On Culture Differences between English and Chinese Proverbs.doc

论英汉谚语的文化差异on culture differences between english and chinese proverbscontentsabstract.1key words.1i. introduction.2ii. proverbs and culture.2 1. definition of proverb .2 2. characteristics of proverbs.3 1) folksiness.3 2) instructiveness. 4 3) artistry.5 4) persuasive.6 3. culture. 6 1) definition of culture.6 2) characteristics of culture. 7 4. proverbs and culture.14iii. cultural differences between chinese and english proverbs.15 1. environment differences.15 2. custom differences.16 3. difference in the meaning of color words.16 4. religion differences.17 5. differences of historic allusions.18iv. conclusion.18references.18on culture differences between english and chinese proverbson culture differences between english and chinese proverbsabstract: proverbs are rich in language, and reflect our daily life and laboring experience, at the same time, they also reflect different cultures in different languages. culture is another important element of a country; we may make misunderstanding the meaning of foreign proverbs without mastering culture knowledge of target languages. proverbs are popular sayings which contain advice or state a generally accepted truth. because most proverbs have their origins in oral tradition, they are generally worded in such a way as to be remembered easily and tend to change little from generation to generation, so much so that sometimes their specific meaning is no longer relevant. therefore, this thesis focuses on the culture differences between english and chinese proverbs. keywords: proverb；culture difference；relationship 摘 要：语言中有很丰富的谚语，反映了我们的日常生活和劳动的经验，与此同时，它们也反映了不同语言的不同文化。文化是一个国家另一个重要元素，如果我们没有掌握有目标语言的文化知识，可能会误解外国谚语的意思。谚语就是俗语，它给人们提建议或者陈述一个普遍接受的真理。因为绝大部分谚语都有它们自己的口头来源，而且一般都是以一种能让人容易记住，代代相传但是不会发生变化的方式创造出来的。因为如此，以至于有时候与它们本身所具有的具体而特别的意义无关。因此，本文主要阐述英汉谚语的文化差异。关键词：谚语；文化差异；关系 i. introductionculture includes all treasures which are created by human, language is one of the distinguished creations, and language is a part of culture, without material culture and psychology culture, there is no possibility to produce language, and culture reflected in the material culture and psychology culture and development of language, and language changing and developing. any country or nation has their own unique traditional culture including values, modes of thinking, moral rules, customs, life style, etc, which form the differences between different nations on culture. english and chinese are two different languages which reflecting different culture, proverbs is a unit of language, a kind of phraseology. proverbs are popular sayings which contain advice or state a generally accepted truth. because most proverbs have their origins in oral tradition, they are generally worded in such a way as to be remembered easily and tend to change little from generation to generation, so much so that sometimes their specific meaning is no longer relevant. for instance, the proverb “penny wise, pound foolish” is a holdover from when america was a british colony and used the pound as currency. proverbs function as “folk wisdom,” general advice about how to act and live. and because they are folk wisdom, they are often strongly reflects the cultural values and physical environment from which they arise. proverbs are used to support arguments, to provide lessons and instruction, and to stress shared values. language is the carrier of culture and culture is the soil of language. therefore, english and chinese proverbs have the differences of culture.proverbs are the mirror and the intellectual essence of a nation. both chinese and english proverbs have a long evolutionary history. the study of english and chinese proverbs is aimed at analyzing their common features and their peculiarities (such as their national characteristics) and through contrast revealing their cultural and connotative differences and factors hindering the comprehension of proverbs, so as to facilitate teaching english and chinese languages and intercultural communication.ii. proverbs and culture1. definition of proverbbefore we begin to discuss how to translate proverbs, we have to know what a proverb is first, which would be of great help for our understanding of translating them.the word proverb is translated as “谚语，格言，俗语”. proverb is defined “a short pithy saying in general use, stating a general truth or piece of advice. according to longman modern english dictionary, the definition of a proverb is “a brief familiar maxim of folk wisdom, usually compressed in form, often involving a bold image and frequently a jingle that catches the memory.”proverbs are popular sayings which contain advice or state a generally accepted truth. because most proverbs have their origins in oral tradition, they are generally worded in such a way as to be remembered easily and tend to change little from generation to generation, so much so that sometimes their specific meaning is no longer relevant.an english patron named robert south defined proverb in his book sermons like this: what a proverb, but the experience and observation of several ages, gathered and summed up in one expression.although the definitions above have some deviations to a certain extent, the general ideas are familiar. this article would give a proverb definition of “short succinct saying that briefly summarized from humans sense and experience to show a general truth or to give advice. for example:“its never too late to learn.”(活到老学到老)；“dont put off till tomorrow what should be done today.”