Cultural Comparison between English and Chinese Animal Idioms英汉动物习语文化比较Word格式文档下载.docx
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Cultural Comparison between English and Chinese Animal Idioms英汉动物习语文化比较Word格式文档下载.docx
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EnglishandChineseidioms;
animals;
culturalcomparison;
difference;
similarity
I.Introduction
Idiomisafixedgroupofwordsorasingleword,orevenasentencewithaspecialmeaningthatcannotbeguessedfromtheliteralmeaningofitscomponents.“Languageisthecarriercontainerofculture,andisstronglyinfluencedandshapedbyculture.”SoinordertolearnEnglishidioms,onecannotignoretheimportanceoftheculturalmeaningstheycontain.
Astheessenceoflanguages,idiomshavetwofeatures:
semanticunityandstructuralstability.Onitsbroadsense,idiomsincludingsetphrases,proverbs,sayings,colloquialisms,allusionsandsoonareanimportantpartofthelanguageandculture.
Human’slifeiscloselyrelatedtoanimals,andthereareanincreasingnumberofEnglishandChineseidiomsaboutanimalswhichareconcise,readableandvivid.Manyanimalshavebecomeakindofsymbolisminpeople’sthinking,andthissymbolismisreflectedinthelanguage.However,becauseofdifferenthistoryandculture,theconnotationsofanimalwordsinonelanguagedonotparallelwiththoseinanother.Duetotheculturaldifferencesofgeography,customs,historicalallusion,religionandsoon,suchidiomsembodythedistinctivecharacteristicsofnationalculture.Andwiththedevelopmentofeconomyandscience,globalizationisamoreandmoreobviousphenomenon.Therelationshipbetweencountriesisbecomingcloserandcloser.Inordertounderstandtheseidiomsmoreclearlyandmaketheinternationalcommunicationmoreeffectively,itisusefulandnecessarytocomparesuchidioms.ThepaperwillmakeacomparativestudyofanimalsemployedinEnglishandChineseidioms.
Ⅱ.Thedefinitionandfeaturesofidioms
Idiomsandidiomatic,whilecloselyrelated,arenotidentical.Thebasisofbothisthehabitualand,therefore,predictableco-occurrenceofspecificwords,butwithidiomssignifyinganarrowerrangeofwordcombinationsthanidiomatic.Idiomsarecharacterizedbysemanticunityandstructuralstability.Theyareasetexpressionmadeupoftwoormorewords.Thesenseofthecombinationcannotbeexplainedintermsofitsconstituentparts.Inotherwords,theidiomfunctionsasaunitofmeaningwhichcannotbepredictedfromtheliteralmeaningofitsmemberwords.Inmostcasesnoreasoncannowbegivenastohoworwhyaparticularidiomaticphrasehasassumeditspresentform.Mostidiomscanbesaidtobedemotivatedlinguisticunits.Thecombinationoftwoormorewordsintoanidiomisconventionalandarbitrary.
2.1Thedefinitionofidioms
Idiomisanexpressionwhichfunctionsasasingleunitandwhosemeaningcannotbeworkedoutfromitsseparateparts.
ChiracFernandodefinedEnglishidiomslikethis:
Idioms,orconventionalizedmultiwordexpression,oftenbutnotalwaysnon-literalarehardlymarginalinEnglish,thoughtheyhavebeenrelativelyneglectedinlexicalstudiesofthelanguage.
Sopeopleconsiderthatidiomsarephrasesandsentenceswhichpeopleextractfromlanguageafterhavingusedthemforalongtime,andarelanguageformswhichhavecharacteristicsofnationalculture.Theyarealsotheessenceoflanguages,includingsetphrases,proverbs,sayings,colloquialisms,allusions,slangs,enigmaticfolksimiles.
2.2Semanticunity
Beingphrasesorsentences,idiomseachisasemanticunity.Thoughthevariouswordswhichmakeuptheidiomhavetheirrespectiveliteralmeaning,Intheidiomtheyhavetheirindividualidentity.That’stosay,theirmeaningsarenotoftenrecognizableinthemeaningofthewholeidiom.Likewise,thepartofspeechofeachelementisnolongerimportant.Quiteoftentheidiomfunctionsasoneword.Sotheimportantthingisthewholeidiom.Thereisnoconnectionorassociationtobefoundbetweenthemeaningofanidiomasawholeandthelexicalmeaningofitscomponents.Peoplemustconsidertheidiomasanunit,otherwisetheywouldn’tgetthemeaningofidiom.
Forexample:
“showthewhitefeather”,ifunderstoodfromitsliteralmeaning.itmeans“显示白色的羽毛”,butasanidiom,itmeans“showone’scowardice”.“dosb.brown”means“使人上当”.“doupbrown”means“把某物彻底搞好”.Sowhenstudyingidioms,peopleshouldpayattentiontothefeatureofsemanticunity,anddon’ttranslatethemliterally.
