Cultural Differences Reflected in English and Chinese Idioms.docx

1、Cultural Differences Reflected in English and Chinese IdiomsCultural Differences Reflected in English and Chinese Idiomsabstract：idioms can reflect a nation just like a mirror. as a special form of language, idioms carry a large amount of cultural information such as history, geography, religion, cu

2、stom, nationality, psychology, etc., and therefore idioms are closely related to culture. thus people can know much about culture by studying idioms and in turn get better understanding of idioms by learning the cultural background behind idioms. in order to communicate with each other fluently, the

3、 study of the relationship between the idiom and culture is significant and urgent. this paper analyzes the main causes of cultural differences in english and chinese idioms and illustrates the manifestations of cultural differences. the aim of this thesis is to enhance language learners intercultur

4、al awareness of comprehending and utilizing idioms from different cultures precisely and accurately.key words: idioms; origin; cultural; differencesi. introductionidioms can be considered as items of special collocation.famous linguist carter describes idioms as “restricted collocation which cannot

5、normally be understood from the literal meaning of the words which make them up”. furthermore, longman dictionary of contemporary english defines idioms as “a fixed group of words with special meaning which is different from the meanings of the individual words”. despite their differences, there is

6、one thing in common: a great number of idioms have a figurative sense that cannot be derived from the understanding of component parts. unlike literal language, it is impossible to explain the idiom from the literal meaning of the separate words. it is an established form that has been accepted by t

7、raditional usage. as such, the component words, word order and meaning of each idiom should be learned as a whole.ii. the history and the origins of idiomsi. from customsone nations custom is formed through a long history and firmly rooted in peoples mind. it plays an important source of idioms. in

8、different countries customs drastically differ in various aspects, so a lot of idioms turn out with different features.take food habits for example, cake has been a common food in english, so it is understandable that they use “a piece of cake” denoting an easy-done task. however, in china, cake can

9、not be seen until the last one hundred years, so it is impossible for the same idiom to appear in chinese. on the other hand, dishes are very common in china, therefore a similar idiom “小菜一碟” turned out in chinese to express the same meaning.another example is related to the habitual way of working

10、in the field. chinese people were habituated to use the bull to plough the field before modernized agriculture was developed, while english people use a horse to plough. consequently chinese say “力大如牛” to describe someone with great strength while english use “as strong as a horse” to describe it.ii

11、. from historic affairsthere are lots of idioms coming from historic affairs. the structure of them is very simple but they have profound meaning, so people cannot translate and understand the idioms from the literal meaning. it is necessary for people to learn and understand the english allusion as

12、 well as the chinese one. here are some examples as follows:in 49 b.c. the roman emperor caesar sent the order of burning out all his boats after his army passed lupigen river, showing the determination to take an all-out war. that is the origin of the english idiom burns ones boat. incidentally, in

13、 208 b.c. general xiangyu (项羽) in china sent the similar order to smash all the boats after the army passed river zhang in attempt to show his determination of winning the war, which produce the chinese idiom “破釜沉舟”. the two idioms are almost the same in form and meaning. another example is “meet on

14、es waterloo”. waterloo is a place where napoleon was ultimately beaten by wellington and blucher in 1815. the idiom means: be finally and crushingly defeated in a contest, especially after a period of success.iii. from religionreligion exists in every country and affects much in peoples belief and l

15、ives. numerous idioms were generated from the fountain of religion. therefore some differences in idioms between chinese and english can be traced back to the origin of religion.buddhism has been transmitted to china for more than one thousand years. people believe that there is a “buddha” who can d

16、ominate the world and decide everybodys destiny. for example, the idiom “道高一尺, 魔高一丈” is originally the warning in buddhism to warn buddhist disciples, and remind them of the hard prospect to overcome all difficulties. now it is used to tell there is always at least one power stronger than the other.

17、in western countries，especially in britain，people believe in christianity. they think that god is omnipotent and sacred just like the buddhism in china. for example, the idiom “judass kiss” means a deceitful act of courtesy. (judas betrayed his master with a kiss.). cultural differences between engl

18、ish and chinese idiomsboth china and britain have a long history, which fertilized their wonderful cultures. the common experience and mutual interaction in various aspects through long-time communication between the two countries lead a lot of common points in culture. for example, the chinese idio

19、m “以眼还眼, 以牙还牙”was borrowed from the english idiom, while the english idioms “to lose ones face” and “to save ones face” are borrowed from the chinese ones.although chinese culture and english culture have much in common as showed above, they have more in discrepancy owing to their different geograph

20、ical environment, history, religion, etc. the difference is a common phenomenon which appears in varied forms, one of which is idiom. the following part would analyze three cultural differences between english and chinese idioms.i. idioms based on geographical features appear differentgeographical c

21、ondition plays an important role in shaping one countrys culture and human beings have no choices and capacities to change the geography. thus idioms based on geographical features appear different.britain is an island country，which once led the world with its navigationso lots of english idioms hav

22、e something to do with navigation and fishingwhile the chinese live on asian continent, and their lives can not go on without landsuch idioms as “spend money like water” in english means splashing money on something, whereas in chinese it is translated as “挥金如土”.so, different living surroundings may

23、 produce different idioms. if people want to master this kind of idioms, they must have aquatinted with the background information of other countries to get a better understanding in cross-cultural communication. as to religious viewpoint, chinese culture evolves from confucian and taoist school whi

24、le the western culture believes in christianitythe majorities of the english people believe in christianity and regard the bible as one of the most important classical works in their life. many idioms are originated from it, such as the idiom “to make ones hair stand on end”, it use to describe thri

25、lling horror caused by something. another example “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” indicates revenge in the same way. besides, the idiom “as poor as a church mouse” also is somewhat influenced by religion. in christian church, there is no devoted food, which is different in chinese temples.

26、so, this idiom is used to indicate people whose condition is like the mice in the church, can be said as poor.being different from britain, chinese culture evolved from confucian school and taoist school. although buddhist culture is originated from other country, it has been absorbed in chinese cul

27、ture. in language, a large number of chinese idioms can be traced back to buddhist school. for example, “一尘不染” is a buddhist term. buddhist school calls sex, sound, smell, flavor, touch and rule as “六尘” and buddhist disciples should not be affected by the above six. now this idiom evolved to describ

28、e a person who is pure and honest or a thing which is clean and in order. idioms involving value differ from the eastern and western countriesseeing from peoples working and living experience of one country, people can find that different value conception has been formed. because of different experi

29、ence between countries, values also turn out to be totally different. idioms related to value also differ from each other greatly.for instance, modesty is valued in chinese culture .there are many chinese idioms showing the virtue to be modest, such as“满招损, 谦受益”, “虚心使人进步, 骄傲使人落后” , etc. however, peo

30、ple in britain usually emphasize individual behaviors, achievement and value. their value conception in this aspect appears opposite to chinese. they have idioms showing the uselessness to be modest such as “modest dogs miss much meat”, “where there is fear there is modesty”, etc. conclusionidioms a

31、re frequently used by people. for one thing, idioms are full of wit and humor; they make speech more expressive and interesting. for other, they sound pleasant with the use of alliteration, repetition and rhythm.as idioms take an important position in the use of language, an adequate use of idioms i

32、s not only helpful but essential in cross-cultural communication. with special point of view and through the sharp contrast between english and chinese idioms，this paper tries its best to focus on the role to explore cultural differences between english and chinese idioms so as to find out a correct

33、 new way to understand the western culture.today, the type of figurative language is highly used in western countries. it is necessary for us to have such knowledge of how to comprehend. the ability to understand idioms is important to successful communication. failure to grasp the meanings of idioms can a