英汉色彩词文化和语义差异

英汉色彩词文化和语义差异 【论文】英汉色彩词文化和语义差异 毕业论文中文摘要 英语和汉语的差异除了在形态结构上的不同外还有词义上的不同语言外 的非语言因素主要来自文化这些差异在色彩词中 表 关于同志近三年现实表现材料材料类招标技术评分表图表与交易pdf视力表打印pdf用图表说话 pdf 现更为突出英语和汉语都 有非常丰富的表示颜色的词汇但其所表达的意义有时却大不相同它们不仅表 示色彩在不同的语境下还具有多种寓意体现出不同的文化内涵本文通过对 比法探讨了英汉两种语言中色彩词的文化差异和语意差异说明由于不同的语言 习惯历史背景和传统风俗表示颜色的方法和对同一颜色的理解也有很大差别 通过研究这一课题能够深入地了解和剖析色彩词在英汉两种语言和文化环境中 运用的异同以及我们翻译和应用过程中应该注意的地方了解英汉文化的背景 知识掌握表示颜色的词汇在两种语言中的深层涵义对中外文化交流及翻译实 践研究有一定的实际意义 关键词 色彩词文化差异语义差异对比 毕业论文外文摘要 Title Cultural And Semantic Differences between Chinese And English Color Terms Abstract Differences of English and Chinese lie in not only the form structure but also the meaning of the terms As for the non-language factor out of the language it is mainly comes from the culture These differences are stressed in color terms There are a large number of terms expressing colors in both Chinese and English However sometimes meanings of these color terms are different Except for the colors they express they have many kinds of significance in different context showing different cultural connotation This paper discusses the cultural and semantic differences of color terms between English and Chinese by means of contrast indicating that due to different language habits historic background and traditional customs there are many differences in the use of colors as well as in the understanding of the same color By studying this article we can learn and analyze the use differences of color terms in language and cultural situation between English and Chinese and the places we should pay attention to in the course of translating and applying It is practically useful to know and study the differences thus promoting the cultural communication and translation practice Keywords color terms cultural differences semantic differences contrast 淮阴工学院毕业论文 第 ? 页 共 ? 页 Contents 1 Introduction 1 2 Summary of Color Terms in Chinese and English 2 21 Naming of Color Terms 2 22 Division of Color Terms 2 Basic Color Terms 3 Physical Color Terms 4 3 Differences of Color Terms between Chinese and English 6 31 Cultural Differences of Color Terms 6 32 Semantic Differences of Color Terms 7 4 Non-corresponding Relationship between Chinese and English in Translation 9 41 Dislocation 9 42 Vacancies 10 Vacancies of Common English Color Terms Translated into Chinese 11 Vacancies of Common Chinese Color Terms Translated into English 12 Conclusion 13 Acknowledgements 14 References 15 淮阴工学院毕业论文 第 1 页 共 15 页 1 Introduction Language is an important tool for communication in mankinds society It is also an important and outstanding constitution of culture Languages of different nations are subjected to the social culture and in turn reflect special cultural contents of the nations respectively If people of one nation dont understand the cultural factor of another particular nation it is impossible for them to communicate effectively and smoothly Therefore communication can be carried on successfully only in the situation that language knowledge and cultural knowledge are put together Deng Yanchang , Liu Runqing 95 And also the reason which makes the cross-cultural communication possible is exactly that mankind share some common cultural information On the contrary it is because both parties cant share some cultural information with differences that there come some deviations Li Ruihua 103 There are certain differences in expressing methods and cultural habits between Chinese and English in which each has its specialities Differences in colorful expressing methods and complicated habits are because of the existence of the differences of nation history social system moral beliefs literature art mental characteristics customs and habits value concept thinking mode life style and region appearance between Chinese and English culture Meanwhile phrases of various colors occupy a prominent position in mankinds life Since the habits and customs are different the methods and phrases that express the color are different Even there are some differences in comprehending the same color term Along with the continuous developing of mankinds civilization the vocabulary which expresses colors also corresponds to get continuously abundant The meaning of them also changes from a certain pure color originally to many new meanings making mankinds language become more vivid and colorful One cant communicate with others more smoothly and effectively unless he or she understands the background knowledge of Chinese and English culture masters a vocabulary of meanings of the color in the deep connotation between the two languages It can not be said that one has the capability needed to communicate between Chinese and English if he has not got this kind of scholarship and cultivated manners correspondingly Lu Guoqiang 79 淮阴工学院毕业论文 第 2 页 共 15 页 2 