英汉习语差异论文.docx

英汉习语差异论文.docx

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英汉习语差异论文

CulturalDifferencesbetweenEnglishandChineseonIdiomsOrigins

[Abstract]Differentpeoplefromdifferentculturesmayhavedifferentunderstandingsofthesamesentencebecausetheyknowlittleaboutthetargetcultures.WhiletheultimateaimofEnglishteachingasaforeignlanguageistocultivatestudents'competencetoapplyEnglishcorrectly,fluently,andappropriatelyincross-culturalcommunication.However,duetolackofknowledgeofculturaldifferences,manycollegestudentsfailtoachievethispurposeduringtheactualcommunicatingactivities.ItisnecessaryforustostudytheculturaldifferencesinsomefieldsbetweenChinaandWesterncountries.Languageisthemostprincipalmeansforinter-culturalcommunication.Idioms,apartoflanguage,aretheessenceofcultureineverycountry.Usinglanguageinsuchcommunication,weoftencomeacrosssomeidiomswithdistinctiveculturalcharacteristics,soitisaveryimportantandcomplicatedthingforustounderstandandusetheseidiomscorrectly.Therefore,inthispaper,wewilldiscusstheidiomsreflectingthedifferencesofChineseandWesternculturesinvariouslevelswithmanylively,important,andinterestingexamplesofidioms.

[KeyWords]idioms;origins;culturaldifferencesbetweenEnglishandChinese

从习语来源看中英文化差异

【摘要】同一句话，不同文化背景的人的反应有时是不同的，甚至会截然相反。

究其原因，是说话双方没有真正掌握对方的文化。

大学英语教学的目的，是使学生在跨文化交流中可以正确、流利与恰当的运用英语。

而大学生在实际交流活动中，往往不能达到这一目的，这是因为他们对中两方文化差异不够了解。

因此，完全有必要对中西文化差异进行详细的研究。

语言是跨文化交际中最主要的手段。

在运用语言进行跨文化交际时,由于民族文化差异,难免会遇到具有鲜明文化特色的成语和习语,而对此确切地理解并正确地加以运用,则是一个十分重要而又复杂的问题。

习语是各国文化的精髓，反映各国的风俗习惯。

因此，本文从最能体现中西文化差异的习语着手，论述习语在文化的各个层次上所反映的中西文化差异，并采纳大量生动有趣的例子作为论据进行适当的分析。

【关键词】习语;来源;英语;汉语;文化差异

Introduction

Languageisinseparablefromculture.Foronething,languageisapartofcultureandplaysanimportantroleinit.Foranother,asamirrorofculture,languageisstronglyinfluencedandshapedbyculture;meanwhile,itreflectsculture.Idiomsincludemetaphoricalphrases,slang,colloquialism,proverbandsoon.Asanessentialpartofthelanguageandcultureofasociety,idiomsarecharacterizedbytheirconciseexpressions,richandvivid,involvinggeography,history,religiousbelief,livingconventionsandsoon.Theyareusuallyhighlyspecializedinmeaningandcloselytiedtodistinctiveculturalfeaturesandculturalattitudes.Itisbelievedthatidiomsarethemostculturallyloadedelementinanylanguage'svocabulary.Undoubtedlytheyareoftenhardtounderstandandhardertousecorrectly.EnglishandChineseidioms,closelyrelatedtotheirownculture,conveydifferentculturalfeaturesandmessagesoftheirownnation,reflectingtheirownculture.[1]P281-282ThereexistsvastdifferencebetweenEnglishandChinesecultureandthisdifferenceoccursinEnglishandChineseidioms,too.Basedonothers’research,thispaperintendstoexploreitbyfullyanalyzingthemainculturalreasonscausingidiomaticexpressionsdifferencesinbothChineseandEnglish.

