顏色詞的文化內(nèi)涵及翻譯【畢業(yè)論文】

1、<p><b>　　（20_ _屆）</b></p><p><b>　　本科畢業(yè)設(shè)計(jì)</b></p><p><b>　　英語</b></p><p>　　顏色詞的文化內(nèi)涵及翻譯</p><p>　　Cultural Connotation and Translat

2、ion of Color Terms </p><p><b>　　Contents</b></p><p>　　Abstract ......................................................................................................................I

3、II</p><p>　　1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................1</p><p>　　1.1 Definition of Basic Color Terms ............

4、...........................................................1</p><p>　　1.2 Definition of Cultural Connotations .................................................................2</p><p>　　1.3 Nece

5、ssity of the Study ......................................................................................2</p><p>　　2 Cultural Connotations of Basic Color Terms in English and Chinese .............3</p&g

6、t;<p>　　2.1 Black and 黑 ...................................................................................................4</p><p>　　2.2 white and 白 ..................................................

7、.................................................4</p><p>　　2.3 Red and 紅 .....................................................................................................5</p><p>　　2.4 Yell

8、ow and 黃 .................................................................................................5</p><p>　　2.5 Green and 綠 ..........................................................................

9、........................7</p><p>　　2.6 Blue and 藍(lán) ....................................................................................................8</p><p>　　3 Causes for Similarities and Di

10、fferences in Cultural Connotations .................8</p><p>　　3.1 Causes for Similarities .....................................................................................9</p><p>　　3.2 Cau

11、ses for Differences .....................................................................................9</p><p>　　3.2.1 Environment .........................................................................

12、.........................9</p><p>　　3.2.2 Religion .......................................................................................................10</p><p>　　3.2.3 Politics .............

13、............................................................................................10</p><p>　　3.2.4 Other Causes ....................................................................................

14、...........10</p><p>　　4 Three Translation Approaches ..........................................................................11</p><p>　　4.1 Literal Translation .............................

15、.............................................................11</p><p>　　4.2 Liberal Translation .........................................................................................12</p><p&g

16、t;　　4.3 Annotation Translation ...................................................................................13</p><p>　　5 Conclusion ...................................................................

17、.......................................13</p><p>　　Bibliography .............................................................................................................15</p><p>　　Acknowled

18、gements ..................................................................................................16</p><p><b>　　內(nèi)容摘要</b></p><p>　　顏色詞是每一個(gè)民族的語言中不可缺少的重要部分。在英漢兩種語言中，由于文化習(xí)俗、歷史背景

19、等方面的差異，他被賦予了非常豐富的文化內(nèi)涵。而隨著中西文化交流的不斷深入，人們已經(jīng)認(rèn)識到具有深刻文化內(nèi)涵的顏色詞不可避免地成為翻譯和跨文化交際中的一個(gè)瓶頸。為了促進(jìn)多元文化社會的發(fā)展和加強(qiáng)跨文化交流，研究英語和漢語基本顏色詞的文化內(nèi)涵具有一定的現(xiàn)實(shí)意義。</p><p>　　本論文探討的主要是基本顏色詞（black和黑，white和白，red和紅，yellow和黃，green和綠，blue和藍(lán)）。本文從探討顏色詞

20、的概念和文化內(nèi)涵出發(fā)，對英漢基本顏色詞的文化內(nèi)涵進(jìn)行了對比研究并分析導(dǎo)致不同文化內(nèi)涵的原因，并在此基礎(chǔ)上論證了顏色詞翻譯的主要技巧和策略。</p><p>　　關(guān)鍵詞：基本顏色詞；文化內(nèi)涵；原因；翻譯方法</p><p><b>　　Abstract</b></p><p>　　Color terms are an important and

21、indispensable part of each nation’s language. However, due to cultural practices, historical background and other differences, color terms were given very rich cultural connotation in both Chinese and English languages.

22、 With the deepening of cultural exchange, people have recognized that the profound cultural connotation of the basic color terms inevitably would become a bottleneck in translation and cross-cultural communication. In or

23、der to promote the developm</p><p>　　This paper mainly focuses on the basic color terms (black and黑，white and白，red and紅，yellow and黃，green and綠，blue and藍(lán)). This paper starts with discussing the concept and cu

24、lture connotation of color terms, and then it makes a comparison of different cultural connotation and analyzes the reasons, and finally it demonstrates the main translation skills and tactics.</p><p>　　Key

25、words: Basic Color Terms; Cultural Connotation; Cause; Translation Approaches</p><p>　　1 Introduction</p><p>　　Color is people’s perception of the objective external world. Both in nature and in

26、 social life, different colors are existed. But under different cultural backgrounds, people have different perceptions of color terms. The colors people perceive are determined by what their cultures prepares them to se

27、e. Color terms have emotional elements and different cultural connotations in languages. All languages may have their own words to identify particular colors, but there is always a special subset o</p><p>　　

28、1.1 Definition of Basic Color Terms</p><p>　　People use a large number of color terms to represent colors to satisfy our daily necessities. For example, there are over three thousand color words in English.

