on cultural differences between淺論英漢習(xí)語的文化差異

1、<p>　　On Cultural Differences BetweenChinese and English Idioms</p><p><b>　　Abstract</b></p><p>　　Language is the carrier of culture. People’s words and deeds reflect certain c

2、ulture connotation consciously or subconsciously. The idiom is the unique regular expression in the using process. This paper discusses idioms which，in broad sense， include idiom，proverb，two-part allegorical saying，allus

3、ion，etc. Not only the wording is precise and to the point，but also the image is vivid and witty. Because of the difference in custom, lives，geography，history, religious belief，etc，understanding of idiom</p><p&

4、gt;　　Key Words: idioms; origins; English; Chinese; cultural differences</p><p>　　語言是文化的載體，人們的言行反應(yīng)了一種意識(shí)或潛意識(shí)的文化涵義。而成 語是被獨(dú)特的表達(dá)并運(yùn)用在它的使用過程中的習(xí)語。本論文論述的習(xí)語從廣義上 講，也括成語、諺語，雙寓言說,暗樂，等等。語言的措詞不僅要很精確,切屮要點(diǎn)， 而且要形象，生動(dòng)，風(fēng)趣。但由于習(xí)慣

5、上的差異，生活、地理、歷史、宗教信仰 等因素，習(xí)語則承擔(dān)起了民族性傳達(dá)信息的任務(wù)。同一句話，不同文化背景的人 的反應(yīng)宥時(shí)是不同的，甚至?xí)厝幌喾?。究其原因，是說話雙方?jīng)]宥真正掌握對(duì) 方的文化。大學(xué)英語教學(xué)的H的，是使學(xué)生在跨文化交流中可以正確、流利與恰 當(dāng)?shù)倪\(yùn)用英語。而大學(xué)生在實(shí)際交流活動(dòng)中，往往不能達(dá)到這一口的，這是因?yàn)?他們對(duì)中W方文化差異不夠了解。因此，完全有必要對(duì)中丙文化差異進(jìn)行詳細(xì)的 研究。語言是跨文化交際中最主要的手段。在運(yùn)

6、用語言進(jìn)行跨文化交際時(shí)，由于 民族文化差異，難免會(huì)遇到再宥鮮明文化特色的成語和習(xí)語,而對(duì)此確切地理解 并正確地加以運(yùn)用，則是一個(gè)十分電要而又復(fù)雜的W題。習(xí)語是各國文化的精髓, 反映各國的風(fēng)俗習(xí)慣。岡此，木文從最能體現(xiàn)屮兩文化差異的習(xí)語著手，論述習(xí) 語在文化的各個(gè)層次上所反映的中兩文化差異，并采納大量生動(dòng)有趣</p><p>　　關(guān)鍵詞：習(xí)語;來源;英語；漢語；文化差異</p><p>&l

7、t;b>　　Contents</b></p><p>　　Abstract in Englishi</p><p>　　Abstract in Chineseii</p><p>　　Introduction1</p><p>　　Idioms and Culture3</p><p>　　T

8、he Definition of Idioms3</p><p>　　The Definition of Culture4</p><p>　　The Relationship Between Idioms and Culture5</p><p>　　Cultural Differences Reflected by Chinese and English

9、Idioms6</p><p>　　Different Living Circumstance6</p><p>　　3.1.1 Geographical Environment7</p><p><b>　　Climate8</b></p><p>　　Different Religious and Belie

10、fs9</p><p>　　Different Historical Allusion12</p><p>　　Historical Events12</p><p>　　Fables and Mythologies14</p><p>　　Literary Works15</p><p>　　Differe

11、nt Traditions and Customs17</p><p>　　Social Customs17</p><p>　　Animals18</p><p>　　Numbers20</p><p>　　The Chinese Numeral Idioms and Their Culture20</p><

12、p>　　4.3.2The English Numeral Idioms and Their Culture20</p><p>　　The Taboo21</p><p>　　Conclusion23</p><p>　　Acknowledgements24</p><p>　　Bibliography25</p>

