英汉习语文化的对比研究.docx

英汉习语文化的对比研究.docx

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英汉习语文化的对比研究

毕业论文

题目：

英汉习语文化的对比研究

Title:

AComparativeStudyofEnglishandChineseCultureonIdioms

Acknowledgements

Firstofall,myappreciationgoestomyparentsandmyfamily.Itistheirhardworkandyearsofcarethathaveearnedmetheopportunityformystudyatuniversity.

AndIwouldalsoliketoextendmysincerethankstoallotherteacherswhogavemelecturesduringthepastthreeacademicyears.Ihavebenefitedsomuchnotonlyfromtheircoursesandlecturesbutalsofromtheirconstantencouragement.

Finally,Iwouldliketoofferspecialthankstosupervisor,LuLi.Itisforherconstantencouragementandcriticalinstructionsthatthispaperappearsinthepresentform.

Abstract

Idiomsforanation,justlikeamirror,arerootedinlife.BothChineseandEnglishidiomshavetheirownnationalcharacteristics.Idiomsarelivelyandpellucidexpressionswhichreflectthespecificnationalculturalbackground.Takingtheperspectiveofcross-culture,thepaperisacomparativestudyofEnglishandChineseidioms,throughtheanalysisofvaluesystem,religionbelief,aestheticcustomsandhistory.ThepurposeoftheresearchistorevealtheculturalsimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenEnglishandChineseidioms.Thestudycoulddeepenpeople’sunderstandingoftwodifferentculturesandpromotetheexchangeofChineseandWesternculture.

Keywords:

EnglishandChineseidioms;valuesystem;religionbelief;aestheticcustoms;history

摘要

习语就好像一个民族的镜子，来源于生活，具有其独特的民族特色。

习语生动形象，浅显易懂，其背后反映出其民族深厚的文化背景。

本文从跨文化角度入手，对英汉谚语进行对比研究，通过对价值体系、宗教信仰、审美习惯、历史生活四个层面的分析来挖掘英汉习语异同在文化上的根源。

研究这些谚语可以加深人们对两种不同文化的理解，促进中西文化的交流。

关键词：

英汉习语；价值体系；宗教信仰；审美习惯；历史生活

Contents

Introduction……………………………………………………………1

.Theconceptofidioms………………………………………………...1

1.1Definitionofidioms………………………………………………..1

1.2Culturalbackgroundofidioms…………………………………….2

.DifferentvaluesystemsinChinaandwesterncountries……………..2

2.1Individualisminwesterncountries………………………………...3

2.2CollectivevaluesinChina…………………………………………3

III.Differentreligionbeliefs……………………………………………4

3.1Christianityinwesterncountries………………………………….4

3.2ConfucianisminChina…………………………………………….5

.Differentaestheticcustoms………………………………………….6

4.1Conceptiononanimals…………………………………………….6

4.2Conceptiononcolors………………………………………………7

4.3Conceptiononage…………………………………………………9

.Differenthistoryandtradition……………………………………….9

5.1Storiesfromhistory………………………………………………..9

5.2Differentculturaltraditions……………………………………….10

5.3Differenthabitsindailylife………………………………………11

Conclusion..............................................................................................12

Bibliography…………………………………………………………...14

Introduction

Asweallknow,languageislikeabridgeoverdifferentpeopleanddifferentculturesintheworld.Idioms,asaspecialpartoflanguage,containalargeamountofinformationofhistories,geography,cultureandsoon.Theyaretheheritageofhistoryandproductofculturalevolvement.ChineseandEnglisharetwoofthemostinfluentiallanguagesintheworld.China,asoneofthecivilizedancientcountries,hasalonghistoryofmorethanfivethousandyearswithalargepopulationandanimmenseterritory.TheGreatBritain,asthehometownofIndustrialRevolutionandanimportantcountryinEurope,alsohasalonghistory.Wecanlearnaboutthecultureafterwestudyabouttheidiomsandknowmoreabouttheculturalbackground.FrancisBaconsaid,“Generouswitandspiritofanationarediscoveredbytheiridioms”[1:

35].ComparingthedifferentculturesonEnglishandChineseidiomswillhelpushaveabetterunderstandingondifferencesandsimilaritiesofthetwolanguagesinthecross-culturalcommunicationandtranslation.

I.Theconceptofidioms

1.1.Definitionofidioms

Idiomsaretheessenceofalanguage,whicharealwaysphilosophicalandeternal.AccordingtoOxfordAdvantagedLearner’sEnglish-ChineseDictionary,anidiomis“aphraseorsentencewhosemeaningisnotclearfromthemeaningofitsindividualwordsandwhichmustbelearntasawholeunit”.“Inthebroadsense,idiomsmayinclude:

setphrases;proverbs;sayings;epigrams;slangexpressions;colloquialisms;quotations;two-partallegoricalsayings,ofwhichthefirstpart,alwaysstated,isdescriptive,whilethesecondpart,sometimesunstated,carriesthemessage（chieflyinChinese）.[1:

71]WhileinChinese,idiomsarecalledas‘熟语’,including:

短语，成语（usuallyconsistingoffourwords）,俗语，谚语，格言，箴言，名言（quotationorrecordedutterance），警句，隽语，俚语，粗话，行话，歇后语（includingpun）,习语.”

1.2Culturalbackgroundofidioms

BothChinaandBritainhavealonghistory,whichfertilizedtheirbrilliantcultures.

Thecommonexperiencesandreciprocalinteractioninvariousaspectsthroughlong-timecommunicationbetweenthetwocountriesinducealotofcommonpointsinculture.

