A comparison of Cultural Connotation between English and Chinese certain Color Terms英语论文.doc

A comparison of Cultural Connotation between English and Chinese certain Color Terms1 IntroductionLanguage is a kind of social phenomenon and it is the carrier of culture. At the same time, it is an important part of culture. Basically, language system includes vocabulary, sentence and texts. However, it is vocabulary that carries the cultural information most and reflects the human being's social and cultural life most obviously.As we know, almost every language has color vocabulary. Color is an essential part of nature and it plays an indispensable part in our life. Color words may show different cultural connotations of each language in some degree.Therefore, understanding and mastering the cultural connotations of color terms really are significant in promoting the international cultural exchange in today's muti-cultural society. According to the general study of Brent Berlin and Paul Kay, there are totally eleven basic color terms in English, which contain white, black, red, green, blue, purple, pink, brown, gray and orange. However, in Chinese, the basic color terms just include white, black, red, green, yellow, blue, purple, brown and gray. Though it seems that there are fewer Chinese basic color than English, in fact, Chinese is also one of the richest and most colorful languages in the world.In the following parts, this paper will make a simple comparison of the cultural connotations of several basic English and Chinese color terms.2 The comparison of cultural of color terms 2.1Similarities of the cultural connotations 2.1.1 WhiteWhite, to most Chinese and westerners, shares similar connotations: purity, innocence, honesty, goodness, etc. For instance, in Chinese, "洁白无瑕", "清白无辜", "白衣天使" and "白头偕老". In English, the color white usually contains such meaning. In the stories of Grimm Fairy Tales, the Snow White is described as the embodiment of goodness and in westerners' wedding, the bride usually wears a white bridal gown, which is symbol of luck, purity and holiness. This kind of wedding in the western countries is often called a white wedding. White also symbolizes honest and upright in western culture, such as, "a white spirit" means honest soul, "a white man" is noble and educated. 2.1.2 BlackIn both English and Chinese, there are various expressions indicating that black is often connected with negative qualities.Firstly, black symbolizes serious. In Chinese, black types of facial make up of "张飞","李逵" in traditional Beijing opera. In western culture, when you take part in the funerals, you must be in black clothes or they will think you do not take the funerals seriously.Secondly, black is always related to darkness, evil things. In Chinese, "黑社会" means an illegal social organization. "黑店" refers to an inn ran by brigands. "黑货" is the unlawful carrying or selling goods. "黑户口" refers to a family without registration. In English, "black money", that is, ill-gotten money. "Black market" refers to an illegally operated market. And there are also some other phrases like "blackmail", "black deeds" indicating evil deeds, "black lie" referring to unforgivable mistake.Thirdly, black is associated with unlucky affairs. In Chinese, "泼黑水" and "背黑锅" have the meaning of dirtiness and insult. In English, "black letter day" refers to an unlucky day. Phrases like "black future", "black Monday" and "in black mood" all indicate one is down in his spirit. 2.1.3 Red No matter in China or in western countries, red first of all, is regarded as a color of luck, happiness, and success. In Chinese, "开门红" means when people open their door(always atthe first day of Chinese New Year)，they will see everything in red，which represents the blessing of the heavenIt indicates a lucky future throughout the new year ."红人","走红" are used to describe someone who is very successful and famous. "红娘" is a lady who contributes to the happy life of couples."