Cultural Differences of Chinese and English Color Words_英语论文

摘要

万事万物都有自己的色彩属性，而色彩又与人们的生活息息相关。我们经常会用颜色词来描述我们所观察到的一切，甚至是我们的喜怒哀乐。中英语言中的颜色词汇很丰富，在两种语言中的使用也很普遍。然而由于中西方的文化差异，对颜色词的理解也不尽相同。该研究从跨文化的角度入手，借助国外学者柏林的研究成果为理论基础，并采用对比研究、文献研究以及举例论证的方法，拟解决以下几个问题：一是人们在中英颜色词的实际运用上存在哪些问题；二是核心颜色词在两种语言中有哪些异同点；三是造成中英颜色词文化差异的原因。研究表明，尽管人们认识到了颜色词在语言和文化中的重要性，但由于中西两种语言中各种因素的影响，他们对于颜色词的运用仍然存在许多误解，在跨文化交流中仍然遇到很多阻碍。因此了解并掌握这些颜色词的差异对推动中西文化交流有一定的实际意义。

关键词：颜色词 文化差异 中西语言

Abstract

Every single item in this world has its own color, and people’s life is closely linked to color. We often use different kinds of color to describe what we see, and even to express our laughter and sorrow. There is a plenty of color words in Chinese and English, and color words are also widely used in these two languages. However, due to the cultural differences of Chinese and English, people have different understandings of color words. Based on Berlin’s theory about color words and from cross-culture, the thesis has adopted comparative study, document research and  examples to answer the three questions: First, what problems are people facing towards color words in their daily life? Second, what similarities and differences do the color words have in Chinese and English? Third, what causes the cultural differences of Chinese and English color words? The research indicates that most of the people recognize the importance of color words in language and culture, but due to the influence from different aspects in Chinese and English, there still exists much misunderstanding of the application of color words, and people now are still facing some obstacles in the cross-cultural communication. So knowing the differences of these color words has some practical significance to the cultural communication.

Key words:  Color words; Cultural differences; Chinese and English

Contents

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Research Background 1

1.2 Research Purpose 1

1.3 Significance of the Research 2

1.4 Structure of the Dissertation 2

2 Literature Review 4

2.1 Introduction to Color Words. 4

2.1.1 Definition and classification of color words 4

2.1.2 Importance of color words in language and culture 4

2.2 Berlin and Kay’s theory about color words 5

3 Similarities and Differences of Chinese and English Basic Color Words 7

3.1 Red 7

3.2 White 8

3.3 Black 8

3.4 Yellow 9

3.5 Blue 10

3.6 Green 10

3.7 Purple 11

4 Reasons for the cultural differences of Chinese and English Color Words 12

4.1 Differences in cultural tradition and custom 12

4.2 Differences in political background and religion 13

4.3 Ways of thinking and emotional coloring 14

5 Conclusion 17

Bibliography 18

Acknowledgements 20