中英颜色词文化内涵——以“红”“白”为例

论文总字数：29260字

摘 要

语言是文化的载体与映射。作为语言中的一部分,颜色渗透着我们生活的各个领域。它不仅反映一个民族对自然界的理解,也反映了一个民族的世界观和不同的民族文化特点和内涵。作为历史悠久的语言,英语和汉语都有丰富的基本颜色词。但由于宗教信仰、风俗习惯等原因,英语和汉语的许多基本颜色词反映了各自不同的民族文化特点和内涵。虽然要分辨色彩词本身的含义并不困难，但是色彩词背后隐藏的文化内涵往往是学生难以掌握的。因此英汉颜色词文化内涵的研究具有重要意义。本论文主要从汉英基本颜色词“红（red）、白（white）”的文化内涵入手，对英汉两对共同的基本颜色词进行了系统对比，探析了英语基本颜色词的文化内涵表现不同的根本原因。

关键词：色彩词； 文化内涵； 红和白

Contents

1.Introduction 1

2.Literature review 2

3.The Chinese and English Cultural connotation of Color words"Red" and "White" 3

3.1The "Red" Culture in Chinese 3

3.2The "white" Culture in Chinese 5

3.3The "Red" Culture in English 6

3.4The "white" Culture in English 8

4.The reasons for the difference in connotation between Chinese and English basic color words 9

4.1Religious beliefs 9

4.2 Customs 10

4.3 History and Culture 12

5.Conclusion 12

Works Cited 14

1. Introduction

The color words in Chinese and English languages are very rich. They can not only express the physical meaning of objects, but also have abundant cultural connotations and extended meanings. It is an important field for people to know the word.The appearance, development and evolution of color words reflect the process of human cognition, and their rich cultural deposits reflect the social background and cultural customs in different periods of human society, reflecting different cultural connotations.An in-depth understanding of the emergence and development of chinese-english color words can deepen our understanding of different languages and cultures, broaden our horizons and broaden our knowledge.On the basis of drawing on and absorbing the cultural essence of english-speaking countries, the research level of linguistic theory should be improved, and the development of Chinese language and intercultural communication should be promoted.

With the development of technology, especially the development of information technology, the global communication and exchanges become more and more frequent, and as an important tool of human communication the role of language is becoming more and more obvious.Color words play a more important role in language communication because they bear the rich cultural connotations of various languages .However, due to the differences in cultural traditions, there are some similarities and differences between the two color words. Moreover, color words are also related to national economy, religion, customs and other aspects, which brings certain difficulties to correctly understand and use color words for cultural communication. Therefore, analyzing the similarities and differences of these color words and accurately understanding the cultural information conveyed by these color words are of great significance for correctly understanding and using these color words to express meanings, conduct language communication and communication.

This paper mainly compares the color words of Chinese and English, and takes red and white as an example to compare the cultural connotation differences between English and Chinese basic color words, and to explore the root causes of the cultural connotation differences between English and Chinese color words.

2. Literature review

The most influential study on Color words abroad is the Basic Color Terms: Their Universality and Evolution， published by American ethnographer Brent Berlin and linguist Paul Kay in 1969.The two scholars have investigated 98 languages and have done a lot of research on different languages in terms of color discrimination, code matching and so on.They believe that the basic color words in the natural language color code system are white, gray ,black, red, yellow, blue, , green brown, pink, orange ,purple.These eleven colors gradually appear in the color code system of language according to a certain evolution process.The number of basic color words in different languages is restricted by the development of society and history development at that time.Berlin and Kane"s basic color word evolution theory has gradually been widely accepted by the academic community and has had a far-reaching impact.

Most studies on color words by domestic scholars are based on the theories of Brent Berlin, Paul Kay.Although compared with the west, the study of color words began late in China, but the results are quite abundant.For example, in The Composition of Color Words by Liu Junjie, this paper discusses the composition of color words from the perspective of etymology and classifies color words.Liu Danqing discusses the number of basic color words in modern Chinese from the perspective of the law of the development of color words, and demonstrates the cross-linguistic significance, historical significance and synchronic significance of the sequence of basic color words.Shi Yuzhi, in the Usage of Modern Chinese Color Words, summarizes the characteristics of color division of the han nationality by analyzing the usage of modern Chinese color words. An earlier article on the word "white" was the Interpretation of "White" by pan feng (2004). Huang Dan"s article Analysis of Chinese "white"Color Word Group analyzes "the development of white word group in terms of quantity, word formation ability and color richness". Articles on the cultural connotation of Red include Comparative Study on the Language, Culture and Translation of Chinese "Red" and English "Red", and Comparison and Translation of the Folk Semantic of the Color Word "Red" in English and Chinese.

