A survey of contrastive studies of English & Chinese idioms.doc

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1、A survey of contrastive studies of English & Chinese idioms Because center the western social culture has the very big difference, its language also inevitably can have the very big difference. The language cannot leave the culture , the culture also cannot leave the language. This article on follow

2、ing several aspects, chats the cultural difference of which two languages exists.NumberNumbers, as an essential part of the language, have nothing to do with the good omens or ill omens themselves, However, owing to the differences of traditional culture between Western World and Eastern World some

3、numbers have different meanings of analogies in English from in Chinese.In ancient Chinese philosophy, “Ying” and “Ying” are the two opposites that exist in all things under the heaven Under this influence , even numbers in Chinese imply auspicious connotations. For example, the Chinese people alway

4、s hope happy events come together, as Chinese saying “好事成双”or “双喜临门”,In addition, theatrical couplets, as well as antitheses in rhetoric, play an important part in Chinese . Among Chinese idioms, “四平八稳” means someone can handle affairs in the right way “四通八达”, describes the convenient traffic. And “

5、六六大顺” expresses that everything goes without a hitch Ten in Chinese indicates the utmost In the subocnciusner, of the Chinese people, “十全十美” is used to modify a perfect person or thing “十恶不赦” is used to describe someone who is extremely vicious.On the other hand, in many English speaking countries,

6、The majority regard odd numbers as good luck To express a deeper degree, they usually add one to an even number, especially hundred and thousand , Such as , one hundred and one thanks (十分感谢,千恩万谢), have one thousand and one thing to do (日理万机). The Trinity in Christianitys culture gives a secret cultu

7、re or a procedure by three parts in order to get good luck. In the Holy Bible, there is a legend that recorded how the God created everything on the earth during seven days. From it the concept of seven days making up a week is well accepted all over the world.ColorAs we know language cant do with c

8、ulture Because of many differences between culture and eastern culture , their languages are quite different For example the languages about color Talking about color, there are some similarities in Chinese and English Taking “red” for example, whether in English-speaking country or in China, “red”

9、is related to celebrations and happy days In China we have the phrase “开门红” which means “good luck” The same meaning in English is “red-letter days”However, their differences are much more than their similarities. In western countries, “yellow” means timidity cowardice and someone cant face the true

10、 But in China yellow is the symbol of monarch and power only the emperor can dress in yellow while in English-speaking meaning so “born in the purple” is 出身王室To describe ones feelings , Chinese and English use, different words, look at the sentence “He is blue today because his father is ill”, which

11、 means that he is sea , But in Chinese blue is only a color word.Sometimes, to talk about the, same things Chinese and English use different color to describe it In China, we say 红茶 which means black tea in English There are some other words changing as well Like 红糖 is brown sugar net red sugar 红眼药

12、is green-eyed not red-eyed and black and blue is 青一块,紫一块in Chinese.In English some color words have lost their original meanings . There are many phrases of this kind here:Black abut:勒索 black cattle:肉牛Red handed:血手 white lie:善意的谎言White day : 吉日 black mail:勒索行为 Animals There are a lot of animals in t

13、he language cultures both the Western and the Eastern , Also the way, the animals are given symbolized meaning although they have some similar and differences.When living and working with the animals , Human beings have the same feelings towards some animals.“fox” is thought to be tricky by both Wes

14、tern and Eastern., Deal with a fox, think of his tricks. Such as the English saying goes, ” The fox changes his skin but not his habit.” The same as Chinese “狐朋狗友” “狐假虎威”.“pig” “ swine” is thought to be fond of eating, unable to enjoy the advance. Such as the English saying goes ”Cast pearls before

15、swine “ The same as Chinese “猪狗不如”“wolf ” is thought to be greedy and evil. Such as the English saying goes “A wolf in sheeps clothes.” And “Keep the wolf from the door The same as Chinese “狼狈为奸、虎啸狼嗥 虎狼成性”“lion” brave and powerful Such as the English saying goes” play oneself in the lions mouth “ ”

16、come in like a lion and go out like a lamb like a donkey in a lions hide” there a little difference, Chinese usually use “tiger” instead of “lion”The same as Chinese “不入虎穴,焉得虎子,狐假虎威,虎头蛇尾”Different culture forms different language .The knowledge of the same animal is different in the minds. So the an

17、imals can mean different meanings.“dog” is mans best friend in Western Countries. Many people love the dogs. Such as the English saying goes “as faithful as dogs” ”a lucky dog” . Also a story said that a couple were quarrelling. One neighbor said “Dont bit the dog” It show that people regard a dog t

18、o be a person “love me ,love my dog” “help a lame dog over a stile” However ugly thing Chinese compare dogs as an ugly thing Such as”狗头军师 狗眼看人低,狗苟蝇营,狗急跳墙. 狗嘴吐不出象牙,狗血啧头.”“dragon” is thought to be evil and unwelcome animal in West and there are few of them in the oral language. However in China People

19、 regard it as power and lucky the kings regard themselves as the sons of the dragon there are many stories telling about the “龙王,龙宫”. Besides a lot of idioms in Chinese concluding the grad on “乘龙快婿 龙飞凤舞 龙争虎斗 龙跃凤舞”“owl”wise and clever justice . Such as the English saying goes “a wise old owl” “as wis

20、e as owl ”.In Chinese “owl” bad luck . Such as “夜猫进宅,后运将至”also people afraid of their sound. Above we separately introduced in English to Chinese two languages some numerals, the color and so on the expression method, we is not difficult to see two languages cultural difference is quite obvious. In

21、summary, the language system only is in a cultural big system sub- system, the culture is not equal to the language, the culture is bigger than the language, but the cultural big system not impossible independently to exist outside the language system, in other words, the language and the culture ar

22、e one kind of complex containing relations. On the one hand, language system itself constitutes one of cultural big system essential factors; On the other hand, the cultural big system other essential factors all must transmit by the language, thus obtains the evolution and the development.Reference

23、 material：英汉语言文化对比研究李瑞华编著，上海外语教育出版社1996英汉双解英语谚语辞典 盛绍裘，李永芳编著，北京知识出版社1991英语成语与汉语成语陈文伯编著，北京外语教学与研究出版社1982妙语连珠罗斯编著，北京出版社翻印1979“Common English Proverbs” A. Johnson ,Longman,1971“A Dictionary of American Idioms” Adam Makkai, New York,1975“Longman Dictionary of English Idioms” 1979“Mastering Modern English Longman” A. R. B.Etherton,1979