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LanguageandCulture
LanguageandCulture
Chapter1
Doeslanguageshapecultureordoescultureshapelanguage?
Inmyview,languageisamirror,infrontofwhichcultureisreflected.AsastudentmajoringinChineseasaforEignlanguage,I’dliketotakethisadvantagetodiscusstheculturaldifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglish.Inthefollowingpassage,Iamgoingtoelaborateontheculturaldifferencesreflectingincolors.
Therearemanycolorwordsinourlanguage,suchasred,white,black,yellow,purpleandsoforth,whichareusedfrequently.Inthefirstplace,I’dliketointroducethecommonusagesofthecolorwords.
+colorword
(1)”deep/dark+colorwords”:
indicatingthestrongcolor
deepblue;deepgreen;darkbrown;darkred.
(2)”light/pale+colorwords”:
indicatingthelightcolor
lightyellow;lightblue;palegrey;palewhite.
(3)“bright/rich/vivid+colorwords”:
indicatingthebrightcolor
bright/rich/vividred;bright/rich/vividyellow.
(4)“dull/dirty+colorwords”:
indicatingthedarkcolor
dullyellow;dullgold;dirtygrey;dirtywhite.
.“colorwords+-ish”
Thisgroupindicatesthedifferentshadesofthecolor.Anadjectivefollowedby-ishmeans“slightly…”
whitishsky,yellowishbookleaves;reddishface…
.“colorwords+colorwords”
Thispatternindicatesthemixtureofthecolor.Theformerstandsforthemaincolor,whilethelatterfunctionsasmodification.
redgreen;greenyellow;greyblue…
.“colorwords+and+colorwords”
Twocolorscoexistinginsomethingwithoutbeingmixedformadesignandcolor.
Thedogisblackandwhite.
Shehasayellowandblackcar.
Chapter
Englishaboundswithphrasescontainingcolorwords.Colorsmayconveydifferentmessagestopeopleofdifferentcultures.Duetotherespectiveculturalbackgroundandtradition,somephrasescontainingcolorwordshavefarsurpassedtheiroriginalmeanings,formingdifferentconnotations.
Whatdoesseeredmean?
Ifheisinabluemood,whatkindofmoodishein?
Ishehappy,sad,orwhat?
Obviously,redandbluedonotmeanjustthecolor.Eachhasadditionalmeanings-certainculturalassociations-thatarehiddenbehindtheword.Thefollowingpartwillbedevotedtothediscussionofculturaldifferencesofcertaincolorwords.
.1Red
InbothChineseandEnglish,redisusuallyassociatedwithhappyoccasions.Oncalendar,wecanfindthatholidayssuchasSpringFestivalareprintedinred,whichiscalled“red-letterdays”,whileordinarydaysareinblack.Besides,“topaintthetownred”istocelebratewildly,toenjoyoneselftoone’sheart’scontent.Anotherexampleisto“rollouttheredcarpetforsomeone”,meaningtogiveahospitableandformalreception.
Similarly,ChinesepeopletraditionallycutredcoupletsandappliquetocelebrateoccasionslikeweddingandNewYear.Besides,Wehaveaveryfamoustrademark“doubleredhappiness”(红双喜)whichissymbolicofgoodfortune.
Redisalsoassociatedwithcertainemotions.Letusseeafewexamples.
Heclenchedhisfistandwentveryred.
Herfaceturnedredwhenbombardedwithsuchanembarrassingquestion.
Icanseethatheisredwithanger.
Whenhecriticizedmywork,Ireallysawred.
Themerementionofhisenemy’snameislikewavingaredflagtohim.
Inthesentencesabove,wecanguessthemeaningofsome,forthereisanChineseequivalent,whiletheothersarenotsoeasytounderstandbyChinese.Forinstance,inEnglish,herfaceturnedredortobecomered-facedshowsone’sembarrassment,asitdoesinChinese脸红.Butwhatisthemeaningofseeredandwavingaredflag?
Bothsuggestanger.Theformermeanstobecomeveryangrywhilethelattermeanstocausequickangerinsomebodybydoingsomethingoffensive.
“Governmentpolicyininterestrates,andonfinancegenerally,hasbeenmarkedbyvacillation,wishfulthinking,electoralexpediencyofthemostshamefultypetowardstheendoflastyear,contortionsandcontradictions,alltoaccommodatetheredneckeconomicsoftheNationalCountryParty.(Harsard)”
Intheexampleabove,“redneck”isusedasanadjective,meaning“reactionary”.“redneckery”derivingfrom“redneck”refersto“reactionaryattitudes”.Forinstance,“...theredneckeryoftheQueenlandgovernment...(GarthNettheimABCBooksandWriting)”
Theliteralmeaningof“redneck”isred-neck.Howisitrelatedto“reactionary”?
“redneck”originallymeant(AmE)Southernfarmersof,usuallycarryingaderogatorymeaning.Now“reactionary”,theextendedmeaningof“redneck”,hassomethingtodowithitsspecialhistoricalandgeographicalbackground.
Anotherexample.
“Ironically,itwasRedNoseDay,thedaywhenmillionsofAustraliansdonnedrednosestosupportresearchintosuddeninfantdeathsyndrome.(NewIdea.)”
