中西方数字的文化差异毕业论文Word文件下载.docx

中西方数字的文化差异毕业论文Word文件下载.docx

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禁忌文化；

差异

【指导老师】余烈全

【专业】英语

【正文】

I.Introduction 

Cultureconsistsofmaterialcivilizationandspiritcivilizationofthewholesociety.Chinesescholars,suchasHuWenzhongandJiaYuxin,havedefinedcultureintotwosenses.Inabroadsense,culturereferstoallthematerialandspiritualproductscreatedbyman.Inanarrowsense,itrefersonlytospiritualproductsincludinglanguage,literature,fineartsandsoon.1Differentpeopledefine 

“culture”fromdifferentangles.Infact,therearemorethantwohundredandfiftydefinitions.Whathasbeentermedtheclassicdefinitionofculturewasprovidedbythe19thcenturyEnglishanthropologistEdwardBurnettTylerdeclaredthatCultureisacomplexwhole,whichincludedknowledge,belief,art,morals,law,customs,andothercapabilitiesandhabitsacquiredbymanasamemberofCulturaldifferencesreflectthatpeopleindifferentenvironmentspossessdifferencesofmanyaspects,suchaslanguage,knowledge,andreligiousfaiths.Differencesinculture,especiallybetweenChinaandEnglishspeakingcountries,mayleadtovariousunderstandingandexplanationonthesamethingorconception,eventoreducemisunderstandingeachother.

Numberisacombinationofconceptandmark,whichisaconclusionthathumankindobserveobjectworldandunderstandmaterialworld.3Numberisusedtomeanthequantityortoassigntheplaceofaseriesbyorderofnumber.4However,aspecialnumericalcultureexistsindifferentlanguagebackgroundsandnationalcultures.Numbersclearlyreflectthepsychologicalbases,traditionsandcharacteristicsofculturebecauseoftheimpactofculturaldifferences,suchasnationalpsychology,religiousbelief,languageworshipandaestheticnotion.Numbershavevariousmysterioustaboo,luckyandsymbolicmeaning,andtheyshowculturalcharacteristicsofnations,eventheirownnumeralculture.Meanwhilesuchnumeralcultureunavoidablyinfluencepeople’spsychologyandbehaviors.Number,asonekindofimportantculturelanguage,isusedfrequentlyasthoughtandintercoursetool.Hence,thisarticleistodiscusthecausesofculturaldifferencesofnumbersbyanalyzingonsomerepresentativenumbersinbothChineseandEnglish,toknowthedifferencesinordertorespecteachothermutually,reducemisunderstandinganddobettercross-culturalcommunication.

Ⅱ.TheCausesofCulturalDifferencesofNumbers

A.SymbolicMeaningBroughtbyHomophonyandPartialMeaningofNumbers

Homophonyreferstotwoormorewordswiththesameformbutwithdifferentmeaning.InChineselanguage,therearealargenumberofhomonyms.Homonymsarewordswithdifferentmeaningbuteitheridenticalbothinsoundandspellingoridenticalonlyinspellingorsound.5Sohomophonyisnotonlyalinguisticphenomenonbutalsoaculturalphenomenon.Itisconnectedwiththeculture,nationalmentalityandaestheticcustoms.Amongthehomonymousphenomena,numbersaretypical.ItisthecasethatEnglishandChinesepeopleliveinanabsolutelydifferentnaturalenvironmentandsocialculturalorigins,Chinesepeoplehavestrongpsychologyofsymmetry,doubleness,associationandanalogy,pursuinggoodnessandavoidingbadness.Itisnaturalthatpeoplearefullyawareofusageofhomophony.Comparedwithotherlanguagesallovertheworld,Chineselanguagehasagreatnumberofculturesofhomophonyandpartialmeaning.Forexample,thenumber8（八,ba）soundslike 

发（fa）inChinese,then8becomesa 

popularnumbernowadays.Peoplehopethatallthesubstancetheyownedcanberelatedtonumber8,suchasphonenumber,housenumber,licensenumberandsoon.Onemoreexample,thenumber5,issimilarto 

吾（I）;

ofcourse,number58means 

吾发（makingfortune）,thenumber9,（久,long-lasting）meanspermanent,whichisstillapopularnumber.Thereasonwhythosenumbersbecomeluckynumberisthattheirpronunciationissimilartocommendatorywords. 

Atthesametime,afewnumbersareconsideredastaboonumbersbecauseofbadhomophony.Especiallythenumber4（four,四,si）.Itisavoidedbecauseitsoundslike 

“die”（死,si）anditisthemostworstnumberinthepublicminds.Asaresult,somepeoplegosofarastocallthefourthfloorofabuilding3Abecausethepronunciationofthe 

“fourthfloor”（四楼,silou）isidenticalwith 

死楼.Asamateroffact,afewofnationsinwesterncountriesshowgreatrespectfornumber4,whichstandsforfair,justiceandpower.

Incontrast,thenumber 

“eight” 

（8）isanordinaryandluckynumberinbothEnglishandChinesecultures,notitshomophonybutitsstructure.Itgivesusameaningimagination.Peopleconsiderthatthenumber8iscombinedbydouble0（zero）,whichisnotonlyasignofspecialmeaning,butalsoastableandharmonioussign.

