1、AbstractBoth Chinese and English are rich in the words denoting different colors. But for the differences of the national cultures, peoples natural feeling of the color and the methods to define the color words will also be different. So even the same color, Chinese and English people will think of

2、it and feel it differently. The color words have a close relationship with their national cultures, and always influence local peoples modes and thinking. Vocabulary is the most active factor in language, and the meanings of color words in the vocabulary are abundant. Various nationalities have form

3、ed their unique color views in the long-term history, reflecting gorgeous national cultures. Because of different cultural issues, cultural traditions, psychological and historic backgrounds, the cultural connotations of the English and Chinese color words differ greatly. Thus, these particular cult

4、ural connotations are cast under different environments of different nationalities. There are a lot of similarities and differences on the meanings between English and Chinese color words. This thesis gives quite a few examples and idiomatic expressions to analyze the comparison of the connotations

5、of some color words, which explains the importance of deep understanding of cultural connotations of color words in trans-cultural communication. Key words: color words; cultural; Chinese; English摘 要在英漢語言中，表示各種顏色的詞語都非常豐富，但是由于民族文化的不同，人們對于色彩的實際感受和賦予色彩的詞匯意義的手段也不盡相同。所以，即使是同一個顏色詞，它在中西方人眼中的意義也會有很大差異。色彩與其民

6、族的文化傳統密切相關，并時常影響著本民族人的思維習慣。詞匯在語言中最活躍, 詞匯中的顏色詞意義豐富。各民族在長期的歷史沉淀中都形成了各自獨特的顏色觀，折射出絢麗多姿的民族文化。由于文化內容、文化傳統、歷史和心理背景不同，很多英漢顏色詞的文化內涵差異較大，這些特定的文化內涵意義是不同民族在不同的環境下鑄就而成的。英漢顏色詞在兩種語言中的意義既有相同和相似之處，也存在著很多差異。本文通過列舉出一些顏色的慣用法和實例,分析了相當數量的顏色詞在英漢語言中的異同，并闡述了深刻了解顏色詞的文化內涵在翻譯實踐中的重要性。關鍵詞：顏色詞；文化；中國；英國Contents. The Cultural Signi

7、ficance of Colors between English and Chinese1A. The Culture of Colors in Chinese1B. The Culture of Colors in English2. An Analysis of Different Cultural Connotations of Basic Color Words between English and Chinese2A. Red2B. Black4C. White5D. Yellow7E. Blue8F. Green9. The Enlightenment of Differenc

8、es of Color Words in Intercultural Communication10IV. Conclusion12Bibliography13. The Cultural Significance of Colors between English and ChineseA. The Culture of Colors in ChineseChinese culture is rooted in ethics, morality, hierarchy and behaviors. They associate different things with their cultu

9、re. It is true to bring out the fact that Chinese relates its culture to various colors. The colors also carry auspicious and inauspicious meanings in their culture. For example, the ancient and the modern Chinese people cherish the color of red. It symbolizes good luck. The color is used on the eve

10、 on New Year and weddings. It is also a color of wedding in Chinese culture. The idea is based on the belief that wearing red dress on the day of wedding, it will help the couple to blow off the bad luck. The color is believed to bring good luck, happiness and joy in Chinese culture. In Chinese meta

11、physics, red is related with fire elements and it is regarded as energy. Red is traditionally considered as an auspicious color in Chinese culture. The traditional Chinese associates color with various elements of nature. They regard black, red, blue-green, white and yellow as standard color. Tradit

12、ional Chinese physicians corresponds the color of black with water, red with fire, blue-green with wood, white with metal and yellow with earth. In addition, the naming of different seasons is based on colors in Chinese culture. The season of spring was represented by greenish blue when everything o

13、verflows with vigor and vitality, summer was represented by reddish brightness, autumn was represented by white color and winter was represented by black color. The colors in Chinese culture ha s a close relationship with craftsmanship, art, poetry and its customs. The emperors of the Ming dynasty l

