Cultural Differences between English and Chinese vocabulary中西文化差异分析

1、Cultural Differences between English and Chinese vocabularySummaryEnglish vocabulary is the foundation of communication, and it is the core knowledge of learning English. Each language has its own unique lexical structure, which reflects its special communication characteristics. In this way it can

2、reflect the culture history of this nation or country through vocabulary. English is the mainstream language in the West which can show many local conditions and customs. Being proficient in these vocabulary can help learners establish a better culture background in order to understand the details o

3、f English vocabulary .Because Chinese is the common language in China so how to grasp the cultural differences between English and Chinese vocabulary will become the main issue. By learning the cultural differences between English and Chinese vocabulary to improve their own cultural and ideological

4、level, language communication becomes a simple and easy way to reduce communication barriers, so that learners can improve their English and cultural communication skills. English and Chinese are formed in different environments, so in some certain extent there will be great differences. The master

5、of English vocabulary is a key factor of future social development and important part of communication. When learning English vocabulary, people must pay attention to the cultural background. Because different cultural backgrounds produce different cultural connotations. This article mainly studies

6、cultural differences between English and Chinese vocabulary, including geographical environment、religious beliefs、social history and living customs. The differences in English vocabulary structure is further discussed, and also the different connotations of English and Chinese vocabulary culture are

7、 analyzed , including color, animals, vocabulary about diet and customs. This paper explores and studies the differences in vocabulary culture、the underlying meaning of vocabulary, lexical connotation, and lexical cultural connotation between English and Chinese, so that it can help English learners

8、 understand and master the language meaning, and conduct communication among different kinds of culture more effectively.Keywords：English vocabulary；Cultural differences；English and Chinese cultureCatalogCultural Differences between English and Chinese vocabulary2Summary2Introduction51. The cultural

9、 differences between English and Chinese vocabulary61.1 Differences in geographical environment61.2 Differences in religious beliefs71.3 Differences in social history71.4 Differences in living customs92. The lexical structure difference102.1 Differences between English and Chinese word formation102.

10、2 English word formation103. The meaning of English and Chinese vocabulary culture113.1 Differences in meaning of words113.2 Differences in idioms12Conclusion13References14IntroductionLanguage is a mirror through which you can see the history of this nation and development of this country，Language i

11、s also a window through which people can see the differences between different cultures and let people see the world. At the same time, different words have their own word formation methods, and the composition of vocabulary can also reflect the communication characteristics of this country. English

12、 is currently an international language, and the roots of English are basically in the West. Therefore, in order to learn English well, you must understand the cultural background of English development, and find out the cultural differences through vocabulary comparison between English and Chinese.

13、 Only by learning the differences between these two, can we truly grasp the main points of English vocabulary, in order to improve ourselves English communication level. In addition, good English foundation is also a major factor affecting the development of students. With the internationalization o

14、f the economy, every student must master English and communicate with foreigners in English to complete the corresponding work. At present, it is even more necessary for students to learn the cultural differences between English and Chinese vocabulary, to be a talented person who understands both En

15、glish communication rules and English background, so that Chinese culture can be truly integrated into English, in order to effectively combining English with Chinese vocabulary and improve English application comprehensively.Peoples interactions between different cultures can be remounted back to a

16、ncient times. From the perspective of human tectonic mechanism, human beings have the same physiological characteristics, which makes them have common or similar feeling in productive time and also in living time ,in order to testify that different cultures actually have many commonalities. From thi

17、s perspective, when the East and the West describe the same feature of the same thing, they will actually express the same or similar cultural significance. Everything has a relative side, and there are no expect in culture, there will not be differences without commonality, and also conflicts will

18、bind with personality. There is no doubt that the culture of each nation has the same or similar parts, but in most part differences and diversities will exist between cultures. As a carrier of culture, language will also have a profound cultural brand. In other words, some semantics may exist only

19、in a certain language. This phenomenon is what people often call the cultural default phenomenon. In a generally way, there is no correlation between the English expressions with rich connotations between the Anglo-American culture and the Eastern culture, which makes it difficult to find the corres

20、ponding to express Chinese vocabulary at the time of translation. In this case, it has caused some obstacles for cross-cultural translation. Most of the translations only retain their own meaning, and discard some of the image meaning and cultural connotation of English, or use other Chinese metapho

21、rs in English so that metaphor can be replaced. In addition, taking into account the individual characteristics of culture, sometimes compensation methods can be used to compensate for the historical background or the source of the allusions, thus maintaining the cultural characteristics of the orig

