The Cultural Differences in Animal Words in Chinese and English.docx

The Cultural Differences in Animal Words in Chinese and English.docx

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TheCulturalDifferencesinAnimalWordsinChineseandEnglish

Acknowledgements

Iwishtoexpressmythanksandappreciationtomytutor,MissWuBifang,whoisacareful,responsibleandpatientteacher.Shehelpedmetogetmyideasintoshape,optimizethewritingstructureandrealizedisadvantagesofthethesis.Thankstohercarefulreadinganddetailedsuggestions,Icansuccessfullyfinishmythesiswriting.Sheisreallyaconscientiousteacher.MythanksshouldalsobegiventoalltheteacherswhohavetaughtmemyBAcourses.Theyareresponsibleandprofessionaltoo.Theytaughtmehowtostudyandhowtomakeprogress.Educationliesnotonlyinimpartingknowledge,butalsoineducatingpeople.Sotheyalwaystaughtmehowtocopewithproblemsinfrontofdifficulties.Ilearntalotaboutlifefrommyteachers.

Idoappreciatethehelpofmyclassmatesandroommates.Theygavemealotofpsychologicalsupportandencouragement.Inparticular,IsincerelyappreciateChenBifeng.Wesharedtheusefulinformationandtalkedaboutthesistogether.Whenshefoundsomeinformationrelatedtomytopic,shewouldletmeknowimmediatelyorkeptthemforme.Shegavememuchadviceandsupport.

Abstract

Duetodifferentnaturalenvironment,history,economyandpolitics,everycountryhasitsownculture.Languageisaculturalcarrier.Culture-loadedvocabularyplaysanimportantroleinalanguage.Animalwordskeepcloserelationshipwithhumanbeings.Gradually,animalwordsbecomeapartoflanguage.Tosomeextend,animalwordsreflectculturalconnotations.Therefore,knowingabouttheanimalwordscanenrichourminds.Itcanhelpustoknowmoreaboutforeigncultureandcommunicatesmoothlyandcorrectlyinacross-culture.Moreover,throughoutthecomparisonbetweentheChineseandEnglishculturaldifferences,weknowtheadvantagesanddisadvantagesofourculture.Inthatcase,wecanbetterimproveourculture.

Thearticlereviewsthedefinitionofcultureandtherelationshipbetweencultureandanimalwords.Fourkindsofculturaldifferencesaredisplayed.Theyarereligionandmythologies,literature,modesofproductionandwaysofthinking.Thepapersummarizeswhatexactlythedifferencesareinthefouraspectsandhowthesedifferencescomeabout.Thenitgivesexamplestorepresentthedifferences.

Basedontheanalysisanddiscussionsabove,theauthorputforwardsomesuggestionstoavoidthemiscommunication:

learnforeignculturebyreadingvariousbooks,surfingInternet,exchangingideaswithteachers,classmatesandfriends.Learnersshouldrespecteachother’sculture.

KeyWords:

cultureconnotationanimalwordsdifferences

摘要

由于不同的自然环境，历史，经济和政治因素，每个国家都有它自己的文化。

语言是文化的载体。

载有文化意义的词汇，在语言中也起到很重要的作用。

动物与人类有密切的关系，它逐渐成为文化的一部分。

在很大程度上，动物词汇反映了文化涵。

因此，了解动物词汇可以开阔我们的视野。

它让我们了解更多的外国文化，能在跨文化交际中能流畅正确地进行交流。

并且，通过两国文化的对比我们可以了解自己本国文化的优势与劣势，以更好地发展自己的文化。

文章回顾了文化的定义及文化和动物词汇的关系，展现了两国文化中的四种差异—和神话，文学，生产方式和思维方式。

总结了到底这四方面存在什么不同点及为什么会出现这样的不同点，然后给了例子加以说明。

在此基础上作者归纳出避免差异产生的建议和方法：

阅读各种各样的书籍，浏览因特网，与老师，同学和朋友多交流，并且尊重各国文化。

关键词：

文化涵动物词汇差异

Contents

Acknowledgements……………………………………………………..……………i

Abstract（English）………………………………………………..…………………...ii

Abstract（Chinese）……………………………………………………..……………..iii

Contents……………………………………………………………..………………..iv

1.Introduction……………………………………………………………………...…1

2.Reviewcultureandanimalwords………………………..….……………………..1

2.1Thedefinitionofculture...……………………….……………………………1

2.2Therelationshipbetweencultureandanimalwords...…………………………2

3.Culturaldifferences………………..…….……………………………………..….2

3.1Differencesinreligionsandmythologies…………………….…………………2

3.1.1Differences……………………………………………….…………………...3

3.1.2Examples………………..………….……........................................................5

3.2Differencesinliterature………………..………………………….…………...8

3.2.1Differences…………………………………………..……..…………………8

3.2.2Examples……………………………………………………………………...9

3.3Differencesinwaysofthinking………………………………………………10

3.3.1Differences………………………………………………………..............10

3.3.2Examples…………………………………………………………….........12

3.4Differencesinmodesofproduction…………………………………………..13

3.4.1Differences………………………………………………………………...13

3.4.2Examples…………………………………………………………….........14

4.Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….15

References………………………………………………………………..…………18

TheCulturalDifferencesinAnimalWordsinChineseandEnglish

1.Introduction

Languageandculture,intrinsicallydependendoneachother,haveevolvedtogetherthroughthehistory.（DaiWeidong，HeZhaoxiong,2002:

127）.“Ontheonehand,languageasanintegralpartofhumanbeing,permeateshisthinkingandwayofviewingtheworld,languagebothexpressesandembodiesculturalreality.Ontheother,language,asaproductofculture,helpspermeatetheculture,andthechangesinlanguageusesreflecttheculturalchangesinreturn”.（DaiWeidong，HeZhaoxiong,2002:

130）.Languageisthebaseofentireculture,anditisonlyinlanguagethatculturecanbewell-presentedandhandeddownfromgenerationtogeneration.Ontheotherhand,languageisinfluencedandshapedbyculture;itreflectslanguage.Animalwords,asapartoflanguage,alsocloselyconnectwithculture.Tosomeextend,animalwordsreflectcharacteristicsofcultureandpredictthedevelopingorientationofculture.