1.Differentlivingcircumstance

Thatcultureisdeterminedbygeographicalenvironmentisasubjectiveviewofgeographicaldeterminism.Itcannotbedenied;however,thatnaturalenvironmentincludinggeographicalposition,climate,andecologicalconditionissomethingthatplayscontributoryroleintheformationofaculture.Peopledwellinginacertainregiontrytoadaptthemselvestothesurroundingssothatlivelihoodcanbemaintained. Asaresult,theirspecialwayofliving,thinkingandbehavingisformedasaside-productoftheirrelationshipwiththeenvironment.

1.1.Geographicalenvironment

   Britainisanislandcountry.Peoplewholivealongseacoastandwhoselivelihoodisdependentontheseawillhaveidiomsaboutwater,sailing,islandandfish.Forexample,wespeakinChinese挥金如土，butweshouldrenderitintoEnglishas"spendmoneylikewater".TherearealotofEnglishidiomsaboutship,waterandfish:

"ascloseasanoyster"（守口如瓶），"castananchortowindward"（未雨绸缪）,"atsea"（茫然），"tokeepone'sheadabovewater"（奋力图存），"totakethewindoutofsomebody'ssail"（先发制人），"towerone'ssail"（甘拜下风），"infullsail"（全力以赴），"sailunderfalsecolors"（欺世盗名），"halfseaover"（酒喝得太多）,"fishbeginstostinkatthehead"（上梁不正下梁歪），"neveroffertoteachfishtoswim"（不要班门弄斧），"dullfish"（枯燥无味的人）;"plainsailing"（一帆风顺），"totrimone'ssailtothewind"（见风使舵）,"tobeinthesameboat"（同舟共济），"toburnone'sboat"（破釜沉舟）,"abigfishinalittlepond"（山中无老虎，猴子称霸王）.[2]P110

Ontheotherhand,theHanPeopleliveonland,theybelongtoanagrariansocietythatplacesagriculturalproductionatthetopofthenationalagenda,regardingindustryandcommerceasthenon-essentials.Duringthelonghistoryoffarming,theChineselanguagehasaccumulatedlargenumbersoffarmers'idioms,like二人同心，黄土变金（Whentwopeopleareofthesamemind,evenclaymaybechangedintogold），上无片瓦，下无寸土（aspoorasachurchmouse），人不亏地，地不亏人（Themaster'sfootstepsfattenthesoil），瓜熟蒂落（Thingswillbeeasilysettledwhenconditionsareripe），瑞雪兆丰年（atimelysnowpromisesagoodharvest），五谷丰登（abundantharvestofallfoodcrops）,种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆（asamansows,soshallhereap），四体不勤，五谷不分（canneitherdophysicalworknordistinguishricefromwheat）.[3]P99

1.2.Climate

   Climateisanotherfactorinthelivingcondition.WhileBritainislocatedinwesternhemisphere,withNorthTemperateZoneandmarineclimate,so "westwind"isthesymbolofspring.ThefamousEnglishpoetShirley's"OdetoWestWind"isapraisingsongofspring. SummerinBritainisawarmandcomfortableseason,whichisusuallylinkedwith"lovely", "gentle"and "nice".Shakespearecompareslovertoasummerinoneofhispoems, "shallIcomparetheetoasummer'sday?

Thouartmorelovelyandmoretemperate."[4]（Shakespeare’sSonnet18）ThewestwindblowsfromtheAtlanticOceanaswarmandgentleasChineseeastwindandbringsvoluminousraintothisarea.SothatBritainaboundsinraincanbeprovedinsomeidiomsconcerningrain:

"tomakehaywhilethesunshines"（趁热打铁）,"rainyday"（穷困时期）,"torainorshine"（无论如何）,"toraincatsanddogs"（倾盆大雨）,"asrightasrain"（非常正确）,etc.Britainusedtobeknownasacountryoffogpartlyduetothedampnessandwarmnessoftheweatherconditionandpartlytotheairpollutionassideproductoftheindustrialrevolution.Therefore,inEnglishtherearesomeidiomaticexpressionsconcerningfog,suchas"inafog"（云里雾里），and"tohavenotthefoggiestidea"."Springuplikemushrooms"（雨后春笋）maybecomeincomprehensibletoChineselearnerifheisunawarethatthisidiomimpliestherichnessofmushroomgrowinginthewetareainBritainjustas"bamboo"inChinesespecialty,and"asplentifulasblackberries"（黑莓遍地）alsoindicatestheecologicalenvironmentinBritain,forblackberriesareeasilyavailableinEngland.