29、More amazingly, human eyes are capable of distinguishing seven million different colors, for most of which people do not have any available language to express. In addition, due to the natural polytrope it’s difficult to

30、 categorize colors, thus categories of color terms are vague. Generally, the color words in English can be divided int</p><p>　　However, it’s difficult to give an accurate definition to basic color terms, be

31、cause a basic color terms is defined on the basis of a number of criteria. These criteria are specified by Berlin and Kay (1969) as follows: (a) be usable in a wide range of contexts (thus ruling out “blood”, for example

32、); (b) be broad or general in meaning, in the sense that it should not be regarded as a “kind of” any other color (thus ruling out “scarlet” and “azure”, for example); (c) salience, i.e. the word must </p><p&g

33、t;　　1.2 Definition of Cultural Connotations</p><p>　　Palmer suggests (1983:4) that there are some other meanings besides its “l(fā)iteral” meaning in a word. In the case of basic color terms, people often take i

34、t for granted that the color terms are originally used to refer to the physical features of color categories, but people should keep in mind that the color system is partially determined by the cultural needs instead of

35、being solely based upon their physical features. For example, In Hanunoo, a language of Philippines, all living things are des</p><p>　　Therefore, many linguists and scholars try hard to study words in relat

36、ion to their associative effects and then to relate the meaning of words to the cultural background. Geoffrey Leech proposes that a word may have seven types of meaning: conceptual meaning, thematic meaning, connotative

37、meaning, stylistic meaning, affective meaning, reflected meaning, and collocative meaning. The latter five are summarized as associative meaning for they all have the same open-ended, indeterminate character (</p>

38、<p>　　Based on these arguments, this paper will use the term “connotation” in a broader sense, and the expression “cultural connotation” is used, to refer to the metaphorical meaning, associative meaning, symbolic

39、meaning, emotional meaning as well as other extended meanings originated from different cultural systems in different societies.</p><p>　　1.3 Necessity of the Study</p><p>　　Leech (1978:47—48) c

40、laims that, as a communication system, language has five communicative functions: the informative function, the expressive function, the directive function, the aesthetic function, and the phatic function. Lyons (1979:54

41、—56) also suggests that there are three kinds of functions signaled by language: descriptive, social, and expressive. Both the categorizations of functions of a language or the information transmitted by a language show

42、that there is something more than the co</p><p>　　The misuse of language is a major cause of human conflicts, and to a certain extent, some clashes in communication result from semantic and pragmatic failure

43、, so people are often suggested to choose right words to mean what they say. The choice of the right words is also based upon their understanding of the connotative meanings of the words they are using.</p><p&

44、gt;　　It has been realized that basic color terms, as a group of cultural-loaded words, form an area with frequent occurrence of communicative misunderstanding, the root of which lies in cultural differences. So it is ver

45、y necessary to have an analysis on the cultural connotations of color terms between English and Chinese. For the same reason, to choose proper translation methods to translate color terms is also very important and signi

46、ficant.</p><p>　　2 Cultural Connotations of Basic Color Terms in English and Chinese</p><p>　　There exist a number of color terms in human language that make the world colorful. These color term

47、s have very rich emotional elements and cultural connotations in languages. It is known that different people from different cultures have different sense of colors in cross-cultural communication. So in this part, contr

48、ast will be made on the cultural connotations of color terms between English and Chinese which are based upon the six basic color terms defined by Kay and McDaniel (1978).</p><p>　　2.1 Black and 黑 </p>

49、;<p>　　In ancient China,“黑”was the holiest color respected by people, because it was regarded as the color of mystery, giving people a mysterious sense. Therefore, in some dynasties emperors and major officials wo

50、re black dress, like “戈綈”, “皂衣”and “玄衣”, especially in formal occasions, such as in the Court and sacrificial rites. Similarly, in English culture black also symbolize grave, majesty and noble. Such as “black suit (黑色西裝)

51、” and “black dress (黑色禮服)”, they are the most sublime traditional costume </p><p>　　In traditional Chinese culture, sometimes 黑 is the opposite of 白, such as 黑白分明,顛倒黑白,黑白電視; while sometimes 黑 is the opposite

52、 of 紅, such as “黑心”(sinister venomous heart) is the opposite of “紅心”(loyal heart).</p><p>　　The main implied meanings of black in Chinese are “dim”(黑咕隆咚、黑燈瞎火), “secret”(黑幕、黑話), “illegal”(黑貨、黑市), and “evil”(黑

