浅谈英汉颜色词汇中的文化差异及其翻译

论文总字数：33390字

摘 要

颜色词，顾名思义，就是用来描述各种颜色的词。由于不同的文化问题，文化传统，文化精神和历史背景，颜色词在中英翻译中体现的文化内涵截然不同。本文对英汉基本颜色词含义进行对比分析，从中揭示中英两国颜色词之间存在的文化差异，与此同时并提出英汉基本颜色词的翻译策略，以便人们在实际交往中能正确理解和应用这些词汇。

关键词：中英颜色词；文化内涵；翻译

Contents

1. Introduction………………………………………………………………1
2. Literature Review………………………………………………………...1

2.1Overseas review............................................................................................1

2.2Demostic review.........................................................................................2

2.3Trend in development...................................................................................3

3. Comparison of Cultural Connotation of Four Color Words............3

3.1The cultural connotation of red....................................................................3

3.2The cultural connotation of black.................................................................4

3.3The cultural connotation of yellow...............................................................5

3.4 The cultural connotation of green..............................................................7

1. Two Causes of the Differences between Chinese and English Cultural Connotation......................................................................................................8

4.1 Geographical conditions..............................................................................8

4.2 Religions.................................................………………………………….9

5. Two Translation Strategies of Chinese and English Color Words........10

5.1 Literal translation......................................……………………………10

5.2 Free translation.........................................…………………………10

6. Conclusion………………………………………………………………11

Works Cited………………………………………………………………..13

1. Introduction

Almost every nation in the world has its own characteristics and ways of expression, English and Chinese are no exception as well. There are some differences in observation, understanding and thinking. As people have a sense of existence of colors and colors play an indispensable part in our life so we are familiar with color words, they are not only having physical characteristics, but also have rich cultural connotations. As an important part of human language, color words can reflect the strong national color and distinct cultural characteristics, with obvious cultural imprint. Therefore, this paper attempts to find out the similarities and differences through the comparison between English and Chinese color words, and to explore the translation of these words for further understanding.

1. Literature Review

2.1Overseas review

In 1969, American ethnologist Berlin and linguist Kane published a book, ‘basic Color words: a study of universality and Evolution’, (Berlin.166)which laid the foundation for the study of color systems and had a profound impact on later researchers. It is of great significance in the field of color research.(Zhang.78)

In the early 1970s, when Heider explored the relationship between cognition and color words, he divided the subjects into two groups for a controlled experiment, and concluded that the number of color words in language did not affect human’s cognition of color. (Heider.102)That is, the human memory of color is independent of color words. This conclusion caused a big ripple in the field of color research at that time. Soja’s view further validates heider’s view,it proves that the human perception of color is the result of interaction between human visual organs and external objects, and that because the human body is roughly the same, even in different geographical regions, there is common in cognitive ability.(Soja.66)

Leech, an English linguist, explores the relationship between color and cultural associative meaning in his book semantics. He thinks that in different contexts, color words are no longer just words that describe the attributes of objects, but transcend their physical meaning and rise to the level of associative meaning, that is, color words have specific feelings and associative meanings.(Leech.38) Leech divides semantics into seven types: rational meaning, thematic meaning, social meaning, emotional meaning, reflecting meaning, collocation meaning, connotative meaning, and the latter five meanings are called associative meaning. He also believes that the basic color category should be seen as a weak universal phenomenon rather than a strong universal phenomenon.

2.2Demostic review

A few domestic scholars have carried out systematic and comprehensive research on western color words, among which Mr. Zhang Peiji published in 1964 English Acoustic-Color words and Translation, has the greatest influence.(Zhang.22)

The Color Beauty of Language, published by Liu Yunquan, an associate professor of Chinese literature at Hangzhou University in 1990, is a unique and groundbreaking work in the field of color words. It systematically uses sociolinguistics theories and methods to study color, and discusses the essential attributes of Chinese color vocabulary, such as the evolution and characteristics of Chinese color vocabulary, and its relations with art, literature, science and society.(Liu.88) This work has aroused a great response in the field of linguistics, it also has been highly praised by many scholars, and has had a profound impact on the later researchers of color words.

