Cultural Differences of Chinese and English Color Words
ABSTRACT
Language is a kind of social phenomenon and is the carrier of culture. Almost every language has color words, including Chinese and English. However, the words to describe colors differ from one language to another because of different customs, polities, religious beliefs etc. Different colors bring different symbolic meanings which have unique characteristics in each nation. As a result, it may lead to misunderstanding and even violate the taboos. The main purpose of this paper is to compare the differences between Chinese and English color words in terms of word building, history, politics, economy and daily usage to help people to have a better understanding of different cultures and to bridge the gap between different cultures in communication and to facilitate cultural exchange.
Keywords: color word culture differences politics history daily usage
颜色词的中英文文化差异
摘 要
语言是一种社会现象，也是文化的载体。几乎每种语言都会有颜色词，中文和英语也不例外。但因民族历史文化、政治背景、宗教和习俗等因素的影响，中英文化语言中色彩词用法各异。不同的颜色观会引伸出不同的颜色象征意义。象征意义在不同民族语言中有其独特的特点，由于文化的差异往往会造成颜色词的误解，甚至触犯禁忌。本文主要从构词法、历史、政治、经济和日常用法这几个角度对比中英文颜色词的差异,以更好地帮助人们理解中英语言颜色词的不同文化内涵，达到更有效地交际的目的，促进文化的交流。
关键词: 颜色词 文化差异 政治 历史 日常用语
CONTENTS
Abstract …………………………………………………………………………Ⅰ
摘要 ……………………………………………………………………………Ⅱ 1Introduction ……………………………………………………………………1
1.1 Purpose of writing this paper …………………………………………1
1.2 Definition of color, culture and their relationship …………………1
1.3 The importance of understanding color words ……………………2
2 The similarities between Chinese and English color words …4
2.1 word-building …………………………………………………………………4
2.1.1 Degree adjective +color word ………………………………………4
2.1.2 Color word + suffix ……………………………………………………5
2.1.3 Color word + color word ……………………………………………5
2.1.4 Something + color word ………………………………………………5
2.2 Color and Career …………………………………………………………5
2.2.1 Color words and career in western countries …………………5
2.2.2 Color words and career in China …………………………………6
3. Differences between English and Chinese color words …………7
3.1 Color words and history ………………………………………………7
3.2 Color words and politics …………………………………………………9
3.3 Color words and economy ………………………………………………9
3.4 Color words and daily usage ……………………………………………11
4. The common misunderstanding of color words ……………17
5. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………19
References …………………………………………………………………………20
Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………21
