从动物习语看中西文化差异 [6]
论文作者:洪天龙论文属性:短文 essay登出时间:2009-04-03编辑:黄丽樱点击率:43915
论文字数:7479论文编号:org200904031727356014语种:中文 Chinese地区:中国价格:免费论文
关键词:animal idiomscultural differencecauses for differencestranslation methods动物习语文化差异差异成因翻译方法
stern minds, crane is thought to be an ugly bird, which does not arise any such association.
“Tortoise” in Chinese people’s minds has two meanings, one symbolizes longevity; the other means “foolish people”. However, “tortoise” doesn’t have such kind associative connotations in English culture; the tortoise is just a slow-moving and not very attractive creature.
“鸳鸯” in Chinese usually refers to the couple, but in English , the mandarin duck doesn’t have such cultural connotations .
3. Causes for Differences
Just as discussed above, animal words have different cultural connotations in English and in Chinese. What are the main reasons causing such differences in cultural connotations? English and Chinese animal words convey different cultural features and messages of their own nations, and reflect their own culture. The following analysis may help understand cultural connotation differences in animal words.
3.1 Influence of region
China is an agriculture-cultivating country. From the invention of the farming, the agricultural culture is on the dominant role in China. Ox is the main farming tool in the agricultural history in China. The “ox” is the symbol of power and hardworking in Chinese culture. For example, “健壮如牛”, “牛劲”, “老黄牛”, “孺子牛”etc. But in Britain, the English people always attach importance to the livestock husbandry, so the horse plays an important role in the western culture. Here are the English idioms associated with the horse, for example,
(4) work like a horse 辛苦地工作
(5) eat like a horse 狼吞虎咽
(6) lock the stable door after the horse is stolen 亡羊补牢
What is more? Britain is a sea-rounded country, and there is a vast seacoast so its resources in fishery are very rich. Because of this, there are so many idioms about fishery such “ a big fish(大人物)”; “ a poor fish(倒霉的家伙)”; “have other fish to fry(有另一见更重要的事要做)”; “make fish of one and flesh of another(偏爱一方;厚此薄彼)”; “never after to teach fish to swim(不要班门弄斧)”; “ a whale(聪明的人)”.
3.2 Influence of convention
Due to different living conventions, different nations have obvious cultural differences in concept of value and aesthetic standards. For instance, in Chinese, the animal word “magpie” is considered as good luck because “magpie” in Chinese, is pronounced “喜鹊(Xi Que)”.“喜(Xi)” in Chinese means good and happy. In Chinese tradition, there exist such idioms as “喜鹊叫,好事到(when magpies are calling, it must have good news)”. However, in some places in Scotland, if a magpie flies near a window, it is a symbol of bad luck. In a state of England, if someone happens to meet a magpie he has to spit three times to avoid bad luck.
People in the west have a long tradition of keeping pets. Of them, domestic animals such as dogs and cats are dear and valued companions. However, in China “dog” is disgusting in people’s eyes. Naturally they are different idiomatic expressions toward “dog” in the use of language, for instance, in Chinese, people have such derogative expressions as “狗腿子”, “狗崽子”. Nonetheless, English people have favorable expressions as follows: “a top dog(最重要的人物)”; “a lucky dog(幸运儿)”。
3.3 Influence of religion
Religion, the main component of human culture, reflects different attitudes towards admiration and taboo of each nation. Chinese culture is deeply affected by Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism, among which the effect of Buddhism is the most inveterate, while English culture is great influenced by Christianity. There is no question that Chinese expressions refl
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