13、<p>　　Introduction</p><p>　　The thesis analyses the influence of cultural differences on Chinese and English idioms，the importance of studying idiom from the perspective of culture lies in the followi

14、ng aspects:</p><p>　　First of all，studies of the cultural distinction in idiom are still relatively weak in the field of research in China. It is known that cultural connotations engage in idioms. Exclusive

15、research on idioms is still inappropriate and incomplete. In the last twenty years，idiom has mostly emphasized on the level of Interlingua communication，but cultural differences were rarely involved in it. In 1998, Chen

16、Ding-an wrote a book on comparison and translation of English and Chinese idioms, It can be co</p><p>　　Secondly，it is inevitable that culture differences will affect the understanding of the idioms .In the

17、broad sense, culture and language are closely related to each other. Language is part of culture; it is also the carrier of culture. In the narrow sense, cultural differences have great influences on idiom translation. I

18、dioms are culture-loaded linguistic symbols and people can find almost every aspect of national culture in idioms. Idioms are just like a huge mirror whereby we can see the kind</p><p>　　England and China ha

19、ve totally different cultures while their sources and development roads are distinctive. Having different living environments, social customs, religious beliefs and historical allusions, Chinese and English idioms loaded

20、 with cultural connotations are characterized by certain cultural terms. The idioms were endowed in the two different cultures and were brought about by cultural barriers for the receptors to comprehend and appreciate. I

21、n that case，a leaner should consider the</p><p>　　America and Britain are the countries that have Christianity and Hebraism as their cultural background. Most idioms produced in this background carry rich re

22、ligious elements. Getting to the roots of idioms，we can find that they originated from literary masterpieces，the Bible，Greek and Roman mythologies, ancient fables, historic events，anecdotes，customs，seafaring，agriculture，

23、daily life，animal habitual behaviors，etc，which involved every aspect of life. That is why idioms are hard to understand. Th</p><p><b>　　custom.</b></p><p>　　This thesis is organized

24、as follows: chapter one，the introduction, gives a general description of the background and the direction of the research. Chapter two contains the definition of the idiom and culture and the relationship between them. C

25、hapter three mainly discussed the cultural differences reflected by Chinese and English idioms from four aspects. In a word，this chapter focuses on the different reasons that lead to this differences. Chapter four presen

26、ts the different troditions and cus</p><p>　　Idioms and Culture</p><p>　　As we all know，language is closely related to culture and can be said as a part of culture. From a dynamic view, language

27、 and culture interact with each other and shape each other. Language is the carrier of culture, which in turn is the content of language. The learners can dig out cultural features from language and explain language phen

28、omena with culture.</p><p>　　Idioms as a special form of language exist in both of them and carry a large amount of cultural information such as history, geography，religion, custom, nationality psychology, t

29、hought pattern and so on, and therefore are closely related to culture. They are the heritage of history and product of cultural evolvement. Consequently，people will know much about culture through studying idioms and in

30、 turn get better understanding of idioms by learning the cultural background behind them.</p><p>　　The Definition of Idioms</p><p>　　As for the definition of idioms, there are various versions a

31、ccording to different dictionaries and scholars. This paper picked out some of those definitions from some authoritative dictionaries as follows:</p><p>　　An idiom is an expression which functions as a singl

32、e unit and whose meaning cannot be worded out from its separate parts (Carlson, 1988，53)</p><p>　　An idiom is a phrase, construction or expression that is recognized as a unit in the usage of a given languag

33、e and either differs from the usual syntactic patterns or has a meaning that differs from the literal meaning of its parts taken together. (Chinnery，John D，1984, 88)</p><p>　　Some experts, who have been enga

34、ged in the study of idioms for many years, also have opinions of the definition of idioms.</p><p>　　(1) Weinreich held the view that a phrase logical unit involving at least two polysemous constituents，and i

35、n which there is a reciprocal contextual selection of sub-senses will be called and idiom.</p><p>　　(2) Robibett，Betty Wallace and Liu Chun-jo have the idea that idioms are common expressions used in colloqu