22、inal text. In the view of this, cross-cultural differences are bound to affect English-Chinese translation in depth.1. The cultural differences between English and Chinese vocabularyEnglish vocabulary has a long standing history, and Chinese vocabulary contains extensive and profound wisdom. These t

23、wo kinds of vocabulary play different roles in their respective historical developments, and also reflected the historical development level at that time. Due to the different linguistic environments of different nationalities and countries, different English and Chinese vocabularies were created sm

24、oothly, including historical culture, personal characteristics, and ethnic customs as well as some religious beliefs, these words not only greatly reflect the background of that time, but also reflect the huge differences between different culture. For example, differences in geographical environmen

25、t, differences in religious beliefs, differences in social history, and differences in living customs and so on.1.1 Differences in geographical environmentThere are obvious differences in geographical location between the UK and China. The composition and application of many vocabularies are due to

26、the specialization of the geographical environment. Britain, the home country of English, is in a more developed area. In the UK, navigation and fishing is in a prominent status. Therefore, the initial formation of English vocabulary is closely related to these two prominent industries, For example:

27、 burn ones boats, this vocabulary phrase is to describe people who are devoted in fishing should be determined instead of hesitate and cut off all means of retreat, this phrase is invented for the prominent maritime. Looking back at China, with vast land and rich resources, we will derive some vocab

28、ulary phrases based on land products, such as “home grown” and “grow melons”, which are all based on our peoples lives. These words are invented according to the geographical environment which greatly reflects the environmental conditions by our people at that time. Because of the influence of the g

29、eographical environment, there is a certain difference between English and Chinese. In terms of vocabulary, a large part of the difference between English and Chinese is due to the influence of geographical environment. English has strict requirements in grammar, such as: Marriage may be compared to

30、 acage: the birds outside despair to get in and those within despair to get out. Translation:婚姻好比鸟笼，外面的鸟儿想进进不去，里面的鸟儿想出出不来, the sentence involve infinitive phrases: to get in and to get out. Compared with English, Chinese pay more attention to the use of monosyllabic and polysyllables. For example, t

31、he word love is often regarded as a lover, wife or husband in China, but in Western countries it is understood as a mistress or lover. Through the comparison of geographical environment between English and Chinese vocabulary ,we can obtain the characteristics about vocabulary change, so as to unders

32、tand the origin and connotation of vocabulary better .For the Chinese, in the process of learning English language, you may encounter a statement like this: “You chicken”, the word “Chicken” is translated directly into the meaning of chicken and chicken meat. This word in Chinese is a neutral word w

33、ithout any emotion. However, the word chicken is summarized in English with derogatory color and even full of abusive meaning. From this point of view, the more appropriate translation of this expression should be you coward / coward. As can be seen from this simple example, understanding and transl

34、ating sentences needs to be based on different cultural backgrounds. To give another example, your locks were like raven in the West, people use crows to praise a person who has black and beautiful hair, but in China few people will praise others in this way, in China the crow is even an omen in an

35、unlucky way. In English-Chinese translation, if you do not understand the environment behind the words, it will inevitably lead to cultural conflicts, which makes it difficult to understand.1.2 Differences in religious beliefsReligion has been called the soul of people in the West, and it is also a

36、spiritual belief that is common in the West which reflects the cultural characteristics of a country. In countries where English is used, people generally believe in Christianity. Faith in such way has also promoted the development of language greatly at that time, and created many words about Chris

37、tianity. For example, the word Bible is about the holy book, the Bible, has always been valued and circulated; and the cross word “cross” of Jesus is the description about the suffering of Jesus at the time of his death which embodies the unique vocabulary structure of that era. The British believe

38、in Christianity、Jesus and other churches, so a lot of vocabulary, such as Mecca, Jesuit and missionary, are derived from the British religious beliefs. The religious beliefs in China are more diverse. Among them, Buddhism has the most believers and acquire the most devout, the generated vocabulary i

39、s also relatively large, such as“借花献佛”、“不二法门”、“顶礼膜拜”etc. They were invented in the process of peoples belief in Buddhism, which shows the devout heart of Buddhists.1.3 Differences in social historyBoth China and the UK have a long history and have undergone many revolutions. The evolution of history

40、 and culture has brought more colorful words and phrases, many of which have unique social significance. For example, in Western legends, the word “academy comes from Greek mythology, which means Akadmosi who helping find Helens. In this story, academy is a garden, and in the following development o

