A Study of Cultural Differences between English and Chinese Animal Slangs英语专业毕业论文.docx

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1、 A Study of Cultural Differences between English and Chinese Animal SlangsBy Submitted to the School of Foreign Studies in Partial Fulfillment to the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts in English (International Trade)Under the Supervision of Ms. June, 2015iiiTable of ContentsTable of Co

2、ntentsiAbstractiiKey Words ii摘要iii关键词iii1 Introduction11.1 A brief introduction of animal slangs 11.2 Significance of the thesis11.3 Literature review22 Theoretical Framework42.1 The definition of culture42.2 The concepts of culture43 Cultural Differences between English and Chinese Animal Slangs63.

3、1 Different historical origins63.2 Different geographical environments73.3 Different customs83.4 Different religious beliefs93.5 Different thinking styles104 Suggestions for Using Animal Slangs114.1 Awareness of the differences between the surface meaning and deep meaning 114.2 Awareness of meaning

4、changes115 Conclusion13Acknowledgements14Works Cited16A Study of Cultural Differences between English and Chinese Animal SlangsAbstract: Slang embodies linguistic and cultural characteristics of a country, different countries and regions have their own unique slangs. As a special language expression

5、, slang is of regional characteristics and goes through a long history of development. Besides, it is the token of linguistic cultures of many nations, so to some extent, differences between Chinese culture and western culture can be found in it. Animal slang, an important component of slang in gene

6、ral, possesses unique function and fertile expressive property, lively and vividly reflecting the cultural features of China and western nations. On this basis, this thesis is to make an endeavor to apply contrastive analysis with examples to the study of cultural differences between English and Chi

7、nese animal slangs, which will help English learners and researchers to further their studies of languages and cultures of English and Chinese.The thesis is made up of five chapters. Chapter One introduces animal slangs, significance of the thesis and literature review. Chapter Two sets the theoreti

8、cal framework by giving the definition of culture and the concepts of culture, mainly including five aspects of historical origin, geographical environment, custom, religious belief and thinking style. Chapter Three analyzes cultural differences between English and Chinese animal slangs from the abo

9、ve mentioned five aspects. Chapter Four gives some suggestions for appropriately using animal slangs. Chapter Five summarizes the whole paper. Key words: Animal slang; Cultural differences; English and Chinese animal slangs英汉动物俚语的文化差异研究摘要：俚语代表着一个国家的语言和文化特色，不同的国家不同的地区都有着其独特的俚语。它是一种相当特殊的语言表达形式，具有地方色彩，

10、历史悠久。俚语是世界各地语言文化的一种象征，其在一定程度上反映了中西方文化的差异。动物俚语作为构成俚语的一个重要组成部分，具有独特的作用和丰富的表现力，鲜明地体现了英汉民族的文化特色。本文运用对比分析的方法和实例研究的方法，分析英汉动物俚语的差异以及产生这些差异的主要原因。通过本文对英汉动物俚语的探讨研究将进一步了解英汉俚语之间的差别，两者的文化差异研究将有助于我们更好地进行英汉语言与文化的学习。该论文一共分为五个部分。第一部分介绍了动物俚语的定义、本文的研究意义及其文献综述。第二部分介绍论文理论框架，即文化的概念，其中主要涉及的五个方面是：历史起源、地域、风俗、宗教以及思维方式。第三部分是论

11、文的重心所在，将从历史起源、地理环境、风俗习惯、宗教信仰以及思维方式五个方面具体分析研究英汉动物俚语的文化差异。第四部分对如何正确使用动物俚语提出建议。第五部分总结全文。关键词：动物俚语；文化差异；英汉动物俚语A Study of Cultural Differences between English and Chinese Animal Slangs1 Introduction1.1 A brief introduction of animal slangsSlang is a kind of informal and colloquial words or expressions tha

12、t are summarized by people and used in the daily life. It is comprehensible, catchy and of local characteristics and strong regional sense. As a type of informal language, slang is frequently used in some informal occasions. Sometimes slang can be used to express new stuff or describe old objects in

13、 a novel way1. In the Oxford Advanced Learners English-Chinese Dictionary (2004), the word “slang” is defined as “very informal words and expressions that are more common in spoken language, especially used by a particular group of people.” 2. Animal slang, as it literally means, refers to slang abo