Zhang Zongjiu used a new perspective to describe Chinese and Western color words in his book A Comparative Study of Color Modification in English and Chinese. Other scholars in China have focused on the differences between the two terms, while teacher Zhang Zongjiu believes that when the two cultures meet, the common ground of Chinese and Western color words should not be ignored. It is futile to overemphasize differences.(Zhang.111)

2.3Trend in development

During the research period, throughout the domestic and foreign scholars’ research on color words, I summarize the research directions of color words: the study of color in translation, the study of color in cross-cultural communication, and the study of color in social attributes. Now, with China’s GDP far ahead of Japan and becoming the second largest economy in the world, the enthusiasm of people to learn Chinese is rising ,especially in the West.Confucius Institutes have become a window for people to learn Chinese language and Chinese long history of culture. Teaching Chinese as a foreign language is the main teaching form. In the teaching process, Chinese color words are bound to be involved. How to effectively disseminate Chinese color words to foreign friends is a hot topic in the future. At the same time, with the development of the times, the connotation of color words is not fixed, but will be assigned to new meanings. Therefore, I think that under the new background of the times, the new cultural connotation of the color words will also become a new entry point for research.

3. Comparison of Cultural Connotation of Four Color Words

3.1 The cultural connotation of red

In both English and Chinese, ‘red’ and ‘红’are associated with ‘dignity’, ‘love’, ‘beauty’, ‘happiness’, and so on. So in English one may find, for example, ‘red-letter days’, which refers to holidays such as Christmas and other special days. Such days are printed in red on calendars. Another example is ‘to paint the town red’, meaning to celebrate, go out for drinking and have a good time. ‘Roll out the red carpet for someone’ or ‘give the red carpet treatment’ means giving a lavish welcome. As the representative color of China, ‘红’ is the favorite color to most Chinese. It is often used in a positive sense. In China, ‘红’is the most frequent color in celebrations and joyful occasions. In such traditional festivals as New Year’s Day and Spring Festival, red antithetical couplets are stuck on both sides of the door, red character ‘福’ pasted up, red lanterns hung up, red paper-cuts attached onto the windows, red fireworks set off, and New Year money gift to children is enveloped in red paper packages. Wedding and birth are called ‘红事’. In the traditional Chinese weddings, the bride, who wore red dress, red shoes, and a red veil, sat in a red-painted palanquin, greeted by the bridegroom who rode a horse with a big red silk-made flower on the chest? After the ceremony, they would enter into the bridal chamber decorated with red candles. The bed was covered with red bedspreads, red quilts, and red pillows. What’s more, the gifts sent by guests were also wrapped in red packages.

‘Red’ shares some similarities with ‘红’. They both mean danger. ‘Red light’ and ‘红灯’ in traffic regulations serves as a sign reminding and warning drivers to stop. The area in a city where the houses of prostitution are located is called ‘red-light district’ or ‘红灯区.’ ‘Red alert’ or ‘红色警报’ is a warning of sudden danger. In a football match, the referee will show a piece of ‘red card’ or ‘红牌’to a player who has done something against the rules and will not be allowed to play for the rest of the game.

Furthermore, ‘red’ and ‘红’ is associated with certain emotions. In English, ‘to become red-faced’ or her ‘face turned red’ shows embarrassment, as it does in Chinese ‘脸红’. But the Chinese may not so easily understand some English expressions involving the color red. It is difficult for Chinese people to understand the meaning of ‘to see red’ and ‘waving a red flag’. Both of them are related with anger. The former means to be made angry or to become angry suddenly, while the latter means doing something that could cause quick anger in other people.