2.3Structuralstability
Unlikefreephrases,thestructureofanidiomistoalargeextentunchangeable.Forinstance,“dosb.well”means“providefoodcomforts,etc.for”,asin“Theydoyouverywellatthehotel”.Structurallyanalysed,theformofanidiomissetandonlyalimitednumberofidiomscanbesaidorwritteninanyotherwaywithoutdestroyinginthemeaningoftheidiom.Inotherwords,anidiomfunctionsasaunitofmeaningwhichcannotbepredictedfromtheliteralmeaningofitsmemberwords.
Firstly,theconstituentsofidiomscannotbereplaced.Take“inabrownstudy”forexample.Usedasaphrase,wecansayinabrown(red,green,white)studyorinabrownstudy(room,hall).However,asanidiomtomean“deepinthought”.Anotherexamples:
burythehatchetcan’tbechangedas“burytheax”.“astitchintimesavesnine”can’tbechangedas“onestitchintimesavesnine”.“千载难逢”can’tbechangedas“千载难见”.“唇亡齿寒”can’tbechangedas“唇亡齿冷”.Secondly,thewordordercannotbeinvertedorchanged.Take“kickthebucket”forexample,ifthisidiomispassivized,itwillappearinanunacceptableformsuchas“thebucketwaskickedbyJohn”,whichnolongermeansthatJohndied.RatheritmeansthatJohnstruckapailwithhisfoot.Anotherexamples:
“bytwosandthrees”can’tbechangedas“bythreesandtwos”.“thelion’sshare”can’tbechangedas“theshareofthelion”.Thirdly,theconstituentsofanidiomcannotbedeletedoraddedto,notevenanarticle.Compare“aredtape”with“redtape”,forexample.Theformerisafreephrasereferringto“aredstripofmaterialusedfortyingupparcels,etc.”,andthelatterisanidiomaticphrasemeaning“excessiveofficialformality”.
Theabove-mentionedexamples,freephrases,usingtheirsynonymstoreplacetheirelementswouldn’tchangetheirmeanings,whileasfixedphrases,idiomscan’tbechanged,becausetheirstructuresarecommonlaw.That’stosay,thestructuralofidiomscan’tbechanged.Anywordofidiomscan’tbereplacedbytheirsynonyms.Theorderofwordscanrarelybechanged.Anychangeofwordsorthecollocationofwordswillmaketheidiomsmeaninglessornotbeidioms.
AsChitraFernandosaid:
Idiomsareindivisibleunitswhosecomponentscannotbevariedorvariedonlywithindefinablelimits.Inotherwords,thestructureofanidiomisalsoanunit.Inanidiom,everyelementisfixed,soitcan’tbeseparatedorreplaced.
Ⅲ.ComparisonofconnotationsofanimalwordsinEnglishandChineseidioms
3.1Similaritiesofconnotstions
Allhumankindlivesonthesameplanet.Theyhavesimilarenvironment,psychology,andcognitiveability;
therefore,bothChineseandEnglishpeoplenearlyhavethesameknowledgeofanimals.Asaresult,theyhavethesameorsimilarassociationandgivethesameculturalconnotationtoanimalwords.Theexamplesarefollowing:
(1)asslyasafox像狐狸一样狡猾
(2)asfatasapig肥得像猪
(3)ascruelasawolf像狼一样残忍
(4)asslowassnail像蜗牛一样缓慢
BothChineseandEnglishthinkthefoxstandsforcunning,sowhenEnglishpeoplesay“Heisafox”,Chinesepeoplecanunderstandthemeaningofthesentenceatthesametime.TothenativeEnglishspeakerandChinesepeople,thefirstcharacteristicofpigisfat.Italsostandsforlazinessandstupidity.A“wolf”isonekindoffiercewildanimal.Avariciousnessandfiercenessareitsnaturalinstincts.SoweoftenhearsomeofthesameexpressionsinEnglishandinChinese,suchas“awolfinasheep’sclothing”or“crywolf”.Inaddition,when“wolf”isusedtorefertoaperson,itmeans“amanwhoalwaysreadytomakesexualadvancestoawoman”.Therefore,inEnglish,thereisanidiom“awolfwhistle”(调情口哨).InChinese,
thereisalsosuchanexpression“色狼”.Theseidiomsaregiventhesameculturalmeaningfromtheircharacteristics,sothatbothEnglishandChinesecanunderstandeachotherdirectlyandeasilyincross-culturalcommunication.Atthesametime,withmoreandmorecommunication,lotsofforeignwordscomeintobothlanguages.Wecanfindsomeidiomswitheventhesameimagesandthesameintonations,suchas:
(5)fishintroubledwater浑水摸鱼
(6)adarkhorse黑马
(7)awolfinsheep’sclothing披着羊皮的狼
3.2Differencesofconnotations
Themajorityofanimalwordscarrydifferentconnotations,becauseoftheirdifferentnaturalenvironment,customs,andsocietysystems.Besides,EnglishhistoryisinfluencedmorebyEgyptandRoman,whileChinesehistoryismuchmoreindependent.
3.2.1Thesameanimalwordswithdifferentmeanings
Inwest,peoplesay“ashappy/merryasacricket”.“Cricket”inEnglishisthesymbolofhappiness,asitiswritteninShakespeare’sfamouswork“HenryIV”.ButinChina,itoftengivespeopleimaginationofsadnessandloneness,foritisusedasareflectionofpoorlifeofancientpeasa
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