TheContrastStudyofColorWordsbetweenChineseandEngli.docx

TheContrastStudyofColorWordsbetweenChineseandEngli.docx

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TheContrastStudyofColorWordsbetweenChineseandEngli

TheContrastStudyofColorWordsbetweenChineseandEnglish

1Introduction

Colortermsareimpersonalexistenceofnature,soitisbeyondhumanbeings’categorytolearnaboutcolors.Andcolornotonlyhassomeobjectiveattributions,italsocontainsvariousculturalconnotationsandextendingmeanings.Anditwillmakelanguageliveliertoproperlyusecolorterms.Asmancanseecolorwiththeirowneyes,itseemsthatpeoplehavethesamedescriptionofcolorwords.However,becausedifferentpeopleshavedifferentgeographicenvironments,customs,waysofthinking,religiousbeliefs,regimes,literatureandartsandwaysofliving,thereisnosurprisethatcolorsaredescribeddiverselyindifferentcountries.Theyshowtheparticularpersonalitiesofeachnation.Andlanguageisnotonlythecarrierofculture,butalsoitisanimportantpartofculture.Inotherwords,cultureincludesandinfluenceslanguage.Peoplecouldknowculturethroughlanguage.Soonlytocombineculturewithlanguagecanpeoplesuccessfullyincommunicatingwitheachother.TherearevariouscolortermsinbothChineseandEnglish,andalmostallofthemhavesimilaranddifferentassociations,indicationsandconnotationsinboththetwolanguages.Sotohaveagoodmasterofthedifferencesandsimilaritiesofthesewordsandtheirassociations,indicationsandculturalconnotationsisaprerequisiteforabetterunderstandingofthedifferentculturesofEasternandWesterncountries,whichwillmakethecommunicationbetweenEasternandWesterncountrieseasier.

Plentifulcolorrelatedcloselywithourlife.Inthelong-timedevelopmentofhuman’slanguage,colorwordsarenotonlysimplytodescribethecolorbuttoconveythepleasantimpressionanduniquecharm.

TheCloseRelationshipbetweenCultureandLanguage

Therelationshipbetweenlanguageandcultureisnotjustthatbetweenapartandawhole.Itismuchmorecomplexthanthat.Languageisthecarrierandcontainerofculture;language,asamirrorofculture,isstronglyinfluencedandshapedbyculture;languageandcultureiscloselyrelated,eachinfluencingandshapingtheother.As（1884）,anAmericanlinguistpointsoutthatalanguagecannotexistina“culturalvacuum”,norcanitexistinavacuumofpracticesandbeliefsinheritedfromthesociety.Asthecarrierofculture,everylanguagehasitsownsystemandstructure.Andeverynationhasitsownlivinghabits,thinkingway,languagepsychology,behaviorcriterion,senseofworth,andculturetradition.Therearefewcorrespondencesofsemanticsandcultureindifferentlanguage.AsNida’sDynamicEquivalencesaysthateventhebigdifferenceofformationinoriginaltextandtargettext,can’tpreventthesuccessfulobtainofthecorrectinformationofboththeoriginalreadersandtargetreaders.

Wordsisthemostactiveandpositivepartoflanguage.Wordsreflectthecarrierfunctionofculture,andreflectthevicissitudesofoursocietyandthedevelopmentofournationalculturedirectly.

ColorWordsandItsCulturalConnotationinLanguage

Imaginethatweliveinacolorlessworld;everythinginthisworldcan’tbeidentifiedbycolor.Whataterribleworlditwillbe!

Mostofthetimes,wearenotonlyusingcolorwordstodescribecertainthing,buttoexpressourhappiness,sadness,angryorother.Socolorwordscanalsobeconsideredasadjectivewords.Howeverdifferentnationhasdifferentunderstandingofthesevencolorwords,therearethousandsofunderstandingofthesecolorwordsindifferentsituation.

Colormakesourlifecolorful,itrelatescloselywithourlife.Colorwordscancreatecountlessphraseswhichrichourlanguagetoo.Differentnationusedifferentcolortocreatedifferentphrasestoshowtheirvariousfeeling.Colormakesourlanguagecolorful.

Languageisthesymbolsystemsofmorethanonekindoflevels.Inthefieldofhumanlinguistics,thevocabularyisoneofthemostdirectandconcretefactorsreflectingthewholenation’slives.Everywordrecordspeople'sunderstandingofobjectiveworld.Asagroupofspecialvocabularycolonies,thecolorwordisnoexception,directlyorindirectlybearingtheweightofvariousandcolorfulculturalconnotationofvariednationalitiesandcontainingstrongnationalculturaltraditions,sociallocalconditionsandcustoms,aestheticstemperamentandinterest.Thispaperillustratesalargenumberofexamplesandcomparativelyanalyzestheoriginalmeaningsandextendedmeaningsofthecolorwordsintwodifferentcultures.ItfetchesillustrationsandemploysthelinguisticcontexttoanalyzetheliteralmeaningandculturemeaningofthecolorwordsinbothEnglishandChineselanguages,aimingatconfirmingthesuitabletranslatingmethodandaccuratelytransmittinginformation.

