英汉基本色彩词文化内涵比较及翻译(英文翻译)

Table of Contents

ⅠIntroduction……………………………………………………………………….. ⅡSocial attributes of Color……………………………………………………………

2.1 Color and history……………………………………………………………….

2.1.1 Clothing color symbolizes the throne………………………………………

2.1.2 Construction and Clothing color reflects ranks……………………………

2.1.3 Clothing colors reflect the professional……………………………………

2.2 Color and ritual practices………………………………………………………

2.3 Color and politics………………………………………………………………

2.4 Color and the economy…………………………………………………………ⅢDifference Implications of Colors

3.1 Red…………………………............................................................................

3.2 White………………………………………………………………………….

3.3 Black………………………………………………………………………….

3.4 Y ellow………………………………………………………………………..

3.5 Green…………………………………………………………………………

3.6 Blue…………………………………………………………………………. ⅣEnglish translation of basic color words

4.1 Direct translation of color words……………………………………………

4.2 Changing color words………………………………………………………

4.3 Abandoning color words……………………………………………………

4.4 Adding color words…………………………………………………………

ⅤConclusion………………………………………………………………………

Abstract

Word which is to express the color with each national language in the world is different and also has different classification. The classification about basic color words in Chinese-english nation is basically alike as using seven divided method which means red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, violet. Translating those words related to the amount of basic color in English and Chinese language correctly, the key is to grasp these color words cultural connotation. This article discusses the general rules of the color words translation and generalizes the four basic translations by comparing the chinese and english basic color words in cultural conotation.

Key words Basic color words; Connotative meaning; cultural connotation; translation

Cultural differences between China and the west as revealed

in color words and their translation

ⅠIntroduction

The boundless universe is full of all the colors of the rainbow. Sunrise of the east, the bright moonlight, cerulean sea, green fields, the golden waves of the wheat,the place to thrive and grow and the foundation of the development of civilization is provided by the flowery and profuse human nature.There are abundant color words in English and Chinese languages. The color words form a special word group which is a subsystem in their vocabulary system.English and Chinese color words can be divided into two categories, namely basic color words and real color words. The basic color words are those specifically used for showing the colors of the objects, such as black, white, red, yellow, green, blue, purple in English.汉语中的黑、白、红、黄、绿、蓝、紫。Real color words at first are just some name of the objects. But for these objects have some outstanding color, they have derived some new meanings, which is not only showing these things, but also having the prominent color on the objects. Such as gold, silver, violet, orange and coffee in English and the Chinese words like golden, silvery white, pink, orange, cream-colored, etc. 汉语中的金黄、银白、桃红、橙色、米色等.The vocabulary of the color is becoming plentiful in correspondence with the continuous development of the human civilization.the meaning which is alleged "connotative meaning" also derived from a certain color which showed simply before.

Translation is a kind of special language exchange activity, A famous translator Eugene Nida summarized it into four basic process:(1)the original analysis;(2)translate the source language into the target language;(3)redress the translation;(4)invite a representative reader to check the translation.Among them, the original analysis is disposing carefully the signified and connotation associative meaning of words and

researching syntax and text structure in translation, most of the mistakes are not good because of this process.If the translator really understand the meaning of the original text, and can control the source language with facility, translation will be a natural process with ease.Therefore to translate the expression of the color in both English and Chinese language, a pivotal link is to grasp the connotative meaning which showed by those words in the two social context of the culture. That is "cultural connotation" of the color word.

ⅡSocial attributes of Color

Color words are "cultural qualifiers”, with strong national culture characteristics and each nation has its own color conception.

In different cultures, the same color expresses different cultural psychologies, causes different associations and has different cultural connotations.

2.1 Color and history

2.1.1 Clothing color symbolizes the throne

"Yellow" and "Purple" are two common colors, but they have different symbolic meanings in the history of different nations. In the traditional conception of the ancient Chinese Han nationality, 〝Yellow〞 represents the kingship.

In western countries people advocate "Purple" more. In ancient Greece and ancient Roman, emperor, archons, lawman and Gen. wearied purple robe. "Purple" is the emblem of grandee, dignity or kingship. Someone who gets a purple robe means he is promoted to a prominent position. So in English there are idioms like "to rise to the purple”, “to be born in the purple”, “to marry into the purple" and so on.

