A Comparison of the Connotation between English and Chinese Animal Words英汉动物词汇的文化内涵对比.docx

A Comparison of the Connotation between English and Chinese Animal Words英汉动物词汇的文化内涵对比.docx

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AComparisonoftheConnotationbetweenEnglishandChineseAnimalWords英汉动物词汇的文化内涵对比

Abstract

BothEnglishcultureandChineseculturehavealargenumberofwordsrelatedwithanimals.ThesameanimalwordsmayhavethesameordifferentconnotationsinEnglishandChinese,anddifferentanimalwordsmayhavesimilarconnotationsinEnglishandChinese.Inaddition,animalwordshavesemanticgapsinEnglishandChinese.ThispaperisintendedtocontrastandanalyzetheconnotationbetweenEnglishandChineseanimalwordsfromtheseaspectsanddiscussthecausesofdiscrepancyintheconnotationbetweenEnglishandChineseanimalwordsformtheanglesofreligion,history,geographicalenvironmentandaestheticorientation.Moreover,thispaperanalyzestheinfluencesoftheconnotationofanimalwordsoninterculturalcommunication.Thenthispapergivessomesuggestionsforinterculturalcommunication.Atlast,itdrawsaconclusionthatlanguageisthecarrierofculture.Languagesofdifferentnationspresentrichculturalproperties.WeshouldpaymoreattentiontothediscrepancyintheconnotationbetweenEnglishandChineseanimalwordsduringtheprocessofinterculturalcommunicationandenrichourknowledgeofdifferentculturesasmuchaspossible.Intheageofglobalization,communicationbetweentheChinesecultureandtheEnglishcultureisontheincreasedaybyday.Withthehelpofthispaper,peoplecanunderstandtheculturaldifferenceofEnglishandChineseanimalwordsfurtherandachieveperfectinterculturalcommunication.

Keywords:

Animalwords;EnglishandChinese;Connotations;Comparison

英汉动物词汇的文化内涵对比

摘要

在英汉两种文化中有许许多多与动物相关的词汇。

同一动物词汇在英汉语言中可能具有相同或者不同的文化内涵，不同的动物词汇在英汉语言中可能会有相似的文化内涵。

另外，动物词汇在英汉语言中存在语义空缺现象。

本文旨在从这几个方面对比和分析英汉动物的文化内涵，并从宗教、历史、地理环境、审美取向的角度探讨英汉动物词汇的文化内涵存在差异的原因。

此外，本文分析了动物词汇的文化内涵对跨文化交流的影响。

然后，本文为跨文化交流提出了一些建议。

最后，得出结论：

语言是文化的载体，不同民族的语言呈现出丰富多彩的文化特性。

在跨文化交流过程中，我们应该更加重视英汉动物词汇的文化内涵差异，尽可能丰富我们在不同文化领域的知识。

在全球化的时代，中西文化交流日益频繁。

通过本文，人们能够进一步了解英汉动物词汇的文化差异，顺利进行跨文化交流。

关键字：

动物词汇；英语和汉语；文化内涵；对比

Contents

AComparisonoftheConnotationbetweenEnglishandChineseAnimalWords

1.Introduction

Theintimaterelationshipwithanimalsmakeshumanbeingshavecomplexemotions,suchasfondness,sympathy,disgustandhorror,etc.Humansoftenplacetheirfeelingsonanimalsanduseanimalstoexpressfeelingsaswell.ManyanimalwordsandphrasesareendowedwithconnotationsinEnglishandChinese.Therefore,learningaboutthedifferentconnotationsofEnglishandChineseanimalwordscanhelpEnglishlearnerstocorrectlyunderstandthislanguage.Animalwordshavethesame,differentorsimilarconnotationsinEnglishandChinese.Inmostcases,althoughbothEnglishandChinesehavethesamereferentialmeaningsofanimalwords,theconnotationsoftheseanimalwordsaredifferent（ShangQi,2006）.Thisiscausedbyreligion,history,geographicalenvironmentandaestheticorientation.ThispaperstartswiththecomparisonofEnglishandChineseanimalwords.Afterwards,thispaperdiscussesthecausesofdiscrepancyinconnotationsbetweenEnglishandChineseanimalwords.Intheend,thispaperdiscussestheinfluencesofculturalconnotationsofanimalwordsoninterculturalcommunication.