Due to the different historical environment ‘红’ is the symbol of revolution in China, because where there is revolution where is blood. Chinese national flag, ‘五星红旗’is red which means being stained red by the blood of the revolutionaries and martyrs, while ‘红领巾’ is an angle of it. ‘红’ in such expressions as ‘红军’, ‘红色政权’, and ‘红色根据地’ also imply the connotation of revolution. In the Cultural Revolution, ‘红’was used politically. The socialistic country governed by the proletariat was called ‘红色江山’; Chairman Mao was titled ‘红太阳’and his works was called ‘红宝书’; The highest leading institution was ‘红色司令部’; the People’s Liberation Army was described as ‘红色长城’. Moreover, we have, ‘小兵,’ ‘红卫兵’, ‘红袖章’, ‘红色接班人’, ‘红色路线’ referred to the revolutionary policy; ‘红色歌曲’were the songs propagating revolutionary ideas; ‘红五类’was used contrastively with ‘黑五类’ by referring to the workers, poor peasants, servicemen and officials who support the revolution, and their children.

3.2 The cultural connotation of black

Both in Chinese and English ,black (黑) is the color of night and therefore is associated with darkness. In Chinese, we have ‘黑暗’, ‘黑沉沉’, ‘黑漆漆’,and so forth.

While in English such expressions as ‘blackout’ and ‘black future’ are also connected with ‘darkness’. ‘Blackout’ refers to a period of darkness caused by a failure of the electricity supply, or an occasion when a person suddenly lose consciousness, or a situation in which particular pieces of news or information are not allowed to be reported. And ‘Black future’ refers to the slim hope in the future. The color terms ‘black’ and ‘黑’are both related with ‘evilness’. ‘Black art’ or ‘black magic’ is the magic that is believed to use the power of the Devil for evil purposes, contrasting to ‘white magic’. ‘A blackguard’ or ‘a black hat’ is a man who treats other people very badly; they are ‘black-hearted’ and do ‘black deeds’. ‘A black sheep’ refers to the person who is regarded by other members of their family or group as a failure or embarrassment. The opposite expression of ‘a white lie’ is ‘a black lie’ which is told for evil purposes by hurting others. Sending ‘a black mail’ is an evil action of getting money from someone or making them do what you want by threatening to tell secrets about them. In Chinese, there are also some expressions with‘黑’indicating the meaning of‘evilness’, such as ‘黑手’, ‘黑心’, ‘黑帮势力’ , ‘ 黑色幽灵’, ‘黑店’, ‘黑话’.

Due to the different social environment, different traditions and customs and different historical condition, in Chinese, the color term ‘黑’has some special connotations. In the Cultural Revolution, such as ‘黑组织’, ‘黑后台’, and so on. ‘黑五类’ includes landlords, the rich, reactionaries, bad elements of society, and the Rightists as well. However, in English, black always relates to the black people. For example, black power, black Panthers. In English speaking countries, black stands for the color of death. Therefore unlike the Chinese custom, when they attend someone’s funeral ceremony, they always wear the black clothes to express their mourning.

3.3 The cultural connotation of yellow

‘Yellow’ and ‘黄’ have both positive meanings and negative meanings. As the color of gold and the sun, ‘yellow’ is the symbol of wealth, honor and power. It’s a holy color in Christianity. The Father wears golden crucifix, and the holy cup used by Jesus in his last supper is also yellow. The yellow color is also a holy color in Taoism and Buddhism. Some monks and Taoist priests wore yellow dress. Superstitious people as a means to expel evil spirits regard yellow paper with magic incantations. ‘黄道吉日’ is a day suitable for doing some important things, such as holding wedding and opening ceremonies. Born with yellow skin, cultivated in the yellow soil, and taking the Yellow River as their place of origin, the Chinese people take pride in their belonging to the yellow race, we call ourselves proudly as ‘炎黄子孙’. It has been said that Xuanyuan, a legendary ruler and one of the earliest ancestors of the Han Nationality, was called ‘黄帝’(Yellow Emperor)because he often wore yellow dress and yellow hats. What’ s more, in Chinese, ‘黄’ is the same in pronunciation as ‘皇’, so the yellow color has been the color of emperors and the color term ‘黄’has been used to symbolize imperial power. Later, Emperor Wudi in Han Dynasty changed the imperial dress into yellow. There are quite a few expressions with ‘黄’related to the emperor. The imperial dress is called ‘黄袍’; the palace emperors lived in is called ‘黄宫’; Huakai, a canopy used specially for the emperors is called ‘黄盖’; an imperial edict is called ‘黄榜’. In the expressions mentioned above, ‘黄’can be replaced by ‘皇’.

