英汉文化词的文化内涵的对比差异

1、2014届学士学位论文英汉基本颜色词文化内涵对比研究学院、专业外国语、英语研究方向应用语言学学生姓名田雨学号20100501068指导教师姓名徐静指导教师职称讲师2014年4月15日HuaibeiNormalUniversityTheComparativeStudyonDifferentCulturalConnotationsofBasicColorWordsBetweenEnglishandChineseByTianYuUndertheSupervisionofLecturerXuJingSubmittedtotheSchoolofForeignStudiesinPartialFulfill

2、mentoftheRequirementsfortheDegreeofBachelorofArtsinEnglishHuaibei,P.R.ChinaApril,2014 本科生毕业论文（设计）诚信承诺书本人郑重承诺所呈交的毕业论文（设计）英汉基本颜色词文化内涵对比研究，是在指导教师徐静的指导下严格按照学校和学院有关规定完成的。本人在毕业论文（设计）中弓用他人的观点和参考资料均加以注释和说明。本人承诺在毕业论文（设计）选题和研究内容过程中没有抄袭他人的研究成果和伪造相关数据等行为，若有抄袭行为，由本人承担一切责任。承诺人：2010年级英语专业签名：田雨2014年5月1日AbstractThew

3、orldweliveinisverycolorful.Therearealargenumberofcolorwordsoragreatvarietyofcolorexpressionsinourbooksdescribingallthecolorthingsinthenatureandinthesocietyaswell.Colorwordshaverichculturalconnotations.Duetothedifferentsocialcultures,historicalprocessesandgeographicconditions,EnglishandChinesecolorwo

4、rdsreflecttheirnationalcolororientation,socialvalues,culturalcustoms,religiousbeliefandcharacteristicsetc.Therefore,itisofgreatsignificancetohaveacomparativestudyontheculturalconnotationsofcolorwordsbetweenEnglishandChinese.Thisthesisisdividedintofourchapters.Thefirstchapteristheintroductionwhichhas

5、ageneralreviewofthestudiesaboutcolortermshomeandabroadanddiscussesthenecessityandpossibilityofthisstudy.Nextchaptermakesananalysisofword-formationcharacteristicsofbothEnglishandChinesebasiccolorwords.ThethirdchapterservesasthemainbodyofthisthesiswhichmakestheidentificationonbasiccolorwordsbetweenEng

6、lishandChinesewhichpresentsinformationcollectedfromthesummarizedpreviousresearchstudyaboutcolorwordsandsummarizesthesituationonthestudyofbasiccolorwordsathomeandabroad.Thelastchapteristheconclusionwhichpresentsfurtheranalysisofthecausesofsuchdifferencesmainlyfromthenaturalenvironment,religion,cultur

7、al,customsandsoon.Keywords:basiccolorwords;culturalconnotations;differences;comparativestudy摘要人类生活在一个神奇的色彩世界，颜色渗透到我们生活的各个领域。用来表示这些颜色的颜色词数不胜数，基本颜色词构成了颜色词中的一类典型。而颜色词是极富表现力的语言，英汉语言在色彩运用以及赋予色彩的联想意义方面既有相同点，又有差异，而且随着时代的发展，颜色词的联想意义也将具有新的内涵。颜色词具有丰富的文化内涵。由于不同的文化、历史和地理原因，英语和汉语的颜色词反映了自己民族的颜色取向、社会心理、风俗习惯、宗教信仰等文

8、化特点。因此对英语和汉语颜色词的文化内涵进行对比研究具有重要意义。本文分四个章节进行讨论。主要分为绪论、基本颜色词的确定、英汉基本颜色词的文化内涵对比、英汉基本颜色词文化内涵差异以及趋同成因分析四部分。在绪论部分：首先对全文进行了简要介绍，回顾国内外学者对颜色词所作的研究，讨论本研究的必要性和可能性；第二章，收集资料，总结前人的研究成果，对国内外有关颜色词的研究情况进行概括，并分析其中的不足，同时介绍了本文的研究意义及研究思路；第三章是全文重点，首先对汉语和英语基本颜色词的构成进行了对比研究，不同的构成方式决定了其文化内涵的不同，然后详细分析了中英文基本颜色词文化内涵的相同点和差异点；第四章是