2.ConnotationsofEnglishandChineseAnimalWords

2.1ConnotationofanimalwordsinChineseandEnglish

ThesameanimalwordsmayhavethesameordifferentculturalconnotationsinEnglishandChinese.Inaddition,differentanimalwordsmayhavesimilarculturalconnotationsinEnglishandChinese.

2.1.1Animalwordswiththesameconnotations

Livinginasimilarecologicalenvironment,peoplemayhaveasameimaginationaboutanimals.Therefore,animalwordswillbeendowedwiththesameculturalconnotation.InChineseandinEnglish,thefoxiscunning;theassisstupid;thelambisdocile;thewolfisalwayshungry;therabbitcanrunrapidly;thebeeisbusy;thesnakeiscrafty;thehenisassociatedwithwoman.Forexample,whenwesay“heisafox”,ChinesepeopleandNativeEnglishspeakerswillrealizethatheiscunning.TothenativeEnglishspeakersandChinesepeople,“pig”standsfordirtiness,lazinessandstupidity.Therefore,therearesomesayingslike“asfatasapig”,“eatlikeapig”,“makeapigofoneself”,etc.InChinesecultureandEnglishculture,“bee”alwaysgivesustheimpressionofanextremelyhardworker.Wecanuse“asbusyasabee”todescribesomeonewhoisdiligent.A“parrot”（atypeoftropicalbirdwithhookedbeakandbrightlycoloredfeathers）canbetrainedtoimitatehumanvoice.InChinesecultureandEnglishculture,itisusedtodescribesomeonewhorepeatsthewordsoractionsofotherswithoutunderstandingthemeaning.InChinesecultureandEnglishculture,“ass”isalwaysusedtodescribeastupidperson.Thesaying“makeanassofassofoneself”meansthatonebehavesstupidlyandridiculously.InChinesecultureandEnglishculture,“dove”isasymbolofpeace.TothenativeEnglishspeakerandChinesepeople,“sheep”isonekindofdocileanimal.Whenitcomestothesheep,peoplewillhaveagentleandmeekimageinmind.Therefore,“sheep”isalwaysusedtodescribeagentleandmeekcharacter.

2.1.2Animalwordswithdifferentconnotations

InChinesecultureandEnglishculture,differentculturalbackgroundscanresultindifferentconnotations.

InChineseculture,“dragon”isakindofmythicanimalwhichhasscales,clawsandlegsandwhichcanflyinthesky,swimintheseaandcreatecloudandrain.“Dragon”issomethingsacredandisusedtorepresenttheancestorofChinesenation.ThisiswhytheChinesepeoplecallthemselvesdescendantsofdragon.InancientChina,“dragon”wasasymbolofimperialpower.Ancientemperorscalledthemselvesas“真龙天子”（thesonofdragon）.Theirclotheswereembroideredwithdragonandwerecalledas“龙袍”（dragonrobe）;theirchairswerecalledas“龙椅”（dragonthrone）;theirposteritieswerecalledas“龙种”（dragonchildren）.InChina,wemayoftenhearthatChineseparentsexpecttheirsonbecomea“dragon”（expectone’schildcanhaveabrightfuture）（LuoAifeng,2006）.However,theliberaltranslationsoundsridiculoustonativeEnglishspeakers,becausetheythinkdragonisanevilmonsterwhichcanspitfireandhasthreetonineheads.InEnglishculture,“dragon”isalwaysusedtodescribefiercenessespeciallyforwomen.Forexample,“sheisadragon,you’dbetterkeepawayfromher”（sheisabad-temperedperson）.