14、ive in houses with red walls and yellow roof tiles. The common people live in houses made of blue bricks with blue roof tiles. The intensity romantic beauty in Chinese painting is delineated by thickness of its ink. Different dynasties follows different pattern of color in their art form. Paintings

15、of ancient Chinese were full of brightness and more systematic. The poems of Chinese were full of vibrant colors and the poets were masters at describing colors. The poets create a wonderful artistic conception with colors. The beauty of the poems created a history in the art of Chinese culture. One

16、 striking idea of color in Chinese tradition is that they used twenty-four colors to describe the color of silk fabric like purple, red, green, deep red, bright red dark red and so on. The brilliant colors show the rich colors in ancient China. The Chinese associates a deep relation of their culture

17、 with different colors. The colors show expression of their lives and have a deep-rooted relation with the culture. B. The Culture of Colors in EnglishThere are many color expressions, which reflect different cultural psychologies and emotional colorings both in Chinese and English. In western, peop

18、le pay attention to religion. They often display the basic the meaning of color words to the objective world, so the symbolic meanings of the color words are directly link to western religion. For example, in western countries, red is associated with happy things, like red-letter which means happy d

19、ays or memorable days. However, it also relates to war, blood and horror. Color words can produce various associations of ideas, which greatly influence a persons emotion and mood. That is why people use color words to explain a persons moral character, mood and his opinion of things. Here is a typi

20、cal example:Mr. White is a very white (loyal) man. He was looking rather green (feel not good) the other day. He has been feeling blue (gloomy) today. When I saw him, he was in a brown mood (worried). I hope hell soon he in the pink (pull himself together) again. An Analysis of Different Cultural Co

21、nnotations of Basic Color Words between English and Chinese A. Red It is tradition for Chinese people to use red to express happiness, luck, and prosperousness. In the wedding ceremony, birthday party and some special days, people will use something red to add happiness. In the wedding ceremonies, r

22、ed character Xi (喜)，red candles, red head covers and red dresses of the brides, all bring the festival atmosphere and make people think that days after wedding will become better. Red is also the color of fire, blood and war, revolutionary battles that usually make the warriors bleed, thus red means

23、 dangerous, such as the red light in traffic regulations serves as a sign reminding and warning drivers to stop. In the red, red figure, red ink refers to the deficit, or owing more money than you have, by contrasting to in the black, because in business people usually use red ink to record the part

24、 of deficit, as a sign of warning. In China, writing letters in red ink is a rather impolite behavior. In addition, red is also associated with the female, health, jealousy. But in English red can create an image of extremeness, danger, indignation, and exigency. The America financial institution en

25、closes the poor area with a red line and refuses to provide loan for this area, which made the area poorer. This was called red lining. During the America Civil war, the British soldiers wore scarlet uniforms. They were called redcoat. Red brigade is an Italian terror organization. Red is associated

26、 with certain emotions, too. What is the meaning of “to see red” and “waving a red flag”? Both are associated with anger. The former means to be made angry or to become angry suddenly, the latter means doing something that could cause quick anger in other people. The origin is bullfight, in which th

27、e cowboy waves a red flag to irritate the bull. As far as those cultural connotations of the two terms are concerned, they show different and even totally different cultural connotations. For example, yanhong (眼紅) means envy someone in Chinese and the “red eye” means cheap wine in English. More nega

28、tive cultural connotations are found in English but more positive cultural connotations are reflected in Chinese. Those connotations like terror, radical, bloody communism, violence can only be found in English but not in Chinese. Whereas, Hong is bestowed with more positive and lucky associations,

29、such as good luck and success in hongyun (紅運), loyalty in Beijing Operas facial makeup, marriage and festivals when red is preferred in those happy times, and beauty in hongzhuang (紅妝) and hongyan (紅顏). This proves that red is a welcome color in China and red is a word enjoyed by Chinese people whil

