颜色词-英语专业本科论.doc

A Constractive Study on Cultural Connotation of English and Chinese Color WordsApplicant: Qi YongwenSupervisor: Yu Yezi Faculty: English Department Zhang Jiajie College January 6 , 2015 Jishou University ContentsAbstract.I摘要.III.Introduction.1 1.1 Introduction of Color words.1 1.2 Study on Purples, contents and meaning.1II.Contract of cultural Connotations of Color Terms between English and Chinese.2 2.1 Contact of cultural Connotation of Red between English and Chinese.2 2.1.1 红.2 2.1.2 Red.3 2.2 Contact of cultural Connotation of White between English and Chinese.4 2.2.1 白.4 2.2.2 White.5 2.3 Contact of cultural Connotation of Yellow between English and Chinese.6 2.3.1 黄.6 2.3.2 Yellow.7III. Causes of Differences.8 3.1 Natural Environment.8 3.2 Perception.9 3.3 Religions.11 IV. Conclusion.13 Bibliography.14 Abstract The world we live in is very colorful. There are various color words and expressions of colors used to depict the colorful world. Though different nations have different color conceptions, basic color words/characters, such as red/ 红，white/白，yellow/黄 are in common in both English and Chinese. Basic color words/characters are always closely connected with Chinese and English cultures and reflect many different cultures of the two nations. The thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter One is the introduction of color words and the study on purples,contents and meaning. Chapter Two serves as the main body of this thesis, firstly finding out the common basic color words/characters in English and Chinese based on the theory of basic color words, then discussing the cultural connotations of English and Chinese common color words/characters in detail and contrasting the similarities and dissimilarities between them. Chapter Three probes the causes of similarities and dissimilarities including perceptions of color, natural environment, philosophy, religions, traditions and customs. Finally the paper concludes that though different nation may have different colors and different color words, there are some colors and color words in common. To understand the cultural connotations of the same color words in different languages, the cultural background of them should be learned so that misunderstanding will notbe caused in cross-cultural communications. To sum up language carries and reflects culture, so do the basic color words/characters as a part of language. Through the contrastive study on the cultural connotations of basic color words/characters in English and Chinese, the thesis concludes that in cross-cultural communication, the study will make people teach and learn English better and do translation more correctly and precisely.Key words: Basic Color Words/Characters; Cultural Connotations; Contrastive Study 摘要 我们生活在一个多彩的世界，相应地有诸多的颜色词被用来描述这个世界。尽管不同的民族有不同的颜色观念，但英汉两种语言中却有相同的基本颜色词诸如red/ 红，white/白，yellow/黄。基本颜色词常与各民族的文化紧密相关并反映各民族的文。英语和汉语均有悠久的历史，二者都有丰富的颜色词汇。其中基本的颜色词汇最具文化色彩并能反映英汉两种语言所具有的不同的社会文化、历史、哲学等方面。随着中国日益发展昌盛，和西方国家的跨文化交际也日益频繁。 基本颜色词因具诸多的文化内涵常会在跨文化交际中常引起误读，故本论文以中英基本颜色词为研究内容，认为这是很有意义和有必要的。本论文共五章。第一章介绍了基本颜色词和本文研究目的、内容和意义。第二章是全文的主体部份，首先根据基本颜色词理论得出中英共有的基本颜色词，继而详细描述了其文化内涵并对比其异同。第三章探究了基本颜色词文化内涵异同原因，涉及不同民族对颜色的认知、自然环境、哲学、宗教信仰、传统及风俗习惯。最后文章得出结论：尽管不同民族有不同的颜色和颜色词，其中有一些是共有的，为了理解不同语言中相同的颜色词的文化内涵就必需掌握其文化背景，这样在跨文化交际中才不致引起误读。 综上所述，语言负载并反映文化，基本颜色词作为语言的一部份，也同样具有此特点。通过对中英基本颜色词的文化内涵对比，本论文认为在跨文化际中该研究结果有助于英语的学与教，并能提高翻译的准确性。关键词：基本颜色词;文化内涵;对比研究I. Introduction1.1 Introduction of Color Words Color (color) is a natural phenomenon, exists in every corner of the human environment. It is a part of the outside world perception experience.Thus naturally constitute of the eternal topic. It is said that there are 4000 kinds of colors in the world. They can be described as complex color spectrum. or be made of accurate and pure color samples. But its the product of high technology.The color has continuity, like a long ribbon. Its hard to distinguish which is the red, which segment Is orange and which is yellow. Color is an abstract concept originally. There are millions of things in the world , and each has unique color.People use color word to illustrate thousands of color , The color word is generally accepted color symbol.1.2 Study on Purples, Contents and Meaning Color word is a special member of the language vocabulary system . The color words is very rich in