9、结论，进一步分析产生这种差异的原因，总结全文，说明本文的写作对解释语言和文化的发展以及思维方式的转变都会产生一定的借鉴作用。关键词：基本颜色词；文化内涵；差异；对比研究ContentsTOC o 1-5 h zAbstractII HYPERLINK l bookmark4 o Current Document ChapterOneIntroduction1 HYPERLINK l bookmark6 o Current Document ChapterTwoBackgroundofResearchonColorTerms3 HYPERLINK l bookmark8 o Current Do

10、cument TheNecessityoftheComparativeStudyonColorWords3 HYPERLINK l bookmark10 o Current Document StudiesonEnglishandChineseBasicColorWordsHomeandAbroad3ResearchonEnglishBasicColorWordsAbroad3ResearchonChineseBasicColorCharactersatHome4 HYPERLINK l bookmark12 o Current Document ChapterThreeAContrastiv

11、eStudyonCulturalConnotationsofBasicColorTermsinEnglishandChinese6Word-formationcharacteristicsofbasiccolortermsinEnglish6Word-formationcharacteristicsofChinesebasiccolorterms7ComparisonofCulturalConnotationofBasicColorTermsinEnglishandChinese9Redand红9 HYPERLINK l bookmark14 o Current Document Whitea

12、nd白12 HYPERLINK l bookmark16 o Current Document Blackand黑14 HYPERLINK l bookmark18 o Current Document ChapterFourReasonsforSimilaritiesandDifferences19ColorandReligion19 HYPERLINK l bookmark20 o Current Document ColorandNature20 HYPERLINK l bookmark22 o Current Document ColorandCustoms21 HYPERLINK l

13、 bookmark24 o Current Document ChapterFiveConclusion22 HYPERLINK l bookmark26 o Current Document WorksCited23 ChapterOneIntroductionWearelivinginaworldofbeauty,wondersandcolors.Aroundusarethebluesky,whitecloud,greentrees,redsun,andgreybuildingsandetc.Ourworldissocloselyconnectedwithcolorsthatplayani

14、ndispensableroleinourlife.Forcenturiespeopleuseavarietyofcolorwordsandalargernumberofcolorexpressionstoshowtheirchangingfeelingsandpreferences.Thefollowingsentencesaregoodexamplestoseethecolorwords:Mrs.Brownisaverywhitewoman.Shewaslookinggreentheotherday.Shehasbeenfeelingbluerecently.WhenIsawher,her

15、wasinabrownmood.Ihopeshellsoonbeinapinkagain.Peoplemightgetpuzzledwiththesentencewhenreadingit,althoughthewordsandstructurearebothsimpleandpeopleareeagertoknowwhatitistalkingabout.Thereasonforthisisthatwedontknowwhatthesecolorwordsimply.Sowhatdotheyconveytous?Inourdailylifeweoftenencounterwithmanyth

16、ingsofdifferentcolors.Thusdifferentcolortermsandexpressionsarebadlyneededtodescribe,illustrateandexplainwhatweareconfrontedwith.Thoughtherearecolorwordsincommoninbothlanguages,thesamecolorwordsmayindicatedifferentmeanings.Thereasonforthisphenomenonisthatlanguageisoriginatedfromlifeandinfluencedbycul

17、ture.Thuslanguageistheproductofculture.ThisthesishastentativelymadeastudyofcomparativestudyofculturalconnotationofbasiccolortermsinEnglishandChinesefromperspectiveofsemantics.Thefirstchapteristheintroductionwhichhasageneralreviewofthestudiesaboutcolortermshomeandabroadanddiscussesthenecessityandposs

18、ibilityofthisstudy.Nextchaptermakesananalysisofword-formationcharacteristicsofbothEnglishandChinesebasiccolorwords.ThethirdchapterservesasthemainbodyofthisthesiswhichmakestheidentificationonbasiccolorwordsbetweenEnglishandChinesewhichpresentsinformationcollectedfromthesummarizedpreviousresearchstudy

19、aboutcolorwordsandsummarizesthesituationonthestudyofbasiccolorwordsathomeandabroad.Thelastchapteristheconclusionwhichpresentsfurtheranalysisofthecausesofsuchdifferencesmainlyfromthenaturalenvironment,religion,cultural,customsandsoon.Ifreaderscanunderstandthemeaningsandtheirculturalconnotationsoftheb

