Abstract and Key Words

Abstract: This study aims to compare the differences between English and Chinese associative meaning on the basis of the categories of associative meaning through analyzing animal and color idioms. The associative meanings of a word may surpass the word’s original meaning. Different from logical meaning or conceptual meaning, associative meaning, for its vagueness and variability, is hardly controllable for those language learners who are lack of broad knowledge beyond language itself. So it’s necessary to explore the sources of associative meaning so as to appropriately use language especially in intercultural communication, avoiding misunderstanding or even trouble.

Key words: associative meaning; idioms; intercultural analysis

摘要：本文通过利奇提出的联想意义对英汉习语差异进行跨文化分析，旨在发现说话者使用习语时表现出的特殊信息、价值和情感态度等，从而能够更有效的进行跨文化交际。本文通过动物习语和颜色习语对比分析英汉联想意义的差异。从这些差异上加深人们对两种不同文化的理解，让人们带着更开放包容的态度，促进更广泛的跨文化交流。

关键词：联想意义差异;英汉习语; 跨文化分析

1. Introduction
Language is a system of vocabulary and grammar combining meaning and pronunciation, which is created by the people of the language community through ages of development. Idiom is more typical than any other language units in embodying the cultural characteristics of language. And culture-loaded idioms constitute the kernel of a language. Different social backgrounds and national cultures have great effect on the associative meaning of idioms. Words mean nothing by themselves and it is only when they are used in a specific context that they are endowed with meanings.
Since English and Chinese belong to different linguistic systems, the analysis of the grammatical meaning of a word is of less significance in our comparative study. English and Chinese languages have developed a variety of vivid, expressive and succinct idioms, many of which bear proper images and have strong cultural flavors. Currently, there are some scholars both at home and abroad who have made systematic comparisons between Chinese and English idioms from the perspective of culture.
Though the wide usages and applications of concise and powerful idioms can be found in every language, idioms often pose many difficulties and misunderstanding for international communication. This thesis is mainly based on animal and color idioms as there are various kinds of idioms in both English and Chinese language.