2.1.2 Construction and Clothing color reflects ranks

In the Ming and Qing Dynasty, it was required by the government that only the palace of the royal family, the tomb of the royal family and temples for granted of the king were permitted to use yellow glazed tiles. Prince and other high-ranking aristocrats can only use green to build their roof. Blue, purple, cyan and other colors were used in the houses of other officers and eunuchs.

In ancient Tang Dynasty, robes for officers had different colors according to their rank: Rank six-Dark green; Rank seven-Light green; Rank eight-Dark cyan; Rank nine-Light cyan.

A poem "琵琶行(Pi pa Xing)"(斜体，首字母大写)by Bai Juyi said "座中泣

下谁最多?江州司马青衫湿".

"青衫" in the poem means green robe, Bai Juyi was a sesame small officer in that time.

2.1.3 Clothing colors reflect the professional

It is popular in western countries to represent the types of employment by clothing color. The most obvious examples such as: white-collar workers(Those who have received specialized education or technical training);blue-collar workers(Ordinary manual workers);grey-collar workers(Service industry workers);pink-collar workers(Career woman groups);golden-collar personnel(Complex talents which have professional skills and also understand management)

2.2 Color and ritual practices

Red, symbol of "auspiciousness and celebration" is a traditional Chinese wedding color. The bride wears red clothes, covered with red headscarf. Windows, doors and the wall must affix the red Chinese character "囍".So the wedding is also called "red wedding”. But at the funeral, as the influence of Buddhist salvation to Chinese people, they regard the demise of old people as "white funeral”. So the funeral family members must be dressed in white, we are a white hat, tie white belt or white flowers to mourn. Chinese people have handed down the folklore for thousands of years.

In the western weddings, the bride always wears a white dress-symbol of purity precious love, giving a beauty of holy and elegant. But at the funeral, people are dressed in black robes to express condolences to the decedent. Therefore, because of the difference conception between wedding and funeral in China and Western Countries, Chinese "red weddings and white funerals" must not be translated according to its literal meaning, but only to be translated interpretatively-"weddings and funerals". 2.3 Color and politics

In our country, the colors tend to have strong and distinctive political overtones. The most typical is the "red" color; it symbolizes the revolution, the proletariat and the socialist. And "white" means the counter-revolutionary, bourgeoisie and capitalism. “Black" symbolizes death, decay and decline of the things.

There are a variety of political parties and factions in the world, and some political parties and factions, the army and organizations are named after the color words. Such as:

Black Hand(Secret organization of an Italian immigrant in the United States to engage in criminal activities);Green Panther(A radical environment protectors group);Gray Panther(An American radical elderly party);Red Army(The former Soviet army).

2.4 Color and the economy

Color words are frequently used and extremely active in economic terms. Such as: red ink(Deficit);in the red(At a loss);in the black(Profit);black market; green field project(New launched project or emerging enterprises in need of funding);gray area(Serious unemployment areas).

Since the reform and opening up in our country, with the incensement of economic and the establishment of market economy, a number of economic terms with color words also appeared. Such as: black goods (Smuggled goods); grey incomes (Incomes obtained through improper ways); red profit (Dividends) and so on.

ⅢDifference Implications of Colors

Thanks to the effect of the general character in human culture and mutual penetration in culture which tend to be identical, different nation usually endow a certain color with a same signified meaning. Red is enthusiasm and shows joyous and courageous. Green is a color of life and demonstrates youthful energy and vigorous vitality. White symbolizes pure and simple and contains the immaculate and simple natural meaning. Blue is quiet and gives people with a profound and relaxed feeling.

3.1 Red

No matter in China or western countries, "red" has something relevant to joy and happy. In china for example, to celebrate the new year, Chinese people stick "红对联" to both sides of their doors and hang"红灯笼"outside .When young people have a traditional wedding ceremony, the bride is going to put on red clothes and stick red "喜" word to the wall.

In western countries, people get Christmas and other holidays to be called red-letter days, showing a meaning of "joy and memorial". When people meet the head of state at the airport, they always spreads the red carpet as the highest treatment.

In ancient China, people commonly used "红颜" or "红粉" to allege a beautiful face of woman, and used“红闺”or“红楼”to indicate a daughter's attic in rich house.