Both ‘yellow’ and ‘黄’imply warning. ‘A yellow card’ or ‘黄牌’ is originally a card held up by a football referee to show that a player has done something wrong. Later it is used generally throughout the world as a symbol of warning.

In English, ‘Yellow’ is also associated with ‘coward’. If someone is pictured as ‘be yellow’ or ‘have a yellow streak’, she or he is regarded as a coward. ‘A yellow dog’ refers to the coward .The more common usage of ‘yellow’ is to refer to the dishonest style in editorial comment and the representation of news, especially in sacrificing the truth for sensationalism. ‘Yellow journalism’ is a kind of journalism with heavy emphasis on scandals, or presenting ordinary news in a sensational manner, sometimes even distorting the facts to create a sensational effect. It has different meaning from ‘黄色刊物’ in Chinese. Also, in most American homes one can find a big thick book called ‘Yellow Pages’. This is a book with the telephone numbers of different shops, businesses, organizations, etc. arranged according to different categories; for example, all the food stores, all the radio shops, all the amusement parks, all the airlines, all the hospitals. It is a quite useful book, whose pages are yellow, but it is not a ‘黄色书’ in the Chinese sense. Nowadays, there appears ‘黄页’ in China with the same function as ‘Yellow Pages’. Although in ancient China ‘黄’ is a holy and noble color, in modern times this color term is often used to mean ‘pornographic’, ‘obscene’, ‘filthy’, ‘vulgar’. In Chinese, ‘黄’, carries the derogatory sense. Such expressions as ‘黄色书刊’, ‘黄色电影’, ‘黄色图片’, ‘扫黄’. ‘黄’ is the skin color of Asians, it is also used to refer to the unhealthy complexion as in ‘面黄肌瘦’ and ‘脸色蜡黄’. In colloquial Chinese, we often hear such expressions as ‘买卖黄了’or ‘我和我对象黄了’. Here ‘黄’ is also used derogatorily rather than the color, implying failure.

3.4 The cultural connotation of green

Green is the color of almost all plants in their prime, so basic color terms ‘green’ and ‘绿’ with many positive meanings relevant to life. At the mention of the green color, people will naturally think of the plants. If somebody ‘has green fingers’ or ‘has a green thumb’, this person is good at planting. ‘Greenhouse’ is not a green building but a glass building used for growing plants that need warmth, light, and protection, while ‘greenhouse effect’ is the gradual warming of the air surrounding the Earth as a result of heat by pollution .With the worsening of pollution, people realize the importance of environmental protection, thus ‘green’ and ‘绿’ are connected closely with the environment. For instance, ‘green peace’ is an antinuclear organization set up in Canada in 1971; later it developed into an international organization with the aim of protecting environment. ‘Green revolution’ originally refers to an increase in the amount that is produced by crops, such as wheat, due to improved scientific methods of farming. Now it is used to mean an environmental protection. ‘Greenish’ refers to ‘sympathetic towards the environment’, although it originally is the color of slightly green. What’s more, a political grouping of people whose aim is to protect the environment is called ‘the greens’, or ‘green party’. And ‘green consumerism’ is the consumerism harmless to the environment. ‘Green belt’ refers to an area of land around a city where building is not allowed, in order to protect woods. Because ‘绿’has the similar meaning in this sense to ‘green’, the words with ‘green’ mentioned above can be translated directly into ‘绿’in Chinese. Thus, in Chinese we have ‘绿色和平组织’, ‘绿色革命’, ‘绿色政党’, ‘绿色消费’, ‘绿色食品’,

