英语论文theinfluenceofcultureonidiomsinenglishlanguage.docx

英语论文theinfluenceofcultureonidiomsinenglishlanguage.docx

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英语论文theinfluenceofcultureonidiomsinenglishlanguage

英语论文the_influence_of_culture_on_idioms_in_english_language

英语论文the_influence_of_culture_on_idioms_in_english_languageIntroductionEnglishidiomsareconsideredasthemostactivepartofEnglishlanguage,andtheyarewidelyusedinpeople’sdailylife,newspaper,magazine,broadcastingandTVmedia.Itisquitedifficulttogiveacleardefinitiontotheword“idiom”,foritpossessesseveralmeanings,whichmightcauseconfusion.Itmaymeanthelanguageofapeopleoracountry,oradialect,oralinguisticusagethatdefiesgrammaticalanalysis.Butthemostsuitabledefinitionforthispaperisasfollows.“Idiomisanexpressionestablishedinthelongusageofalanguagethatispeculiartoitselfeitheringrammaticalconstructionorinhavingameaningthatcannotbederivedasawholefromtheconjoinedmeaningsofitselements.”Englishidioms,inabroadsense,includeidiomaticphrase,proverbs,colloquialismsandslangs.Incomparison,theChineseequivalentfor“idiom”is“习语”.Itmeansakindofsetphraseorsentence,which,likeastockexpression,isoftenquotedbythecommonpeople.Chineseidiomscanberoughlydividedinto“setphrases”（成语）,“commonsayings”（俗语）,“proverbs”（谚语）,“atwo-partallegoricalsaying”（歇后语）,and“vulgarexpression”（粗俗语）Fromtheabovedefinitionsandclassificationswecanextractthreebasiccharacteristicsofidioms.

（1）Anidiomisaspecialformoflanguage.Anidiommustbewellestablishedandacceptedthroughcommonpractice.Itstandsasawhole.Sonoelementinanidiomcanbechanged.Inmanycases,idiomsholdimpliedmeanings,andcannotbeinterpretedjustaccordingtotheirliteralmeanings.