B.TheCloseAssociationwithMythologyandReligion

Mythologyisabodyofmyth,especiallythoserelatingtoapeople’sgodsandheroesandtotheiroriginsorthoseconnectedwithcertainsubject.6MythsconnectwithnumbersinbothChineseandEnglishcultures.Itcanbeseemthatmythologyoffersculturaloriginsofanation.Mythologystronglyinfluencesculturaldevelopmentandculturalconnotationsofnumbers.InChineseculture,theconnotationsofnumbershavecloseconnectionwithChineseancientmyths.Chinesegodsareoftendescribedastheembodimentofsupremereignfarfromhumanbeings,orthesymbolsofall-rounderandvirtues.Inopposite,WesternMythology,originatingfromGreekmythology,godshavesimilarcharactersofhumanbeings.Theyfilledwithfeelings,love,angerandhatred.Greatculturaldiversitiesexistinancientmythicalconnotationinchinaandwesterncountries,whichreflectSino–westernnation’sprofounddiversitiesoncharacteranddecidethetrendofdevelopmentoftwoculturalsystemscompletely.ThosediversitiesstillreflectinaspectsofCultureofNumber.

InSino-westerncultures,thenumber7possessesmysteriouscolors.Christianitycultureisonemainstreamofwesternculture,inwhichfigure7wasamysteriousbutpowernumberatthebeginning,saystheBible,godspentsixdaysincreatingtheheavenandearthevenhumanbeing.Untilthe7thday,Godhadtorest.Therefore,thedaywascalledSabbath.

Similarly,inChineseancientmythologyandbooks,alargenumberofaspectsrefertonumberseven.July（qiyue,七月） 

wasusedtoexpressacircle,says 

theYi-jing 

（BookofChange,易经）,aancientbook.DatingfromtheQindynasty,someancientbooksrecordedthatJulyalwaysmeantlimitofmanygreatevents,suchas七日不火食。

Fromtheangleofculturalhistory,religionsareoftenconsideredtobethescoresourceofaculture.Thereonceappearedatimewhenreligionsculturesweredominantinvisibly.Duetodifferentsymbolicmeanings,differentnationshavecompletelydifferentassociationonnumber13or 

十三.TotheEnglishandmostofthewesterners,theybelieveinChristianity,whichisbyfarthelargestreligionintheworldintermsofthenumberofitsTheculturalconnotationsofnumbersareshapedbythisreligion.Inregardtothenumber 

“thirteen”inEnglishlanguage,itisthemostominousnumberandtheevilsymbolinEnglishculture,whichsourceisChristianity.ItissaidthatJesuswashandcuffedandlaternailedtodieonthecrossbecauseofthebetrayalofJudas.Inotherwords,Judas,Jesus’disciple,betrayedhimforthesakeofthirtypiecesofsilver.Consequently,Judasbecomesasynonymoftraitor.InEnglishidioms,adevil′sdozen,expresses 

十三.Beingawareoftremendouspowerofmythologyandreligion,theEnglishandmostofwesternersabstainfrom13likeavoidingplague.

Incontrast,inChineseculture,thenumber13isconsideredtobealuckynumberbecauseofdifferentaestheticstandards.Forinstance,Confucianclassics,whichhascontrolledChinesethoughtculturefornearlytwothousandyear,iscalledThirteenClassicsofConfucianism.Similarly,imperialmausoleumofMingdynastyisnamedMingTombs（十三陵）,whichisafamoustouristdestinationnowadays.

C.TheMeaningVariationinSocialCustoms

Withtherapiddevelopmentofsociety,notonlyEnglish,butalsoChinese,partialmeaningofwordsseemtochange.Particularly,thedevelopmentofapartofnumericalwordsisconnectedwiththatofsocialculture.Semanticmeaningsofnumericalwordsaresoobscurethatthenumbersalreadyhavefabricatedtogreatextent.Oneexample,fourhundredmeansfamous,fashionableupperclassesinadistrict.Sothefigure,fourhundredbecameasynonymofpeoplefromhighsociety.Fourhundredguestsattendedadancingparty,whichwasheldbyMrs.WilliamAstorin1892.Toillustratethispointfurther,let’stakemorewordsforexamples.Fieit,inAmericanidiom,expressesthemeaningofrefusinganswerquestions.Init,themeaningoffireoriginatedfromthefifthamendmentoftheconstitutionoftheUSA.Theamendmentstipulatesthatanyonecannotbeforcedtoadmitone’sguiltincriminalcase.Thefifthcolumnreferstospiesorenemyagentswhoweresentbyenemies,originatingfrompeoplewhopantedthecitywhenSpanisharmiesattackedMadrid,capitalofSpain.Thereareotherexamplesasfollows:

Firedollarwords（复杂的字眼）；

catch22（第二十二条军规）;

Americanidiom 

“twentythree”（滚开）;

twenty/twenty（眼力正常的）。

Similarly,inchina,thesmallerthelicensenumberisthehighertheofficialtitleofcarowneris.Whatcausedthephenomenon?

Thereasonisthatsocialandhistoricalreasonscauseddissimilationforlicensenumber.Anothercaseinpoint 

.peopleusuallyusethesephrases,suchas 

略知一二，说不出个一二三来,inwhich 

一二，一二三areusedtoinsteadof 

objectiveconditionsorreasons.What′smore,weuse250（二百五inChinese）torefertothosewhoaresomewhatfoolishorstupidasin 

你别二百五了。

Inancienttime, 

一吊钱一半之一半des