30、e sometime or some places the opposite is true in English-speaking people.B. Black The color of black is often associated with negative qualities. In Chinese, as the hell in Christianity, the nether world in the mythologies is a dark place without any light and is said to be homes for all the wicked

31、 people to return to after their death. Another form is simply hei (黑), which mainly conveys the idea of darkness, danger, rebellion. Black is close to the color of iron, and the expression tiemian-wusi (鐵面無私) is used to describe an impartial person. Therefore, black usually symbolizes impartiality,

32、 unselfishness, and justice. In ancient China, Black symbolized reverence, fortitude, integrity, and mystery. This color was worshiped in the Xia and Qin Dynasty. The garments of the officials in these dynasties were black.Black in English is also associated with melancholy, pessimism, sorrow and mi

33、sfortune, for example, “black art”, which refers to magic or monstrous skill. “Blackball” means a vote, which is against someone or something, or a refusal to someones taking part in. “Black Death” refers to a deadly disease in the fourteenth century, while “blackleg” refers to a cheat. “Black-lette

34、r day”, which is opposite to red-letter day, means an unlucky day. “A black lie” means a lie, which is full of evil intentions. “Black suit” or “black dress” is traditional clothes mostly upheld by the westerners. On the solemn formal occasions, high officials and noble men, well-known merchants in

35、the business circles, celebrities and scholars prefer to wear black dresses; all of the players in a symphony orchestra are in black suits to show graveness and solemn; judges put on black robes to display the dignity of law. Some expressions in English “a black look”, “go black in the face” show th

36、e meaning of anger and furious. The associative meaning of color of black is depressed, such as “Black dog”, “black mood”, “black thoughts”, “black future”, “black browed” and so on.English phrases like “black money”, “black market”, “black-hearted”, “blacklist”, “black hand” show that black is rela

37、ted to the feature of the bad and the evil. Further examples in English may include “a black day” “a black spot”, “a black sheep”, “a black mood”, “a black comedy” and “a black look”. “A black sheep” refers to that member who is thought to be a disgrace to other members, as in every profession has o

38、f course got its black sheep. The ballet opera Swan Lake, the black swan is the symbol of viciousness, deception and hatred; the white swan symbolizes purity, kindheartedness and love. Disaster Black also implies misfortune and disaster. “Black Friday” refers to an unlucky day because to Christians

39、this is the day of Crucifixion. There is a computer virus called “Black Friday”, which will flare up on Friday, deleting all data in computers. This is an unlucky day to the users of computers. Another example is “Black Tuesday”. It is the day (19 October, 1987) on which the stock market in Wall Str

40、eet crashed and was followed by a series of crashes in stock markets around the world, causing great economic damage.C. WhiteIn ancient China, no matter how low an official ranked, his robe was colored. White had never been the color of official robes because of the customary practice of taking whit

41、e as the color of mourning dress. So the color term Bai has also been used to refer to illiterate or uneducated as in baiyi (白衣) and baiding (白丁). In addition, the color of white can be used to mean poverty as in baiwu (白屋), baiyijuren (白衣舉人) is a successful candidate from a poor family in the imper

42、ial examinations at the provincial level in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.In Chinese culture, people believed that autumn belongs to the west, spring to the east, summer to the south, and winter to the north. In autumn, leaves are falling, and everything is withering. They also believe that white is t

43、he color of the west. Consequently, white becomes the symbol of death. When a family member dies, the relatives should put on white clothes, which are called “mourning clothes”. The mourning hall is also covered up with white decorations. At the funeral, people hung long and narrow white flags and s

44、pread white paper that is considered currency in hell. Baishi (白事) actually means funerals, and the vehicles used for that purpose are called Baiche (白車). A happy and lucky day can be expressed as “a white day”, or “a day with a white stone”. A peaceful war without bleeding is a “white war”. “A whit

