中西方文化中動物象征意義的差異

ContrastinAnimal'sConnotationBetweenChineseandEnglish中英動物象征意義差異的比較

主講內容forewordContentElseIntroductionAbstractSignificanceConclusion

similaritiesdifferencesasnakeinthegrasslikeacatonhotbricks

Lion–hearted

Getsb’sgoatSeparatethesheepfromthegoats

topdogcatanddoglifeAcatmaylooklikeakingThevocabularyindifferentlanguagescanreflectthedevelopmentsofdifferentlanguages.TherearemanyexpressionsconnectedwithanimalsinbothEnglishandChinesebecauseofhistory,customs,valueandreligionbeliefs.ThisPPTanalyzesthedifferencesbetweentheEnglishandChineseexpressionsconnectedwithanimals,vividlyshowingtheculturalinfluenceonvocabularyandthedifferencesbetweentheChineseandEnglishculture.AnditwillbehelpfulforEnglishlearners’interculturalcommunication.AbstractInthelongcourseofhumanhistory,animalskeepacloserelationshipwithourhumanbeingandhaveadeepeffectonhumanlivingandgrowth.Thisrelationshipbringspeopleallkindsofcomplicatedemotionsuchaslove,sympathy,disgustandfear.Moreover,peoplealsooftenreposetheirmoodonanimalstoexpresstheirfeeling.Owingtothedifferencesofgeographicalenvironmentsandcustoms,thesewordsandphrases,whosedenotationsaresimilarinthetwolanguages,havedifferentculturalbackgroundsinEnglishandChineselanguages,consequentlytheirculturalconnotationswillbedifferentfromeachother.ThisPPTwillmainlycontrastthedivergencesofculturalconnotationsforanimalwordstoexplaintheculturaldifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglish.IntroductionSignificanceofcontrastofanimalwordsbetweenEnglishandChinese1.LearningabouttheculturaldifferencesbetweenEnglishandChineseappearinginanimalwordscanhelppeopleunderstandtheemotionalmeaningoflanguageandthetwoculturesfurtherandremovethebarriersininterculturalcommunications;thereforeitisofgreatvalueinpractice.2.Knowingabouttheconnotationsorassociationsofananimalwordinonelanguagecankeepusawayfromheavylossesincommercialactivitiesowingtoculturaldifferencesbetweenthetwolanguagessuchasnamingaproduct.3.Tolearnabouttheculturalbackgroundofawordisgoodforselectingarightwordforexpression.ToanEnglishlearner,makingagoodunderstandingofboththenativelanguageandtheforeignlanguageisagoodwaytohaveagoodcommandofthelanguage.Thesimilarities

Asamewordexpressesasamemeaning

Thesameconnotationofdifferentanimal

ThecorrespondenceofadoptedwordsInwhateverEnglishorChinese,lotsofwords,phrasesoridiomsareconnectedtoanimals.Theyaresolivelyandvividthatpeoplecanhaveadirectimpressioninmind,andthenconnecttheimagestotheinternalconnotations.Becauseoftheculturecommunicationsbetweeneastandwestandthesimilarityofthinkingmanners,ananimalwordwouldhavesameorsimilarconnotations.AsamewordintwolanguagesexpressesasamemeaningTobothChineseandwesternpeople,someanimalscontainsimilarconnotations,“parrot”(鸚鵡),theanimalwhichcansimulatehumanvoice,referstoamanwhorepeatsthewordsofotherswithouthisownopinionsinboththelanguages;“bee”(蜜蜂)inbothEnglishandChinesestandsforbusyandhardworkingpeople,forinstancethephrase“asbusyasabee”(像蜜蜂一樣忙碌);and“jackal”(胡狼，豺)meansgreedy,contemptible.AnimalimagesofthesewordsinEnglishandChineseculturesareidenticalonthewhole.Wolves(狼)areallbloodthirstyandcruel,sointhetwolanguagestherearesimilarexpressionssuchas“ascruelasawolf”(像狼一樣兇殘),“awolfinsheep’sclothing”(披著羊皮的狼)“ashungryasawolf”(餓得像狼).InEnglish“wolf”hasaslangmeaning,sayingthatitreferstomanwhoseduceswomen,andlikewiseinChinesepeoplehavetheword“色狼”;bothofthemdevelopedfrom“greedy”(貪婪)whichisanattendantmeaningof“wolf”.Englishpeopleusuallydescribethatapersonis“wolfingdownhisfood”,andinChinesepeopleusewolf(狼)too.InChineseitissaid“狼吞虎咽”.Anothersimilarexampleisthe“crywolf”andthestoryof“狼來了”,bothofthetwomeanstellinglies.Ifaforeignercommentsapoliticianlikethis:“thatpoliticiancrieswolfineveryspeechhemakes”,heissurelysayingthat“那個政治家在他的每篇演說中都說了假話”.