InearlyBritishhistory,BritainwasoccupiedbytheRomanEmpirefornearlyfourhundredyears.TheRomanslefttheirdeepmarksonBritainculture.In49B.C.theRomanemperorCaesarsenttheorderofburningoutboatsafterhisarmypassedLupigenRiver,showingthedeterminationtotakeaall-outwar.ThatistheoriginoftheEnglishidiom'burnone’sboat’[12:

3].Incidentally,in208B.C.GeneralXiangyuinChinasentthesimilarordertosmashalltheboatsafterthearmypassedRiverZhanginattempttoshowitsdeterminationofwinningthewar,whichmadethebirthoftheChineseidiom'破釜沉舟’[14：

11].Thetwoidiomsarestunninglythesameinformandmeaning,whichreflectthesamepointinculture------thesameconcepttoshowinexorabledeterminationorirrevocabledecision.

EnglishidiomsandChineseidiomsaregemsofthetwolanguagesaswellasthecrystallizationofthetwonationalcultures.Mostofidiomsareofvividimageswhichareappropriatelyusedtocomparetootherthings,consequently,theyoftencontaindistinctivenationalandlocalcolors.Someidiomshavequiteclearmeanings;someareimplicitandprofound,whichcouldcauseagreatdealofassociation,whileothersmayincludeseveralmeanings,whichdependonthecontexttodefineitsrealindication.

BothEnglishandChineseidiomshavetheirnationalcharacteristics.Theyreflectdifferentthevaluesystems,thereligionbeliefs,theaestheticcustoms,andthehistoryandtradition.

II.DifferentvaluesystemsinChinaandwesterncountries

2.1.Individualisminwesterncountries

Differentpeoplehavedifferentvalues.Itisadesirablepointofconsiderationandevaluationfordifferentpeople.Inwesterncountries,themainlineofvalueisindividualism;theyadvocatetheindependenceofthecommunity.Forexample,“don’tputyourfingerinthepie（不要多管闲事）”itpresenttheLifePhilosophyofindividualisminwesterncountries.Ittellspeopledonotcareaboutothers;thebestwayismindyourownbusiness.

Individualisminwesterncountriesisalsoreflectedinpeople’stimesystem,theypursuitforefficiencyandbeoptimistic.Forexample,“timeismoney（时间就是金钱）”likeaChineseidiom“一寸光阴一寸金”,ittellspeoplethattimeislimited,weshoulduselimitedtimetodounlimitedthings,createmoreusefulthingsforothers,thisidiomisalsofullofeconomiccolor.“punctuallyisthepolitenessofkings（守时乃帝王之理）”and“punctuallyisthesoulofbusiness（恪守时刻，为立业之本）”alsoreflectpunctualityhasbecameadvocatedinwesterncountries.AlthoughinChineseidiomwesay“浪费时间等于谋财害命”,generallyspeaking,Chinesepeople’spunctualityisweakerthanwesterncountries’.TobeaffectedbyIndividual-basedvalues,peoplepaymoreattentiontotheirownprivacy,suchasages,incomes,religionbelieveandindividualhousing.AsanEnglishidiomsays“anEnglishman’shomeishiscastle（英国人的家是独立王国）”.

2.2.CollectivevaluesinChina

ContrarytoIndividualisminwesterncountries,CollectivevaluehasbecomeadvocatedinChina.CollectivevalueisthemainlineinChineseculture.TobeaffectedbyCollectivevalue,humanrelationbasedhasaspecialstationinChineseidiom;itreflectsinthespiritofcooperationamongpeople,itistheresultofovertwenty-fivehundredhistoryofChina.Forexample,“一个篱笆三个桩，一个好汉三个帮”,“众人拾柴火焰高”and“独木不成林，单丝难成缕”,theyallreflectarepreventativeforceofcollective.Thisrelationalsoreflectthecloserelationbetweenaffectionandrelationship,peopleusuallytendtothereturnofaffectionandrelationshipandpayattentiontothefriendshipandobligationsfromeachothers.“一日为师终生为师”tellstheChinesetraditionalrelationshipbetweenteachersandstudents.“谁言寸草心”expressesthechildren’skindhearttohowmuchtheirparentsowetothem.And“士为知己者死”tellsusthepersonalloyaltyandobligationbetweengoodfriends.Humanrelationbasedreflectsintherelationshipbetweentheindividualandthecollective,Chineseclaim“个人服从集体，小家服从大家”，sotheyhavetheloftyideaofcollectivism“先天下之忧而忧，后天下之乐而乐”.Asawhole,collectivevaluehasaspecialstationinChineseculture.

III.Differentreligionbeliefs

3.1Christianityinwesterncountries

Religionplaysanimportantroleinthedevelopmentofthelanguage.Differentreligionsproducedifferentidioms.Differentcountriessharedifferentcustomsandbeliefs.Itiscertainlymucheasiertolearnaboutotherculturesifoneapproachesthem.Forexample,mostEnglishpeoplebelievethatitiscommontocommunicatewitheachotherineuphemism,inordernottoleadtoawkwardnessandembarrassment.Therefore,thefollowingexamplesillustratesomekindsof“die”;mostofexamplesarethesametoourcountry.

Togotoglory升天了

TobegoneorToexpire逝世

TodepartorTopassaway去世，与世长辞

Toclose（end）one’sday寿终

Tobreatheone’slast咽气，断气

Togowest归西天

Topaythedebtofnature了结尘缘

Todeparttotheworldofsh