14、ut animals. Because of its various images, unique function and expressive nature, animal slang plays a significant role in English language. When reading it, we can have a vivid and concrete image in our mind. During the long course of contact between human beings and animals, a lot of fertile and c

15、olorful fantasies are provoked from animals images, features and habits, as well as from the interaction between human and animals, then human will express miscellaneous ideas and emotions and depict the objective world by these fantasies, being concise, comprehensive and pregnant with profound mean

16、ing3. Therefore, it is sure that a large number of slangs containing animals exist in human languages, and these slang words or phrases are either related to animals born features or from humans knowledge about animals habits or rooted in fables and mythologies.1.2 Significance of the thesisDifferen

17、t from other articles that study slang which are simply general explanations of slang expressions, this paper will explore the animal slang in both English and Chinese languages to further study the linguistic and cultural connotations and disparities behind the slang. Animal slang has lively animal

18、 images and is huge in quantity, and this is why it catches a lot of attention of researchers and learners. This research will help learners to know about the differences between Chinese culture and English culture and provide English learners with a platform to further understand the English cultur

19、e, so they can use English slang correctly and flexibly. Also, this research helps learners avoid some common problems arising from the application of English slang and offers a new study perspective to researchers.1.3 Literature reviewLanguage is the carrier of culture, they depend on each other an

20、d mutually affect. In English, there are a lot of animal slangs, and in Chinese, words or set phrases related to animals are also too numerous to list. They are the products of the accumulation of time-aged and colorful cultures of China and western nations, reflecting the similar or dissimilar emot

21、ions and attitudes of various peoples when facing animals. Foreign studies about animal slang are relatively rare. At the early stage, linguists represented by British linguist Smith (1925) focus more on the comprehensive categorization and explanation of the source and the expressive function of sl

22、ang. According to Smith, animal slang constitutes the general slang, and it can be classified and explained according to its communicative function, including expressive emotion, attitude, wish, determination, anger and curse. Some foreign linguists classify the animal slangs according to animal hab

23、its, such as Christine Ammer (1999). In the book of Cool Cats, Top Dogs, and Other Beastly Expressions (Ammer 1999), Ammer divides animal slang into pet slang, bird slang, slang associated with pasture animals, park animals and underwater animals4. Among all animals, horse and dog are of the most si

24、gnificance in slang expressions (Smith 1925). Influenced by the systematic functional linguistics, linguists embarked on the exploration of the effect and function of English slang in the communicative occasions, such as Kramsch (1995) and his book Language and Culture5.In China, scholars first stud

25、y animal slang from the associative meaning of animals; they discuss common animals in slang, such as cat, dog and horse which westerners are particularly fond of. In A Comprehensive Dictionary of English Idioms and Phrases (1985) complied by Xiamen University, there are 90 pieces of dog related sla

26、ng, 80 pieces of horse related slang and 60 pieces of cat related slang6. With respect to the research skills of animal slang, the mainly and usually used methods are comparison, metaphor cognition, context learning, source exploration and translation comparison. For example, in Language and Culture

27、 - Comparison between Chinese and English Language and Culture edited by Yanchang Deng, Runqing Liu, et al and in the book Chinese and English Proverbs and Culture authored by Dechun Wang, the method of comparison is employed to study the cultural connotation carried in English and Chinese animal sl

28、angs7.With the increasing cultural exchange between China and the West, Chinese and English languages have absorbed a large number of slangs from one another. However, compared with the slang deeply rooted in the national tradition and culture, the borrowed slang does not constitute the mainstream.