Chinese-English two language vocabulary system .it not only can show the physical properties of a object, but also has profound cultural connotation. It is also one of the important areas that human realize world. Color words reflects the emergence, development and evolution of human knowledge and the process of social development. its rich culture reflects different historical periods of human society and the social background. It reflects the different cultural connotations. Knowing the basic color words of Chinese-English cultural connotation can deepen our understanding of the different language and culture, broaden our horizons and broaden our knowledge. the research of Chinese-English basic color words is a hot spot in the research of the linguistic culture. the current academic circles is limited to research the number of Chinese-English basic color words,color words semantic and rhetoric aspects rather than dig its deeper cultural connotation .This thesis is mainly from the basic color word red (红), white (白), yellow (黄), through performance of the cultural connotation obtained the same cultural connotation of color words in Chinese and English. Through the comparative analysis , it is concluded that the reason for the cultural connotation of different color words is resulted from the geographical environment, way of thinking, and religious beliefs.The last is the conclusion. And it points out the deficiency of this paper and try to be improved in the future. Through the contrastive analysis of the cultural connotations of the basic color words in Chinese-English ,we learn that a language can not only understand the surface phenomena, but ignore its deep cultural connotation.II.Contract of Cultural Connotation of Color Terms between English and ChineseIn this part, contrast will be made on the cultural connotations of basic color terms between English and Chinese. Chapter One gives a range of basic color terms discussed in this thesis. Of the nine pairs of the basic color termsred and 红,white and 白, yellow and 黄, in English and Chinese, the English term “brown” can occasionally be used to mean “to do something thoroughly” as in “to brown it up” and “to be angry” as in the slang“to brown off”, but the Chinese counterpart “ 棕 ” is short of cultural connotations because customarily Chinese people seldom use the term in their lives. Consequently, we will not make further discussion on this pair and our contrast will be focused on the rest eight pairs of basic color terms.2.1 Contract of Cultural Connotation of Red between English and Chinese2.1.1红 China is a country admiring the sun, originated from the ancient worship of the sun. The red color and hot temperature let the ancients feel mysterious.As a result, ,the ancients admires the color red. In Chinese, people use “朱红” to symbolize rich. “朱门”to symbolize dignitary residence. “朱衣”means dignitarys clothes. Red always makes them think of warmth, prosperity, happiness, celebration and so on. This can be seen in Chinese daily life, for instance, brides wear red clothes to express happiness in the wedding ceremony. During the Spring Festival days in China, older generation will give children red envelop with money in it to celebrate the coming of new year and hope the children to be lucky. “红双喜” should be stuck to the windows to symbolize the wedding and happiness of a new couple. In business, people use “开门红” to symbolize good fortune. We usually use “大红大紫”,“红人”to depict a people who achieve success in his career, and “走红”,“红火”to symbolize a prosperous business. Though“ 红” is usually commendatory in Chinese, it also symbolizes embarrassment, shyness and anger. For instance, “脸红” means that someone feels embarrassed or shy. “气得涨红了脸” means that somebody is very angry. In negative use, “红”also means jealousy, such as “眼红”. And in “红灯区”，“红”means something alert. It also indicates danger or prohibition in the phrase “亮红灯”,“亮红牌”. In fact, the negative meanings of “红”originate in alien culture, in traditional Chinese culture, its cultural connotations are all commendatory. “红” has also some political sense in Chinese which means revolution and progress. For example, “红军”,“红宝书”,“红色政权”,“红色根据地”and so on.2.1.2 Red England is a country which admires God, people regard God as the father of everything. Therefore, some natural phenomena such