36、ial speech with accepted, figurative meanings that differ from their present-day literal meanings. These above are from dictionaries and experts or scholars. To sum up，we may come to the conclusion that idioms are those

37、concise and incisive set phrase or short sentences，which mean something different from the literal meaning of the individual words，refined from people’s long-term employment</p><p>　　The Definition of Cultur

38、e</p><p>　　The word culture has many different meanings. For some it refers to an appreciation of good literature，music，art，and food. For a biologist，it is likely to be a colony of bacteria or other microorg

39、anisms growing in a nutrient medium in a laboratory Petri dish. However，for anthropologists and other behavioral scientists, culture is the full range of learned human behavior patterns. The term was first used in this w

40、ay by the pioneer English Anthropologist Samovar.l.A.et.aL in his book, Understandin</p><p>　　Culture is a powerful human tool for survival，but it is a fragile phenomenon. It is constantly changing and easil

41、y lost because it exists only in our minds. Our written languages，governments，buildings, and other man-made things are merely the products of culture. They are not culture in themselves. For this reason， archaeologists c

42、an not dig up culture directly in their excavations. The broken pots and other artifacts of ancient people that they uncover are only material remains that reflect cul</p><p>　　The Relationship Between Idiom

43、s and Culture</p><p>　　A great number of definitions have been given to culture. Therefore，idiom is a part of culture. As such, it cannot but serve and reflect cultural needs. Today，the type of figurative la

44、nguage is highly used in the daily life in America. It is necessary for us to have such knowledge of how to comprehend. The ability to understand idioms is important to successful communication. The difficult comprehensi

45、on of English idioms may also lead to communication breakdown for the persons from different lan</p><p>　　Cultural Differences Reflected by Chinese and English</p><p><b>　　Idioms</b>

46、</p><p>　　Both China and Britain have a long history，which fertilized their brilliant cultures. The common experiences and reciprocal interaction in various aspects through long-time communication between th

47、e two countries induce a lot of common points in culture.</p><p>　　Although Chinese culture and English culture have much in common，but they have more in discrepancy owing to their different geographical env

48、ironment，history， religion and so on. The differentiation is a common phenomenon, which appears in varied forms, one of which is idiom. This article will analyze four cultural divergences resulting in differences between

49、 Chinese idioms and English idiom.</p><p>　　Different Living Circumstance</p><p>　　Language is a carrier of the culture; any kind of language reflects its corresponding culture. English and Chin

50、ese are two totally different language systems. It embodies two kinds of totally different cultural systems. The languages of nationality should reflect national culture. The different languages of Easter and Western cou

51、ntries determine they must have some difficulties in communication， namely the cultural difference.(Chen Anding，1991，76)He said in terms of translation: The most difficu</p><p>　　3.L1. Geographical Environme

52、nt</p><p>　　The production of the idiom is closely related to people’s work and living. Geographical environment plays an important role in shaping one country’s culture and human beings have no choices and

53、opacities to change the geography. As a result， idioms based on geographical features appear different. The culture is defined by geographical environment is a subject view of geographical determinism. It cannot be denie

54、d. Britain is an island country; the navigation industry has once dominated the world</p><p>　　Britain is an island country, which does not share land border with any other countries except the Republic of I

55、reland. In history, its navigation industry has ever been the first one for a long time. So, British people have a special passion for water, a drop in the ocean ”滄海一粟"；plain sailing ??—帆風(fēng)順’?； all at sea” 不知所措"

56、； take the sea （擇業(yè)）when one’s ship comes home （當(dāng)某人發(fā)財(cái)致富吋）；between the devil and deep sea ’’進(jìn)退網(wǎng)難?'； While it is fine weather mend your sail ’’未雨綢繆”。 big fish （大亨），dull fish（枯燥無味的人）</p><p>　　However，the mos

57、t part of China belongs to inland place where people cannot live without earth. This very geographical difference results in different idioms in the two languages. For example，to show somebody being extravagant，there is

58、a Chinese idiom “揮金如土” （ Robibett Betty Wallace and Liu Chun-jo, 1988,97） . But in English the idiom is “spend money like water”’, to rest on one’s oars （暫吋獄C 一竊C）， all at sea （不知所措）。to keep one’s head above water （奮力圖存）

