Words-and-cultural-specific-connotations.ppt

Wordsandcultural-specificconnotations,Emily,Wordsandcultural-specificconnotations,Denotation:dictionarydefinitionConnotation(Culturalconnotation):“theimplicationofaword,apartfromitsprimarymeaning”(LongmanModernEnglishDictionary)“thesuggestingofameaningbyawordapartfromthethingitexplicitlynamesordescribes”(WebstersNewCollegiateDictionary)eg.松，竹，梅vs.pine,bamboo,plum,Wordsandcultural-specificconnotations,a.aterminonelanguagethatdoesnothaveacounterpartinantherlanguageb.Wordsandtermsthatappeartorefertothesameobjectorconceptonthesurface,butactuallyrefertoquitedifferentthings.c.Thingsorconceptsthatarerepresentedbyoneorperhapstwotermsinonelanguage,butbymanymoretermsinanotherlanguage,thatis,finerdistinctionsexistsinotherlanguage.d.Termsthathavemoreorlessthesameprimarymeaning,butwhichhaveconsiderablydifferentsecondaryoradditionalmeanings,a.Aterminonelanguagethatdoesnothaveacounterpartinantherlanguage,Languagereflectsculture,andculturaldiversityleadstothelackofvocabularyequivalence,conceptequivalenceandexperienceequivalence.Therefore,therearealotofwordsthatwefailtofindthecounterpartsinanotherlanguage.Forexample,theEnglishword“hippies”,“motel”,wecannotfindexactcounterpartinChinese.,AmericanHippiesinthe1960s,AmericanMotel,Moreexamples,IntheAmazonareasnowisnotapartoftheenvironment;therefore,peopleinthatregiondonothaveawordforsnow.MostAmericansusetermssuchassnow,powdersnow,sleet,slush,blizzard,andice.TimedoesnotplayaroleinNavajolife.Asaresult,theNavajodonothavethedifferentiatedvocabularyconnectedwithtimeandclocks.ForAmericans“tomorrow”meansmidnighttomidnight,averyprecisetimeperiod.ToMexicans,incontrast,maanameansinthefuture,soon.,b.Wordsandtermsthatappeartorefertothesameobjectorconceptonthesurface,butactuallyrefertoquitedifferentthings.,SnowinEskimoandEnglishBlueinRussianandEnglishWeekendinChineseandEnglish,c.Thingsorconceptsthatarerepresentedbyoneorperhapstwotermsinonelanguage,butbymanymoretermsinanotherlanguage,thatis,finerdistinctionsexistsinotherlanguage.,Forexample:Kinshipterms:ChineseEnglish姑夫；姨夫；舅舅uncles叔叔；伯伯堂兄；表兄；堂弟cousins表弟；堂姐；堂妹表兄；表妹,Brother-in-law:mysistershusband,myhusbandsbrother,andmyhusbandssistershusbands.(Iamledbymylanguagetoperceivealloftheserelativesinasimilarway.)姐夫妹夫大伯小叔子姑爷（Iamledbymylanguagenottoperceivealloftheserelativesinasimilarway.),d.Termsthathavemoreorlessthesameprimarymeaning,butwhichhaveconsiderablydifferentsecondaryoradditionalmeanings,Languagereflectstheenvironmentwelivein,history,custom,valuesandsoon,whicharediverseindifferentcultures.Sowordsthatrefertothesameobjectmayhavedifferentassociated（联想的）meanings.Theculturally-loadedwordsandexpressionsaregoodexamplesshowingtheculturalinfluenceonthemeaningsofwords.,Example,Phoenix(凤凰),Dragon(龙),Dragon,beingalwaysconsideredadeity(god)withinconceivablepowerinChina,bringspeoplegoodluck.PeoplebornintheyearofDragonfeelsveryproud.ButinGreekandRomanmythology,dragonisacrocodile-likemonsterwhichcanemitsmokeandfirefromitsmouth.Therefore,aforeignstudentwithoutmuchknowledgeofChinesecultureispuzzledbytheidiomwangzichenglong,wonderingwhatkindofpersonsparentsexpecttheirchildrentobe.,Bat(蝙蝠),ThebatisusuallyassociatedwithnegativequalitiesintheWest.Asblindasabat,hesabitbatty(mad)aretypicalexpressionsofthenegativeassociations.Mentionofthebatoftenevokestheimageofanugly,sinister,blood-suckingcreature,Thismaypossiblybebecauseofthevampirebat吸血蝙蝠.TousChinesepeople,however,thebatisasymbolofgoodfortune,well-being,andhappiness-allposi