2.Reviewthecultureandanimalwords

Animalwordsgottheirestablishedconnotationsinculture.Therefore,animalwordscanreflecttheculture.AndwhenwemakecomparisonbetweenanimalwordsinChineseandEnglish,wecanfindtheculturedisparities.

2.1Thedefinitionofculture

“Culturemaybedefinedaswhatasocietydoesandthinks.”（Sapir,1921）

“…culturereferstothetotalwayoflifeofparticulargroupsofpeople,itincludeseverythingthatagroupofpeoplethinks,says,doesandmakes.”（R.Kohls,1979）

“Acultureisacollectionofbeliefs,habits,livingpatterns,andbehaviorswhichareholdmoreorlessincommonbypeoplewhooccupyparticulargeographicareas.”（D.Brown,1978）

2.2Therelationshipbetweencultureandanimalwords

Withthehistoricaldevelopment,relationbetweenhumanandanimalsisgettingcloserandcloser.Intheprimitivesociety,primitivemanhuntedanimalsforfood.Inmodernage,peopleregardmanyanimalsastheirgoodfriends.Peoplecannotlivewithoutanimals.Basedonsuchkindofcloserelationship,humancultureandanimalwordshavebigconnections.Languageisthebearerofculture.Andanimalwordsaretheimportantpartofalanguageastheycarrydistinctiveculturalfeatures.Toalargedegree,animalwordsreflectacountry’sculture.TherearemanywordscloselyconnectedwithanimalsinbothChineseandEnglish.Andtheseanimalwordsaremostlydifferent,becausetheyhavetheirownculturalconnotations.Fromthesedifferentwords,wecanseethedifferentculturalconnotationsinbothChineseandEnglish,concludingreligions,mythologies,literature,modesofproductionandwaysofthinking.

ThethesisdealswiththedifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglishculturalconnotationreflectedbyanimalwords.Itisintendedtostatewhatkindsofculturaldifferencesandwhythesedifferencesappear.Therefore,itaimsatattractingpeople’sattentiontothedifferencesinlearningEnglishandtheacross-culturalcommunication.

3.Culturaldifferences

Culturaldifferencescanbereflectedinreligions,literature,waysofthinkingandmodesofproduction,ifwedistinguishthedifferencesofanimalwordsbetweenChineseandEnglish.

3.1Differencesinreligions

Peoplefromdifferentcountrieshavedifferentreligions.Theirreligiousdisparitiescanbepresentedbysomeanimalwordsmentionedinreligiousbooks.

3.1.1Differences

InChina,peoplearedeeplyaffectedbyBuddhism,whichisthemostinveterate.InEuropeansociety,Christianityplaysaparticularlyimportantrole.MostwesternpeopleareChristian.Butwheredidthechieffaithscomefrom?

Howdidtheycomeintobeing?

Inthereligionofchina,godsweresimple,realandmundanepeoplewhobecamegodsviaasceticism.ThechiefgodwasSakyamuniwhowasoriginallyaprince.Duetohistirednesstoliveinpalace,hewaseagertofindthetruthofthelifeandsafethemiserablepeople.Afterthemeditationthatlasted49days,hecametounderstandandbecameasageatlast.Asaresult,heattractedmanypeopletobebelieversandtheyreveredhimasadirectorofthought.SoSakyamunibecametheBuddha.Onthecontrary,inChristianity,Jesus,whowasthechiefgodofChristianity,wasthesonofGodJehovahandacommongirlwhosenamewasMaria.Hewasanenvoytosavehumanbeingsandtoatoneforhumanbeings’crime.BecausehewasJehovah’sson,Jehovah’ssoulwascertainlyinhim.Soitmadehimasoulwithwisdomandintelligent,strategyandability,andknowledgeandreverence（ZhengChunmiao,1994）.That’stosay,Jesus’deitycamefromJehovah.ButwhowasJehovah?

Hewasagodwhoexceedsthespiritsofhuman.Heexistedbeforehumanexistandheexistedindependently.Hewaseternalandabsolute.Hewastheultimatereasonoftheexistenceofeverything.Theimageofgodscameintobeingbecauseofthepoorproductionforce.Itreflectedthatprimitivepeoplefeltmysterytothesupernaturalphenomenonappearance.Whenself-consciouswasfoundedandmadenatureasadissidentpowerwhichcontrolledhumanbeingsandthesurrounding,theimageofgodscameintobeing.

Gods,whetherChinesegodsorwesterngods,areallcreatedbytheirpeopleaccordingtotheirneedsandimagination,andalmostalltheevolutioncoursesofthegodsthatareworshipedbypeopledevelopfromanimal-shapedgodstohalfmanhalfanimaltoman-shapedgods.That’sbecausetherearequitealotofdifferencesinsocietyandhistorybetweenChineseandwesterncountries,