The green color is also a symbol of passing. ‘Green light’ or ‘绿灯’is a traffic light that shows cars or pedestrians are allowed to go forward. ‘Give somebody the green light’ means giving official permission for something to be started. In Chinese, ‘开绿灯’carries the same meaning. Another example is ‘green card’ or ‘绿卡’, which is a document that a foreigner must have in order to work or live legally in America.

In English green implies ‘immature’ as in ‘green apple’ or ‘green corn’. This meaning is extended to indicate lacking in experience, training, or knowledge. For example, ‘he is still green at this job’ means he lacks experience of doing this job; ‘Green hand’ and ‘green horn’ have the similar meaning—a person lacking experience, or a newcomer who is not familiar with local customs.

Moreover, ‘green’ has the meaning of ‘jealous’ or ‘envious’ as in ‘green-eyed’ or ‘the green-eyed monster’. ‘Green with envy’ refers to wishing very much to have something that someone else has.

Furthermore, in Britain as well as in the United States, the color green is one of the favorite colors, and there are many places decorated with green color and even US dollars are green. Thus the color term ‘green’ is often used to refer to money or fortune. But in Chinese such as ‘绿帽子’ and ‘青楼女子’, the former is not necessarily a green hat but often indicates a cuckold while the latter refers to a woman driven to be a prostitute.

4. Two Causes of the Differences Between Chinese and English Cultural Connotation

4.1 Geographical conditions

There are many semantic connotations of color words in English and Chinese under the specific geographical and cultural background. Geography produces economy and develops culture, which is reflected in the semantics of language. The different parts of semantic connotation are based on the difference of national way of life. Color words convey the emotional function of color mainly by the association of related things which is closely related to the ecological environment around the nation. Han nationality favors yellow and natural environment background. The loess distribution is the birthplace of Chinese culture. In the Loess Plateau there is Yellow everywhere. The ancient Chinese land is located in the eastern part of Eurasia, the west coast of the Pacific Ocean with vast territory and deep hinterland. This kind of geographical environment created the tradition of the Chinese people, which is based on agriculture. People relay on the land, and the land is the necessary condition for the growth of all things. Therefore, people worship the land, and yellow is the natural color of the earth. Thus, the Han nationality worship yellow .However, the original of British culture was from Europe ，where surrounded by sea .The sea and the land were interlaced, with numerous peninsulas and islands and harbors. Therefore, ocean culture has become an important factor in the origin of European civilization. The English people live in the island, they depend on the sea for a living, and trade and navigation industry was well developed, the sea has brought them wealth, so the color of the sea--- blue became their object of worship, so blue symbolize noble, authoritative, Honor.In this aspect, its semantic connotation is much richer than in Chinese.

