中英颜色词的文化内涵及翻译.docx

中英颜色词的文化内涵及翻译.docx

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中英颜色词的文化内涵及翻译

OUTLINE

Abstract

KeyWords

I.Introduction

1.1DefinitionofBasicColorTermsandCulturalConnotations

1.2BackgroundofResearchonColorTerms

ResearchonBasicColorTermsinForeignCountries

ResearchonBasicColorTermsinChina

II.BasicColorTerms

2.1ChineseBasicColorTerms

2.2.EnglishBasicColorTerm

III.CulturalConnotationsofBasicColorTermsinEnglishandChinese

3.1Black

3.2White

3.3Red

3.4Yellow

3.5Green

3.6Blue

3.7Purple

3.8Gray

IV.TheTranslationofColorTerms

4.1TranslationandCulture

4.2LiteralTranslation

4.3AnnotationandContextualAmplification

4.4FreeTranslation

4.5ZeroTranslation

V.Conclusion

Bibliography

中文标题、摘要、关键词

TheCulturalConnotationsandtheTranslationofColorTermsinChineseandEnglish

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Abstract:

Weliveinacolorfulworld.Therearemanycolorwordsintheworld.Colorwordshaverichculturalconnotations.Resultingfromdifferentsocialcultures,historicalprocessesandgeographicconditions,EnglishandChinesecolortermsreflectthedifferenceintheculturalaspectssuchassocialvalues,customs,colorpreferenceetc.Therefore,itisofsignificancetohaveastudyontheculturalconnotationsofbasiccolortermsbetweenEnglishandChinese.ThethesisdealswithculturalconnotationsofbasiccolorwordsinEnglishandChineseandintroducesseveraltranslationmethodsbyseveralexamples.BythecontrastivestudyofculturalconnotationsofbasiccolortermsbetweenEnglishandChinese,wecanknowmoreaboutwhatisgoingoninpeople'smind,intheirlanguageandculture.Therefore,intranslationpractice,whatisimportantistobreaktheculturalbarriersandconveythesourceculturalfaithfully...更多andeffectively.

Keywords:

colorterms;culturalconnotations;translation

I.Introduction

1.1DefinitionofBasicColorTermsandCulturalConnotations

Weliveinacolorfulworld.Tosatisfyourdailynecessities,peopleuseagreatnumberofcolortermstorepresentcolors.Forinstance,itisseemedthatthereareoverthreethousandcolorwordsinEnglish.Moreover,oureyescanbeabletodistinguishsevenmillioncolors,formostofwhichwedonothaveanyexpressionsavailableatall.

Generallyspeaking,thecolorwordsinEnglishcanbedividedintotwocategories:

basiccolortermsandobjectcolorterms.TherearesomanycolortermsinEnglishandChinesethatwecannotdiscussallofthem,thusinthisthesis,thediscussionwillfocusonthefieldofbasiccolorterms.

However,it’sdifficulttogiveaaccuratedefinitiontobasiccolorterms.Therearemanyversionsofdefinitiontobasiccolorterms,amongwhichthemostacceptableisgivenbyBerlinandKay.IntheirBasicColorTerms:

TheirUniversalityandEvolution,BerlinandKaylayoutfourbasiccriteriatojudgewhetheracolorwordisbasicornot.

Inthecaseofbasiccolorterms,weoftentakeitforgrantedthatthecolortermsareoriginallyusedtorefertothephysicalfeaturesofcolorcategories,butweshouldkeepinmindthatthecolorsystemispartiallydeterminedbytheculturalneedsinsteadofbeingsolelybasedupontheirphysicalfeatures.

1.2BackgroundofResearchonColorTerms

Colortermsaremonlinguisticphenomenoninallcultures.Thestudyofcolortermshascausedgreatinterestformanyscholarsabroadorathome,andtheyhavestudiedthephenomenonofcolorternsfromdifferentperspectives.Thissectionaimstosummarizeandbrieflymentonthepreviousresearch.

ResearchonBasicColorTermsinForeignCountries

Platoholdsthattheprocessofperceivingcolorsofhumanbeingsshouldsatisfythreebasicconditions:

1）alightsource;2）areflectororanobjectwhichcanreflectlight;and3）afunctionaleyethatcanreceivethereflectedlight.（Sloane,1991:

54）.

Aristotlepaysmuchattentiontothetypologyofcoloringredients.Accordingtohim,simple-colorsarerelatedtosomebasicelementsinthephysicalworldandaremixturesof“black〞and“white〞.

BrentBerlinandPaulKaywroteabookBasicColorTerms:

TheirUniversalityandEvolution,thebasiccolortermsaretheprototypesinthedifferentcolorcategoriesfortheybestshowthecoloroftheirowncategory.

ResearchonBasicColorTermsinChina

ColortermsappearinancientChina.Inmordenttimes,moreandmoreChinesescholarsstudyoncolorterms.

EnglishWordsofColorAridSoundandTheirTranslationbyZhangPeijiwaspublishedin1964.HemakesadetaileddescriptionoftheusagesofalmostallthecolortermsinEnglish.Sincethe1980s,thestudyoncolortermsgoesfurther.LiuYunquanpublishedhisTheBeautyofLanguageinColors,inwhichhegaveasystematicintroductionofthecategoriesandfunctionsoftheChinesecolorterms.

Intherecent18years,moreworksfocusingonbasiccolortermsbetweenEnglishandChinesehaveappeared.WuDongpingpointedoutaculturalsemanticfieldhypothesis,aimingatseekingtheculturalvacancy,equivalence,differenceandsimilarityfromtheperspectiveofculturalsemanticfield（吴东平,2000:

12）.