Summary of Color Terms in Chinese and English 2 1 Naming of Color Terms It is said that there are more than 4000 colors in the world They can be drawn as an extremely complicated color table or be made as a precise and different pure color sample But this is the result of the process categorized by people Accurately it is an outcome of the operation of high technology The color is originally a kind of abstract concept and general felling Afterwards along with the evolution of civilization mankind cut open this vision image and plus label that is language hence the color becomes a concrete thing which is constituted from the independent link We know some colors as soon as we see them and tell their names But there are also some colors whose judgments often seem compromised and thus make people hesitant such as greenish-yellow yellow with green slightly In addiction some colors have no phrase that is corresponding It is more difficult to tell which category they belong to unless we create a name or draw an analogy such as it looks like the color of a dead leaf the color is like withered leaf otherwise it cant be described This process of naming color with language marking is called codability Kay , Mc Daniel 125 The color which can be described easily has high-codability like green And it can stir up a quick reaction of people together in the same community However the color which is like a withered leaf is hard to be comprehended by people such of this color has low-codability In addition there are obvious differences in naming and defining colors in each community or nation similar to some other vision phenomenon The color in the nature is an objective existence so what mankinds naked eye observe or feel should be similar but the fact is not such When seeing the rainbow the European can distinguish six fresh and clear light-lines namely red orange yellow green blue and purple However the Chinese can see seven colors red 红 orange 橙 yellow 黄 green 绿 blue green or black 青 blue 蓝 and purple 紫 2 2 Division of Color Terms Generally speaking all color terms can be divided into two major types basic color terms and physical color terms 淮阴工学院毕业论文 第 3 页 共 15 页 Basic Color Terms Basic color terms are words come from the sun spectrum of red orange yellow green blue purple black white brown and gray These words are used frequently in articles and have a very strong ability to create words By the statistics of some researchers there are eleven basic color terms in Chinese red 红 orange 橙 yellow 黄 green 绿 blue green or lack 青 blue 蓝 purple 紫 black 黑 white 白 brown 棕 and gray 灰 whereas there are only six in English red orange yellow green blue and purple There are many examples of dissimilarity of each other caused from the differences of the distinction of spectrum demarcation in different translations What is worth mentioning is that the basic color term qing in Chinese doesnt have a basic color term corresponding in English Since just like tsu in Athapaskan language of the Indian tribe which contains yellow green and blue in English Parrot 121 qing also contains three basic colors of English namely blue green and black So the translation is more vivid according to the judgment of language content For example Blue 青筋 blue veins 青山 blue mountains 青天 blue sky 青花瓷 blue and white porcelain 曲终人不见The song is ended no one is to be seen 江上数峰青On the river the mountain peaks are so blue 钱起 《省试湘灵 鼓瑟》 black 青布 black cloth 青鱼 black carp 青丝 black hair 青衫 black gown green 青草 green grass 青椒 green pepper 青苗 green shoots 青龙 green dragon 青灯照壁人初醒A green lamp lights the wall as sleep enfolds her 淮阴工学院毕业论文 第 4 页 共 15 页 冷雨敲窗被未温Cold rain pelts the casements and her quilt is chill 曹 雪芹 《红楼梦》 Physical Color Terms Physical color terms are words that expressed with special colors of objects themselves The color is an abstract idea which gives people the vision impression by all the nature creation it adheres to Therefore if there is no adherence it is usually hard for people to realize and record its characteristic clearly This kind of adherence can be called as color source Ray 36 Almost all things in the nature contain colors and only very few materials are achromatic or transparent So color source is also omnipresent All nations usually address concrete colors by color source not only making them changed from abstraction to concretion but also making the detailed color get a distinction This is also the process from peoples sense experience of organs given by colors to the formation of sign concept which can be called one of the universals of color language Ray 87 That is to say each nation names a color by the color source generally which is the material foundation of the color terms The general regulation of the naming of color terms means the more