Abstract
There is close relation between language and culture. Language is not only one part of culture, but also a mirror of it. The language of a nation reflects abundant cultural modality of the nation, thus there are great cultural differences between Chinese and English with different cultural backgrounds.
Vocabulary is the most active factor in language, and the meanings of color words in the vocabulary are abundant. Various nationalities have formed their unique color views in the long-term history, reflecting gorgeous national cultures. Because of different cultural issues, cultural traditions, psychological and historic backgrounds, the cultural connotations of the English and Chinese color words differ greatly. Thus, these particular cultural connotations are cast under different environments of different nationalities. There are a lot of similarities and differences on the meanings between English and Chinese color words.
This thesis gives quite a few examples and idiomatic expressions to analyze the comparison of the connotations of some color words, which explains the importance of deep understanding of cultural connotations of color words in trans-cultural communication. In analyzing the reasons why the differences arise, this thesis puts forward the idea of overcoming the obstacles resulting from the differences, which has great significance in smoothly carrying on cross-cultural communication.
Key Words: English and Chinese color words cultural connotations comparison
摘 要
语言和文化之间有着千丝万缕的联系。语言既是文化的一部分，又是文化的一面镜子。一个民族的语言折射出这个民族纷繁多彩的文化形态，根植于两种截然不同的文化背景之中的英汉两种语言之间不可避免地存在着巨大的文化差异。
词汇在语言中最活跃, 词汇中的颜色词意义丰富。各民族在长期的历史沉淀中都形成了各自独特的颜色观，折射出绚丽多姿的民族文化。由于文化内容、文化传统、历史和心理背景不同，很多英汉颜色词的文化内涵差异较大，这些特定的文化内涵意义是不同民族在不同的环境下铸就而成的。英汉颜色词在两种语言中的意义既有相同和相似之处，也存在着很多差异。
本文通过列举出一些颜色的惯用法和实例,分析了相当数量的颜色词在英汉语言中的异同，并阐述了深刻了解颜色词的文化内涵在翻译实践中的重要性。在分析差异产生的原因上，提出了克服差异所产生的障碍，对顺利进行跨文化交际有一定的指导意义。
关键词：英汉颜色词 文化涵义 比较
Contents
Acknowledgements……………………………………………..…………………… ……….i
Abstract (English)………………………………………..……………………………………ii
Abstract (Chinese)……………………………………………..……………. ………………iii
- Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………1
- Revision of color words in English and Chinese …………………..……………………….2
2.1 Implications of color words…………………………………………………….. ……….2
2.2 The comparison of the meanings of basic color words between English and Chinese…3
2.2.1 Corresponding relationship of color words between English and Chinese………….3
2.2.2 Non-corresponding relationship of color words between English andChinese…….4
2.2.2.1 Usage dislocation……………………………..…..………………..……….4
2.2.2.2 Meaning vacancies…………………………………………..……………….5
- The study of the connotations of color words from cultural aspects ………………………6
3.1 Colors and national psychology…..………..……….……….…………………………7
3.1.1 The cultural connotations of red……………………………………..……………..7
3.1.2 The cultural connotations of black……………………………..…………………9
3.1.3 The cultural connotations of white……………………………..………………..10
3.1.4 The cultural connotations of yellow……………………………..………………12
3.1.5 The cultural connotations of blue……………………………..…………………13
3.1.6 The cultural connotations of green………………………………………………14
3.1.7 The cultural connotations of other colors………………………….…..…………15
3.2 Colors and historic backgrounds ……………………………………….……………..16
- Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………..18
References……………………………………………………………………..……………..19