ThesameculturalconnotationofdifferentanimalwordsThatistosay,differentanimalwordscanexpressasameorsimilarmeaning.Althoughtheanimalwordpeopleuseinonelanguageisdifferentfromthatusedintheotherone,theyaresimilarinfigureofspeechJustbecauseofthecommoncharactersofhumanculture,people,whateverChineseorEnglish,havesomesamenessinmindtothisobjectivereality.Therefore,peoplespeakingdifferentlanguagesindifferentcountriescanexchangetheirmindfreelytoforeignersincross-culturecommunication.Todescribethatapersonistimid,Chinesepeoplesay“膽小如鼠”,whileinEnglishpeoplewoulduse“rabbit”,“chicken”,or“pigeon”forinstance“astimidasarabbit”,“chicken-hearted”and“pigeon-hearted”.Whatisinterestingisthat,mouse(鼠)inChinesecultureisconsideredasatimidanimal,butinEnglishpeoplethinkthatmicearequiet,sotheysay“asquietasamouse”.Todescribesomeoneisanxiousaboutsomething,Chineseusetheidiom“熱鍋上的螞蟻”,whileEnglishuse“l(fā)ikeacatonhotbricks”;Chinesesay“吹?！眞hileEnglishsay“talkhorse”;todescribesomeoneisstrong,peopleinEnglishsay“heisasstrongasahorse”whileChinesesay“健壯如牛”;Englishsay“worklikeahorse(馬)”whileChinesesay“溫馴肯干似老黃?！?Theseadoptedwords,whichareliberaltranslations,keeptheiroriginalanimalimages.Thesekindofadoptedwordsaregraduallyusedbypeople,andsometimesit’shardtorecognize,suchas“uglyduck”(丑小鴨),“papertiger”(紙老虎),“darkhorse”(黑馬),“fleamarket”(跳蚤市場),“nightowl”(夜貓子),“ostrichpolicy”(駝鳥政策),“crocodile’stears”(鱷魚的眼淚).Theyarewordsofpartlycorrespondenceinculturalconnotations.ThecorrespondenceofadoptedwordsNationalCulturalCharactersofAnimalWordsCulturalDifferencesofAnimalWordsBetweenEnglishandChineseThedifferences

NationalculturalcharactersofanimalwordsDifferentnations’culturesaredifferent;theirculturalbackgroundsendowanimalwordsdifferentculturalconnotations.Becauseoftheculturalclashes,somenationalculturalcharactersofanimalwordsareobvious.PhoenixPhoenixiscalled“鳳”or“鳳凰”inChinese.InthemindofChinese,phoenix,isamiraculousbirdbeyondmundanity.Askingofbirds,itisalwaysfollowedbytheotherbirds,soinChinesethereisasaying“百鳥朝風”.ItjustcorrespondstotherelationshipofLordandhisministers,thereforephoenixsymbolizesthepower,whichisthesameastheChinesedragon.Afterwards,“phoenix”(鳳)graduallybecameaspecialbywordforempressinfeudaltimes.Itsappearancebetokensapeacefulperiod;,andthereisalsothesaying“龍風呈祥”.However,itstillcannotmatchwiththepositionoftheChinesedragonwhichisthesymboloftheking.