满堂红" portrays a room filled with red decoration. Red here is a symbol of perfect and luck, which could sweep the haze. In English, "to roll out the red carpet for somebody" indicates to welcome some important persons warmly. And "a red letter day" refers to the anniversary day or some happy days, such as Christmas Day. Secondly, red has the meaning that one is healthy both in English and Chinese. For example, "面色红润" or "红光满面" and "with a face as red as a rose".Thirdly, red is associated with certain emotions. In Chinese, "脸红","面红耳赤","脸红脖子粗". In English, "She becomes red faces", "Her face turned red", "I can see that he is in red with anger", etc.Besides, red also indicates peace. The International Committee of the Red Cross(国际红十字会) is an international organization with the aim at protecting human life and health and helping people who are in trouble. 2.2 Differences of the cultural connotations 2.2.1 YellowIn Chinese, yellow originally represents the color of the land."黄土高原", being seated by the Yellow Riverside, is one the most ancient Chinese culture. That is why Chinese people always call themselves "炎黄子孙". In China, yellow is honorable color. It is always associated with "honor" and "glory" and it is the symbol of "power" and "lofty", say words like "黄袍","黄榜" and "黄门". But in English, it is "purple", not "yellow" that is connected with "high rank" or "imperial" or "power" in particularly.Moreover, yellow is usually associated with something pornographic in Chinese, such as "黄色书刊","黄色电影","黄色音乐" and so forth. In English, however, the color yellow has nothing to do with such meaning. "Yellow pages" and "Yellow press" do not mean pornography. "Yellow pages" means the book of phone number. And "Yellow press" is a kind of newspaper with news about scandals, murders, crimes.In addition, the color yellow can be used to indicate the young age of girls in Chinese, such as "黄花闺女" and "黄毛丫头". However, in English, yellow shoes coward, such as "yellow day" and "yellow streak". 2.2.2 BlueIn Chinese, when one refers to blue, he will have sea or shy in mind, with boundlessness, profoundness, calm. It is the color of beautiful dreams. For example, "蓝天白云",蔚蓝如海".On contrary, in western culture, blue is not seen as happiness and imagination, but gloom and depression. "He has been in blue mood", "fell blue" ,"a blue Monday" are examples for this meaning. Besides, blue is a term of noble or high social status. "He is in blue blood" means he is from an aristocratic family. More examples are "blue ribbon", "blue laws". Furthermore, blue has the same meaning with yellow in Chinese associating with pornography. "A blue movie" is equal to "黄色电影" in Chinese. 2.2.3 GreenIn Chinese, in the first place, green may refer to braveness. "绿林好汉", which represents the persons who usually settled in the forest and rob the treasure for helping the poor. In addition, green also means the wife betrays her husband. "戴绿帽子" is known as the phrase to indicate a man's wife has love affairs with another man.But in English, green has the different meaning. To begin with, it means without experience for a work. Some phrases, say "green hand", "green as grass", "green in experience" all indicate inexperience. Then, green also refers to jealousy, for example, "green eyed", "green with envy". 3 ConclusionWith development of society and culture, language become more important to reflect national features and display different nation's values and standard. However, there is an increase barriers and misunderstandings in communication between the Chinese and the English. Therefore, the study of words plays a significant role to contact freely between English and Chinese and avoid cultural conflicts. According to the above comparison, we can find the similarities and differences of the connotations of the color terms in Chinese and English .In many cases, color words that include not merely their lexical meaning but the deep meaning due to the culture. That means we know more about the culture of English and Chinese, which benefits for us to handle words appropriately. Furthermore, as a student of English major, when we read something in English, we should not take the literal meaning for granted and must try to master the cultural background, historical and geological background, traditional custom for understanding the words' connotations.