（2）Anidiomisthecrystallizationoflanguage.Languagegivesbirthtoidioms.Italsopolishesidioms.Refinedbylongusageidiomshavebeendescribedasthecoreoflanguage.（3）Anidiomistherepresentativeofalanguage.ThoughbothBritishandChinesepeopleuseidiomsandgivethealmostsamedefinitionofidioms,wecannotequalthetwoidioms,fortheirrangesaredifferent.Asanimportantmeansofspreading,retaininglanguageandculture,idiomscontainrichculturalfactorsthemselves.Fromthispointofview,itistotallywrongtostudylanguagebyisolatingidiomsfromthewholeculturalbackgroundofonelanguage.WecansavemanydifficultiesbymasteringEnglishidiomsandlearnthemwell.Chapter1TheRelationshipBetweenIdiomsandCultureIdiomaticexpressionsareevendifficultfornativeEnglishspeakersbecausetheirmeaningscannotbedeterminedthroughananalysisoftheirindividualwords.Forinstance,“tofallout”means“toquarrel”,butneither“fall”nor“out”hasasenseofquarrel.ForweChinesestudents,Englishidiomsareastumblingblock.Itisverypossiblethattheyoftennotonlyfeelatalossinunderstandingconversationsbecauseofakeyidiombutalsomisusedidioms.Inthispaper,IamgoingtomakeabriefstudyoftherelationshipbetweenidiomsandcultureandthrowsomelightonthelearningofEnglishidioms.Asweallknow,languageiscloselyrelatedtocultureandcanbesaidasapartofculture.Fromadynamicview,languageandcultureinteractwitheachotherandshapeeachother.Languageisthecarrierofculture,whichinturnisthecontentoflanguage.Wecandigoutculturalfeaturesfromlanguageandexplainlanguagephenomenawithculture.1.1.Idioms,LanguageandtheLanguageLearnerEnglishidiomisanimportantpartofEnglishlanguagethatischaracterizedbyitsprofoundmeaningandspecialbackground.Asitpossessesauniquewayofexpression,thosewholearnEnglishasaforeignlanguagefinditdifficulttogetagoodunderstanding.Therefore,eventothoselearnerswhospendalotoftimeinrememberingEnglishvocabulariesandlearninggrammar,understandingtheconversationsorarticlesfromnativeEnglishusersstillappearstobeaverydifficultjob.Forexample,insomesituations,itappearsthatwhenthesephrasesareseparated,eachsinglewordisunderstandable.However,whenthesewordsarecombinedintoasentenceincertainorders,itturnsouttohavesomespecialmeaningswhichcauseconfusionstothoseEnglishlearners.Idiomsaretypicalsamplesofthisgeneralphenomenon.Languageuseisnotonlyamatterofapplyinggenerativerules.Manyofthethingswesayareformulaic–fixedorsemi-fixedexpressionswhichareconventionallyassociatedwithrecurrentsituationsandmeanings,andwhichmaybemoreorlessidiomatic.Andidiomsandidiomlikeconstructionsareanimportantpartoflanguageuse.Infact,theymakeupalargepartofourknowledgeoflanguageandareapersistentfeatureoflanguage.Asfarasaforeignlanguagelearnerisconcerned,idiomsareinmanywayscrucialifheorshewantstoimprovehisorherEnglishfluentlylikeanativespeaker.AccordingtoGibbs（1995）,onecannotberegardedascompetentspeakerofaforeignlanguageuntilheorshemastersthevariousidiomaticexpressionsthatever-presentineverydailydialogue.Fillmore（1979）maintainsthatmasteryofidiomscontributestoasortoflinguisticcompetencewhichmakesforfluentperformancecharacteristicoftheablenativespeaker.Viceversa,Thiel（1979,quotedinLattey1986）alsopointsoutthat,“lackofpreciseidiomaticusagewillbetraytheforeignbackgroundevenofaspeakerwithanexcellentgrammaticalknowledge,vocabulary,andpunctuation.Andjustassurelycommandofidiomswillgenerateconfidenceandrespect”（seealsoyorio1980,1989）.1.2.IdiomsandCultureAshasbeennoted,Englishidiomisanimportantpartofalanguage.Therefore,therelationshipbetweenidiomandcultureisjustliketherelationshipbetweenlanguageandculture.Firstofall,languageisapartofculture,butnotthefullcontentofculture,sincematerialcultureismanifestedbyman’sproductions.Furthermore,languagemirrorsculture.Themostimportantfunctionoflanguageistoreflectproductionsmadebyhumankind,people’soutlookonlifeandthedevelopmentofacommunity.Lastbutnotleast,languageisinfluencedandshapedbyculture.Thedevelopmentofculturepromotesthecreationofnewwordsandexpressionsinalanguage.Besides,everyaspectofcultureaffectslanguagedirectly.Owingtothiskindofcloserelationship,languageisdescribedasthecarrierofcultureandthemirrorofculturalcharacteristics.Therefore,idioms----therefinedpartoflanguage,areinfluenceddeeplybyculture.Theyareculturallycharacterized.Asiswellknown,differentnationspossessdifferentcultures.Asaresult,idiomsofdifferentnationsmustbeaffectedbytheirpeculiarcultures.Idiomsaretheresultofasocialactivity.Theyaremirrorsthatreflectthehistoricalandculturalbackgroundaswellastheattitudetothelifeofpeople.TheformationofEnglishidioms,toacertainextent,isinfluencedbysuchculturalfactorsasgeographicalconditions,historicalenvelopments,customs,religiousbeliefs,andliteratureoftheBritishnation.Theyaretheheritageofhistoryandproductofculturalevolvement.Consequently,wecanknowmuchaboutculturethroughstudyingidiomsandinturngetbetterunderstandingofidiomsbylearningtheculturalbackgroundbehindthem.Therefore,idiomsarecloselyrelatedtocultureandlearningidiomscanprovidestheleaneragrossviewofthecultureandstudyingcultures,helpsustograspthemarrowofthelanguagesaswellasthetranslationbetweenEnglishandChinese.Chapter2TheEffectsofEnglishCultureonIdiomsAsweallknow,languageiscloselyrelatedtocultureandcanbesaidasapartofculture.Fromadynamicview,languageandcultureinteractwitheachotherandshapeeachother.Languageisthecarrierofculturewhichinturnisthecontentoflanguage.Wecandigoutculturalfeaturesfromlanguageandexplainlanguagephenomenawithculture.Idiomsasaspecialformoflanguageexistinbothofthemandcarryalargeamountofculturalinformationsuchasgeographicalconditions,historicalenvelopments,customs,religiousbeliefs,andliteratureoftheBritishnation,andetc,thereforetheyarealsotheheritageofculture.2.1TheGeographicalFactorGeographicalenvironmentplaysanimportantroleinshapingonecountry’scultureandhumanbeingshavenochoicesandopacitiestochangethegeography.Asaresult,idiomsbasedongeographicalfeaturesappeardifferent.Britainisanislandcountry,whichdoesnotsharelandborderwithanyothercountriesexcepttheRepublicofIreland.Itissurroundedbythesea.ItliesintheNorthAtlanticOceanoffthenorthcoastofEurope.ItisseparatedfromtherestofEuropebytheEnglishChannelinthesouthandtheNorthSeaintheeast.Britaincoversanareaof244,100squarekm.Itruns1,000kmfromnorthtosouthandextends,atthewidestpartabout500kilometers.SonopartofBritainisveryfarfromthecoastanditprovidesavaluableresource.TheBritishcoastislongandhasgood,deepharbors.Furthermore,RiversinBritaindonotfreezeinwinter.Theyplayaveryimportantroleinthecountry’seconomy.ThegreatportsofLondon,LiverpoolandGlasgowareallconnectedtotheseabyrivers.AlltheseconditionsmaketheoceanshippingofBritainsoflourishing.Inhistory,itsnavigationindustryhaseverbeenthefirstoneforalongtime.So,therearealotofEnglishidioms,whichisrelatedtonavigation.Forexample,thephrase“gobytheboard”meansthatsomebodyorsomethingfallfromsheepanddisappearinthesea.Itimpliesthatsomeoneisneglected.What’smore,Britishpeoplealsohaveaspecialpassionforwater.Forinstance,toshowsomebodybeingextravagantinEnglishtheidiomis“spentmoneylikewater”.Taketheotherinstance,peopleoftenregardthemsel