53、幫、黑店、黑手). But in the traditional art of theatrical makeup in Beijing opera, black facial makeup is the symbol of characters who are upright, impartial and incorruptible, such as Wei Chigong in Tang Dynasty, Bao Zheng and

54、 Li Kui in Song Dynasty.</p><p>　　The meaning of black in English are also have many different situations. If it is used in the article art, it means forethought and wisdom, such as “Jack knew black from whi

55、te.”(杰克精明老練). If it is used in art works, it means evil, lies and fallacy. And if it is used in church adornment and funeral, it means Good Friday and sadness, despair and death.</p><p>　　In traditional Engl

56、ish culture, black is also the opposite of white , such as “call black white”(顛倒黑白), “put down in black and white”(見諸文字), and “swear black is white”(強(qiáng)詞奪理). But sometimes black is the opposite of blue in English, like “be

57、at sb. black and blue” (把某人打得遍體鱗傷). And the main implied meanings of black in English are “gloomy” (be in a black mood,情緒低落), “anger”(look black,怒目而視), “bad”(black sheep,害群之馬) and “illegality”(black market,非法市場).</p&g

58、t;<p>　　Besides, both “black” and “黑” can be used to refer to the dark-skinned race. But “brown”, “bronze”, or “tan” is used when the skin turns dark due to the sunray, which is a symbol of health.</p><

59、p>　　2.2 White and 白</p><p>　　In Chinese white represents holy, clean, honest, clear and daytime, such as 白璧無瑕,真相大白,清清白白,白天and so on. In 1906, Sun Zhongsan decided to use red, blue and white three colors a

60、s the future republic national flag’s color. The white here is taken its holy and humanity meaning. And in Chinese, “白” also can represent behind, reactionary and lack of awareness, such as 一窮二白,白色恐怖,白區(qū),白專道路etc. In the t

61、raditional art of theatrical makeup in Beijing opera, white facial makeup is the symbol of characters who</p><p>　　And in English article art and art works, white represents pure, real, innocence and loyalty

62、, such as “Particularly contemptible was the Jim Crow attitude of the southern white churches, which evidently looked forward to a ‘lily white’ heaven”.(特別可鄙的是南方白人教堂也采取隔離黑人的態(tài)度，這些白人教堂顯然希望進(jìn)入一個(gè)“純白”的天堂). So white is also use

63、d in the wedding. But white has some other implied meanings, like “a white day”(吉日), “a white hope”(足以為某一團(tuán)體帶來榮譽(yù)的人), “a white elephant”(無實(shí)用價(jià)值的東西), “white alert”(解除警報(bào)), “a white lie”(善意的謊言)a</p><p>　　2.3 Red a

64、nd 紅</p><p>　　During the Warring States Period, the founder of “Five Virtues” Zou Yan thought: South rose finch belongs to fire, and it is red. Hence, in Chinese red is fire and blood’s color. Chinese not on

65、ly use red to represent the color of the object, but also use it as festival, auspiciousness, victory and luck’s symbol. In Chinese “紅白喜事” indicates wedding and funeral; “開門紅” indicates doing something get a success in t

66、he beginning; “走紅運(yùn)” indicates have a good luck; “事業(yè)紅火” indicates enterprise is very suc</p><p>　　The English think red represents faith and universal love, so they wear red clothes in some liturgies. And in

67、article art red means happy and blood red means firm and indomitable. Besides, red also has many different implied meaning in English idiom, such as “go into red (出現(xiàn)赤字，發(fā)生虧損)”, “see red (氣得發(fā)瘋，大發(fā)雷霆)” and “paint it red (把某物

68、弄得引人注目)”. Especially the phrase “go red”, it means “赤化”, which used by capital righteousness countries’ reactionary group to call communists.</p><p>　　2.4 Yellow and 黃</p><p>　　“Yellow” and “黃”h

69、ave both positive meanings and negative meanings in English and Chinese. As the color of gold and the sun, “yellow” is the symbol of wealth, honor and power. It’s a holy color in Christianity. The Father wears golden cru

70、cifix, and the holy cup used by Jesus in his last supper is also yellow. The yellow color is also a holy color in Taoism and Buddhism. Some monks and Taoist priests wore yellow dress. Yellow paper with magic incantations

71、 is regarded by superstitious people as a m</p><p>　　In English, there is a phrase “a yellow ribbon”, used as a symbol of welcome for those people who will return home, and thus “to hang yellow ribbons for s

72、omebody” is to give a warm welcome for one’s return.</p><p>　　However, “yellow” and “黃”are used negatively on some occasions.</p><p>　　Goethe described yellow as a merry color, but the slightest

73、 of intermingling of another color may degrade it and make it unpleasant or dirty. Both “yellow” and “黃”imply warning. “A yellow card” or“黃牌”is originally a card held up by a football referee to show that a player has do

74、ne something wrong. Later it is used generally throughout the world as a symbol of warning. </p><p>　　In addition, “yellow” and“黃”have their specific meanings. In English “yellow” is used to mean “jealous”,

