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1、Cultural Differences between English and Chinese Color Words1. IntroductionIt has been recognized that language is an essential and important part of a given culture and that the impact of culture upon a given language is something intrinsic and indispensable. On the one hand, language as an integra

2、l part of human being, permeates his thinking and way of viewing the world, language both expresses and embodies cultural reality. On the other, language, as a product of culture, helps to perpetuate the culture, and the changes in language uses reflect the cultural changes in return. As a small com

3、ponent part of language, color words have their own unique characteristics and different meanings in different culture. Different nations always endue words with meanings of their own national culture. As a result, there are certain differences when different national people use color words in langu

4、age. McLuhan characterized todays world as a “global village” because of the rapid expansion of worldwide transportation and communication networkIn order to understand other nations cultures and improve the cross-culture communication, it is necessary to discuss, understand and study the cultural d

5、ifferences between English and Chinese color words. At the same time, it can improve our ability and do better in practice of translation.This paper concretely discusses the cultural differences between English and Chinese color words by the comparison of the two languages. The whole paper is divide

6、d into five parts. In the first part, it analyzes the reasons that cause the differences between English and Chinese color words. In the second part, it introduces the different classifications of colors in English and Chinese. Next, the paper discusses what effect color words make in English and Ch

7、inese literary works. Then there is a contrastive analysis by giving examples about different colors of the two languages. At last, it sums up that the importance of knowing and studying the cultural differences. From this paper, we can know that there are kinds of cultures in different nations in t

8、he world; we also can learn that color term, as a part of language, expresses different meanings in different cultures. Whats more, we can realize how to make a successful communication and how to be good language learners. 2. Causes for the Differences Between English and Chinese Color WordsIn the

9、daily life, language and culture have a very close relationship. For one thing, language, which is the component of culture and the carrier of culture, can reflect culture and serve to culture as well. To learn language is to learn culture. For another thing, language is ubiquitous. The proper use o

10、f language is restricted by culture and the vocabulary of language contains rich and colorful culture all the time. Language and culture are united with each other. As the small component part of language, color words have their own unique characteristics and different meanings in different culture.

11、Every nation has its own language system of color words. Different nations always endue words with meanings of their own national culture, so there exists some differences when we make use of English and Chinese color words. The reasons that cause this kind of difference mainly have three factors.2.

12、1 Different Language FamiliesThe first reason is that English and Chinese belong to two different language families; therefore, the same color words in the two languages have more or less the same primary meaning, but which have considerably different secondary or additional meanings . As a result,

13、different color words in English and Chinese express different meanings.2.2 The Language ItselfThe second reason is the language itself. There are many differences in the characteristics of both languages. English words are characterized by flexibility. One word is likely to have different meanings

14、in different contexts. Comparatively speaking, the meanings of Chinese words remain fixed. Chinese is featured by standard, rigor and preciseness in choosing the words. Lets take the word green for example. Green gains certain new meanings when associated with the phrase green revolution and when it

15、 is used alone, it still carries that meaning. However, green in Chinese will lose the meaning unless it is combined with revolution or other words in similar.2.3 The Cultural FactorThird is the factor beyond the language, which includes the cultural factors such as different customs，traditions and

16、cultural background. The appearance, enrichment and development of color words and the evolution of synonyms can not separate from their background of society, history and culture. On many occasions, it is not the basic meaning of the color that functions, but the profound cultural associations rela

17、ted to the color that functions. That is to say, the differences in using color words between Chinese and English stand out when the color words themselves do not play an important part. Whenever the above-mentioned differences exist, the using of the color words can not be the same. Therefore, spec

18、ial attention should be paid in using the color words.3. The Different Classifications of Colors and the Functions of Color Words in English and Chinese Language3.1 The Different Classifications of Colors in English and Chinese LanguageThe linguists and the anthropologists, through constant investig

