中英文化中的颜色词汇对比

A comparative study of English and Chinese color

words中英文化中的颜色词汇对比

【关键词】颜色词；文化；含义；跨文化交际

Ⅰ. Introduction

Color is a visual phenomenon which is launched, reflected or caused through certain light wave by the object; it is one kind of visual essential features of human eye. But color words are the terms that describe colors which are used to describe of all things in the world.

The nature is colorful, and so many words can be used to describe it. Generally speaking, black symbolizes oppression, white shows purity and innocence, green brings vital force. However, the same color may have the different meaning in English and Chinese, because of the different history and culture. And after careful study of color words, it is easy to find that color words can produ ce various associations, which have a great effect on a person’s mood and behavior. That is the main reason that people use color words to explain their moral character, mood and opinions to things. In different countries, color words of cultural connotations are different. Cultural connotation means vocabulary is endowed with the meaning of metaphor, association, symbol and so on. Although color words of different languages have the same conceptual meaning, their connotative meanings are different. Different cultural background and habits of language expressions result in the different connotations of color words and they have a great effect on the cultural connotations of words. The association of acceptation and cultural image are cultural information gap. This gap influences people to understand the meaning of the same word. For example, black symbolizes melancholy and awfulness in some English-speaking countries. So, people in those countries are often in black when they attend a funeral or some important social gatherings. But, to Chinese people, we use white to show a grief to a death.

In a word, color is a very important field of people’s basically knowledge. It concerns people’s life closely, carrying basic features of physics and rich cultural connotations. when one kind of colors has different meanings in different cultures, we can’t say which kind of linguistic expression is more reasonable, more exact and better to use. So a comparative study of English and Chinese color words is very important to understand English and Chinese language, culture and cross-cultural communication.

Ⅱ. Similarities of Color Words between English and Chinese

Due to the commonness of the language, some color words may have the same meaning in two specific cultures. Here this thesis will elaborate the similar meanings of some color words in English and Chinese first.

A. Similarities of Red in English and Chinese

Red is the earliest color used by human in the world. In ancient time, people got warmth and light from the sun. Fire was used to cook. The impression from the sun and fire was red, so they thought red was a warm color that could bring us happiness and excitement. This view is handed down from the ancient time and becomes a tradition. In both Chinese and English culture, red is usually related with happy occasions. On calendar, we can find that holidays such as Spring Festival, Christmas Day are printed in red, which is called “red letter days”, while ordinary days are in black. Besides, “to paint the town red” is to celebrate widely. Another English example is “to roll out the red carpet for someone” that means to give a hospitable and formal reception1.