20、asiccolorwords,theyllbenefitalotinappreciatingliteratureandfacilitatinginunderstandingdifferentcultures.BymakingacomparativestudyofthecolortermsinEnglishandChinese,wecanhaveanideaofwhatishappeninginpeoplesmind,inthedevelopmentoftheirlanguagesandculture.ChapterTwoBackgroundofResearchonColorTermsTheNe

21、cessityoftheComparativeStudyonColorWordsLanguageisusedtoexpresspeoplescognitionoftheworld.Everythinginthisworldhasitsowncolorandthereforethecolorfulnesswillneedtohavespecificvocabularytodescribethecommoncolor.Thus,colorwordsariseatthehistoricmoment.EitherinChineseorEnglish,therearealotofcolorwords,t

22、hisisduetoculturaldifferenceswhichproducedifferentculturalconnotations.Therefore,itisnecessarytofindamorescientificandcompletewaytoanalyzeandstudytheculturalconnotationsofcolorwordstoenrichourunderstandingoftherelationshipsbetweenlanguageandculture,tohelpunderstandandtranslatethelanguagesindifferent

23、culturalbackgrounds,andtospecifyintherealsensetheidentificationandculturaldifferencesbetweenpeopleofspeakingdifferentlanguages.StudiesonEnglishandChineseBasicColorWordsHomeandAbroadNearly2,500yearsago,scientistsdidthestudiesofcolorwordsfromthecognitiveperspectiveinwesterncountries.Inthelast3decades,

24、withthedevelopmentofneurology,biologygenetics,cognitivescienceandcognitivepsychology,peoplediscoveredtheinnercomplexrelationsofcolors,relativelyenrichingtheunderstandingofinnermechanismandexteriorfunctionsofcolorvocabularysystem.A.ResearchonEnglishBasicColorWordsAbroadStudyabroadoncolorwordhasalongh

25、istory,andtheearlyresearchcanbetracedbacktoancientGreece.ItisPlatowhomadetheresearchesoncolorsandthereforeformedhisperceptionsofcolors,whichisregardedastheclassictheoriesofcolors.Histheoriesarenotonlyusedasthebasisofthephysicalfield,butalsoastheelementarytheoriesinotherfieldssuchasphilosophy,ethnogr

26、aphy,psychology,anthropology,linguistics,sociolinguisticsandsoon.Platobelievedthatthewhitestuffcauseeyeopenwhileblackthingleadtothecontractionoftheeye.HisdiscipleAristotledividedcolorsintosimplecolorandcomplexcolor.Inhisopinion,simplecolorsrelatestosomebasicelementsinthephysicalworldandthenatureofco

27、lorsisassumedthatcolorsweremixturesofblackandwhite(ordarknessandlight).Aristotlethoughtthatsimplecolorsbelongtofourelementsfire,air,waterandearth.Airandwaterarebynaturewhite,fireandthesunyellow,andearthisnaturallywhite,andthattheblackisthepropercolorofelementsinprocessoftransmutation.Goetheisalsoint

28、erestedincolorterms.Throughtheexplorationandexperiment,hewroteColorTheorywhichfocusontherelationshipbetweenthecolorandtheemotionalchanges.Goethethoughtthatthecolorofthechangesintemperaturecanmakeadifferencetopeoplesdifferentpsychologymood,suchaswarmcolorscanstimulatethecheerful,livelyandpositiveemot

29、ion,whilecoolcolorcanmakepeopleagitated,restlesssensitive.Evolutionwasputforwardformallyasatheoryinthelate1960s,withthepublicationofBerlinandKaysBasicColorTerms:theiruniversalityandevolution.BerlinandKayholdanopinionthatlinguisticuniversalityandsemanticevolutionreflectthecharacteristicsthatthecolorw

30、ordsystemgenerallyhas.Beforethat,manyscholarsinsistthatthecolorwordstudyoffersatypicalcross-culturalexampletoinfavorofthelinguisticrelativetheory,forthemeaningsofcolorwordsinacertainlanguageletusknowthecharacteristicsofthesocietyandthusitiscultural-determinedtosomeextent.SoBerlinandKaytookabigleapin