59、，There are a lot of English idioms about ship</p><p><b>　　Climate</b></p><p>　　Climate is another factor in the living condition, while Britain is located in western hemisphere, with

60、 North Temperate Zone and marine climate，so “west wind” is the symbol of spring. Take the other instance, in southern China with mild and moisture weather，bamboo is a familiar plant for people there, so they use the idio

61、m “雨后春筍” to describe the new things cropping up in great numbers. Correspondingly，English have the idiom “spring up like mushrooms” to tell the same meaning，since in England mus</p><p>　　Britain used to be k

62、nown as a country of fog partly due to the dampness and warmness of the weather condition and partly to the air pollution as side product of the industrial revolution. Therefore, in English there are some idiomatic expre

63、ssions concerning fog，such as "in a fog"（云里霧里），and ’’to have not the foggiest idea”. "Spring up like mushrooms”（雨后春筍）may become incomprehensible to Chinese learner if he is unaware that this idiom implies

64、the richness of mushroom growing in the wet area in Bri</p><p>　　In Chinese culture, ’’east wind” is ’’the wind of spring,’； spring is warm and</p><p>　　colorful，and it is regarded as the beginn

65、ing of all lives. There are many idioms in China，which refer to spring：春暖花開(in warm spring, all the blossoms are in full bloom.)，春意盎然(spring is very much in the air)，一年之計(jì)在于春(the whole year’s work consists in a good start

66、 in spring),力紫千紅總是春(it is spring when the gayest colors’ abound). Spring has the image of good things，so Chinese “春” is used in some idioms to express this: 萌面存風(fēng)(one’s face radiates happiness)，春風(fēng)4七雨 (the life-giving spri

67、ng breeze and rain-</p><p>　　Different Religious and Beliefs</p><p>　　Related to religious belief，idioms produce among English-Chinese speech in a large amount too. Different countries and natio

68、ns have their own religious belief. For example, Chinese people believe in Buddhism, which has already been introduced to China for more than 1,000 years. In a lot of countries of the west, especially in Great Britain an

69、d America, people believe in the Christian religion. Relevant idioms like “God helps those who help themselves”(天助自助者)，and “Go to hell”(卜地獄去).</p><p>　　Religion exists in every county and nation and affects

70、much in people’s belief and life, especially before the modern civilization. Numerous idioms were generated from the fountain of religion. The people in different countries mostly believe in different schools of religion

71、. Therefore, some differences of idioms between Chinese and English can be traced back to the origin of religion. Religion played a key role in British society especially before capitalization. The majorities of the Engl

72、ish p</p><p>　　Different from Britain，Chinese culture evolved from Confucian School，Taoist School There are traces of Taoist principles and Confucian principles in Buddhist doctrines. Therefore, although Bud

73、dhist culture originated from the other country, it has been assimilated in Chinese culture through a thousand years of spreading and accepting Chinese feathers at the same time. It has been a part of Chinese culture and

74、 exerted enormous influence on Chinese traditional culture and present life as well. In </p><p>　　As we all knows, China is a multi-religious country, yet comparatively speaking，Buddhism has a greater influe

75、nce in Chinese culture. It was first introduced into China in the first century AD，and has shaped the Chinese language，diet, arts, etc.，and greatly stimulated the development of Chinese literature. The large number of wo

76、rds and idioms derived from Buddhism is one of the manifestations of its influence，such as 現(xiàn)身說法(to make a personal example as an effective means of convincing others)，半路出家</p><p>　　In contrast to the Chinese

77、, most of the westerners are Christians，who believe that the world was created by God, and that everything in the world is arranged and disposed of according to God’s will. The teachings and beliefs concerning Christiani

78、ty are recorded in the Bible，which has contributed a great deal to English idioms，for many English people who believe in Christianity all read the Bible. Therefore, numerous idioms have come into people’s colloquial spee

