Language and Culture.docx
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Language and Culture.docx
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LanguageandCulture
LanguageandCulture
Chapter1
Doeslanguageshapecultureordoescultureshapelanguage?
Inmyview,languageisamirror,infrontofwhichcultureisreflected.AsastudentmajoringinChineseasaforeignlanguage,I¡¯dliketotakethisadvantagetodiscusstheculturaldifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglish.Inthefollowingpassage,Iamgoingtoelaborateontheculturaldifferencesreflectingincolors.
Therearemanycolorwordsinourlanguage,suchasred,white,black,yellow,purpleandsoforth,whichareusedfrequently.Inthefirstplace,I¡¯dliketointroducethecommonusagesofthecolorwords.
1.adj.+colorword
(1)"deep/dark+colorwords":
indicatingthestrongcolor
e.g.,deepblue;deepgreen;darkbrown;darkred.
(2)"light/pale+colorwords":
indicatingthelightcolor
e.g.,lightyellow;lightblue;palegrey;palewhite.
(3)"bright/rich/vivid+colorwords":
indicatingthebrightcolor
e.g.,bright/rich/vividred;bright/rich/vividyellow.
(4)"dull/dirty+colorwords":
indicatingthedarkcolor
e.g.,dullyellow;dullgold;dirtygrey;dirtywhite.
2."colorwords+-ish"
Thisgroupindicatesthedifferentshadesofthecolor.Anadjectivefollowedby-ishmeans"slightly¡"
e.g.,whitishsky,yellowishbookleaves;reddishface¡
3."colorwords+colorwords"
Thispatternindicatesthemixtureofthecolor.Theformerstandsforthemaincolor,whilethelatterfunctionsasmodification.
e.g.,redgreen;greenyellow;greyblue¡
4."colorwords+and+colorwords"
Twocolorscoexistinginsomethingwithoutbeingmixedformadesignandcolor.
e.g.,Thedogisblackandwhite.
Shehasayellowandblackcar.
Chapter2
Englishaboundswithphrasescontainingcolorwords.Colorsmayconveydifferentmessagestopeopleofdifferentcultures.Duetotherespectiveculturalbackgroundandtradition,somephrasescontainingcolorwordshavefarsurpassedtheiroriginalmeanings,formingdifferentconnotations.
Whatdoesseeredmean?
Ifheisinabluemood,whatkindofmoodishein?
Ishehappy,sad,orwhat?
Obviously,redandbluedonotmeanjustthecolor.Eachhasadditionalmeanings-certainculturalassociations-thatarehiddenbehindtheword.Thefollowingpartwillbedevotedtothediscussionofculturaldifferencesofcertaincolorwords.
2.1Red
InbothChineseandEnglish,redisusuallyassociatedwithhappyoccasions.Oncalendar,wecanfindthatholidayssuchasSpringFestivalareprintedinred,whichiscalled¡°red-letterdays¡±,whileordinarydaysareinblack.Besides,¡°topaintthetownred¡±istocelebratewildly,toenjoyoneselftoone¡¯sheart¡¯scontent.Anotherexampleisto¡°rollouttheredcarpetforsomeone¡±,meaningtogiveahospitableandformalreception.
Similarly,ChinesepeopletraditionallycutredcoupletsandappliquetocelebrateoccasionslikeweddingandNewYear.Besides,Wehaveaveryfamoustrademark¡°doubleredhappiness¡±(ºì˫ϲ)whichissymbolicofgoodfortune.
Redisalsoassociatedwithcertainemotions.Letusseeafewexamples.
Heclenchedhisfistandwentveryred.
Herfaceturnedredwhenbombardedwithsuchanembarrassingquestion.
Icanseethatheisredwithanger.
Whenhecriticizedmywork,Ireallysawred.
Themerementionofhisenemy¡¯snameislikewavingaredflagtohim.
Inthesentencesabove,wecanguessthemeaningofsome,forthereisanChineseequivalent£¬whiletheothersarenotsoeasytounderstandbyChinese.Forinstance,inEnglish,herfaceturnedredortobecomered-facedshowsone¡¯sembarrassment,asitdoesinChineseÁ³ºì.Butwhatisthemeaningofseeredandwavingaredflag?
Bothsuggestanger.Theformermeanstobecomeveryangrywhilethelattermeanstocausequickangerinsomebodybydoingsomethingoffensive.
¡°Governmentpolicyininterestrates,andonfinancegenerally,hasbeenmarkedbyvacillation,wishfulthinking,electoralexpediencyofthemostshamefultypetowardstheendoflastyear,contortionsandcontradictions,alltoaccommodatetheredneckeconomicsoftheNationalCountryParty.(HarsardAug.271981)¡±
Intheexampleabove,¡°redneck¡±isusedasanadjective,meaning¡°reactionary¡±.¡°redneckery¡±derivingfrom¡°redneck¡±refersto¡°reactionaryattitudes¡±.Forinstance,¡°...theredneckeryoftheQueenlandgovernment...(GarthNettheimABCBooksandWritingApr.21.1982)¡±
Theliteralmeaningof¡°redneck¡±isred-neck.Howisitrelatedto¡°reactionary¡±?
¡°redneck¡±originallymeant(AmE)SouthernfarmersofU.S.A.,usuallycarryingaderogatorymeaning.Now¡°reactionary¡±,theextendedmeaningof¡°redneck¡±,hassomethingtodowithitsspecialhistoricalandgeographicalbackground.
Anotherexample.
