Cultural Differences of Chinese and English Color Words and Their Translation中西颜色词的文化差异及翻译.docx

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1、中西颜色词的文化差异及翻译Cultural Differences of Chinese and English Color Words and Their TranslationAbstract: The relationship between language and culture are closely linked. Language is the base of culture and is the constituent of culture. Language as a mirror reflects the culture of a nation, and like a w

2、indow shows all the contents of the culture. On the other hand, the culture is not only the basis of the languages existence, but also the lifespring of languages metabolism. So understanding of a culture requires the understanding of the corresponding language and vice versa. In fact, language is a

3、n abstract concept. So by what way can we observe the connotation of different culture through language? This thesis analyzes this from a set of special words-color terms. Because of different customs, environments, religious beliefs, ethnic psychology, politics and economics, the understanding and

4、the feelings of color words are different. The same color often has different meanings in various cultures and it reflects the cultural differences. Through comparing the difference of culture between Chinese and English, we can understand different translation methods so that we can improve our Eng

5、lish ability. Furthermore, it can promote the communication between China and western countries.This thesis consists of four chapters. The first part mainly tells about the significance, literature review and purposes of research on the cultural connotations of color terms between English and Chines

6、e. The second part expounds the reasons of cultural differences between English and Chinese. The third part mainly talks about the ways of translating color words. At last a conclusion of the thesis is made naturally.Key Words: Color words; Cultural differences; Translation摘要:语言与文化之间的关系密不可分。语言是文化的基础

7、，是文化的组成部分。它像一面镜子反映着一个民族的全部文化，又像一个窗口揭示着该文化的一切内容。另一方面文化又是语言赖以生存的基础，是语言新陈代谢的生命源泉。所以文化的理解是需要对相应语言的理解，反之亦然。实际上，语言是一种抽象的概念，那我们怎样通过它来了解不同文化之间的差异呢？我们可以从一组特殊的词汇群体-颜色词来分析。由于不同文化之间的习俗，地理环境，宗教信仰，民族心理，政治经济的不同，所以对颜色词的理解和感受也不相同。通过比较中西方的文化差异，我们可以掌握不同的翻译方法，提高我们的英文水平,进而促进中西方的文化交流。本文共分为四章。第一章是对汉语和英语基本颜色词汇的研究意义，研究现状及研究

8、目的做了阐述。第二章是分析了产生汉语和英语基本颜色词文化内涵相同点和不同点的原因。第三章是对汉英颜色词的翻译方法做了简介。第四章总结全文。关键词:颜色词；文化差异；翻译方法vTable of ContentsAcknowledgments. iAbstract in English. iiAbstract in Chinese iii1. Introduction11.1Significance of the research11.2 Literature review of the research11.3 Purposes of the research22. Cultural Diffe

9、rences of Chinese and English Color words22.1Different Cultural Connotations32.1.1 the color of red32.1.2 the color of white62.1.3 the color of yellow82.2 Causes of Cultural differences102.2.1 the historical causes112.2.2 religious beliefs112.2.3 ways of thinking122.2.4 geographical environment123.

10、Translation of Chinese and English Color words133.1 Literal Translation133.2 Free Translation143.3 Conversion Translation153.4 Cultural Equivalence Translation164. Conclusion16Bibliography181. Introduction1.1Significance of the researchSince people live in a varied and graceful world, color words ar

11、e closely linked with human life. In other words, life will be bleak without color words. Although there are many kinds of color, peoples perceptions of color words are the same. For example, in many languages, there are some basic color words, such as red, white, yellow, black and green, but the co

12、nnotation of English and Chinese color words are quite different. Their differences in the aspects of religious belief and psychology, historical culture, ways of thinking, reflect two different cultures of Eastern and Western countries. Nowadays, with the time passing, color words have become a fun

13、damental part in the language, which can make the language more vivid and lifelike. Meanwhile they are not only the tool of communication, but a very important component of the relationship between cultural connotations. So comparing cultural differences between English and Chinese color words and t

14、he study on their translation can make the communication more fluent and effective and make people get to know the background knowledge of English and Chinese culture more clearly so as to know more about the cultural connotation of both countries. It can also promote the English ability as well as