ChinesenationandEnglishnationshareasamehabitofraisingdogs.InChineseculture,“dog”isaderogatoryanimalwordandisendowedwithuglythings.Forexample,“actlikeasnob”（狗眼看人低）,“mistakeagoodmanforabadone”（狗咬吕洞宾，不识好人心）,“afilthymouthcannotutterdecentlanguage”（狗嘴里吐不出象牙）.However,“dog”symbolizesfriendship,sincerityandloyaltyinEnglishculture.Forexample,“loveme,lovemydog”,“everydoghashisday”（everypersonwillsomedaysucceedofbecomefortunate）,“toletsleepingdoglie”（tomakenotroubleornottodisturbpeople）,“aluckydog”（aluckyman）,“ajollydog”（ahappyperson）,“acleverdog”（acleverman）,“atopdog”（apersonhasadvantagesindoingsomethings）,“nothaveadog’schance”（havenochance）,“agooddogdeservesagoodbone”（amanwhomakesacontributionshouldberewarded）and“likeadogwithtwotails”（veryhappy）.

InChineseculture,owl,theanimalwhichalwaysshoutsandcriesatnight,isconsideredtobeananimalwhichwillbringunluckinessandmisfortune.InEnglishculture,“owl”isregardedasthesymbolofwisdom.Ifonesaysyouareowlish,itmeansthatyouarecleverandstrict.“Aswiseasanowl”indicatesthatthenativeEnglishspeakersassociatewisdomwithowl.Anotherexamplecanbeprovided,“hepeeredowlishlyatusthroughhisglasses”.

InChinesetraditionalculture,“bat”isasymbolofhappiness,because“蝠”and“福”arehomonyms.Andredbatisasignofluckiness,because“红蝠”and“洪福”arealsohomonyms.Insomecases,Chinesepeoplecombine“bat”and“deer”togetherinordertoget“蝠鹿”,whichhasthesamepronunciationwith“福禄”.Anditmeanshappinessandgoodfortune（蒋磊,2000）.However,theWesternersareafraidofbat.Theydislikebat,becauseitisoftenrelatedwithuglyandevilimage.Therefore,Englishidiomsaboutbatarealwaysderogatory,forexample,“asblindasabat”（haveeyesbutseenothing）;“crazyasabat”（abnormal）.

“Peacock”isamalebirdwithlongblueandgreentailfeathers,whicharelikeafanwhenthetailfeathersarespreadout.However,astheaestheticorientationsofChinesecultureandEnglishculturearedifferent,“peacock”representsdifferentimagesandhasatotallydifferentculturalconnotation.NativeEnglishspeakersholdthatthepeacockisproudandvainwhenitiswalkingwithtailfeathersspreadout.Therefore,itgivesthemtheimpressionofvanityandarrogance.Suchas“asproudasapeacock”,“playthepeacock”,“asvainasapeacock”,etc.However,inChinesetraditionalculture,thepeacockisthesymbolofbeauty.

InChineseculture,“magpie”isawelcomebird.“Magpie”isabirdwhichcanbringgoodlucktoyou.“Magpie”isalwaysconnectedwithgoodluck,happiness,etc.andisusedtoshowthatsomethinggoodisgoingtohappen.However,nativeEnglishspeakersholdthatmagpieisakindofdisgustingbirdandpaymoreattentiontonoisesmadebythisblackandwhitebird.Therefore,inEnglishculture,“magpie”isusedtodescribesomeonewhoalwayschattersinterminably.Forexample,sheisamagpieofawoman;shekeptmutteringlikeamagpie.Inaddition,theWesternersusuallyuse“magpie”tocomparetotheconditionofchaosoragreatmass,suchas“amagpiecollection”,“tomagpietogether”,etc.（ChenWenbo,1982）

“Whale”isakindoflargeanimal.TheWesternerspaytheiratt