II.BasicColorTerms

Inmyopinion,colortermsofdifferentlanguagesalsohavealotoftraitsinmon.Thetwoworld-famouslinguistsBrentBerlinandPaulKay,afterathoroughandcarefulstudy,drewtheconclusionthatinourworldthereareelevencolorcategories,whichareknownas“BasicColorTerms〞.

2.1ChineseBasicColorTerms

NowadaysChinesebasiccolorsincludewhite,black,red,greed,yellow,blue,brown,purpleandgray.ItseemsthatChinesecolortermsarefewerthanEnglishones,butasamatteroffact,Chineseisoneoftherichestandmostcolorfullanguagesintheworld.

2.2EnglishBasicColorTerms

AsBrentBerlinandPaulKaypointedout,differentnationshavedifferentnumbersofcolorterms.Englishhastheelevenbasiccolorterms,thatis,white,black,red,green,yellow,blue,brown,purple,pink,orangeandgray.

III.CulturalConnotationsofBasicColorTermsinEnglishandChinese

3.1Black

Blackisthecolorofnightandthereforeisassociatedwithdarkness.InChinese,wehave“黑暗〞,“黑漆漆〞andsoon.WhileinEnglishsuchexpressionsas“blackout〞and“blackfuture〞arealsoconnectedwith“darkness〞.“Blackout〞referstoaperiodofdarknesscausedbyafailureoftheelectricitysupply.And“Blackfuture〞referstotheslimhopeinthefuture.

IntheWesterncountries,blackisthecolorofmourningdress,sotowearitatafestivalisillmanneredandunlucky.Inaddition,Westernpeoplebelievethat“black〞hassomeconnectionwiththeevilspirit.

Blackisoftenconnectedwithanger.WehavesuchChineseexpressionsas“气得脸铁青（意指黑）〞,andinEnglishthereisasimilarexpression“turnblackwithrage〞.“black-browed〞isakindoffacialexpressionshowingangerand“tolookatsomeoneblack〞istolookatsomeoneangrily.

Blackalsoimpliesmisfortuneanddisaster.“BlackFriday〞referstoanunluckydaybecausetoChristiansthisisthedayofCrucifixion.Thereisaputerviruscalled“BlackFriday〞,whichwillflareuponFriday,deletingalldatainputers.Thisisanunluckydaytotheusersofputers.“Black〞and“黑〞alsoindicate“secret〞and“illegality〞.“blackmarket〞referstotheillicitbuyingandsellingofgoods.“Blackeconomy〞isthebusinessactivitythattakesplaceunofficiallywithoutobservinglegalrequirements,especiallyinordertoevadetax.ThecounterpartsoftheexpressionsaboveinChineseare“黑钱〞,“黑市〞,“黑市经营〞respectively.Moreover,“黑〞in“黑道〞,“黑店〞,“黑车〞,“黑户〞alsoexpresstheconnotationsof“secret〞and“illegality〞.

SometimesblackalsohasgoodmeaningsbothinEnglishandChinese.Peopleuseblackinapositivesensetomeandignityandjustice.Blacksuitandblackdressaretraditionalclothesmostlyupheldbywesterners.InbusinessEnglish,“intheblack〞and“blackfigure〞hasagoodmeaningofrunningabusinessprofitably.

3.2White

Whiteistheoppositeofblack.Inwesternculture,whiteisthesymbolofbrightness,whichrepresentsbeauty,hope,andmerry.Westernersthink“white〞ispureandelegant,sotheyadorewhite,e.g.“awhitesoul〞.Inwesterncountries,babiesaredressedinwhitefortheirchristening.Brideswearwhiteintraditionalchurchweddingsbecausewhiterepresentspurityandvirginity.Inthefairytalesthegirl“SnowWhite〞istheembodimentofwisdom,kindnessandbeauty.InChinese,theconnotationofpuritycanbeshowninsomeexpressions,suchas“洁白〞,and“白璧无瑕〞Peopleoftenmention“theWhiteHouse〞and“Whitehall〞onTV.TheWhiteHouseistheofficialresidenceoftheUSpresident,whichisthesymbolofpower.“Whitehall〞isastreetinLondonwheretherearemanygovernmentoffices,andsometimesitreferstotheBritishgovernment.

Inaword,“white〞inEnglishmostlyhaspositiveassociativemeanings.Inaddition，“white〞and“白〞alsohavederogatorysense.WhiteisthecolorofdeathintheWestandthecolorofvampires.“白〞inChinesehasalsosomeassociationwithdeath,thebirthanddeathofapersonarelikethesunriseandsunset.Thus,whiteasthesymbolofwestalsobeesasignofdeath.AndChineseexpression“白事〞isusedtomean“funeralaffairs〞.InChinesefuneral,peoplewearwhitehats,whitemourningapparelsandwhiteshoes,withawhiteropetiedinthewaists.“White〞and“白〞alsomeans“failure〞.Inawar,theyieldingpartywillhang“白旗〞ora“whiteflag〞asasignofacceptingitsfailure.

3.3Red

InEnglish“red〞isfire,andthisissupportedbytheexistenceofsetphraseslike“red-hot〞and“fieryred〞,andbytheassociationof“red〞withdanger.“red〞and“红〞areconnectedwith“violence〞and“shyness〞.Forexample,“Redbattle〞referstothebattleinwhichbloodisshed.“Redactivities〞meansviolentactivities.“Redrulesoftooth〞isthelawofthejungle,inwhichthestronglives