as the sun, fire are not mysterious to them. In the Englishspeaking countries, “red” is always used in negative way. Its cultural meanings consist of cruelty, disaster, anger, potential danger, war, death and so on. For instance, “red light district” is a euphemism which means the places where people do sexual business. “Red flag” implies something dangerous, which warns or prohibits people not to go on. Red also represents some emotion such as anger. “I turned red with anger.” “Red-faced” means that somebody feels angry or embarrassed. Red also indicates opposition or competition that is violent without pity, for instance, the idiom “red in tooth and claw”. Though red in English is always associated with something unpleasant, its also used in positive ways. In western countries, red indicates the color of life because its the color of blood and fire. Red makes people associate with birth, love, celebration, expressions as “red-blooded”, “roll out the red carpet”, “Red-blooded” means that somebody is full of strength and energy. “Roll out the red carpet” means “somebody is treated with the kind of courtesy” or “deference shown to persons with high social status,” “red carpet” is used to indicate the etiquette that is very ceremonious and the people who is treated in a very respectable way, like in “I didnt expect to be given the red carpet treatment!” Like “红” in Chinese, “red” also has a connotation of politics. For instance, “red” means the party or somebody who supports leftwing political ideas, which refers to socialist or communist, like in “Red Ken wins seat in parliament.” “Red Army” refers to the army of the communist countries, as in “The Red Army was the army of the USSR.” “Red Caps” refers to the porters in American English or military policemen in British English. The capital “R” is often used to refer to a communist. In custom and traditional life, “red” is usually used to refer to some objects. For instance, “red meat” refers to the meat that is dark brown in color when it has been cooked, such as beef and lamb. In Chinese, there are some similar examples of “红”. “红茶” is mainly named from the angel of the color of tea water. “红糖”doesnt seem red but brown, but in traditional way, its named “红糖”. 2.2 Contract of Cultural Connotation of White between English and Chinese2.2.1白In traditional Chinese culture, white often represent a unlucky meanings, people usually connect white with terrorist and death. This unlucky is not created, there are several explanations for this: one is that flood endangers peoples life and property security, so as to make the white has become a kind of sense of foreboding; In addition, most of the hospitals are white, often there will be a loss in the hospital, and a lot of patients were died in the hospital. White color is often give people a kind of the terror of death; Because in Chinese traditional culture, there are five elements in the world, which state that white is the color of the west. And people regard the sunrise as the birth of a person while the sunset as the death. The sun rises from the east and sets down in the west. Thus white as the symbol of west and represents the sign of death. So there are expressions “白事” to mean “funeral affairs”.“白”also usually means “failure”. In a war, the loser will hang “白旗” to show that they are defeated and accept failure. Chinese people use “白” to represent “in vain, priceless or without rewarding” such as “白送”，“白干”，“白费劲”，“白吃”，“白拿”and so on. “白” also means somebody who is sly or dishonest. For instance, in traditional Beijing opera, different color of faces has different meanings, “白” is an unpleasant color. In peoples daily life at present, when a man who is handsome, but insincere, and always leads his life depending on women will be called “小白脸”. When “白” is used to depict someones complexion, there are two kinds of meaning, one refers to the people who looks fair, while the other means someone looks pale because of being unhealthy or some strong emotion such as angry ,sad and so on. In political field, “白” is always used as the antonym of “红”，and its connotation is rebellion, decadence and reaction. For instance, during the civil war, people called enemies “白军”，“白匪”，“白区”referring to the place which was occupied by Kumingdang army.Though “白” in Chinese mostly used in a derogatory sense, it