2TheContrastStudyofColorWordsbetweenChineseandEnglish

TheDevelopmentandChangeoftheColors

.Fromthescientificdefinition,colorisavisualphenomenonthatcreatedbytheraylaunchingandreflectionandpenetrationoftheobject.Fromthecivilizationofthewest,theyshowaveryimpersonalattitudetowardstheobjectiveworldandtheobjectivefact.So,thesymbolizationsofthecolorwordsinwestarealwaysverydirect.Generallyspeaking,theyusethedirectcharacterofthecolortorefertheabstractculturesense.Forexample,redleadswestpeopletothinkaboutdangerousthingsandviolence.Butbloodwhosecolorisredalwaysreflectgallopandvigorousinwestculture.Oncethebloodflowgetsdown,flowerofthelifealsodiedofoldage.Then,redbecameacolortabooforitsdangerousandviolenceassociation.WhentherenownedsinologistHawkswastranslatingHongLouMeng,herealizedthatredmaypossiblycausethemodernEnglishreaderassociatewith“violence”,“bleeds”.Therefore,hechangedthetitleTheRedMansiontoTheStoryoftheStone.

SinceChinahasexperiencedseveralmillenniumsfeudalsocietiesaswellastheculturelag,andscienceandtechnologybackwards,colorgetsastrongsenseofmysterioustoChinesepeople.ThedevelopmentofcoloralsoalertsagreatinfluenceonChinesesocialculturedevelopment.Inthepre-qin,thecolorwordsarerelatedwithoutlookoftheancientpeople,andphilosophy,andlaterwithpolitical.Sotheconnotationsandreflectionsarereallyrichandthesymbolizationofcolorwordsismultivariate.Forexample,fromtheaspectofsinologist,redinChinesecultureisrootedfromsunlightbecausethecolorofsunisred.Wedependonsunlightinstinctivelyandthehappyandauspicioussenseofredarecreatedspontaneously.Ancientpeoplealsoconsideredthateverythingonearthwascreatedafterthesunrise.Weshowaverykindandfamiliaremotiontosun,sotored.Asforwhite,ourancestorwerepuninessandimpotence,sotheysticktheirchinoutindaylight,andbeenattackedbywildanimals.Daylightmeansdeath,dangeroustothem.Whitebecamelesspleasanttothem.InancientChineseculture,whiteisacolortaboothen.

“White”BetweenChineseandEnglish

Whiteisapeaceandpurecolor,soitmakespeoplefeelkindandquiet.InancientGreek,peoplebelievedthatsleepinginwhitenightgownensureanicedream.AndthepharaohinEgypt,alsobelievedthatwhitewasthemostimportantcolor;thecoloroftheircrowniswhite.TheancientperishconsideredthatTheGodwasalwaysdressinginwhite,soinmostoftheoilpaintings,divinitiesandGodwereallinwhite.

InWebster’sDictionaryofEnglishLanguage,“white”isthecolorofpuresnowormilk.“White”inwesternculturemeanspurity,innocence,cleanliness,andchastity.OnChristmasDayswhite-coloredornamentsareseeneverywhereindecoratingChristmastreesandhousesinmostwesterncountries.Onweddingdaysgirlsarewearingwhitebridal-dresses,for“white”intheirmindisthesymbolofpurityandlucky.However,mostChinesegirlsprefer“red”onthepointofchoosingcolorsowingtodifferentcustoms.

Sometimes,whiteinChineseandEnglishownsthesamemeaning.Forexample,whiteheat（白热）,thewhitepeople（白人）,whitebandit（白匪）,whitehouse（白宫）,whitecrane（白鹤）,whitefish（白鱼）,whitepoplar（白杨）,whitearea（白区）,whiteterror（白色恐怖）,theWhiteArmy（白军）andsoon.Ontheotherhand,anumberofChinesephrasescomprising“白”donotdenotecolorbuttocomposenewwords.Suchas,白班（dayshift）,白铁（galvanizediron,）白菜（Chinesecabbage）,傻瓜（idiot）,白卷（blankexaminationpaper）,白蚁（termite）,白面（wheatflour）,白熊（polarbear）,白日做梦（daydream）,白血病（leukemia）,白木耳（tremella）,白兰地（brandy）,白内障（cataract）,白士（medicalworker）,白面书生（pale-facedscholar）,白眼（dirtylookorsuperciliouslook）,白头偕老（remainadevotedcoupletotheendoftheirlives）,白字（wronglywrittenormispronouncedcharacter）etc.

InEnglish,“white”doesnotalwaysequalChineseword“白”.Take“awhitelie”forexample,hereawhitelieisnot“白色的假话”inChinesebut“善意的假话”.Anotherexample“whitenight”doesnotmean“白色的夜晚”but“不眠之夜”.Similarphrasesare,“whiterage”（大怒）,whitehoped（被寄与厚望的人或事物）,white-headedboy（宠儿）etc.

InChinese,“白”isoftenusedtoshowthemeaningof“徒劳，徒然”（invain）or“无代价”（withoutcost）.Onsuchoccasions,“白”isnolongeracolorwordbutanadverb.Weshouldpayattentiontothesetranslations,suchas白忙，白搭（allinvain,awasteoftimeandenergy）;白搭（nouse,nogood）;白送（togiveawayfreeofcharge,fornothing）;白搭心机（botherone’sheadfornothing）;赤手起家（tomildupfromnothing,startfromstarch）etc.Besides,“白”inChinesehasthemeaningofplain,unadulterated,.白开水（plainboiledwater）,白饭（ricewithnothingtogowithit）,白肉（plainboiledpork）etc.Inoneword,“白”doesnotalwaysmean“white”,thusweshouldtakenoticeofitinourtranslationpra