15、the exchange of culture in China and West.1.2 Literature review of the researchThere are many scholars who have done some researches on the cultural differences between English and Chinese color words from different aspects. For example the teacher Gao Guilian and Li Yanqing have published the paper

16、 entitled Cultural Differences in Color Words Between English and Chinese. They mainly compare the cultural differences between English and Chinese from the reasons of the historical backgrounds, social systems, cultural conventions, religious beliefs, thinking patterns, surroundings, customs, and e

17、motions and so on (Gao 2). From the above thesis people can understanding of the differences between English and Chinese deeply, and generalized expressions of the two languages. In 2008, there was an essay on the issue of color word, published in the Journal of Guizhou Education Institute, namely C

18、ultural in the Color of language by the teacher Li Wei. He mainly made a study of the emotions and rhetorical roles of the information of cultural carried in the terms concerning colors. Meanwhile he suggested teachers should lead students to accumulate and compare culture differences when learning

19、western cultures (Li 11). Another teacher Huang Zhengji has published the paper entitled Chinese and Korean Color Words and Their Cultural Connotations Cultural in the Journal of Dongjiang Journal. He expresses the difference of color words in Chinese and Korean from five basic colors: green, red, w

20、hite, yellow and black (Huang 64). 1.3 Purposes of the researchThrough the analysis and comparison of the cultural differences of Chinese and English color words, people can get the following conclusions: The color words have a plentiful connotation both in English and Chinese. As a necessary part o

21、f the language, color terms can reveal a nations culture. It can provide a typical example for the communication in Chinese and English daily life. Meanwhile it can strengthen the English learners sensibility to western culture to lessen and avoid pragmatic failure in cross-culture communication, an

22、d then enhance the abilities of cross-cultural communication. English learners can use English correctly and promote translation skills by knowing the differences between color word in both Chinese and English. So later in life, much more attention should be spent on deeper connotations of color wor

23、ds, for better understanding and memorizing.2. Cultural Differences of Chinese and English Color wordsThe cultural differences of English and Chinese can be reflected by the color words, from the aspects like value, expression way, emotional coloring to category used. While in the following thesis,

24、the main reasons leading to their cultural differences such as: the different cultural tradition, national customs, geographical environment, religious belief and historical culture and geographical backgrounds, these aspects will be told in detail.2.1 Different Cultural Connotations2.1.1 The Color

25、of RedChina is a country which advocates red, despises black and hates white. Red is a favorite color of Chinese people. Since ancient times, red is advocated by Chinese, and pays an important role of essential festival color in our daily life. In Chinese peoples mind, red is the basic color which p

26、eople respected and is an carrier of Chinese peoples spirit and object. So red has the following meaning in Chinese:Firstly, red symbolizes happiness, hotness, prosperity and passion. In happy days people would surely use it to decorate everything. It represents not only the festival atmosphere of r

27、ejoicing and festivity, but also the lucky. For example, Chinese New Year is one of the most important traditional festivals in China. Many people will wear the red clothes during this time of year. Meanwhile at that time, every household will have many red ornaments traditionally such as windows, w

28、hich will stick with red paper-cuts and doors, which will be pasted by red-paper couplets with popular themes of happiness and wealth. The night will end by family lighting the red firecrackers. Early the next morning children will meet their elder members and receive money in red paper envelopes wi

29、th the meaning of wishing children healthy and happy in the next year. Another example, when the young people hold the wedding, the new couple should wear red clothes, and the floor will be paved by red carpet according to Chinese tradition. So people can see from the above examples, in Chinese cult

30、ure red stands of happiness and joy. Secondly, red symbolizes good luck and success: When a new store or shop was open, the relatives and friends always express their best wishes like “开门红”for the master. Here “开门红”means the store will make a good begining, and become flourishing and present busines

31、s boom. Over time, people usually call the popular star as “当红明星” in modern society. In Chinese “当红明星”is mainly used to describe those stars that are popular and favored with their bosses, supported and loved by the audience. Thirdly, red has the meaning of revolution: In Chinese, red is the most ty

32、pical word which is related to the political color. The period of Chinese Anti-Japanese war, Chiang Kai-shek and his colleagues abused the army of the communist as “Red Army”. Chinas political life had used that “Red government”, “Red Star”, “The Five star Red Flag” to symbolize Chinese politics. Th