Although many experts and scholars have done a lot of investigation and research on color words and made gratifying scientific research achievements, there are still some problems at present.For example, there are some different views on the definition of basic color words in Chinese.There are still inconsistencies in terms used in the study of color words.The systematic study of Chinese basic color words still needs to be improved.With the promotion and deepening of Chinese international education, the research of basic color words in Chinese is not enough to adapt to the current situation, and the comparative study of basic color words between Chinese, English and other languages is not enough.This paper will compare the basic color words of Chinese and English, especially the connotation comparison of cultural factors, and try to find out their similarities and differences.Such a comparative study is of certain significance to the development of intercultural communication and international Chinese education.

3. The Chinese and English Cultural connotation of Color words"Red" and "White"

3.1 The "Red" Culture in Chinese

3.1.1 Festival culture

Every time during the Spring Festival, families will decorate the home very festive. On this day, every household will affix red couplets in front of the gate, red "blessing" characters, red lanterns, red window flowers , children to wear red clothes, and old people to hand out red envelopes to each child. These "red" are all related to cultural traditions, due to the red in China has been given auspicious jubilation, good luck, exorcism demons of symbolic significance.

3.1.2 Culture of marriage and childbearing

Red plays a happy role throughout one"s life, from two people who have never known each other to getting married under the introduction of "matchmaker"；Before marriage, the wedding gift given by the man to the woman is called "Hong ding"; at the time of marriage, the bride will wear the festive "red dress" and cover the "red bridal veil", and in some places, the way of "cross-fire basin" will be used to look forward to the future life ;On the day of the wedding cave, the interior and exterior of the new house are full of red colors：red sheets, red covers, red pillows, red double joy, etc.Families have to prepare red eggs and eat red eggs after their children are born, which means that the elderly can live long and healthy, the children can drive away evil spirits, and women can have children.These "red" cultures in China are full of blessings, it can be seen that the status of red in people"s minds is extraordinary.

3.1.3 Political complexion

In addition to the above-mentioned auspicious and festive symbolic significance, red has always been the ruling class, privileged class use of color, authoritative.Bloodshed is inevitable if the revolution is to succeed.Red symbol.For example, during the Chinese War of Resistance against Japan, the name of the army was "Red Army"; the flag of our country was called the "five-star red flag"; the regime held by the Party was called the "red regime"; The documents issued by the CPC Central Committee that play an important guiding role are called "Red head documents".

3.1.4 Gender culture

Since ancient times, Chinese traditional culture used to use red to describe women, not only because red is full of praise, but also because red is the color of flowers.In ancient times, women used more red powder to make up, so they called the beauty "hong yan".There are many idioms related to this in modern times, such as:“ girl bosom friend红颜知己 ”and“ the young beautiful lady will always be star-crossed红颜薄命”.In addition, some words related to women are associated with "red" in Chinese. For example, Chairman Mao once said, " women do not love red dress but love armed", red dress here refers to the dress of women, and the residence of rich children is called "red tower红楼"; The woman"s sweat is called "red sweat红汗"; the woman"s colorful clothes are called "red sleeve"; the woman"s tears are called "red tears红泪", etc.

3.2The "white" Culture in Chinese

3.2.1The Funeral tradition in China

Chinese Funeral traditions also have differences according to regional customs. But wherever it is, the main colors that appear on the day of mourning are white and black. White and black are the most simple colors in the natural color,it can express the grief of the loss of loved ones very well.Filial piety children usually wear white, with white cloth or white flowers on their heads, white shoes on their feet, white filial piety sticks in their hands, and using white paper to make a flag as a guide to the soul.At the time of the funeral, filial sons also need to inform their relatives and friends of their relatives and friends with white bereavement paper in their hands.