Inwesternmyths,phoenixisamagicalbird,whichissaidlivinginArabianDesertwithalonglifeabout500or600years.Beforedeath,itbuildsanestforitsown,singsadirge,flapsitswingstotakefiretoburnitself,theninashestherecomesanewbornphoenixwhichissobeautifulanditwon’tdieagain.Therefore,phoenixhasameaningofrebirthorrevival.InEnglishphoenixreferstoperfectionsandexcellentpersons.InChina,horseswenttothebattlefieldtodefendcountrywiththeirmasters.Thereforephrasesabouthorseareconnectedtowarsuchas“戎馬生涯”,“金戈鐵馬”,“單槍匹馬”，“馬前卒”.“厲兵秣馬”

“馬到成功”

兵荒馬亂”

Horsesarealsoconnectedtotalentswhocanmakecontributionstothecountry,especiallythewell-known“千里馬”(thewingedhorse)namedbytheancients.HorseinEnglishstandsforcourage,magnanimity,andmeanseachaspectinlife.Suchas“agoodhorseshouldseldomspurred”(好馬不用鞭),“agoodhorsecannotbeofabadcolor”(好馬無劣色),Theyarealltheremarksofexperiencedpeople.Therearealsolotsofotherexpressions,like“getonthehighhorse”(擺架子，目空一切),“l(fā)ockthestabledoorafterthehorseisstolen(賊去關門)”,“itisagoodhorsethatneverstumbles”(馬有失蹄),andsoon.Horse

CulturaldifferencesofanimalwordsbetweenEnglishandChineseTheliteralmeaningsofanimalwordsinthetwolanguagesaresame,butowingtoeachone'sculturalbackground,includingcustoms,religionsandfaith,andthewordsthemselvesindifferentlanguages,thesamesubjectmaybringaboutdifferentwordsmeanings.Thisisthereasonwhyculturalconflictshappenalot.AgoodsenseinEnglish,badinChineseInChinese,dogsaregenerallyconnectedwithunpleasantness.Phraseswithdogsareusedasdisparagingterms,justlookatthesewords:走狗,狐朋狗友,喪家犬（狗）,狗仗人勢,狗東西,狗腿子,狗眼看人低;“狗嘴里吐不出象牙來”“狗急跳墻”“掛羊頭，賣狗肉”“兔死狗烹”InEnglishpeoplecallsdogas:Man’sbestfriend.Theword“dog”inmostsituationsisingoodsenseinEnglish,usedtodescribeapersonwhodeservesthedeservingpity.Suchas“helpadogoverastile”(幫助人度過難關),“aluckydog”(幸運兒),“anolddog”(老手/上了歲數的人),“l(fā)oveme,lovemydog”(愛屋及烏),“everydoghashisday”(凡人皆有得意日)Inwesternculture,dogmeansfaithful,reliableandhard-working

GoodsenseinChinese,badinEnglish

ChineseregardtheChinesedragon“龍”asatotemism,andtherearenumbersofidiomsaboutdragonthatareallingoodcausessuchas“龍躍鳳鳴”、“龍驤虎步”etc.InChinaparentsareall“望子成龍”whichmeansparents’hopethatchildrencanamounttosomethingwhentheygrowup,somanyparentswouldliketonametheirsonswith“龍”

InaverseoftherankingnovelwriterKingyong(金庸)itsays:“虎嘯龍吟，換巢鸞鳳，劍氣碧煙橫”NowWesternnewspaperscalled“亞洲四小龍”“fourAsiantigers”,andChinesetraditional“龍”aregenerallycalled“Chinesedragon”tokeepawayfromthe