chinese and english have something in common in the usages of black however because of their different cultural and psychological backgrounds there are some differences for example in the art of heraldry in england black replies wisdom and firmness but in the works of art black indicates evil cheat and falsehood in english black guards or blacks refer to the employed grave diggers who always wear black clothes it also means hooligan or scoundrel and black coat suggests those laborers who are different from those who work in the industries see liu jinfang 2005 3 1 3 the cultural connotations of white white has similar associations in both the west and the east it has the meaning of purity and innocence in the western culture white stands for happiness and purity for example a white spirit refers to those who are green and innocent especially girls and when people get married in the west the groom always dresses in white because white means the newly married couple s loyalty to their marriage and their purity of love there are a lot of such phrases in chinese too such as 洁白如玉 清白无辜 and 一清二 白 but in most cases the connotations that white carries in english are completely different from that in chinese in china white is always a sign of misfortune so there is 毕业论文 设计 11 no surprise that in china white is traditionally the color of graves and it is also the color of the wreaths in china the 白 in 红白喜事 means funeral on the contrast in the english speaking countries white gets preference of many people most of the westerners believe that it is the symbol of pur