19、ation and research, shows that different nations dont often classify colors in the same way and the way that one national language classify color words is closely related to the nations ecological environment and cultural environment as well. In the multi-colored world, different language has differ

20、ent numbers of color words. Now lets see how different nations classify color term. 3.1.1 Classification in English In English, the basic color term usually has eleven kinds, which are white, black, gray, brown, red, green, yellow, blue, purple, orange and pink. J. Lyons, an English linguist, put fo

21、rward that black, white, red, green, blue and brown are basic color words, perhaps orange can be regard as one kind. 3.1.2 Classification in Chinese However, in Chinese, there are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and purple. It is thought that the rainbow is the basic color.There are three c

22、olors of green, blue and indigo in Chinese. While, there are only two corresponding colors of blue and green. As a result, qing can only be translated into blue or green. For example, qingcai will be translated into green vegetables; qingjiao will be translated into green pepper; qingshan into green

23、 mountain. But qingtian will be translated into blue sky; qingzhuan will be into blue brick. Qing also can be translated into black, such as black cloth, black gown and black hair. One Chinese well-known saying “青出于蓝而胜于蓝” is translated as blue comes from the indigo plant but is bluer than the plant

24、itself.3.2The Functions of Color Words Used in LiteraryWorksWhat effect do color words make in English and Chinese literary works? Actually, color words can be seen everywhere in literary works. As a kind of language symbols, it can reflect incisively and vividly the colors in human life and it also

25、 can provide atmosphere for literary works themselves. Because human generally have chromesthesia, that is, a form of synesthesia in which nonvisual stimulation results in the experience of color sensations. Many writers give different colors to describe the abstract things, the characters, the figu

26、res of live, the moods and mentality. It makes the expressions more figurative. The literary works will be glorified by using these colors. Therefore, color term is the necessary part in each nations cultural language. Next, lets see some examples. 3.2.1 The Functions of Color Words Used in English

27、Works Thomas Hardy is a great master, who is good at using colors. In his literary work, Tess of the DUrbervilles, there are a large number of color words that are used. For example, She stood on the threshold, between the steely starlight without and yellow candle-light within.Thomas Hardy：Tess of

28、the DUrbervillesHardy made use of two colors, steely and yellow, to describe starlight and candlelight. This indirectly set off the orphaned and helpless situation of Tess, especially the word steely, not only expressed the color, caesious, but also make people connect “callous” and “merciless” in m

29、ind.3.2.2 The Functions of Color Words Used in Chinese Works In many Chinese literary works, there also use s large number of color words. We can see them from ancient poems and songs to modern novels. For example,“日出江花红胜火，春来江水绿如蓝。” 白居易：忆江南In this poem, the writer, Bai Juyi, uses红to refer to the red

30、 flower alongshore which shines upon dawning and uses 绿to refer to the green river water which sways by spring breeze. This metaphor makes the spring of South be gorgeous and vigorous.There is another example,“他觉得他的头颅仿佛是在颈脖子上旋转。 他眼前是红的、黄的、绿的、黑的、发光的, 立方体的、国锥形的混杂的一团, 在那里跳, 在那里转” 矛盾：子夜The writer uses t

31、he colors“红”、“黄”、“绿”、“黑”, the adjectives“立方体的”、“圆锥体的”and the verbs “跳”、“转”to set off a mixed colorful scene that has dim eyesight.4.Contrastive Analysis of the Cultural Differences Between English and Chinese Color WordsPeople live in the multi-colored world. Every language has core vocabulary that

32、composed of many color words, but different language has different numbers of color words. The International Olympic flag consists of six colors. The background color is white, which symbolizes the pure friendship and the fair competition. In the central of the flag, there are five different color r

33、ings chain together and put in order of blue, yellow, black, green and red. Blue stands for Europe; yellow Asia; black Africa; green Oceania and red America. As using color words over a long period of time, people not only endue these words with literal meanings but also endue them with the more abu