（今日事今日毕）2characteristics of proverbsalthough english and chinese proverbs have many differences, there are still have some common features exist between them.all kinds of culture have familiar or the same aspect which would be reflected in languages. the english and chinese peoples both have long history and rich and various culture, and plentiful proverbs. after comparing, we can find out some common characters such as folksiness, instructiveness and artistry, and individualities such as nationality, native ness and cultural specialty as well between them.1) folksinessproverbs are passed down through time with little change in form. and they are come from peoples experiences of everyday life. they are short sayings that are spread by the people orally and well reflect the customs, habits and experience of humans. for example:a close mouth catches no flies. 病从口入。good medicine for health tastes bitter to the mouth. 良药苦口利于病。 as you sow, so will you reap. 种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆。constant dipping wears away a stone. 水滴石穿，绳锯木断。 many hands make light work. 众人拾柴火焰高。pour water into a sieve. 竹篮打水一场空。it takes three generations to make a generation. 十年树木，百年树人。no good building without a good foundation. 楼房要好，地基要牢。it is easy to see that, these proverbs are from doctors, peasants, farmers, blacksmiths, gardeners, architects and so on. they see and do for themselves, and then get the experience. these proverbs are widely spread from people to people and have steady folksiness.2) instructivenessproverbs are often used metaphorically and it is in understanding theirmetaphorical nature that we can unravel their meaning. while “a stitch in time saves nine,” “dont count your chickens before theyve hatched,” and “dont throw the baby out with the bathwater” are common proverbs, few of us stitch clothes, count chickens, or throw out bathwater. according to the definition, we see that one use of proverbs is to give advice. comparing english proverbs and chinese ones, we also find they have many common characters at ideology, instruction or even education.many proverbs, both english and chinese, have reflected the truth, praising the virtue, lashing evils and encouraging practice and diligence. the chinese have “实践出真知，斗争长才干”(truth), “勤能补拙”(virtue)，“有志者事竟成”(encouragement)。the english have “idleness is the mother of all evil” (truth), “no pains, no gains.”, “if you venture nothing, you will have nothing” (encouragement), “keep something for a rainy day”（未雨绸缪），etc.unity of opposites is a basic rule of the universe. many proverbs give this kind of rule such as “智者千虑必有一失”, “水能载舟亦能覆舟” in chinese, and “every cloud has a silver lining”, “every extremity is a fault”, “he who receives a gift sells his liberty” in english.modesty and studiousness is the base of continuous progress and success, and is also a kind of virtue respected by both chinese and englishmen. the chinese have “谦虚使人进步，骄傲使人落后”, “三人行，必有我师”, “不耻下问”, “少壮不努力，老大徒伤悲”while the english have “the sea refuses no river.(海纳百川)”, “an idle youth, a needy age(少年懒惰，老年寒酸)”, and “gentility without ability is worse than plain beggary”, etc.cooperation is another virtue of both of the peoples, which is also reflected in proverbs. for example, “一个篱笆三个桩，一个好汉三个帮”, “一个巴掌拍不响，众人鼓掌声震天”，“三个臭皮匠，赛过诸葛亮”(two heads are better than one.), “many hands make light work.”(人多力量大，柴多火焰高).on the contrary, corruption, embezzlement and lust are detested by us, which are also embodied in proverbs. “当官不为民做主，不如回家卖红薯”，“衙门口朝南开，有理无钱莫进来”, “gifts enter everywhere without a wimble(礼品无钢钻但无孔不入)”, “dicing, drabbing and drinking bring men to destruction”, “he will have enough one day when his mouth is full of mould.”those amounts of examples suggest that the common characters of proverbs of english and chinese are to make people see reasons, give advices and instructions. they have lively and rich contents. though the two peoples have different background of history and culture, they have similar standard of judging good and evil, kindness and viciousness.3) artistryproverbs often make use of grammatical and rhetorical devices that help make them memorable, including alliteration, rhyme, parallel structure, repetition of key words or phrases, and strong imagery. another character of proverbs is artistry, including the following aspects:a. succinct and concise many proverbs are short speeches with succinct words. for example: “先来后到(first come, first served.)”, “不学无术（learn not and know not.）”. “time flies(光阴似箭).” money talks(有钱能使鬼推磨).b. ingenious rhetoric a. alliteration(头韵): the fairest flowers soonest fade. (花艳昙花现，陈年酒最香)b. rhyme（尾韵）:red sky at night, shepherds delight; red sky in the morning, shepherds warning.(傍晚天红牧羊人高兴；早上天红，牧羊人当心, 或译为: 朝霞不出门，晚霞行千里)c. consonance（对仗）: 差之毫厘，失之千里（an error if the breadth of a single hair can lead you a thousand li astray）nothing venture, nothing have. (不入虎穴，焉得虎子)a wise man thinks all that he says; a fool says all that he thinks. (智者思其所言，愚者言其所思)d. parallelism（排比）：for want of a nail, the shoe is lost; for want of a shoe, the horse is lost; for want of horse, the rider is lost. (想要钉子，鞋子丢了；想要鞋子，马又丢了；想要马，骑手又丢了；意译为因小失大，或千里之行溃于蚁穴)e. repetition（重复）: an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.(以牙还牙，以眼还眼) 种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆。（as you sow, so will you reap.）f. metaphor(比喻)：two dogs fight for a bone, and a third runs away with it.(两只狗争一块骨头，第三只刁了跑；鹬蚌相争，渔翁得利。