acomparisionofculturalconnotationsbetweenchineseandenglish(编辑修改稿)

acomparisionofculturalconnotationsbetweenchineseandenglish(编辑修改稿)内容摘要：

th “真龙天子 ”. To some extent, “龙 ”is a symbol of China in the world, which stands for the source of the Chinese culture of about five thousand years. It is a special product of the Chinese culture. The Chinese take proud of being “the descendants of dragon”(龙的传人 ). Some Chinese idioms like “望子成龙 ”, “龙凤呈祥 ”are well known to the Chinese. Their meanings contain a mendatory sense. But because of the influence of the Bible, the dragon in westerners’ minds is a kind of evil monster, which can vomit fire and sometimes possess three to nine heads. Therefore, there are few idioms and phrases about dragon in English. Generally speaking, in English the word dragon has a derogatory sense when it is used to refer to somebody. Collins Cobuzld English Language Dictionary explains: If you call a woman as a dragon, you mean that she is fierce and unpleasant. So “亚洲四小龙 ” is often translated as “ the four tigers of Asia”, not “the four dragons of Asia”. We have some other idioms that are associated with animals from the Bible: (1) cast pearl before swine 明珠暗投（把珍珠抛给猪） (2) separate the sheep from the goats 把好人与坏人分开 History Each nation has its own unique history, which affects the culture of theirs. Meanwhile the history is an important part and factor of each nation’s culture. In Chinese, “ox” has the same meaning as the “horse” in English. That’s caused by their different histories. The earliest cultivation mainly depended on “ox” in China, while the heavy farm work was done by “horse” in the early stage of Britain. “Ox” is 8 always a kind of food in Britain, but horse is mainly ridden in China. So “ox” of Chinese and “horse” of English are both the same laborious livestock, and they have the same cultural connotations. Today, their functions have more or less changed in these two nations, but their cultural connotations given by history have been carried on as before by their people. . (1) as strong as a horse 壮如牛 (2) work like a horse 像牛一样 地辛勤 干活 Some special animal words, idioms e from historical books and classical works, and fable and story are the important ponents of them. For example, we have the English idiom “cook one’s goose”. The literal Chinese translation of this idiom is “烹某人的鹅 ”. That’s confusing to the Chinese. Its correct translation should be “挫败某人的计划 ” or “战胜 某人 ”. This idiom es from an ancient story. English tradition has it that in The Middle Ages, a city was suddenly surrounded by enemies. A resident of the city hanged a goose on a tower to express his scorn for the enemies. But that was a terribly wrong action. The enemies could not stand this shame. Every soldier became mad, and soon they conquered the city. The goose was cooked by the enemy soldiers. Later, people use the idiom to mean “frustrate somebody’s will” or “destroy or defeat somebody”. . If we try hard, we will surely cook their goose. 只要我们努力，我们 肯定就能战胜他们 We also have some idioms that e from The Fables of Aesop. . (1) cherish a snake in one’s bosom 养虎贻患 (2) cry wolf 发假警报 （烽火戏诸侯） Geographical environment The differences between the geographical environments of the two nations make many animals’ images and cultural connotations different or even vacant. . Beavers (河狸 ) mainly live in North America. They build their nests with high techniques and inflexible will. People of American countries are familiar with this kind of animal. So in English “beaver” means “the people who work hard”. As the geographical environments in China are quite different, the Chinese people hardly know this kind of animal and their special cultural connotations. They don’t know their “diligence” and what they really mean sometimes. Hence, if you translate beaver literally, sometimes you can not make the original understood by the Chinese people. . (1) They didn’t study hard at ordinary times. So when the examination came, they had to work like beavers. 由于 平时不努力，考试来临时，他们就不得不日夜苦读了 9 (2) We often beaver away at school. 我们常 在学校里用功读书 As we know, Britain is a typical island country. The navigable industry and marine products of Britain are developed. So, some animal words, idioms, proverbs about ocean and marine aquatics are plentiful and popular. But the living environments of the Chinese nation have been restricted mainly to the mainland. Comparatively speaking, the Chinese animal words about ocean and marine aquatics are fewer than Britain’s. Sometimes, they might even make cultural vacancy in translation. For example, in English “fish” has rich cultural connotations while in Chinese it doesn’t. . (1) a pretty kettle of fish. 一团糟 (2) to fish in the air 水中捞月 (3) to have other fish to fry 有别的 事要干 Also, in English “fish” can be used to refer to “person”. . (1) an odd fish 怪人 (2) a loose fish 放荡不羁的人 (3) a poor fish 可怜虫或倒霉的家伙 (4) a fish wife 没教养的女人 (5) a cold fish 冷酷无情的人 (6) a big fish 大人物 Customs The words and idioms about dog even reflect more the dissimilarity between the English customs and the Chinese customs. Both the Englishspeaking people and the Chinese people like raising dogs, but their aims and attitudes towards dogs are quite different. In Englishspeaking countries, dogs are generally persons’ panions, just few dogs are raised to hunt or look after the house. Some people have no children, and their dogs can take the place of children. Dogs often have preferential treatments, even “privileges”. Their food, clothes are no less good as their masters’. They even can listen to some songs specially created for them. They can see a veterinary surgeon when they are ill. They can also enjoy a “vacation” when their hosts spend their holidays. These customs of raising dogs are mon in Western countries. Westerners sometimes use the animal word dog to refer to their friends. But this behavior makes the Chinese puzzled. In China, dogs usually do not “enjoy” this kind of treatment. In the Chinese culture, dogs are disgusting, and the word dog often has a derogatory sense, especially when used to refer to a person. Generally speaking, the Chinese despise this kind of animal in heart. They breed them just for hunting and looking after the house. I belie。