¡°Ironically,itwasRedNoseDay,thedaywhenmillionsofAustraliansdonnedrednosestosupportresearchintosuddeninfantdeathsyndrome.(NewIdea.Oct.71989)¡±
RedNoseDayreferstoadayonwhichanappealismadefordonationsforresearchintosuddeninfantdeathsyndrome,markedbythedistributionofplasticrednosestodonors.InChinese,however,thereisnosuchconnotation.
SomeWesternerstake¡°red¡±asanevilomenorredfordanger,stemmingfromthespiritsofbullfighters.Sotheredrag(orredflag)thatbullfightersusetoprovocatebullsisconsideredannoying.AccordingtotheRandomHouseDictionary,redfurtherdevelopstobethesynonymforpoliticalradical.
Furthermore,redhassomeextendedmeanings,suchascruelty,disaster,trivialformalities,etc.
redalertalarminginemergency
aredbattleacruelbattleinwhichalotofliveshavebeenlost
becaughtred-handedbecaughtonsite
haveredhandscommitamurder
redideasrevolutionaryconcepts
redruinfire(asadisaster)
redtapebureaucraticwritings
intheredindebt
don¡¯tcarearedcentdon¡¯tcareatall
2.2White
TomostChineseandWesterners,whitehassomemeaningsincommon.Whitesuggestspurity,innocenceandhonesty.
e.g.,Maryisawhitegirl.(pureandinnocent)
Tomisaverywhiteboy.Henevertellslies.(honest)
Butinthissense,whatdoesthetermawhiteliemean?
Canaliebepureandinnocent?
Actually,awhitelieisaharmlessone,intendednottohurtsomeone.Forexample,yourmotherboughtadressforyouthatshewasverysatisfiedwith,andwantedtoknowifyoulikedit.Maybeinyourmind,itwasoutofthefashionorthecolorwasnottoyourtaste.Butyousaid,¡°Oh,Ireallylikeit¡±inordernottoletherdown.Itwasalie,butagood-intentionedlie.
TheconnotationofwhiteinChinesealsoincludessomethingunhappy.Atfunerals,Chinesepayrespecttothedeadandexpresstheirsorrowbywearingwhiteandwritingelegiaccoupletsinwhitepaper.IntheWest,however,whiteisthetraditionalcolorforthebridesatweddings,andtowearwhiteatfuneralswouldbeoffensive.Socareshouldbetakenintranslatingthephraseºì°×ϲÊÂ.Toavoidmisunderstanding,wecanputitsimplyasweddingsandfunerals.Talkingaboutredandwhite,thereisaninterestingcoincidenceinChineseandEnglish.InChinese,thosewhoarepopularandfindfavorwiththeirbossesarecalledºìÈË(redguyliterally).ButIrishpeoplecallthemthewhite-headedboy.Inthissense,redequalswhiteinthetwocultures.
Wehaveafamousdramacalled¡¶°×ëŮ¡·.Ifwetranslateitliterallyas¡¶AWhite-hairedGirl¡·,thoseWesternerswillbeconfusedanditwillbeveryhardtoseetheprofoundmeaningbehinditInoldChina,folksingeneralweremadeghosts,whilethingshavechangedalotinnewChina.
Inaddition,hereisacollectionofexpressionscontainingthewordwhite.
thewhiteareaananti-revolutionaryarea
awhitedayaluckyday
whitelightdistrictever-brightarea
awhiteelephantsomethingburdensomeandvalueless;hugeburden
showthewhitefeathershowfear
awhiteslavesomeonewhoisforcedtobeaslave
daysmarkedwithawhitestonehappydays
awhitewarawarwithoutbloodshed;aneconomiccompetition
bleedwhiteextorteverycentfromsomeone
2.3Black
InbothChineseandEnglish,therearevarioustermsindicatingthatblackoftencarriesanegativemeaning:
blackmail(ÀÕË÷),blacklist£¨ºÚÃûµ¥),black-hearted(ºÚÐĵÄ)£¬blackmarket(ºÚÊÐ),etc.Butinthefollowingsentence,canyouguessthemeaning?
Sincehetookoverthebusiness,thecompanyhasbeenintheblack.Intheexampleabove,blackhasagoodmeaningrunningthebusinessprofitably.Thetermintheblackremindsmeofthephraseintheredwhichisjustoppositetotheformerone.Bothtermscomefromthecoloroftheinkusedinkeepingaccounts.Interestingly,wehaveanappropriateequivalentinChinese-³à×Ö,probablyboughtfromEnglish.
Besides,blackimpliesgloom,disgrace,misfortune,extremeanger,etc,ascanbeseeninthefollowingexamples.theblackartenchantment
blackandbluefullofbruises
blackdayunluckyday
blackdogunhappy
ablacklookanangrylook;glareatsomebody
inablackmoodinlowspirits
blacksheepevilmemberoftheherd
ablackstrangerastrangeroutandout
turnblackwhiteconfuserightandwrong
2.4Blue
ItseemsthatblueisafavorablewordtoChinesethebluesky,asoftenasnot,canarouseustoyearnforabetterfuture;theblueseafullofuncertaintyinducesboundlessimagination.Naturally,wetakeitforgrantedthatthefamoussongLoveisBlueequalsaromanticlovestory.InWesternculture,however,bluedoesnotassociatewithhappinessandimagination,butgloomanddepression.
Hehasbeeninabluemood(orhavingtheblues)sinceheknewthathisfailureintheentranceexamination.Inthisexample,thosetwotermsmeanasadorgloomymood.Similarly,ablueMondaycarriesthesamefeeling.Usu
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