31、linguisticuniversality.Asthevarietiesofcoloraresomany,theyonlychosethebasiccolorwordstostudyandregardedthemasthefocusoftheiracademicstudy.B.ResearchonChineseBasicColorCharactersatHomeComparedwiththestudiesabroad,thestudiesonChinesebasiccolorcharactersathonearemuchlaterandlimited.InancientChina,Chine

32、sepeoplehadrateddiversifiedcolorsandproducedasmanycolorwordsaspossibleasaresultofthedevelopmentofpotteryanddyingindustries.Theearliestworkoncolorwordsis诗经(TheBookofSongs)whichisjustconfinedtoChinesecolorcharacters.In1964,ZhangPeijipublishedthebookEnglishWordsofColorandSoundandTheirTranslation,making

33、adetaileddescriptionoftheusageofalmostalltheEnglishcolortermsandtheirtranslation.Later,manyscholarscarriedoutresearchesbycomparingthecolortermsbetweenChineseandotherlanguageswiththeviewoffindingthedifferencesinlanguageandculturalandcontributingtothecross-culturalcommunication.Inthelater1970s,withthe

34、introductionofanumberofforeignlinguistictheoriestoChina,WuTiepinginhistwoarticles,ProbingIntoFuzzyLanguage（1979）（模糊语言初探）andReprobingIntoFuzzyLanguage（1980）（模糊语言再探），introducedtheconceptoffuzzylanguage,inwhichcolortermsasaphenomenonoffuzzylanguagedrewtheattentionofscholars.Hesaidthatinordertobuildthes

35、tructureoffuzzylinguistics,firstwemustknowthelanguagewhichpresentsfuzzy.（伍铁平P115）Tenyearslater,hepublishedanotherarticleTheoryofColorWordsandItsFuzzyProperties（论颜色词及其模糊性质），inwhichhefurtheranalyzedthereasonsofthevagueness.Duringtheperiodfrom1980sto1990s,manyarticlesaboutcolorwordswerepublished,whichd

36、ealwiththeconnotations,functions,translationsofcolorwordsandtherelationshipbetweencolorwordsandculture.ChapterThreeAContrastiveStudyonCulturalConnotationsofBasicColorTermsinEnglishandChineseCenteredoncolorand“颜色”respectively,EnglishandChinesearecomposedoflargecolortermssystem.Colorisfollowedbyeleven

37、basiccolortermsasitssub-setcolortermswhileeachsub-setcolorterms,isfollowedbyevenmoresubtlecolorwordsasitssub-setcolorterms.InChinese,“颜色，likeitsconvertibleofEnglishwordcolor,isfollowedby10basiccolortermsasitssub-setcolortermswhileeachsub-setcolorterms,isfollowedbyevenmoresubtlecolorwordsasitssub-set

38、colorterms.I.Word-formationcharacteristicsofbasiccolortermsinEnglishEnglishbasiccolorwordsarethosewordsdescribingcolorsofsubstancessuchaswhite,black,red,green,gray,brown,yellow,blue,purple,pink,orangeetc.Mostofthosecolortermsareofsinglesyllable,originatingfromAnglo-Saxon,thenativelanguageofEngland.I

39、tcanbesaidthatthebasiccolortermsinEnglisharethoseseveralonesoriginatingfromAnglo-Saxonwithcharacteristicsofconciseness,easeofbeingremembered,moreflexibilityandhighrateofutility.Whentalkingaboutcolorterms,weoftentakeitforgrantedthattheyareadjectiveswhileitisnotthecase.BasiccolorwordsinEnglishappearin

40、sentencesinmanypartsofspeechsuchasnoun,verb,adverb,adjectiveetc.Occasionally,theirpartofspeechcanbetransformedbyaddingprefixsuchasembrown,empurple,oraddingsuffixsuchasblueness,reddenandblacken.Here,therearebrownandyellowforexamples:Brown:Hereyesarebrown.(adjective)Brownthemeatinafryingpan.(verb)they

41、ellowsandbrownsofthetreesinautumn.(noun)Hishairisbrownblack.(adverb)Yellow:Shewasinabrightyellowdress.(adjective)Thefleshofhischeeksseemedtohaveyellowed.（verb）Thewallshavebeenpaintedbrightyellow.（noun）TomasterthosebasiccolortermsinEnglish,thefirstandforemostistobefamiliarwiththeirmanypartsofspeech.B