45、e knight” is a person or company that puts money into a business in order to save it from being controlled by another company. A successful period is called “the white moment of life”. White in Chinese also means failure. In a war, the yielding party will hang baiqi (白旗) as a sign of accepting its f

46、ailure. White means the aged in Chinese. In China, when people are young, their hair is black. As they grow old, their hair turns gray. Thus in Chinese, baifa (白發) means the elderly. White also has some emotional meanings. When a persons face turns cangbai (蒼白), this person may be anxious, worried,

47、sad, frightened or irritated. Baiyan (白眼)is an indication of contempt. In English “A white girl” is as pure as lily-white that symbolizes the remorseful tears when Eva was driven out of Eden. When people confess their sins to the priest in the confession room, a white gown is preferred. “Whitewash”

48、is to wash until it is white, but in a negative way, it means a deliberate concealment of someones mistakes or faults in order to clear their name. A “white witch” or “white wizard” has a “white spirit or soul”, using his or her “white magic” to do good deeds for people, and therefore he or she is “

49、white-handed”. A “white ribbon” is a sign used to advocate pure organizations in America. “To mark ones name white again” means making somebody innocent and regain the good fame. The good ones in “black sheep” are “white sheep”. The positive information about a persons creditworthiness held by a ban

50、k or similar institution is “white information”. “Snow White” and the white swan in Ballet Swan Lake are the symbol of virtue and beauty in the eyes of Western children. “A white knight” is a person or company who makes an acceptable counter offer for a company facing a hostile takeover bid, and the

51、refore it is used to mean rescuer who save others out of a difficult situation. In Christianity, white is the most sanctified color. So angels and people who rise to paradise after death are always in white; the priests wear white robes, symbolizing spirit and brightness. In western countries, weddi

52、ng is called white wedding, in which the bride wears white wedding robe and white sheer, the carriage is driven by white horses, the driver wears white hat, the cakes and cookies are covered with a layer of white sugar, and the invitation card is printed in white silver letters. Therefore, the terms

53、 with white in English usually symbolize happiness and good luck and have such commendatory meanings as cleanliness, purity, perfection, innocence, kindness, prosperity, justice, loyalty, power, etc. Different cultural connotations involve different aspects of the social life like purity and hope in

54、 “white Christmas”, honesty and uprightness in “white sheep”, high social status in “white collar”, house appliances in “white goods” and women-traffic in “white slave”.D. YellowIn Chinese traditional culture, color of yellow has been used to symbolize imperial power. Color of yellow is the topmost

55、color which is seen as the Chinese original color. 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 identities. According to the yellow race, we call ourselves proudly as yan huang zi sun (炎黃子孫).Yellow

56、is also the color of the precious metal and gold. Yellow and gold are often used together to mean precious. People call the most precious time as huangjinzhou (黃金周), huangjinyue (黃金月), huangjinjijie (黃金季節) and the youth of ones life huangjin shidai (黃金時代), as it is the most valuable period in ones l

57、ife. One point that deserves mentioning is that the color of yellow in China conveys the meaning of ripeness and immaturity. Jinhuang de maisui (金黃的麥穗) obviously refers the fields turn golden yellow when the wheat is ripe for harvest, and huangfa “黃發” is the symbol of aged people, while huang kou xi

58、ao er (黃口小兒) ,on the contrary, refers to babies, mostly referring to ignorant youngsters. Huangkou (黃口) means mouth of young bird.In English, as the color of gold and sun, yellow is the symbol of power, honor and wealth. Its a holy color in Christianity. God the Father wears golden crucifix, and the

59、 holy cup used by Jesus in his last supper is also yellow. In English, there is a phrase “a yellow ribbon”, according to Wikipedia, is a symbol with various meanings, mostly associated with those waiting for the return of a loved one or of military troops who are temporarily unable to come home. It is also sometimes used at county and state fairs in the United States, where i