Words of color red in English don't have a extended meaning with "woman", so when translate the above words into English, we can't do a literal translation and we can avoid the "red" and translate into figurative meaning. Translate“红颜”into“a beautiful girl”or“a pretty face”，Translate“红粉”into“a gaily dressed girl”.Moreover, Translate “红闺”or“红楼”into“a lady’s room”or“a boudoir”.

3.2 White

Association caused by white is n is more similar in the English and Chinese language. Both refer to 纯洁(purity)or清(innocence).But word "white" in some phrases in English does not like "白" in Chinese. Like “a white lie”does not mean“白色的谎言”but“无害而善意的谎言”;And like "the white coffee", not“白咖啡”, but“牛奶咖啡”.

There are many words containing "white" in Chinese don't mean color. It has nothing to do with "white" when translating into English. It makes up a phrase with other words together.

“白菜” (Chinese cabbage)、

“白熊” (polar bear)、

“白蚁” (termite)、

“白卷” (unanswered examination paper)、

“白痴” (idiot)等。

Some "white" in phrase also means“单纯的、不掺杂的”，like“白开水”(plain boiled water)、“白纸”(a blank sheet of paper) 等。

"white" often means“徒劳、徒然” (in vain)or“无代价”(without cost)，Like“白费事” (all in vain，a waste of time and energy)、“白搭”(no use，no good)、“白送”(to give away free of charge，for nothing)、“白手起家”(to build up from nothing) 等。

3.3 Black

Black is a sad color in both Chinese and English, which stands for sadness. People in England and the USA always dress in black when they attend a funeral to show their mourning to the dead, which is the same as in China. But beside that, in other situation, European societies consider black represents serious and solemn. So there is no surprise that black suit and black dress is the most favorite conventional garment of the westerners.

Black has the connotation of “dark, unfair, sinister, terror” in both English and Chinese language. “black”usually indicates bad gays

and bad things. Like“黑市、黑名单、黑心肠、黑户、黑钱、黑社会、黑帮、黑幕、背黑锅”in Chinese.“black market”黑市、“black list”黑名单、“black - hearted”黑心肠的、“black guard”恶棍、“black art”妖术、“black sheep”败家子、“black news”坏消息 in English.

And in English “black Friday”refers to the Friday that Jesus suffered from tribulation before the Easter day. It is a depressed day. “Black tiding”means doom or something unsatisfied."Black" in Chinese has the connotation of integrity, Bao Zheng, an upright official in the Song dynasty, his opera masks is black .In the daily life people describe the behavior of daring to insist the principle to handle affairs as "sing black face".

3.4 Y ellow

Chinese people used to symbolize those bad and vulgar contents with "yellow". Literature and arts which have the tendency to serious pornography are demoted for yellow movie, yellow music and books. With the popularization of computer software, some yellow software appears. Words in English "yellow" of Chinese words should be "pornographic(色情的)，filthy(淫猥的)，vulgar(庸俗的、下流的)，obscene(淫秽的、猥亵的)”等.About the color of the English words, blue is often used to say in the Chinese language "yellow", namely "dirty, obscene, obscene" meaning, Such as "blue jokes" (dirty joke), "blue revolution" (性解放), "blue films" (黄色影片), "blue software" (黄色软件), etc. In Chinese language there are some phrases have nothing to do with yellow in English such as "黄道吉日" (good luck), "黄毛丫头" (a silly little girl), "黄花"(clay lily), etc.

"Yellow Pages" in English translated as "the Yellow Pages phonebook", it is a book for phone number checking according to different stores, career, enterprise and the classification of the authority.

In English, "yellow" implied "betrayal, evil, timid" connotation.

"Yellowdog" is for the mean guy, "yellow belly" and "yellow livered" refers to a coward, "yellow union" refers to the trade union of destructing specialized workers' strike, which is a puppet organization controlled by the recipient.

3.5 Green

Green in Chinese culture is a mixed color, implied despised and unorthodox.It also has a "lascious women" content.In Han dynasty servants dressed a green hood. after Yuan dynasty prostitute must dress a green coif. "Green cloud(绿云)" refers to the women's black hair， "green window(绿窗)" is the window of the boudoir. It is often called "wearing a green hat" that Wife's infidelity made her husband humiliated.