 InChineseculture,"eastwind"is"thewindofspring";springiswarmandcolorful,anditisregardedasthebeginningofalllives.TherearemanyidiomsinChina,whichrefertospring：

春暖花开（inwarmspring,alltheblossomsareinfullbloom.）,春意盎然（springisverymuchintheair）,一年之计在于春（thewholeyear’sworkconsistsinagoodstartinspring），万紫千红总是春（itisspringwhenthegayestcoloursabound）.Springhastheimageofgoodthings,soChinese“春”isusedinsomeidiomstoexpressthis:

满面春风（one’sfaceradiateshappiness）,春风化雨（thelife-givingspringbreezeandrain---salutaryinfluenceofeducation）.Summerisalwaysconnectedwithextremelyhotortheintenseheat,so赤日炎炎似火烧（theblazingsunscorcheslikefire）、骄阳似火（theburningsunislikeafire）aretermsoftenusedtodescribesummer.

 Sodifferentlivingsurroundingsmayproducedifferentidiomsanddifferentculture.

2.Differenthistoricalallusion

Differentcountriespossessdifferenthistoryculture,whichmainlycomprisesallusion,myths,poems,ancientbooksandrecords,etc.Amongthem,allusionisthemostimportant;itreflectsthenationalcharacteristic.Idiomsfromhistoryculturearethegemsofhumanculturalheritage.Itisworthwhileforustolearnthemwell.Therearelotsofidiomscomingfromthehistoricalallusion.Thestructuresoftheseidiomsareverysimplebuttheyhaveprofoundmeaning,sowecannottranslateandunderstandtheseidiomsfromtheliteralmeaning.ThedifferenthistoricalbackgroundsoftheEnglishandChinesepeoplehavetheirdifferentlegendsandanecdotesabouthistoricalfigureswhichhaveprovidedrichandvariedmaterialsfortheiridioms,andconsequentlygiveanationalcolortotheidiomsinthetwolanguages.ItisnecessaryforustolearnandunderstandtheEnglishallusionaswellastheChineseallusion.Itcanenlargeourscopeofknowledge,widenourfieldofvisionanditisusefultolearnabouttheoriginanddevelopmentofEnglishandChineselanguageandliterature.

2.1.Historicalevents

Inmost,ifnotall,languages,peopleembellishtheirspeechorwritingwithreferencestocharactersoreventsfromtheirhistory,thatistosay,idiomaticexpressionsarecloselyrelatedtoacountry'shistory.Taketheaspectoflanguageforexample:

therearealotofidiomsintheChineselanguagewhichcannotfindanequivalentintheEnglishlanguagebecausethehistoryofthetwocountriesarequitedifferent.ManyChineseidiomsarefromtheirownhistoricaleventswhicharewell-knownbyChinesepeople.Forinstance,thefollowingidiomsarefromhistoricaleventsinAncientChina:

风声鹤唳,草木皆兵（beinanextremelynervousstateinwhichoneisfrightenedbytheslightestsound）isfromthedefeatofFuJian’s（苻坚）armyatFeishuiRiverduringtheEastJinDynasty;卧薪尝胆（tosleeponbrushwoodandtastegall---toundergoself-imposedhardshipssoastostrengthenone'sresolvetowipeoutanationalhumiliation）comesfromTheHistoricalRecords•Yue’sStateEmperorGouJian’sNobleFamily（《史记·越王勾践