29、This thesis is to make a study of cultural differences between English and Chinese animal slangs, which provides guidance to the learning of cross-cultural communication, and it is of positive significance in deep understanding of western culture and guidance of English language learning.2 Theoretic

30、al Framework2.1 The definition of cultureGenerally speaking, culture is a kind of social phenomenon and the product created by human in a long course, also, it is a type of historical phenomenon and the product accumulated in the development of social history. Specifically speaking, culture refers t

31、o a nations or a peoples history, geography, custom, traditional habits, lifestyle, literature and art, code of conduct, thinking style and value views8. And from a broad perspective, culture is the conglomerate of material and spiritual fortune created by human in the developmental course of social

32、 history, including material culture, institutional culture and mental culture. The material culture, as a visible culture, means the civilization of various matters produced by mankind which incorporates transport vehicles, clothing and daily necessities and so on; institutional culture and mental

33、culture are both invisible cultures, the former containing living institution, family institution and social institution while the latter encompassing the mindset, religious belief and aesthetic taste, covering literature, philosophy and politics. From a narrow perspective, culture represents common

34、 social habits of people, for example, clothing, food, accommodation, transportation, custom, lifestyle and code of conduct.2.2 The concepts of cultureThe word “culture” stems from the verb “Colere” in Latin, which originally means “till the land”, but later it is extended to the meaning of “develop

35、ing interest, spirit and intelligence of a person”. In 1871, Edward Tylor, a British anthropologist, formally puts forward the concept of “culture”, which he defines as “a completed system including knowledge, faith, art, law, morality, custom, and all the abilities and habits from which a social me

36、mber would acquire” 9. Afterwards, a variety of definitions of culture are proposed by many scholars based on their own understanding. By the end of 1950s, Clyde Kluckhohn has collected over 100 definitions of culture in total.According to Tylor (1871), culture, in a broad sense, is the conglomerate

37、 of material and spiritual fortune created by human in the developmental course of social history, and it embodies social ideology in particular. In a narrow sense, it refers to the spiritual wealth produced by ideology, including religious belief, customs and habits, morality, thinking style, liter

38、ature and art, scientific technology and institutions and so forth. In the next chapter, this paper is going to study the cultural differences between English and Chinese animal slang from five perspectives, namely history, geography, customs and habits, religious belief and thinking style.3 Cultura

39、l Differences between English and Chinese Animal Slangs3.1 Different historical originsLanguage comes into being during the course of historical development. The social development has huge influence on language. As time marches on, language is also changing: old language declines and new language e

40、merges. In the development of language, tracks of historical culture are left in animal slangs10. As a result, the production and formation of animal slangs are seared with national or historical marks.Each person writes its own history in different ways in the grand painting scroll of human history

41、. A large number of animal slangs in English and Chinese are rooted in historical events; they reflect the history from a certain side. In general, the meaning of an animal slang often equals the original meaning carried in the historical event the animal slang describes or expresses its extended me

42、aning.It is recorded that the United Kingdom of Britain has once been intruded by many peoples, such as Roman, Greek and Jutes, cultures of which affect that of British, leaving many English animal slangs today marked with tracks of those nations11. For example:(1) rain cats and dogsThis animal slan

43、g is the result of the invasion of Scandinavians. In the ancient mythologies of North Europe, Odin is the dominant God. Norsemen believe that dog embodies wind while cat represents rain. Therefore, “cats and dogs” signifies “heavy wind and tempest”.China is a nation going through a long history. Mos

44、t Chinese animal slangs are carried with marks of a certain age or tracks of historical development. Some of them are related to the politics. For example:(2) paper tigerThis animal slang is from one of MAO Zedongs famous quotations which says: “All imperialism and reactionary forces are paper tiger

45、s.” Afterwards, it is extended in meaning and used to describe someone who is “strong and powerful outwardly but weak inwardly”.3.2 Different geographical environmentsCulture of a country is closely related to the geographical environment of that country, but it is not totally decided by the geograp

46、hical environment. In similar natural environments, people may find different cultural realities. Natural environment will exert huge influence on mans psychology, so people living in a particular geographical environment may psychologically adapt to their living environment.Features of any culture

47、are rooted in the geographical environment in which they are produced. Each culture possesses different characteristics due to the various territory, climate and environment. Different geographical environment will give birth to different life experiences, thereby generating words of national charac

48、teristics which reflect the historical culture of a nation and the psychological features of a people.English and Chinese people are living in disparate geographical environments, both of them having their own geographical features. Britain is an island country with multiple peoples. British peoples life is intimately related to sea and water. And in Britain, a country surrounded by water, fish is of great importance. Therefore, animal slangs relevant to fish can be found in all walks of life, for example, “big fish”, “cool fish”, “like a fish out of water”