Abstract:
 Language is a product of social and cultural development. Thus no language can be separated from its social and cultural environment. A language and its culture are closely connected with each other. Language is the carrier of culture, and a tool of communication, this means the language can’t exist without its culture. In the development of human civilization, animals are closely related with the life of human being, they are so important that they even have become an inseparable part of the lives of people. There are many animal words in language, and they have greatly enriched English and Chinese languages, but there are still some problems in understanding these animals words between different cultures, on one hand, because of the interlinking of Chinese and English culture and similarity of human thinking, the same animals may have the same or similar meanings in both languages; on the other hand, because of the different cultural background of Chinese and English nationalities and the individuality of national culture, the same animal words may have different connotations. Now, people have gradually realized the importance of English in their study and social work, more and more people are engaged in English study. So in order to learn English well and to communicate properly in inter-cultural communications, it is necessary to make a comparative analysis of the connotations of animal words in both languages.  
 
Key words: animal words; culture connotation; distinction;

摘要：
语言是社会和文化发展的产物，没有任何语言能够离开社会和文化环境。语言与文化之间有着密切的联系，语言是文化的载体，是一种沟通的工具。这就意味着没有文化语言就不可能存在。在人类文明历史的发展进程中，动物与人类生活密切联系。它们成为人类生活中重要的不可分割的一部分。因此在人类语言中存在着大量的反映动物名称的词。这些动物词极大的丰富了中文和英文。一方面，由于英汉文化的相通性和思维方式的相似性，对同一动物会产生相同或相似的含义；另一方面，由于英汉民族不同文化背景及民族文化的个性，对同一动物会产生不同的联想。现在，人们逐渐意识到英语在学习和社会工作中的重要性。因此，分析英汉动物词汇的文化内涵，对于更好地把握英语语言，顺利地进行跨文化交际很有必要。
 
关键词：动物词；文化内涵；区别

1 Introduction
It is well-known that there are many differences between Chinese and Western culture. Nowadays cultural communication among different countries is very frequent. Therefore, It is very important to understand the different cultures between China and West. In the long process of historical development of mankind, the animals had been in close contact with humans and had a profound influence on human’s survival and development. Human beings and animals are both the products of natural evolution, and man had evolved from animals which played an important role in human lives.