42、esidesmakinguseofsub-setcolortermsoftheiradjectivetoexpressconceptsofcolors,thebasiccolorwordsalsoapplyotherwaystotheexpressionofcomplexconceptsofcolorssuchaspale,bright,deep,light,dark,blendingcolorsetc.Actually,suchwordsaslight,paleareputbeforethemtoshowthelightcolor;bright,rich,vividaretoshowtheb

43、rightnessofcolor;deep,darkareputbeforethosecolortermstoshowconcentratedcolorwhiledull,pale,dirty,murky,darklingaretoshowdarknessofcolor.Forexample:darkordeepblue（深蓝），clearblue（鲜蓝）,mediumblue（中蓝）,lightblue（浅蓝）,paleorbabyblue（淡蓝），etc.Inadditiontoadjectivesmentionedabove,thebasiccolortermscanalsobecoll

44、ocatedwithanothercolorword（basiccolortermsorsomesubstancecolorones）ornouns.Therefore，theycanexpressablendingcolor.Takeblueasanexample:skyblue（天蓝,蔚蓝）,moonblue（月光蓝）,oceanorseablue（海蓝）,ice-snowblue（冰雪蓝）,peacockblue（孔雀蓝）,jewelryblue（宝石蓝）,powderblue（粉末蓝）,purplishblue（藏蓝）,navyblue（海军蓝）etc.Ifemphasisisputo

45、nthelightnessofcolors,suffix-shcanbeaddedtobasiccolorterms,whichareputbeforethosecolortermssuchasgrayishwhite，purplishredetc.Thiswayofexpressionisprettyflexibleandeasiertocollocate.Iftwosortsofcolorexistinacertainthingorsubstancebuttheyarenotablendingcolorbecausebothcolorsarenotmixedtogetherbutforma

46、nothercolor.Forexample,yellowandblackco-existmeansthatyellowskinandblackspotinaleopard.Inthatcase,therecomesaparticularwayofexpressionforbasiccolorwords,illustratedwithaformula:colorword-and-colorword+noun.Forinstance:Yellow-and-blackleopard（一只花豹）,ared-and-blackcap（一顶红黑帽子）,ared-and-whitestripedblous

47、e（一件红条纹白底衬衣）etc.II.Word-formationcharacteristicsofChinesebasiccolortermsItiswell-knownthatthelanguageofChineseisoneoftherichestlanguagesintheworldintermsofcolorterms.InChinese,thebasicChinesecolortermsare黑，白，红，黄，绿，蓝，紫，灰，棕etc.Thecolortermsmentionedabovecanbeaddedformalargernumbersofsub-setcolorterms.

48、Forexample,“红canbeaddedtoform粉红、“浅红、“火红、“水红”、“鲜红etc.;“白canbeaddedtoform雪白、“纯白、“洁白、“苍白etc.;while黑canbeaddedtoform漆黑、“乌黑、“黝黑、“深黑、“油黑etc.SimilartothewaysofformationoftheEnglishbasiccolorwords,Chineseword-formationwayscanbeflexibleincludingsubordinateform（suchas乳白，深白，纯白，米白，银白，象牙白etc.）,combinationstructu

49、re（suchas蓝紫，褐绿，黄绿，灰绿，靛蓝，紫红etc.）,supplementationstructure（suchas红彤彤、白刷刷、绿油油、灰蒙蒙etc.）.Subordinateformisbeingtakenintoaccount.（常敬宇，2002）Herearesomeexamples:adjectiveindicatingdegreeorquality+colorterms,suchas深红，纯白，浅蓝；colorterms+element色”，suchas紫色、红色、白色；nounsofsubstance+colorterms,suchas枣红、银白、象牙白；nounso

50、fsubstance+element色,suchas肉色、金色、土色；colorterms+colorwords,suchas紫红、粉红、靛蓝；AmajorityofChinesecolorwordsareformedwithasubstanceofacertaincolor.Thatis,newwordsareformedwiththestructureofmetaphoricalbody+colorterms.Forinstance,wordsassociatedwithflowersare桃红，“杏红，“杜鹃红，“玫瑰红，“芙蓉红，“牡丹红etc,;wordsassociatedwith