4.2 Religions

Religion is an important part of human thought and culture. Different religions are different forms of expression of the culture, it can reflect different cultural characteristics and different cultural backgrounds, and embody different cultural traditions. The color words in English and Chinese are related to the religious .Before the Sui and Tang dynasties, Taoism held a dominant position in ancient China, and later Buddhism was introduced into China from India, which had a profound influence on China. Taoism and Buddhism left a lot of imprint to Chinese and English color words. Yellow is the color of Taoism and Buddhism. They believe that yellow is vulgarity and sacred, they often associate yellow with doctrine, so yellow has a strong religious flavor. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Taoism respected the study of Huang and Lao. Taoists often wear yellow robes and crowns, and savior believers often call themselves ‘Huang Guan Zi.’ Buddhist architecture, clothing and all decorations are mostly yellow or gold. Buddhist monks often use yellow cassock robes. Buddhist temples are often called ‘golden temples’, temples are equipped with ‘golden roof’, Buddhist bodhisattvas are painted gold, called ‘golden bodies’. Taoism also advocates purple and called the palace that supernatural beings lived as ‘purple palace’, ‘purple temple’ or ‘purple platform’, called noble gods as ‘purple emperor’, their daughter is ‘purple aunt’, the books recorded magic by Taoism is called ‘purple book’. The thought that advocate purple may be influenced by Taoist ancestor Laozi. It is said that Laozi went out of the correspondence Valley, and Guan ling Yin happy to see the purple air came from the east, knowing that there would be saints to pass the border. As expected, Laozi rode a green bull to come, and asked him to write down the ‘moral Classic’. Later on, it used ‘purple air comes from the earth’ to express a propitious omen. Thus purple has the associative meaning of ‘auspicious, noble’ . Buddhism, in addition to advocating yellow, also regards white as the color of holiness. In the legend it said that it is the birth of the Buddha, is closely related to the white elephant and the white lotus flower. Therefore, Buddhists often take the white lotus as the symbol of pure, so the white has an extraordinary significance.

As we all know, Christianity is the main religion in Anglo-American countries, so in English culture, many words or phrases are closely related to Christian culture, color words are no exception. In Christian culture, for example, white is a symbol of purity and happiness. In biblical stories, angels always have a pair of white wings and a silver aura hanging over their heads. In Christianity, Friday means the Friday before Easter, on which Jesus suffers, and black has the meaning of ‘disaster, gloom’ in English. According to this religious background, people use black Friday(黑色星期五） to refer to the day of great disaster and bad luck. In addition, in Christian culture, it is said that Jews who betrayed Jesus wore yellow clothes, so yellow in English culture evokes negative meanings, such as timid, rebellious, obnoxious, despicable, and so on. And as it is written in the Bible, when Jesus was having the last supper with the twelve disciples before his crucifixion, he took up his cup and said, ‘drink this, and this is the blood of my covenant, that it may be atoned for the people’s crime.’ then he was willing to be crucified and sacrificed to save the world with his life. So red is often associated with terrible things like bleeding and sacrificing.

1. Two Translation Strategies of Chinese and English Color Words

5.1. Literal translation

As we all know, the interaction to people and the cultural exchange between countries are inevitable，so although there are great differences between Chinese and English because of the different civilizations， English and Chinese are bound to have more or less in common. This means that color words can be translated directly from the target language when translating color words. Generally speaking, in this condition, the color word uses its basic meaning in both the source language and the target language.

例:从严冷枯黄的北方归来，看到展现在我眼前的青山碧水、红花绿叶，使我惊讶而欢喜! (冰心《我的父母之乡》)

Returned from the bitter cold north with its drab and dried up vegetation, I was amazed and delighted when greeted by the charming scenery of sapphire mountains and emerald rivers as well as red flowers and green leaves. (张培基译).

Compared the two version, we can find the color words ‘黄’ ‘青’ ‘碧’ translated into ‘drab’ ‘sapphire’ ‘emerald’. Although the translator does not simply translate the three color words as ‘yellow’, ‘blue’ and ‘green’, the word ‘drab’ means ‘dull muddy brow’, which is used to refer to the monotonous muddy earth color. ‘Sapphire’, ‘emerald’ is the color of sapphire and emerald. Therefore, from the perspective of their translation techniques, the translator still adopts the literal translation method, choosing the basic meaning of the three words directly and ‘drab’ is used to refer to the color of the lifeless land. ‘Sapphire’ and ‘emerald’ are used to depict the changing colors of bright mountains and rivers, making the moving image jump on paper clearly.

5.2Free translation

Compared with literal translation, free translation is to grasp the spiritual essence of the original text through the surface meaning of the original words, and to express the deep meaning in the target language without sticking to the words and forms of the original text.(Wei.347)

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