33、e fourth, red also refers to the female: In ancient time, the person, a critical figure to help the successful relationship with others marriage, was called “红娘”. She mainly brings the bachelors and single female together. And the feature of “红娘” has deeply rooted in the peoples heart like: cute, pr

34、anks, beautiful. So the person who helps the others marriage is self-proclaimed as“红娘”.For extraordinary time, red can stands of uprightness and loyalty: In Chinese traditional opera, Guan Yu has a big red face. He impressed us with his stiffness, straightforwardness and loyalty. He would rather suf

35、fer death than surrender to Sun Quan. Since then the red stands for uprightness and loyalty. On the other hand, in the English culture, red is often used in a derogatory sense indicating anger, brutality, disaster, trivial formalities, fanaticism etc. In the Oxford English Dictionary we find the fol

36、lowing definitions: a primary color or anything colored red：a red clothe, red clothing etc (Sally 1663). In western culture, red is the color of violence, danger, a symbol of blood (Jia 125).Because in English, red is the blood of peoples heart, and the western people think that blood is the source

37、of peoples life, which is vital for life. If people have no blood, they would surely die, so red is always connected with violence and danger. In western culture, the connotation of red comes from the bullfight. During bullfighting, the cow will go crazy and run wildly when it saw the red cloth. So

38、red makes people feel unsafe. Red can stand for danger and urgency. In western country they have the word “red light, red flag” to show the condition is dangerous. For example, China issued red alert Sunday, the highest possible warning for forest fires. Here the “red alert” means the emergency alar

39、m, its usually to describe emergency conditions and attract peoples attention. Or say “John told me a red adventure story”, in this sentence “red” means the feel of dangerous, suspenseful and nervous. Red is a symbol of dissolute and obscene: People always call the place of salacious as “red-light d

40、istrict”. And the women who were working in the field of obscene were named as “red lady”. In Hawthornes famous work The Scarlet Letter, it described the prostitute breast of her gown appearing the letter A in red. Meanwhile a study shows red is related to sex. The color red represents being cheap.

41、For example, in western country you cannot interprete “red eye” as the eye with the color of red, but refer to a cheap wine of whisky. There is “Dago red” to signify the poor quality of red wine. From the above analysis, we have known the color of red symbolizes a lot of positive meanings, which are

42、 populated by Chinese people. While in western country, red has a negative meaning. All of these showed the cultural differences of red color between English and Chinese. Red has the same connotations between English and Chinese culture. For example: In china, every family hangs red lanterns for cel

43、ebrating spring festival. Similarly, on Christmas Day in western country, the Father Christmas with a red hat and a long red robe gives children gift. From the above example, you can know red is an expression indicating people take delights or get excited of these festivals. So both English and Chin

44、ese, red is usually associated with happy occasions and celebrating activities. No matter in China or western countries, red is used in a number of specific occasions to show importance. For example, when some prime ministers come to visit China, we should roll out the red carpet for them. Here we u

45、se red to show our warm welcome and attention to them. At the Academy Awards they also put a red carpet to show its importance. In daily life, people usually name the meaningful and important days as “red letter day”.As we all known, people use red to express the person is healthy and has a good com

46、plexion. In china, people often use “红光满面” to show somebody has a ruddy complexion and brilliant faces. Its the same with English, so they have the words: “as red as a cherry” or “as red as a rose” to express healthy. This is because the color of the cherry and the rose color are actually quite clos

47、e to humans healthy complexion.Red is also a color to show emotion of “shy and angry” and so on. In Chinese, people often use “someones face color is as red as apple” to describe ones shyness. There are words “red-faced, red with angry”to show the same meaning in English.Red also means “danger and w

48、arning” in two counties. Both English and Chinese, people use the red number to show deficit in economy. Because red is a bright color both in English and Chinese used to indicate danger especially in the transportation, such as: The car had to stop at a red light. A person usually uses the “Red-light district” to warn people not to go there.2.1.2 The Color of WhiteIn Chinese culture, white is the opposition color of red. Its a taboo word and it reflects the Chinese peoples rejection and disgusting, both