concrete the type of the color terms are the more consistent the means of naming and expressing the color terms in different nations would be For instance Chinese English 天蓝 sky blue 蛋黄 yolk yellow 草绿 grass green 血红 blood red 漆黑 pitch black 雪白 snow white 银灰 silver gray Assigning name to a color with the material is the most direct and valid expressing method since replacing a color with any sign is not as good as the material with that color And also it is very difficult to express the vision image it gives people accurately As it is more concrete vivid and accurate to express color image with materials which can let 淮阴工学院毕业论文 第 5 页 共 15 页 people get a fast associate each nation adopt this way to assign names of color terms For example red rose 玫瑰色 peach 桃桃红色 ruby 红宝石红玉色 strawberry 草莓色 orange apricot 橘橘黄色 copper 铜色 marigold 金盏花色 pumpkin 南瓜色 yellow amber 琥珀色 butter 黄油色 sand 沙嫣红的黄色 flax 亚麻淡黄色 green emerald 绿宝石艳绿色 fir 冷杉色 jade 绿玉色 olive 橄榄茶青色 blue cornflower 铬铬蓝 hyacinth 风信子紫蓝色 cyan 氰深蓝色 pelican 塘鹅色 purple mulberry 桑树深紫红色 plum 梅树深紫色 淮阴工学院毕业论文 第 6 页 共 15 页 orchid 兰花淡紫色 violet 紫罗兰蓝紫色 white ivory 象牙乳白色 pearl 珍珠色 platinum 白金色 silver 白银银白色 brown cocoa 可可树棕黄色 leather 皮革色 seal 海豹深褐色 dead leaf 枯叶色 gray bat 蝙蝠色 gun metal 炮钢铁灰色 moleskin 鼠皮色 pepper-and-salt 胡椒与盐色 3 Differences of Color Terms between Chinese and English 3 1 Cultural Differences of Color Terms Colors can produce many imaginary meanings and also tend to produce a great influence to the motion of people So the people usually use color to mean a persons moral qualities motion and viewpoint of things The following is a very typical example Mr White is a very white man He was looking rather green the other day He has been feeling blue today When I saw him he was in a brown mood I hope hell soon be in the pink again From the example we can see that there are many metaphors of color terms while describing peoples motion and behavior in English Understanding these metaphors will help us know the meanings of the phrases with accuracy thus making the communication smoother Since in Chinese the two color terms blue and brown are not used to express peoples motion 淮阴工学院毕业论文 第 7 页 共 15 页 White in both Chinese and English makes people associate it with clean and pure In English white market means official market Though it is opposite to black market it make people feel perplexed when white market is translated as a market with white color 白市 to mean an official market or a formal market In addition there are a great number of words which mean peoples motion state in both the two languages In Chinese face becomes red 脸红 means embarrassed or feeling difficult Also in English there are phrases such as he became red faced and his face turned red to express the same motion In both English-speaking countries and China red is relevant to celebration activity or days of celebration However in China the symbolic meaning of red is stronger than that in European countries In China things have something to do with good luck prosperous and noisy are expressed with red such as bonus 红 利 flourishing 红火 red packets 红包 and so on Also red is used to mean smoothness and success such as cover with red 披红 make a good beginning 开门红 the full hall is red 满堂红 Although red also means happiness and pleased celebration in English it doesnt have the meaning as extensive as that in Chinese That contacting the wedding with red is acceptable in both China and Europe But what the western people cant understand is that the Chinese contact red with funeral In the English dictionary red is the synonym of communism or communist with a disparaging even reviling meaning For example red belt means area where there are communists better red than dead is used to mean that the American people would rather be subjected to communist than die in nuclear war And in English people often associate red with violence and bloodiness Whereas in Chinese red is seen as the symbol of progress and awakening such as Red Army 红 军 and red flag 红旗 3 2 Semantic Differences of Color Terms Many words that have something to do with color are the outputs under the particular historical and the geographical background which can be seen as cultural limit terms If we dont understand the social custom cultural background of these words and phrases composed of them we will find it hard to comprehend their real cultural content which will lead some misunderstandings and ambiguities Thus we cant reach the purpose of a real 淮阴工学院毕业论文 第 8 页 共 15 页 communication Therefore understanding the similarities and differences of the literal and extended meaning of color terms descended from the special historical and geographical background in Chinese and English is one of the keys to effective cross-cultural communication In the Qing Dynasty of China the