3.2.2The feminine beauty of "white"

Among modern cosmetics, the products with whitening effect sell the best, which is related to the traditional Chinese concept.In the traditional Chinese concept, a beautiful woman should have healthy, white and red skin.We often use white to describe a girl, as the saying goes, "one white covers three ugliness", which highlights the importance of white in our aesthetic value.

3.2.3The purity and beauty of "white"

We often describe pure and noble nurses as white angle, on the one hand, because they wear white clothes, on the other hand, the single white color gives people the symbolic meaning of white purity and beauty.The same words include "blemish洁白无暇", "flawless白璧无瑕", "innocent all your life一生清白" and so on. "White" in these words no longer means white, but uses the symbolic meaning of "white" to express praise.In contrast to white, dark skin gives a feeling of strength and experiencing vicissitudes。Men who has a dark skin will add a bit of manhood to men.If you use "white" to describe a boy. And this commendatory word has changed its flavor and become a derogatory meaning.

3.2.4The political significance of "white"

In our country, the political meaning represented by color white is usually decadence, reactionary, failure and treachery.When fighting, the first party to raise the white flag was regarded as the one who failed to surrender. The enemy forces are called "white army" or "white bandits"; the brutal rule of the Kuomintang period is called "white terror"; the people of the Cultural Revolution who are only engaged in their business and do not attach importance to political studies are referred to as "white school models".In the traditional drama, the color of facebook also reflects the rich cultural connotation, the white face represents the treacherous villain and the red face represents the loyal minister.

3.3The "Red" Culture in English

3.3.1"Red" represents lively and warm hospitality.

In English, the red-letter day refers to the anniversary, the festive day; to paint the town red is the meaning of carnival;When Western countries receive important guests, they always put on a red carpet to receive them.The red carpet is an indication of the importance of the guests.Although the word "red" also has a lively and festive meaning in the West, it is rare to see in the decoration of ordinary festivals.This is because in the Western world, red is the color of blood, and it carries the derogatory meanings of bloodshed, sacrifice, and the withering of flowers.

3.3.2 "Red" represents bloodiness and violence

There is such an old saying in China: one sings red face, one sings white face.Among them, the characters mainly in red have the characteristics of honesty, bravery and strength.The symbolic significance of Red face has something to do with Guan Yu, the General of the three Kingdoms period.Because he himself has a noble character and is praised by posterity, he refers to a person with such a strong character by his red face.It can be seen that in China, "red" is used to describe a man full of commendatory .

But in the West, the term "red" is usually denigrated and refers to a person with a short temper.In English, the word "red" is often related to anger, bloodiness and violence.For example,: red revenge refers to bloody vengeance; like a red rag to a bull means to provoke or stimulate somebody or to make somebody angry.

3.3.3"Red" represents political radicalization

In a political sense, the West is exactly the opposite of China. Red not only symbolizes radical political propositions, such as: red hot political campaign refers to the fierce political movement; red activities refers to leftist radical activities, but also symbolizes bureaucratic habits and red tape on the part of officials. Such as: red tape, etc.

3.3.4"Red" represents economic losses

Chinese people believe that red can bring wealth, such as the "红利 (dividend)" in Chinese.But in English, "red figure" and "red ink" all indicate fiscal crisis and heavy load."in the red" means a loss, "out of red" means turning a deficit into a profit, and "red balance" means a deficit gap. So the term "red" in the western economy is not very popular.

3.4The "white" Culture in English

3.4.1 White symbolizes purity and nobility

In the West, there are countless commendatory phrases related to "white", and Snow White is the embodiment of beauty and kindness in the Western "Green"s Fairy Tales".In English, "white sheep" does not refer to white sheep, but to things that are pure and beautiful; "white soul" refers to pure hearts; "a white spirit" refers to noble spirits.

3.4.2"White" symbolizes pale and useless

In Western culture, the term "white-face" is used to describe an unhealthy face and a pale face."a white elephant" is not simply understood as a white elephant. The phrase stands for something that is useless but doesn’t need to be disposed of.In war, the defeated side often means surrender by raising a white flag, and in English, "white flag" has the same meaning.

3.4.3 "White" symbolizes honesty and integrity

剩余内容已隐藏，请支付后下载全文，论文总字数：29260字