Abstract

The color “White” plays an important part in all the different colors. “White” color terms are part of human language which is full of cultural connotations. In both English and Chinese, the color “white” has a long history and are frequently used in our daily life. This paper attempts to interpret the meaning of the color “white” in western and Chinese culture, and by comparing similarities and differences helping us to have a better understanding of the discrepancy in English and Chinese, and the implication on translation and intercultural communication.

Key words: Color words, White, Chinese and western culture, implication

摘要

白色是日常生活中常见的色彩，随着中西方交流的不断加深，本文从颜色词白色入手，研究白色在中西文化中的异同用法和内涵从而探究其带给我们的启示。本文首先在总体上阐述白色在中西文化中的各自含义，然后再具体论述其相似点和不同点，研究的目的和意义在于更好的了解颜色词白色在跨文化交际和翻译中的启示，以促进中英文化的交流与合作，促使这一理论广泛运用，为今后更深层次的理论研究做铺垫。

关键词：颜色词；白色；中西文化；启示

1.    Introduction
Today, the world is beautiful, wonderful as well as peaceful. The communication between different countries is becoming more and more frequent. As a tool of communication, language is a social phenomenon and the carrier of culture. At the same time, it is an important compositive element of culture.
The meaning of a word contains both the surface meaning and the cultural conotation. Color term is a particular aspect of language. With its unique cultural implication and function, color words display an indispensable role in the human cultural exchange and development. Color is also a kind of language. English and Chinese, as languages with a long history, are both abundant in basic color terms, and almost all the basic color terms carry their own peculiar connotations resulting from different social cultures,historical processes and geographic conditions.