report submitted is approved by the Cabinet after the emperors grant which is called red book Chang Jingyu 53 It is totally different from the red book in English which means the book with red cover In the period of the Chinese Cultural Revolution everybody has one or two works of Mao Zedong especially Quotations of Chairman Mao which is called red treasure book Similarly In English-speaking countries such terms that is relevant to history and geography are plenty and they have specific meanings on specific circumstances For example red lining which means that the American financial institutions circle red lines in poor regions refusing to provide housing loans there which make the areas sink into greater poverty redcoat refers to the British soldiers during the War of Independence who wear uniforms with the color of scarlet Red Brigade means the terrorist organization specializing in kidnapping murder destruction and other terrorist activities Take yellow as an example In Chinese the yellow tunic adding to a body 黄袍加 身 means that a person becomes the emperor with the highest status Yellow has been seen as the respected color for a long time Therefore ordinary people are afraid to meddle in yellow Yellow tunic 黄袍 yellow placard 黄榜 yellow gate 黄门 are all linked with honor and glory Yellow has the symbolic meanings such as noble dignity and power which occupy an extremely important position in the mentality of Chinese people However in English yellow means despicable cowardly and suspicion In ancient China the color white is also used to mean the rank or hierarchy For example white dress white house and white body refer to civilians cottages and people without official position or merit and fame respectively They can create an association of humble and poor In English there is the phrase black Friday whose symbolic meaning has a close relation with Christianity Black means unfortunate disasters disgust angry depressed and dark Friday refers to the Friday before Easter 淮阴工学院毕业论文 第 9 页 共 15 页 when Jesus suffers calamities on religion According to the cultural background and traditional custom of English people in English-speaking countries use black Friday to express a catastrophic and dangerous day which is the speciality in Western culture From the above we can see the significance of different colors between Chinese and Western culture In their deep layer a great deal of cultural information is accumulated containing distinct country and folk custom semantics Though many of the words have now become the historical vocabulary terms they faithfully record the history of China and the western countries And they see through the spirit appearance of particular social times thereby leaving distinct cultural imprints 4 Non-corresponding Relationship between Chinese and English in Translation Color terms play very important roles in both Chinese and English They are sometimes corresponding in translation But in most cases they are not A careful look at the cultural connotation attached to the color terms and their semantic correspondence and non-correspondence between the two languages may help move away the communicative barriers between Chinese and English so as to promote the cultural exchanging and integration between them The situation that both the reference and association are corresponding mutually is limited Most of them are non-corresponding on certain occasions The non-correspondence in translation of color terms between Chinese and English is mainly reflected in 1 the same objective thing or thought can be expressed with different color terms 2 the same objective thing or thought can be expressed with color terms in one language while cant in another language Cheng Dingan 84 The two non-corresponding relationship can be generalized as usage dislocation and meaning vacancy 4 1 Dislocation Firstly the non-corresponding relationship in translation of Chinese and English color terms is reflected in the usage of different color terms which describe the same objective thing or thought or it can be said as the usage dislocation of color terms The uncertainty of 淮阴工学院毕业论文 第 10 页 共 15 页 humans perception of color and the ambiguity of the semantic code meanings of natural language color lead the differences of definition and reference scope between Chinese and English-speaking countries English colors take main category Shao Zhihong 50 whereas Chinese colors take comprehensive category Shao Zhihong 50 The differences of this kind of thinking mode result in different color references of the same thing For example 1 Chinese English 红糖 brown sugar 红茶 black tea 青一块紫一块 black and blue 2 English Chinese black eye 眼圈发青 brown bread 黑面包 purple wine 红葡萄酒 Secondly the phenomenon of usage dislocation of color terms is also reflected