RedNoseDayreferstoadayonwhichanappealismadefordonationsforresearchintosuddeninfantdeathsyndrome,markedbythedistributionofplasticrednosestodonors.InChinese,however,thereisnosuchconnotation.
SomeWesternerstake“red”asanevilomenorredfordanger,stemmingfromthespiritsofbullfighters.Sotheredrag(orredflag)thatbullfightersusetoprovocatebullsisconsideredannoying.AccordingtotheRandomHouseDictionary,redfurtherdevelopstobethesynonymforpoliticalradical.
Furthermore,redhassomeextendedmeanings,suchascruelty,disaster,trivialformalities,etc.
redalertalarminginemergency
aredbattleacruelbattleinwhichalotofliveshavebeenlost
becaughtred-handedbecaughtonsite
haveredhandscommitamurder
redideasrevolutionaryconcepts
redruinfire(asadisaster)
redtapebureaucraticwritings
intheredindebt
don’tcarearedcentdon’tcareatall
.White
TomostChineseandWesterners,whitehassomemeaningsincommon.Whitesuggestspurity,innocenceandhonesty.
Maryisawhitegirl.(pureandinnocent)
Tomisaverywhiteboy.Henevertellslies.(honest)
Butinthissense,whatdoesthetermawhiteliemean?
Canaliebepureandinnocent?
Actually,awhitelieisaharmlessone,intendednottohurtsomeone.Forexample,yourmotherboughtadressforyouthatshewasverysatisfiedwith,andwantedtoknowifyoulikedit.Maybeinyourmind,itwasoutofthefashionorthecolorwasnottoyourtaste.Butyousaid,“Oh,Ireallylikeit”inordernottoletherdown.Itwasalie,butagood-intentionedlie.
TheconnotationofwhiteinChinesealsoincludessomethingunhappy.Atfunerals,Chinesepayrespecttothedeadandexpresstheirsorrowbywearingwhiteandwritingelegiaccoupletsinwhitepaper.IntheWest,however,whiteisthetraditionalcolorforthebridesatweddings,andtowearwhiteatfuneralswouldbeoffensive.Socareshouldbetakenintranslatingthephrase红白喜事.Toavoidmisunderstanding,wecanputitsimplyasweddingsandfunerals.Talkingaboutredandwhite,thereisaninterestingcoincidenceinChineseandEnglish.InChinese,thosewhoarepopularandfindfavorwiththeirbossesarecalled红人(redguyliterally).ButIrishpeoplecallthemthewhite-headedboy.Inthissense,redequalswhiteinthetwocultures.
Wehaveafamousdramacalled《白毛女》.Ifwetranslateitliterallyas《AWhite-hairedGirl》,thoseWesternerswillbeconfusedanditwillbeveryhardtoseetheprofoundmeaningbehinditInoldChina,folksingeneralweremadeghosts,whilethingshavechangedalotinnewChina.
Inaddition,hereisacollectionofexpressionscontainingthewordwhite.
thewhiteareaananti-revolutionaryarea
awhitedayaluckyday
whitelightdistrictever-brightarea
awhiteelephantsomethingburdensomeandvalueless;hugeburden
showthewhitefeathershowfear
awhiteslavesomeonewhoisforcedtobeaslave
daysmarkedwithawhitestonehappydays
awhitewarawarwithoutbloodshed;aneconomiccompetition
bleedwhiteextorteverycentfromsomeone
.Black
InbothChineseandEnglish,therearevarioustermsindicatingthatblackoftencarriesanegativemeaning:
blackmail(勒索),blacklistmeanstobeacuckold.Ifwetranslateitwordbyword,misunderstandingorconfusionwillarise.
Whenpairedwithdifferentwords,itsmeaningisdifferent.Thefollowingexampleswellillustrateitsvarioususages.
greenappleunripeapple
greenbackUSdollars
greenfromtheschoolfreshfromtheschool
greenhouseawarminghouse
givethegreenlighttosomebodyallowsomeonetodosomething
agreenoldagebearone’sagewell
greenpowermightypower
greenrevolutionagriculture-relatedreform
greenroomthedrawingroomforactorsandactresses
gotothegreenwoodtobetheherointhewood
.Yellow
YellowappearsinsuchChineseexpressionsas黄色书刊,黄色电影,黄色音乐.Shouldtheybetranslatedasyellowbooks,yellowmovies,yellowmusic?
Ofcoursenot.Wecanreplace黄色withfilthy,obscene,orvulgar.InEnglish,wehavethephraseyellowjournalismwhichlaystoomuchemphasisonscandalsorexaggeratestheordinarynewstoasensationaldegree,sometimesevenwithdistortion.
Similarly,wehaveYellowPages(黄页)bothinChineseandEnglish. Thisisabookwiththetelephonenumbersofdifferentshops,businesses,organizations,etc.,arrangedintheorderofdifferentcategories.YellowPagesisaveryusefulhandbookwhosepagesareyellow,butthecontentisnotyellowintheChinesesense.
Generallyspeaking,yellowistosomeextentderogatorythatcarriestheconnotationsofcowardice,jealousy,suspicionandcontemptibility.Hereistheproof.
yellowalertalertinadvance
yellowboygoldcoin
ayellowdogacontemptibleperson
ayellowdogcontractacontractsignedinthepr