习语论文.docx
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习语论文.docx
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习语论文
AcomparativestudyofEnglishandChineseIdiomsfromaCross-culturalperspective
ChapterOne:
Introduction
1.1Abriefdiscussiononlanguage
Philosophers,psychologistsandlinguistscommonlymakethepointthatitisthepossessionoflanguagethatmostclearlydistinguishesmanfromotheranimals.Definitionsoflanguagearenotdifficulttofind,butusuallyeachmakesjustoneormorepointsandmaybedefinedfromdifferentangles.Sofarthisisembracedinthefollowinggenerallyaccepteddefinition:
“Languageisasystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication.”
Wemayfindthathumanlanguageisnotanisolatedphenomenonbutasocialactivitycloselyrelatedtosocialculture,andtheexistenceoflanguageismainlyforthepurposeofhumancommunication.Thereisnodoubtthatlanguageisinseparablefromhumansocietyandculture.Itcomprisespeople’sapproachtolifeandtheirwayoflivingandthinking.Inotherwords,languageisoftenactedasatransmitterofhistoryandculture.Itgrowsanddevelopswiththegrowthanddevelopmentofasociety.
1.2Abriefdiscussiononculture
Astotheconceptofculture,ithasamuchbroadermeaning,soitisdifficulttogiveawidelyaccepteddefinitionforculture,maybewecansaythatbecausecultureincludeseveryaspectofhumanlife.Followingthedefinitionsofsociologistsandanthropologists,culturereferstothetotalpatternofbeliefs,customs,institution,objects,andtechniquesthatcharacterizethelifeofahumancommunity.Puttingitsimply,culturereferstotheentirewayoflifeofasociety,---“thewayofapeople.”Cultureislikeicebergs:
somefeaturescanbeseen,whichincludeshousing,law,food,beliefandcustoms,whiletheothersaredeeplyhidden,whichincludesthewayweedittheinformation.
1.3Therelationshipbetweenlanguageandculture
Languageisapartofcultureandplaysaveryimportantroleinit.Somesocialscientistsconsideritthekeystoneofculture.Withoutlanguage,theymaintain,culturewouldnotbepossible.Ontheotherhand,languageisinfluencedandshapedbyculture;itreflectsculture.Inthebroadestsense,languageisthesymbolicrepresentationofapeople,anditcomprisestheirhistoricalandculturalbackgroundsaswellastheirapproachtolifeandtheirwaysoflivingandthinking.
Languageandcultureareinseparable.Ononehand,theusingandunderstandingofalanguagearebasedonculturalbackground;ontheotherhand,eachculturenecessarilyhassomereflectioninitslanguage.Thedifferenceincultureswillbeinevitableembodiedindifferentlevelsoflanguagesystem.Languageisseenasthegarmentaswellastheinstrumentofculture.Onecannotseparatethetwowithoutlosingthesignificanceofeitherlanguageorculture.
Asthecreamofalanguage,idiomsserveusefulanddominantmediumofcommunication.Thispaperattemptstomakeacomparativestudyoftwolanguages---EnglishandChineseofidioms,forthepurposeofbettercross-culturalcommunication.
ChapterTwo:
TheSourcesandClassificationofEnglishandChineseIdioms
2.1Thesourcesofidioms
Englishisveryrichinidiomaticexpressions.Infact,itisquitedifficulttospeakorwriteEnglishwithoutusingidioms.Idioms,whichformanessentialpartofthegeneralvocabularyofalanguage,canbecalledthecreamofthelanguage.AccordingtothelatestWebster’sNewWorldCollegeDictionary,3rdEdition,“Idiomisaphrase,constructionorexpressionthatisrecognizedasaunitintheusageofagivenlanguageandeitherdiffersfromtheusualsyntacticpatternsorhasameaningthatdiffersfromtheliteralmeaningofitspartstakentogether.”
Idiomshavebeencalledthecrystallizationoflanguage.Anappropriateuseoftheminourspeechandwritingwilladdtothestrengthandvividnessofourlanguage.Generallyspeaking,it’shardforustoexplainwhytheidiomshavecertainmeanings.Mostoftheidiomshavevividimagesandappropriatemetaphorswhichwerenotinventedoutofnothingbutwerethecrystallizationofwisdomformedduringtheprocessofordinarypeople’spracticeandcognition.ThesourcesofbothEnglishandChineseidiomsshareasurprisingsimilarityaswellasthedifferenceonaccountoftheirdifferentreligions,histories,andlivingenvironment.Theknowledgeofthesourcesoftheseidiomsmayhelpustocomprehendwhattheyreallymean.
2.1.1Idiomsfromreligion
Religionisanimportantsourceforidioms.Itisasocialphenomenonandmainlyacodeofeithergoverningpersonalandsocialconduct.
Chinaisamulti-religiouscountry,yetcomparativelyspeaking,BuddhismhasagreaterinfluenceinChineseculture.ItwasfirstintroducedintoChinainthefirstcenturyAD,andhasshapedtheChineselanguage,diet,arts,etc,andgreatlystimulatedthedevelopmentofChineseliterature.ThelargenumberofwordsandidiomsderivedfromBuddhismisoneofthemanifestationsofitsinfluence,suchas半路出家(switchtoanewtradewithoutsolidfoundation),放下屠刀,立地成佛(AbutterbecomesaBuddhathemomenthedropshiscleaver---awrongdoerachievessalvationassoonashegivesupevil),做一天和尚,撞一天钟(takeapassiveattitudetowardone’swork).