in their imaginary meaning or symbolic meaning In Chinese vulgar interest decadence decline and porn are expressed with yellow while in English with blue For example Chinese English 下流的玩笑黄段子 blue jokes 黄色影片 blue film Envy jealousy are expressed with red In Chinese while green in English For example Chinese English 眼红害红眼病 green-eyed be green with envy 4 2 Vacancies It is common that there are many phenomena of vacancies in different languages which is the most difficult place in translation There are also a variety of reasons causing the corresponding vacancies between two languages living environment customs and habits different beliefs of religion different ways of thinking and philosophy It is no exception to the corresponding relationship vacancies of Chinese and English color terms 淮阴工学院毕业论文 第 11 页 共 15 页 Usually color terms used in Chinese are not used in English In Chinese black is associated to words like mysterious evil illegal and sinister hence there are phrases like 黑幕 inside story 黑心 evil mind 黑色交易 illegal transaction 黑帮 sinister gang and 黑户 unregistered resident However when they are translated into English inside evil illegal sinister and unregistered are used respectively to meet with Chinese term black co- The similar situation is also usually encountered in translation from English to Chinese As we know purple symbolizes the supreme authority and status and the imperial dignity in the English culture When we translate be born in the purple to raise to the purple to marry into the purple we can not handle the word purple but to seize its symbolic meaning giving up their forms and translating them as royal descent or the elite families 出身王室或显贵家庭 upgraded as Cardinals 升为红衣主教 establishing ties with the royal family or the aristocracy 与皇室或贵族联姻缘 respectively Vacancies of Common English Color Terms Translated into Chinese English Chinese black sheep 不孝之子害群之马 in a black mood 心情不好 brown nose 逢迎上司拍马屁 be in a brown study 沉思默想空想 to feel bluein the blues 情绪低落沮丧 out of blue 意想不到 green hand 新手 green power 金钱力量 gray area 还不够政府特别援助的贫困地 区 purple patch 华丽词藻 worth a red cent 分文不值 red tape 官样文章烦琐拖拉的公事程序 white lie 善意的谎言 white elephant 昂贵而无用之物 yellow dog 卑鄙家伙不中用的人 淮阴工学院毕业论文 第 12 页 共 15 页 yellow livered 胆小鬼 Vacancies of Common Chinese Color Terms Translated into English Chinese English 白搭 no use 白费事 all in vain 红运 good luck 大红人 favorite influential person 红榜 honored roll 红白喜事 weddings and funerals 黄道吉日 luck day 黑货 smuggled goods 淮阴工学院毕业论文 第 13 页 共 15 页 Conclusion Along with the increment of cultural exchanges in all nations in the world various languages and culture are getting integration Language forms and meaning correspondence will be constantly reinforced Exchanges in heterogeneous culture have made peoples color concept change unconsciously Contents of the local culture also be enriched when the heterogeneous cultural was accepted and introduced We can find that more and more English color terms have been fused into Chinese surrounded by Chinese cultural acceptance Of course in cross-cultural communication activities cultural personality conflicts are inevitable Color terms are bound to be in a non-corresponding semantic relationship in different cultural background When we encounter with color terms in translation between Chinese and English make sure to determine their connotation in the context and then search their corresponding relationship If they belong to vacancies we should abandon the color terms of source language and take their imaginary and symbolic meanings Therefore we should pay attention to the cultural meaning of color terms in translation and adjust the corresponding relationship between the source language and the target language appropriately making the cross-cultural communication more smoothly and effectively 淮阴工学院毕业论文 第 14 页 共 15 页 Acknowledgements I would like to show my sincere appreciation to Wang Zhuoling my supervisor for her valuable guidance strict requirement and generous support During the work of my graduation thesis she not only gave me great encouragement which brought me confidence and strength to complete this paper successfully but also made me progressed in my personal capability I also feel grateful to all my teachers who have taught me in the past four years in my college life Thanks to their help and guidance that I can finish my college schooling and my graduation thesis successfully 淮阴工学院毕业论文 第 15 页 共 15 页 References [1] Hickerson Nancy Parrot Linguistic Anthropology [M] New York Holt Rinehart and Winston 1980 123 [2] Kay P Mc Daniel C K The Linguistic Significance of the Meaning of basic color terms Language [M] NSW The Macquarie Liberary Pty Ltd 1990 [3] Ray Vern F Human Colour Perception and Behavioural Response 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