The "green" in English has a "money, jealousy, lack of experience, fresh" connotative meaning. In the United States, the bill is green, so in the United States, commonly used green refers to "money" or "economic strength" . The American dollar bill is called "long green", "green power" means the power of money, "green-eyed" means jealousy. "Do you see any green in my eye?" means "do you think my eye?" An entry-level beginner is called "green hand", "green wound" is a new injury, a man with no experience is called a "green horn", "green goods" means fresh goods, "green meat" means the fresh meat, "a green old age" is hale and hearty.

3.6 Blue

Blue in English and Chinese language can be used to refer to color of the clear sky, and give a person with vaster, quiet and detached feel. Blue in Chinese has a less extended meaning, but blue in English has more extended meaning. It is used to refer to a person's "gloomy mood", "displeasure ", such as the phrase "in a blue mood", "to have the blues" Blue means" depressed ", "boring", and "bad luck ".

Holiday blue means winter Holiday depression, especially refers to the coming Christmas. With flying snow , people is trapped in the home and felt lonely; Also refers to before Christmas, people looks sad and

the mood is very sullen because financial difficulties make them cannot buy special purchases and gifts.

Blue will also be used to refer to "yellow," "dirty", such as "a blue film" means "yellow movie", "to make a blue joke" means "tell a dirty joke".

Blue also means "royal and nobility, faithful and justice," Blue blood "means noble blood. " Blue-ribbon "means the first-class," Blue book "is social celebrity collection."

ⅣEnglish translation of basic color words

The purpose of translation is to realize the cross-culture communication. To have a correct understanding of the implications of words, is on the base if translating them fluency, and expressively. Thesis, roughly divided 4 methods to convey those meaning. They are: direct translation of color words, changing color words , abandoning color words , adding color words.

4.1 Direct translation of color words

When color words in English and Chinese cultural connotation is equivalent in similar, it can be directly translated. For example: 黑市 black market, 黑名单black list、黑心肠的black - hearted、红色警报red alert 、为欢迎总统铺上红地毯to roll out the red carpet for the President.

4.2 Changing color words

The color word has nothing to do with the color in another kind of language. Sometimes, color words in one language relate to colors, while in translating into another kind of language to correspond to none color words. When we encounter with those color words that have nothing to do with color, the only way we need to do is to change it, and substitute with a word which can convey its meaning.

1）她对他的成功感到眼红。She is green - eyed with his success.

2）现在这些赌博游戏场正改作电影俱乐部，这往往意味着他们要放映黄色电影。Now the bingo halls are becoming cinema clubs ， which normally means they show blue films.

4.3 Abandoning color words

When we can’t find a corresponding color word to substitute the color word of the origin text, we can try to translate it abandoning the color word in origin text, and find another word which get a total same or similar meaning to this color word. Through we miss the color word, we can still

express the emotion and deliver the information as much as possible. The following examples can give us very evidence.

1)这位歌星现在正红得发紫。This pop star is now at the height of her popularity.

2）约瑟夫的父亲看起来很保守，但他的思想却是挺激进的。Josephine's father looks very conservative ， but his ideas are very red.

4.4 Adding color words

Adding color words means there are no color words in the origin text, but we can add color words when translation them into the target according to the same meaning. Then we can achieve the same effect. We can see some useful examples as follows:

1)他家里的白色家电（冰箱、洗衣机之类）消耗的电量占到80%。White goods consume 80 percent of the electricity in his apartment.

2)远惭西子，近愧王嫱。若非宴罢归来，瑶池不二；定应吹箫引去，紫府无双者也。（《红楼梦》第五回）She should put His Shih to shame and make Wang Qiang blush Verily she has no peer in fairyland ， no equal in the purple courts of heaven.（杨宪益、戴乃迭译）

ⅤConclusion

Color is abundant. The corresponding of the meaning of English and Chinese color words is various. And the symbolic significance of a kind of color is not single, but multilevel. Some is close, some is different, some is even completely opposite. so the translation of color words often make the translator hesitated and confused. Translation should deliberate and dispose carefully. All in all, put aside the literal translation situation for the color word meaning is the same concept, color word literal translation situation is less relatively. the method of changing, abandoning and adding the color is more common. But no matter using what method, the purpose is to be faithful to the original intention and express vividly, according with the expression custom of the target language. This is the basic principle of translation.