The Cultural Differences of Color Words in Chinese and English.doc

Research ProposalTitle of the thesisCultural Differences of Color Words in Chinese and English中英文颜色词的文化差异 Literature reviewDifferent cultures have different ways of presenting points of view and of drawing conclusions. The western ways of presenting argumentative cases and drawing conclusions is generally characterized by precision, clarity, directness, explicitness, and detailedness. In contrast, Chinese approach is more associated with vagueness, ambiguity, stories instead of facts, indirect arguments, being reserved and sensitive to situations or contexts. Different patterns of thinking also determine different ways of behaving, saying things, presenting their arguments, and drawing their conclusions. In other words, we now know that what is considered knowledge or logical thinking may vary greatly across cultures.Languages differ enormously from one another, and these differences are related to important differences in the customs and behaviors and other aspects of the cultures in which those language reside. In a word, language is a mirror of culture. Here in my thesis, I mainly focus on some color words both in Chinese and English. We know there are many conspicuous contrasts between the two languages, so the color words are. Scholars have explored them for hundreds of years. I am interested in this subject either. I write this paper based on the research of those great persons and roughly explore the cultural and linguistic gap between the two languages concerned.The scientific research shows that there are as many as two million kinds of identified colors in the world. Both Chinese and English have a great quantity of different words to depict colors. They are similarly classified in general. But due to different cultures, differences exist undoubtedly in the two languages. In this paper, I will express my thoughts from following aspects: different customs, histories, religions and literatures of the two languages, the developments of the two languages in the following future and so on.In conclusion, the different uses of color words in Chinese and English are tightly connected with the different cultures of the two languages. Key points Culture: It is a complex collection of experiences which condition daily life; it includes history, social structure, religion, traditional customs and everyday usage. Culture is an evasive as well as a comprehensive concept, and an all-encompassing form or pattern for living. What people do, how they act, and how they live and communicate are all responses to their culture. Since we human beings live in the same material world, people all over it do have a great number of things in common. That makes our communication possible with people from various cultures. Language; Since culture is defined as “the total way of life of a people”, nothing is of greater importance than the language through which its beliefs are expressed and transmitted and by which most interactions of its members take place. In fact, language plays such a vital role in culture that some social scientists consider it the keystone of culture. Without language, they maintain, culture would not be possible. Relationship between Culture, Language, and Translation: My topic of this thesis is the contrasts of color words in two languages: Chinese and English. That will inevitably connect the different translations of the two languages together. Therefore, the relationship between culture, language, and translation is crucial part of this paper. The relationship between language and culture is dialectical. The intimate relationship between language and culture leads naturally to that between culture and translation. Translation is representation in one language of what is written or said in another language. Its a bilingual art because two different languages are involved in this activity.Color words: In our daily life, color words are the common illustrations of the cultural differences in language use. In Chinese and English cultures, color words are in the same way influenced by cultures, and used widely in peoples daily life. Color words contain a lot of deep meanings, and imply different ethnic feelings. If we do not take into account the impact of cultural differences, we are difficult to understand the implicit meanings of color words. Outline Introduction 1、 Relationship between cultural differences and color words in Chinese and English 1.1 Influences of traditional customs in color words1.2 Historical factors 1.3 Different favors of different ethnics1.4 Religious influences1.5 Literal allusions2、 Specific contrasts of several color words in Chinese and English 2.1 Red in Chinese and English 2.2 Black in Chinese and English2.3 White in Chinese and English2.4 Blue and Green in Chinese and English 3、 Trends of development in use of color words3.1 Economic developments3.2 Social life developments3.3 Intercultural developments Conclusion Bibliography1Baugh, A.C. & Thomas Cable. A History of the English Language M. Peking: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2001.2 Gill, R. Mastering English Literature M. London: Mac Millan Education, 1985.3 Hornby, A.S. Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English Z. London: Oxford University, 1974.4Knowles, G. A Cultural History of the English Language M. U.S.A.: A Hodder Arnold Publication, 1997.5 Lott, B. A Course in English Language and Literature M. U.S.A.: Edward Arnold, 1989.6 Wales, K. Northern English: A Social and Cultural History M. London: Cambridge University Press, 2006.7 Wu Weizen. History and Anthology of English Literature M. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2001.8 Yang Yanhua & Zhang Shufan. Modern English Lexicology M. Peking: Metallurgical Industry Press, 2007.9陈永烨“英汉颜色词所表现的中西文化差异” J辽宁工程技术大学学报，200510戴炜栋,何兆熊.新编简明英语语言学教程A.上海：上海外语出版社,200211邓炎昌，刘润清语言与文化M北京：外语教学与研究出版社，199112蒋栋元“论颜色及颜色词的文化差异” J 四川外语学院学报，2002，(3)13唐振华“英汉颜色词的翻译” J中国科技翻译，1997，(2). Schedule of writing1. Sep.10th Sep.15th, 2010 Subject selecting & topic narrowing2. Oct.3rd Nov.29th, 2010 Data gathering3. Dec.1st Jan.1st. 2011 Opening report4. Jan.7th . Jan.25th. 2011 Research proposal & Literature review5. Jan.29th Feb .25th. 2011 First draft6. Feb.29th Mar.15 nd. 2011 Second draft7. Mar.16th Apr.1st. 2011 Final version8. Apr.3rd Apr.15th. 2011 Printing9. Apr.26th Apr.30th.2011 Thesis debateThe Cultural Differences of Color Words in Chinese and English中英文颜色词的文化差异Submitted by Student number Supervised by Foreign Languages College Normal UniversityFebruary, 2011The Cultural Differences of Color Words in Chinese and EnglishAbstract: Colors are closely connected to human life. To some extent, there wouldnt be colorful life without various colors of nature. Color is a vital region for human to probe into the material world. It has not only physical natures but also rich cultural connotations. Because of different customs, environments, religious beliefs, ethnic psychology, politics and economics, the understanding and feelings to color words and meaning are different. Therefore, in translating these words about color, cultural differences are to be taken into consideration. Nowadays, languages develop quickly as the society and economy flourish. In some situations such as in current science and economics, color words in Chinese and English may be equal.Key words: color words, cultural differences, development中英文颜色词的文化差异摘要：色彩与人类的生活息息相关，就某种程度来说，没有五光十色的色彩，就没有多姿多彩的生活。色彩是人类认识世界的重要领域，它不仅具有物理的本质属性，还有着丰富的文化内涵。因为文化习俗，地理环境，宗教信仰，民族心里， 政治经济的不同，对颜色词的理解和感受，颜色词的意义都有很大不同。因此，在翻译关于颜色的词汇时，必须把文化差异这一因素考虑进去。 当下的社会经济繁荣，语言也发展迅速。在当代科技经济等方面，中英文颜色词有时是可以等同于彼此的。关键字：文化差异；颜色词；发展ContentsAbstract i摘 要 i iIntroduction . 11. Cultural differences and color words in Chinese and English 21.1 Traditional customs 21.2 Religious beliefs . 31.3 Literal allusions of color words 51.4 Ethnic favors . 62. Specific contrasts of color words in Chinese and English . 83. Current development of color words 84. Possible Solutions to the difficulties . 8Conclusion . 9Notes 11Bibliography 12Acknowledgement . 13