75、because Judas wore yellow dress. Thus “yellow with envy” is usually used alternatively with “green with envy”, since some people believe the irritability can cause the excessive secretion which makes human’s skins turn y

76、ellow. The more common usage of “yellow” is to refer to the dishonest style in editorial comment and the representation of news, especially in sacrificing the truth for sensat</p><p>　　2.5 Greed and 綠</p&

77、gt;<p>　　Both native speakers of English and those of Chinese believe that the color green is not only a symbol of life and vigor, but also a sign of peace and hope, and endow the basic color terms “green” and“綠”w

78、ith many positive meanings relevant to life.</p><p>　　At the mention of the green color, people will naturally think of plants. So “has green fingers” means a person who is good at planting; “Greenhouse” is

79、used for growing plants that need warmth, light, and protection, while “greenhouse effect” means the gradual warming of the air surrounding the earth as a result of heat by pollution. Thus “green” and“綠”are connected clo

80、sely with the environment. For instance “Green revolution” refers to an environmental protection. In addition, a political grou</p><p>　　The green color is also a symbol of passing, such as “Green light” or“

81、綠燈” shows cars or pedestrians are allowed to go forward; “Give somebody the green light” means giving official permission for something to be started. In Chinese,“開綠燈”carries the same meaning.</p><p>　　Howev

82、er, because of separation in geographical regions and difference in their races, it is possible and reasonable that native speakers of English and those of Chinese are not always identical in their understanding of pheno

83、mena related to green color, nor in their use of the color term “green” or“綠”. For instance, in English “green” has the meaning of “jealous” or “envious” as in “green-eyed” or “the green-eyed monster”. “Green with envy”

84、refers to wishing very much to have something that some</p><p>　　2.6 Blue and 藍(lán)</p><p>　　In Chinese,“藍(lán)”is the color of the sky or the sea, however, by comparing with “blue”,“藍(lán)”has much less conn

85、otations. To Chinese people, blue is the color of the dress worn by Confucian scholars in ancient times, and“藍(lán)衫”was once used to refer to “xiucai”, those who passed the imperial examination at the county level in the Min

86、g and Qing dynasties.</p><p>　　In Chinese, the color term“藍(lán)”can be replaced by “青”. Because blue sky in a fine day is always cloudless, making people feel bright and clear,“青天”in Chinese often refers to a ju

87、st judge or an upright magistrate; meanwhile, blue sky is usually high and extensive, far beyond the reach of ordinary people, thus“青云”is extended to mean a high official position as in“平步青云”.We also have an idiom“青出于藍(lán)而勝

88、于藍(lán)”implying the pupil surpasses the master.</p><p>　　The English color term “blue” is not only the color of the sky or the sea, but also implies “useless” or “valueless”. It is much complicated in its connot

89、ations. Blue symbolizes calm, reflection, modesty and the intellect. It is also a holy color representing sacredness, truth and loyalty. So blue is the color of Virgin Mother Mary’s robe as a symbol of purity.</p>

90、<p>　　As Britain is an island nation, blue is more related to the sea. It may be reasonable to argue that the stormy and dull life at sea result in its dismal and melancholy senses. If somebody is “in a blue mood”,

91、 he or she may feel sad, gloomy or depressed. Besides, “Blue” is also associated with “noble”, so “Blue blood” is used to refer to a person of aristocrat origins and a “Blue ribbon” is a small piece of blue material give

92、n to the first-prize winner of a competition.</p><p>　　What’s more, “blue print” refers to a plan for achieving something or a photographic print of a plan for a building or machine. Its counterpart can be f

93、ound in Chinese—“藍(lán)圖”. In addition, “Blue” can also be used to refer to the complexion. When a person feels cold or cannot breathe properly, his or her skin will “go blue”. </p><p>　　3 Causes for Similarities

94、 and Differences in Cultural Connotations</p><p>　　3.1 Causes for Similarities</p><p>　　People live in the same material world, and the physical mechanism of perception is pretty much the same i

95、n all people. Therefore the reflection in people’s minds of the objective world is the same, that is, they refer to things and interpret unit of meanings by means of the same concepts.</p><p>　　For instance,

96、 people are likely to associate the white color with brightness, therefore both “white” and“白” imply “brightness”, “purity” and “innocence”; Black is the color of darkness, hence “black” and“黑” indicate “darkness”, “horr

97、or”, “mystery”, and “evilness”; Red is a bright color which is much more conspicuous than other colors, so it is used as a sign of danger and warning, so there appear such expressions as “a red card”, “red alert”, and“紅牌

98、”,“紅色警報(bào)”.</p><p>　　The similarities in connotation also have some relation with custom of people. In both China and Britain when keeping accounts, people usually use red ink to record deficit while use black