生命列车The Train Of Life1. 不久以前，我读了一本书。书中把人生比作一次旅行。2. 人生一世，就好比是一次搭车旅行，要经历无数次上车、下车; 时常有事故发生; 有时是意外惊喜，有时却是刻骨铭心的悲伤 3. 降生人世，我们就坐上了生命列车。我们以为我们最先见到的那两个人-我们的父母，会在人生旅途中一直陪伴着我们。 4. 很遗憾，事实并非如此。他们会在某个车站下车，留下我们，孤独无助。他们的爱、他们的情、他们不可替代的陪伴，再也无从寻找。 5. 尽管如此，还会有其他人上车。他们当中的一些人将对我们有着特殊的意义。 6. 他们之中有我们的兄弟姐妹, 有我们的亲朋好友。我们还将会体验千古不朽的爱情故事。7. 坐同一班车的人当中，有的轻松旅行。8. 有的却带着深深的悲哀 还有的,在列车上四处奔忙，随时准备帮助有需要的人  9. 很多人下车后，其他旅客对他们的回忆历久弥新 但是，也有一些人，当他们离开座位时，却没有人察觉。10. 有时候，对你来说情深义重的旅伴却坐到了另一节车厢。你只得远离他，继续你的旅程。11. 当然，在旅途中，你也可以摇摇晃晃地穿过自己的车厢，去别的车厢找他 12. 可惜，你再也无法坐在他身旁，因为这个位置已经让别人给占了 .13. 没关系。旅途充满挑战、梦想、希望、离别 就是不能回头。因此，尽量使旅途愉快吧！14. 善待旅途上遇见的所有旅客，找出人们身上的闪光点。15. 永远记住，在某一段旅程中，有人会犹豫彷徨，因为我们自己也会犹豫彷徨。16. 我们要理解他人，因为我们需要他人的理解。17. 生命之谜就是：我们在什么地方下车？坐在身旁的伴侣在什么地方下车？我们的朋友在什么地方下车？我们无从知晓 18. 我时常这样想：到我该下车的时候，我会留恋吗？我想我还是会的。和我的朋友分离，我会痛苦。让我的孩子孤独地前行，我会悲伤。 我执著地希望在我们大家都要到达的那个终点站，我们还会相聚 19. 我的孩子们上车时没有什么行李，如果我能在他们的行囊中留下美好的回忆，我会感到幸福。20. 我下车后，和我同行的旅客都还能记得我，想念我，我将感到快慰。21. 献给你, 我生命列车上的同行者, 祝您旅途愉快!1. Not long ago, I read a book, in which a mans life was compared to a journey.2. The life of a man is just like a hitchhiking，during which many times we go up and down. Now and then things will happen accidently, some of which are to be unexpected excitement，while some heart-breaking sorrows. 3. When first embraced the world，we are already on the train of life. We take it for granted that the first two persons, our parents, whom we are encountered with, will accompany us all the way.4. Sadly，things do not go on as we thought.Our parents will get off the train at a certain station，leaving us, bereft and helpless.Their love and emotion to us and their irreplaceable company can be found in nowhere.5. However，there will be somebody else who will get on the train. Some of them will have special meaning to us.6. Some of them may be our siblings , relatives and friends, and we will also expereince the imperishable love.7. Some of our travelling companions are quite light-hearted on the way.8. While some may bear immense sorrow.Still some ,back and forth, are ready to hold out their hands for others who need help.9. Some people alight off the train, yet they are still kept in the mind of the other passengers for long;some, to the opposite, leave their seats without being noticed.10. Sometimes, the one,who is dear to your heart, has huddled into another carriage. Nothing but one you can do is just to keep on going, far away from him.11. Of course, during the journey, you may stagger to another carriage to look for him.12. Its a pity that you will never seat yourself beside him because the seat has been engaged by others. 13. Never mind. The journey is full of challenges,dreams, hopes and departures- but only one thing is that you cant turn back. So, have a good journey with heart and soul.14. Show your good-will to all the passengers you are encountered with, and find the merits of theirs.15. Remeber that someone may oscillate just as we do in the journey.16. We should understand others just as we need others understanding.17. The enigma of life is：Where shall we get off the train of life?And how about the companions beside us?And our friends?We dont know.18. Sometimes I think：When my time comes to get off the train，shall I miss it？I think I will.It is a suffering when I part with my friends.I will be sorry for leaving my kids going alone.I firmly hold that when we get to the terminal，we will have another reunion.19. When my kids get on the train of life, they have only little luggage in their travelling bags. However,if I can leave the beautiful memory in them,I will be happy. 20. After getting off the train of life, I will be content if my fellow passengers will remember me and miss me.21. To you , the companions on my train of life.May you have a good journey!