41、f mythology, academy was gradually translated into a college or a research institute. The western mythology is simple and clear, and goes straight to the theme, many vocabulary are mythological mapping vocabulary with very obvious mythological features. In China, there are more myths and legends lik

42、e that. Many stories are very legendary. There are also many fable stories with special meanings. For example, “疑邻盗斧”means not respect the facts, conjecture people and everything randomly , and this word comes from a fable story. Another example is that the word “女娲补天” is derived from mythological l

43、egends and means expectation and yearning for good things. The social differences between English and Chinese vocabulary are also obvious. In order to learn English and Chinese vocabulary better, we must study the relationship and differences between the two. Because and just because there is a big

44、difference in history and culture between Britain and China cause the vocabulary difference between Britain and China. Just as the saying above many vocabulary are relate to history and culture, the UK pays attention to Greek culture, while China pays more attention to some mythological stories.The

45、China has undergone earth-shaking changes since 1949, the proprietary vocabulary which corresponds to the century have been created in different historical development periods.(1) Take the term “well-off society” as an example. The translation has different translations in different periods. For exa

46、mple, during the “The fourteenth peoples Congress”, the translation is “a well-off society”, while in “The Seventh National Congress”, it was translated into a moderate society, a prosperous society.(2) Taking anti-corruption and honesty as an example, the translation of the translation during the “

47、The fourteenth peoples Congress” period is fight corruption and build a clean government, and to the “The Seventh National Congress, the translation of anti-corruption and honesty has become fight corruption and uphold integrity. For foreigners, in order to grasp this vocabulary which has so strong

48、political color accurately, it is necessary to grasp the unique political culture of the target language countries and the characteristics of different historical periods.In the same way, taking the expression “bourgeois liberalization” as an example, this vocabulary has a certain degree of derogato

49、ry color in our country. However, in Western culture, “bourgeois liberalization” is a political proposition that plays an active role in the process of anti-feudal struggle, and thus this word has a certain derogatory color. Therefore, in order to translate bourgeois liberalization in external propa

50、ganda, the appropriate expression should be: bourgeois liberalization aiming at capitalist restoration”.1.4 Differences in living customsThe vocabulary differences between the UK and China in terms of living customs are also significant; with each has its own characteristics and its own living habit

51、s. For example, in terms of the calling names of loved ones, the differences between English and Chinese vocabulary are greatly highlighted. In English, the word lady is mostly understood as a woman or a lady, while in China, a woman can be a married and unmarried woman, while a lady always mean a w

52、oman who are mostly refer to unmarried women, all of this reveal out the different meaning of the same word. the words sister and brother can refer to sister and brother respectively in Chinese, but in the West, they can replace the whole relationship, which can refer to both the elder sister and th

53、e younger sister . In addition, in daily life, Westerners like to eat bread and steak, etc., they will invent some bread and meat words such as bread, chicken, beef”. Through the full understanding of vocabulary, invent some words that are more suitable for our own use. However, Chinese prefer to ea

54、t rice and stir-fry, thus forming some dietary vocabulary. In terms of living customs, there are some obvious differences between China and Britain. The Chinese people like good things and like to create some words which have good meanings, such as “百年好合”、“稳步高升”and some words such as “恭喜发财”, which a

55、re created relate to the happiness of life . For the West, the red color is not so popular, so some green with envy phrases will be invented to express the inner feelings of the heart. The red color in Chinese symbolizes jubilant and joyous, so there are also many differences in living customs.In ad

56、dition, in a general speaking, social customs will affect the habits of language expression. China has always had a great traditional habit of respecting the old and loving the young, in the other hand the Americans are more casual, even if there is a big gap between the two sides in terms of age or

57、 status. There are countless examples of this. The relatives in Chinese expression are widely used. For those who are older than ourselves, they are called uncle, aunt, brother, sister and so on , sometimes they even don not have blood relation just because of the politesse . However, the title of r

58、elatives in Western countries is not widely used in social affairs. If you call someone Uncle Smith or Auntie Brown, they may be very uncomfortable in listening to them. In English expression, only those who are as close as blood relation to each other can use this kind of title without using a name

59、, such as Uncle John.”. In China, we are pursuing the moderation of the mean and modesty. For example, the word teacher, we will call * teacher, and for Westerners, teachers are only a profession, and in China there is a tradition in respecting teachers , the teacher is not only a profession, but an expression of respect for teachers. Because of the different environments we are in, Chinese people see teacher Wang is equal to teac