4) persuasiveproverbs always use short succinct sentences to give profound rationalities or real advices. theyre so persuasive to tell people to exert themselves.if wishes were horses, beggars might ride. (如果愿望是匹马，乞丐也就能骑它，意译为一枕黄粱梦) （this proverb uses subjunctive mood to tell people to lay stress on the reality and work steadily and surely while embracing good wishes.）he deserves not the sweet that will not taste the sour. (不吃苦中苦，难为人上人)besides these common characters, there are even more individual characteristics between english and chinese proverbs, reflecting in environment，custom, religions, and history differences, which will be discussed in chapter 3.3culture1) definition of culturethe word “culture” has many meanings. for example, we some times say that people who know about art, music, and literature are cultured. however, the word culture has a different meaning for anthropologist (people who study humankind). to an anthropologist the word culture means all the ways in which a group of people act, dress, think, and feel. people have to learn the cultural ways of their community: they are not something that the people in the group are born with.chinese and foreign learned people have their own definitions about culture and there is a controversy over this area. different branches of knowledge will give different comprehension at different points of view. the word culture is known as “文化”, which is explained as “文治和教化，今指人类社会历史发展过程中所创造的全部物质财富和精神财富，也特指社会意识形态” in the chinese dictionary 。in the concise oxford english dictionary, culture is defined as the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively; the customs, institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or group.culture is also defined as the arts of describing, showing, or performing that represent the traditions or the way of life of a particular people or group, literature, art, music, dance, theater, etc.2) characteristics of culture(1)culture is an adaptive mechanismthe first humans evolved in tropical and subtropical regions of africa about 2.5 million years ago.since then, we have successfully occupied all of the major geographic regions of the world, but our bodies have remained essentially those of warm climate animals.we cannot survive outside of the warmer regions of our planet without our cultural knowledge and technology.what made it possible for our ancestors to begin living in temperate and ultimately subarctic regions of the northern hemisphere after half a million years ago was the invention of efficient hunting skills, fire use, and, ultimately, clothing, warm housing, agriculture, and commerce.culture has been a highly successful adaptive mechanism for our species.it has given us a major selective advantage in the competition for survival with other life forms.culture has allowed the global human population to grow from less than 10 million people shortly after the end of the last ice age to more than 6.5 billion people today, a mere 10,000 years later.culture has made us the most dangerous and the most destructive large animal on our planet. it is ironic that despite the power that culture has given us, we are totally dependent on it for survival.we need our cultural skills to stay alive.(2)culture is learnedhuman infants come into the world with basic drives such as hunger and thirst, but they do not possess instinctive patterns of behavior to satisfy them.likewise, they are without any cultural knowledge.however, they are genetically predisposed to rapidly learn language and other cultural traits. new born humans are amazing learning machines.any normal baby can be placed into any family on earth and grow up to learn their culture and accept it as his or her own.since culture is non-instinctive, we are not genetically programmed to learn a particular one.every human generation potentially can discover new things and invent better technologies.the new cultural skills and knowledge are added onto what was learned in previous generations.as a result, culture is cumulative.due to this cumulative effect, most high school students today are now familiar with mathematical insights and solutions that ancient greeks such as archimedes and pythagoras struggled their lives to discover.cultural evolution is due to the cumulative effect of culture.we now understand that the time between major cultural inventions has become steadily shorter, especially since the invention of agriculture 8,000-10,000 years ago.the progressively larger human population after that time was very likely both a consequence and a cause of accelerating culture growth.the more people there are, the more likely new ideas and information will accumulate.if those ideas result in a larger, more secure food supplies, the population will inevitably grow.in a sense, culture has been the human solution to surviving changing environments, but it has continuously compounded the problem by making it possible for more humans to stay alive.in other words, human cultural evolution can be seen as solving a problem that causes the same problem again and again.the ultimate cost of success of cultural technology has been a need to produce more and more food for more and more people.the invention of agriculture made it possible for our ancestors to have a more controllable and, subsequently, dependable food supply.it also resulted in settling down in permanent communities.this in turn set the stage for further developments in technology and political organization.the inevitable result was more intensive agriculture, new kinds of social and political systems dominated by emerging elite classes, the first cities, and ultimately the industrial and information revolutions of modern times.city life brought with it the unexpected consequence of increased rates of contagious diseases.large, dense populations of people make it much easier for viruses, bacteria, and other disease causing microorganisms to spread from host to host.as a result, most cities in the past were periodically devastated by epidemics.the rate of cultural evolution for many human societies during the last two centuries has been unprecedented.today, major new technologies are invented every few years rather than once or twice a century or even less often, as was the case in the past.likewise, there has been an