34、ndant cultural meanings. In different cultures, color words express different meanings. The following parts will be devoted to the discussion of cultural differences when using the color words in English and Chinese. Semantic meanings of English and Chinese color words are same in some sides, but di

35、fferent in many aspects. Due to the respective cultural background and tradition, some phrases containing color words have far surpassed their original meanings, forming different connotations. What does red mean? If he is in the blue mood, what kind mood is he in? Is he happy, sad, or what? Obvious

36、ly, red and blue do not just mean the color. Each has additional meaning certain cultural associations that are hidden behinds the words. Ancient Chinese said pure colors (green, red, yellow, white and black) and secondary colors (green, red, bluish green, purple, brownish yellow) basically include

37、modern optical to color classification. In English, black represents deep thinking and stability; red stands for faith and fraternity; yellow for intelligence and glory; blue for elegance and loyalty; white for purity and sincerity; green for happiness and permanence. In fact, almost every color wor

38、d has a dual meaning, basic meaning and extended meaning. The first level is usually superficial and direct, but if we put it together with some specific words, it will be more colorful than the basic meaning. Next, lets have a comparative study of using color words in English and Chinese language.

39、I will take black, white, red, blue, green and yellow for examples.4.1 BlackBlack, which is opposite to white, has same derogatory sense both in English and Chinese language. Black represents dark and evil, which is related to filth, disaster, misfortune, sad, detestation, dishonor, and so on. For e

40、xample, in English, we have the phrase “black Friday”. In religion, black means grief, despair and death. Friday refers to the Friday before Easter day. Jesus was suffering at that day. Basing on the nations culture background and traditional custom, the people in English countries use black Friday

41、to symbolize the disaster. It is as same as in Chinese. In China, people always use black to describe some evils or terrible things, for example, blackmail（勒索）, blacklist（黑名单）etc. But black has a good meaning in the following sentence:Since he took over the business, the company has been in black. T

42、hat black means running the business profitably. Besides, black implies gloom, disgrace, misfortune, extreme anger, etc.In addition, both in English and Chinese, black have the meaning of breaking economical systems. From this point, their usages are similar, too. For example, black market( 黑市 ),bla

43、ck money（黑钱或匿报的非法收益）, black- market goods（黑市商品）, black list（黑名单）. What is the “black list” meaning? If one person gets into black list, this indicates that he or she makes some mistakes and is an unbelievable person. Maybe he or she will be kept watch on by government or one organization. Generally

44、speaking, black list（黑名单）has the same meaning in English and Chinese. In spite of that, culture has its universality and particularity, not to mention various nations language. In consideration of the particularity of language and culture, and people different thinking ways, the same color word has

45、different meanings in English and Chinese. In English, black has the meaning of death and condole. In English countries, according to tradition custom, people generally wear black clothes to attend a funeral, for example, wear black for ones father（为某位去世的父亲穿黑色孝衣）. While in china, according to Chines

46、e custom, people generally wear white clothes at funerals for memorizing the dead. Black also can mean anger in English, such as, to be black in the face（面露怒色）and black passions boiled up inside him（内心生起愤怒）. In Chinese, black also can mean evil and cruel, such as, black money（黑钱）, black-hearted（黑心的）

47、.4.2 WhiteIn ancient China, white was a color to show gentle and simple. White clothes, white house and white body are separately means civilian, grass house and people who have no power. They make people think of humbleness and poor. With the development of language and culture, Chinese culture abs

48、orbs some English expressions step by step. To most Chinese and Westerners, white has some meanings in common. White suggests purity, innocence and honesty. Example: Mary is a white girl. (pure and innocent). Give some examples in English and American literature, as white innocence and a white spirit. The connotation of white in Chinese also includes something unhappy. At funerals, Chinese pay respect to dead and express their sorrow by wearing white and writing elegiac couplets in white paper. In the West, however, white is the traditional color for th