79、ch，and have become mottoes: ’’fall</p><p>　　for an eyen（以牙還牙）</p><p>　　Like the word "Heaven” in Chinese, God is a household word in English- It is often used in their oral conversation，for

80、 they believe that God is so justice，merciful and powerful that he is capable of helping the needy and relieving the distressed，for example, "Oh, my God’’，’’Thank God’’，’.God bless me", ’’Man proposes, God disp

81、oses' ’’honest to God” etc.</p><p>　　Different Historical Allusion</p><p>　　The allusion is to utilize mythology，fable，legend，historical story or the historical personage’s sentence formed o

82、f word. The allusion structure is condensed， precise and to the point. It can make the language of the article clear，image vivid， implicit and humorous. But allusion quotation has the historical origin and cultural backg

83、round. “Achilles’ heel” stemming from the Greek mythology makes people thinks of “only deadly weakness”. “Achilles’ heel” told this story: There is a hero in ancient </p><p>　　Historical Events</p>&l

84、t;p>　　In most, if not all, languages, people embellish their speech or writing with references to characters or events from their history, that is to say，idiomatic expressions are closely related to a country’s histor

85、y. Take the aspect of language.三 個(gè)良皮匠，頂個(gè)諸葛亮 expresses the wisdom of the masses exceeds that of the wisest individual，for 諸總亮 is regarded as the master mind during the last years of the</p><p>　　East-Han Dyna

86、sty.</p><p>　　England has a history of more than one thousand years and has much less important historical events than China. So the English language has much less idioms from historical events than the Chin

87、ese language，but there are still some，for example， ’’to meet one’s Waterloo”（一敗涂地）is from the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815, which means to be completely defeated; The idiom ’’Dunkirk evacuation”（敦刻 爾 撤退）comes f

88、rom the Second World War and originally meant the retreat of the English-French troops </p><p>　　Besides those that have been mentioned above, there are a lot of idioms that are formed by a large amount of h

89、istorical literal quotation, fable and myth. The structure of idioms is simple and the meaning is far-reaching. We cannot understand and translate them from literal meanings</p><p>　　Fables and Mythologies&l

90、t;/p><p>　　Idioms are usually closely related to distinctive cultural fables and mythologies. Greek and Roman civilizations have a great influence on the English language，so the Greek and the Roman mythologies

91、have greatly enriched the English idioms. Most English allusions come from the Bible and the Greek Roman Myth. Let's take a glance at the following idioms: "Achilles1 heel"（致命弱點(diǎn)）which is from the Greek myth

92、ology has the meaning Hthe one weak spot in a man’s circumstances or character”. ?’A Pandora’s </p><p>　　大或最好的份額），’’to cut the Gordian knot"（快刀斬亂麻）.</p><p>　　Most of the following Chinese i

93、dioms are from Chinese historical works and</p><p>　　ancient fables and fairy tales. They are vivid with profound meanings. For example:拔 苗助長(zhǎng):try to help seeding grow by pulling them——spoil things by undue h

94、aste;囫圇 吞棗:swallow a date wholly without chewing or tasting it---uncritical acceptance without real comprehension of what one reads or studies;畫龍點(diǎn)晴：draw the eyes when painting a dragon—a crucial touch which drives home a

95、 point otherwise difficult to explain;甘I｛單P學(xué)步：learn the ways of walking—imitate others only to lose one’s originality;夜郎白大：it </p><p>　　Literary Works</p><p>　　Literature is a kind of artistic f

96、orm of language and also the constituent and carrier of the culture of a nation. Most classical literary works written by great masters of literature in every country are invariably appreciated by people all over the wor

97、ld. Thus, the words and sentences with profound meaning and enlightenment always form idioms, the essence of the languages. Shakespeare, who is known as the greatest playwright in the world, is also a poet in the Renaiss

98、ance in Britain. His works</p><p>　　Literal translation is used when the terms of the translation permits. We have already kept the content of the original work in translation, and kept the form of the origi

99、nal work again. Especially metaphor of the original work and the nationality of the image and local color keep the original work，etc. English and Chinese belong to different nationality. People live in the same world, an