Besides,totheordinaryChinese,Heavenisthesupremeruleroftheworld.AllhappeningsontheeartharebelievedtobecontrolledandarrangedbyHeaven,hencegiverisetothefollowingidioms:
生死由命,富贵在天(Lifeanddeatharedecreedbyfate,rankandrichesdeterminedbyHeaven),民以食为天(Foodisthenecessityofthepeople)天生我才必有用(TheremustbesomeuseforthetalentHeavengrantedme).
IncontrasttotheChinese,mostofthewesternersareChristians,whobelievethattheworldwascreatedbyGod,andthateverythingintheworldisarrangedanddisposedofaccordingtoGod’swill.TheteachingsandbeliefsconcerningChristianityarerecordedintheBible,whichhascontributedagreatdealtoEnglishidioms,formanyEnglishpeoplewhobelieveinChristianityallreadtheBible.Therefore,numerousidiomshavecomeintopeople’scolloquialspeech,andhavebecomemottoes:
“Godhelpsthosewhohelpthemselves”(自助者天助),“oldAdam”(本性的罪恶),“allthingstoallmen”(八面玲珑)。
Liketheword“Heaven”inChinese,GodisahouseholdwordinEnglish.Itisoftenusedintheiroralconversation,fortheybelievethatGodissojustice,mercifulandpowerfulthatheiscapableofhelpingtheneedyandrelievingthedistressed,forexample,“oh,myGod”,“ThankGod”.
2.1.2Idiomsfromhistoricalevents
Inmost,ifnotall,languages,peopleembellishtheirspeechorwritingwithreferencestocharactersoreventsfromtheirhistory,thatistosay,idiomaticexpressionsarecloselyrelatedtoacountry’shistory,thatistosay,idiomaticexpressionsarecloselyrelatedtoacountry’shistory.Taketheaspectoflanguageforexample,therearealotofidiomsintheChineselanguagewhichcannotfindanequivalentintheEnglishlanguagebecausethehistoryofthetwocountriesisquitedifferent.Manyidiomsarefromtheirownhistory.Forinstance,thefollowingidiomsarefromhistoricaleventsinAncientChina:
草木皆兵(beinastateofextremenervousness),身在曹营心在汉(Thoughoneisphysicallyhere,one’smindiselsewhere—torenderonlyhalf-heartedservice).
EnglandhasahistoryofmorethanonethousandyearsandhasmuchlessimportanthistoricaleventsthantheChineselanguage,forexample,“Dunkirkevacuation”(敦刻而克撤退)comesfromtheSecondWorldWarandoriginallymeanttheretreatoftheEnglish-FrenchtroopsforcesbytheGerman.Nowtheexpressionmeanstoretreatindisorder.
2.1.3Idiomsfromdifferentlivingenvironments
Emergenceofidiomsiscloselyrelatedtopeople’slaborandlife,forpeopleinaparticularcultureneedstohavewordstonameandexplainobjectsandconditionspresentandimportantinthatculture.Duringthelonghistoryoffarming,theChineselanguagehasaccumulatedlargenumbersoffarmers’idioms,like瓜熟蒂落(Thingswillbeeasilysettledwhenconditionsareripe),瑞雪兆丰年(atimelysnowpromisesagoodharvest).
Ontheotherhand,Britainisanislandcountry.Peoplewholivealongseacoastandwhoselivelihoodisdependentontheseawillhaveidiomsaboutwater,sailingandfish.Forexample,wespeakinChinese挥金如土,butweshouldrenderitintoEnglishas“spendmoneylikewater”.
Determinedbythedifferentgeographicalsurroundings,therecomedifferentspecialproducts.Idiomsofthesamemeaningclearlymanifestthedifference:
InEnglish,“likemushrooms”(像蘑菇一样)and“springuplikemushrooms”(雨后春笋)inChinesehavethesamemeaningofthegreatdevelopmentofathing.
2.2TheclassificationofEnglishandChineseidioms
Idiommaybedefinedasagroupofwordswithaspecialmeaningdifferentfromthemeaningofafreephrase.Theterm“Englishidioms”inthisthesisisusedinitsbroadsense,itreferstosetphrases,colloquialisms,proverbsandslangexpressions.WhereasChineseidiomscanberoughlydividedinto成语(setphrase),俗语(commonsaying),谚语(proverbs),歇后语(two-partallegoricalsaying)。
TheaboveisabriefclassificationofEnglishandChineseidioms.Itmaynotbeverystrict.Infact,itisquitedifferenttodistinguishsetphrasesfromcolloquialismsorproverbsfromslangexpressions.Colloquialisms,slangexpressionandproverbsfrequentlyappearoninformaloccasions,but,inordertogaincertaineffect,manyliteraryworksarepermeatedwiththem.Inshort,choiceofwordsdependsonthepersononeisspeakingtoandonthesituationorplaceatthetime.Soit’snecessaryforustounderstandthefeaturesofidioms,inordertocross-culturalcommunicationbetter.
ChapterThree:
TheNationalFeaturesofIdioms
SincebothEnglishandChineseareveryrichinidiomaticexpressions,theyarenota
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