also has commendatory connotations. For example, in ancient China, white-feathered animals such as 白鹿，白鹤，白狼，白雁，白天鹅 are the symbols of luck and fortune. “白”also means purity and innocence. For instance, there are expressions such as “洁白”,“白璧无瑕”, in which,“白”means purity and beauty.2.2.2 White Compared with Chinese “白”, “white” in English usually means something pleasant. The cultural connotations of white may be originated from the Bible, in which white is the symbol of Jesus, truth and virtue, while black represents the wick and the evil. In western countries, white means purity which can be seen from white dress that Jesus and his angles wear. Western wedding ceremony is usually called “white wedding” for the reason that bride usually dresses in white, wearing white gloves and shoes and even the invitation card sent in ilver letter, which all symbolize purity, virgin and happiness. “White” has some other cultural connotations as in “a white Christmas”, it refers to snow at Christmas time, which is contrasted with “a green Christmas” meaning a Christmas with snow. Though “white” is usually a commendatory word in English, it is also used in a derogatory sense. “A white night” means a sleepless night, as in “It was amazing that I was not sleepy after a white night”. Besides the meanings of “white” mentioned above, it also means death as well as in Chinese. It has meaning of pale used to refer to somebody who looks pale because of strong emotion or illness. For instance “white with anger/shock/fear”, as in “she went white as a sheet when she heard the news”.2.3 Contract of Cultural Connotation of Yellow between English and Chinese2.3.1 黄 “黄” in Chinese has more connotations, and most of them are commendatory. Born with yellow skin, cultivated in the yellow soil, and taking the Yellow River as their place of origin, the Chinese people are very proud of the fact that they belong to the yellow race.In the five elements theory, the color “黄” represents “earth”, which stands for the center of the universe and therefore yellow is a respectful color. Actually, Chinese culture is cultivating culture, “yellow” as the color represents earth and naturally is respected by Chinese people. In Chinas ancient theory of “Five Elements”, “黄” is one of its five colors. Theres another Chinese phrase “天玄地黄”, in which “黄” also means the color of earth. Actually, in Chinese peoples eyes, “黄” indicates the center of universe and implies Chinas territory and state, and is also a primary color according to the theory of “Five Elements”. Therefore, Chinese people are so proud of being Chinese and name themselves as “炎黄子孙”. On the basis of the meaning mentioned above, “黄” is extended to mean imperial power, dignity or seizing power. For instance, in Chinese legendary, the earliest ruler of our Han Nationality is “黄帝”，the origin of his name came from the fact that he was usually dressed in yellow and wore yellow hat. In addition，“黄”has the same pronunciation as “皇”， therefore, the color “黄”becomes the color of emperors and at last is the symbol of imperial power. Actually, the underlying reason for these lies in that Chinese people worship earth. “黄”also indicates wisdom and some doctrine. In Chinese Taoism and Buddhism, the yellow color is very respectable. Thats why even today, monks can still be seen dressed in yellow. Taoist priests also usually wear yellow dress. Chinese Buddhism hold the view that“黄”is the symbol of wisdom and doctrine. The worship of the “yellow” color makes“黄”have another connotationmystery and luck. For instance, in ancient times, superstitious people use yellow paper written incantations to expel ghosts. People always chose a day as “黄道吉日”to do something important, such as wedding or opening ceremonies of business. “黄”also indicates best. Because the color “yellow” is the color of gold, which is very precious, people easily associate “黄”with something precious too. For instance“黄金周”,“黄金时期”and etc. Though “黄” in Chinese is usually used in positive way, there are some derogatory connotations.The first usual negative meaning is vulgarity, obscenity and filthiness. This sense maybe comes from American “yellow journalism” that we have mentioned before, but Chinese people obviously misunderstood the meaning or degraded and narrowed its original connotations, therefore, the expressi