51、fruitsare“石榴红，“樱桃红，“柠檬黄，“杏黄，“苹果绿，“葡萄紫etc.;wordsassociatedwithvegetablesare辣椒红，“高粱红，“玉米黄，“芥末黄，“葱绿，“茄皮紫etc.;wordsassociatedwithanimalsare“鱼肚白，“孔雀绿，“鹅黄，“蟹青，“驼色，“牡蛎白，“羊毛白，“鲑鱼红etc.LikeEnglishcounterparts,theChinesebasiccolortermsalsoworkasnounsandverbsetc.,whichcanbeillustratedclearlyintheChineseliteratu

52、res.Forexample:俄顷风定云墨色，秋天漠漠向昏黑（杜甫茅屋为秋风所破歌）Inthepoem,thepoetusetwowords墨and黑asadjectivestodescribetheroughweatherandthecomingnightintheautumn.“雄鸡一声天下白”（李贺致酒行）Inthispoem,thepoetnotonlymadethecolorword白averb,butalsoputitattheendoftheline.Thecolorwordisfunctionedasaonomatopoeia,likeproducingsound,making

53、itmorevividandsymbolic.姑太太说到这里一顿，轻轻吁了口气，眼圈儿也像有点红了。（茅盾子夜）Mrs.Tupausedandsighedslightly,hereyesreddeningattheedges.西南天上起了乌云，密雨下黑了天地（周立波暴风骤雨Suddenlyinkycloudsgatheredinthesouthwesternskyanddissolvedintoadownpour,blackeningheavenandearth.Inexamplesand，红and黑functionasverbs,whichcanbeseenclearlyinthecorre

54、spondingEnglishversionoftranslation.ComparisonofCulturalConnotationofBasicColorTermsinEnglishandChineseInthispart，basedonthestudiesandtheories，contrastwillbemadeontheculturalconnotationsofbasiccolortermsinEnglishandChinese.Culturalconnotationactuallyhasnoexactdefinition.Inthisthesis，itmainlycontains

55、metaphoricalmeaning，symbolicmeaning，emotionalmeaningandotherextendedmeanings.Redand红Redistheearliestcolorusedbypeopleintheworld.Itisthecolorofblood，aswellasthesunandfire.Itisknowntousallthatintheearlyperiodofhumanhistory，itisthesunandfirethatmadelifeeasier.So,inbothEnglishandChinese,redand红areattach

56、edtodignity,“enthusiasm,“love,“beauty,“happiness,andsoon.（1）Revolution:Duringthewartime,Chinasnationalflagisinredcolorwithfivestars,soitiscalledwuxinghongqi（五星红旗）.Chinesenationalflagisredwhichmeansbeingstrainedredbythebloodoftherevolutionariesandmartyrs,whilehonglingjin（红领巾）isansymbolofit.DuringtheC

57、hineseAnti-JapaneseWar,红insuchexpressionsashongjun（红军），“hongseshoudu（红色首都），“hongweibing（红卫兵），“hongseniangzijun（红色娘子军)，“hongsegenjudi”(红色根据地)alsoimplytheconnotationofrevolution.Duringthe1950sand1960s,theWestcalledChinaasRedChinatodistinguishitfromTaiwangovernment.TheNationflag,Partyflag,Armyflag,Yout

58、hLeaguerflaginourcountryarethesymbolofthemartyrsbloodwhichremindsusofthecreationandthehard-wonofthecountry.WhilethecolorofredintheAmericannationalflagrepresentsthesuccessofrevolutionthroughwar.Celebration:InChina,“红”isthemostfrequentcolorincelebrationsandjoyfuloccasions.ToChinese,redalwaysmakesthemt

59、hinkofwarmth,prosperity,happiness,celebrationandsoon.ThiscanbefoundinChinesedailylife,forinstance,bridewearredclothestoexpresshappinessandboisterouselationintheweddingceremony.“双红喜”shouldbestucktothewindowstosymbolizetheweddingandhappinessofanewcouple.DuringtheSpringFestivaldaysinChina,theolderwillh

60、andoutredenvelopscontainingmoney(发红包)tothechildreninordertocelebratethecomingofthenewyearandhopethechildrentobelucky,redantitheticalarestuckonbothsidesofthedoor,redChinesecharacters福pastedup,redpaper-cutsattachedontothewindows,redfireworkssetoff.Inbusiness,peopleuse“开门红”tosymbolizegoodfortune.Whenab