英汉文化差异对颜色词语翻译的影响

　　The differences between Chinese and Western culture is mainly reflected in their respective national history,social system,moral belief,literature and art,psychological characteristics,customs and habits,values,ways of thinking,way of life and other different features.The method of color expression,even the literal representations are not the same,let alone the understanding and use of the same color words.In a few words,different historical and cultural backgrounds and nationalities make the gap of color preferences.Because the habit and the formation of the concept of color are very strong,and the reason is quite complex,so the symbolic meaning of color are not the same,even sometimes its cultural meaning draw further apart;at the same time,with the development of the times,the national concept of color will change accordingly,different times have different color of the times.

　　There are a lot of color words in Chinese and Western culture,we should not only observe the basic meaning of their own,but also pay more attention to their deeper symbolic meaning.Between the different ethnic groups,because of their different cultural and historical background,aesthetic and psychological differences between different symbolic colors are also very obvious.Mr.Liang Yiru(2003)said:"the color culture is the national culture in the most prominent eye-catching part".So,stand in the angle of culture,in order to understand the connotation of traditional color culture and apply them,we can clearly understand the Chinese culture,so as to understand the development and change of color culture from the space and time frame.Therefore,only with the different cultural background knowledge and mastering the deep meaning of color words in the language,one can accurately grasp the color word symbolic meaning and pragmatic meaning of the differences.In order to better understanding and translation of the color produced in this based on the sensory association which will cause emotional changes,the color words have sentimental value and convey the rich cultural connotations.Through the comparison of color words in the west and China reflected in culture differences,this thesis analyzes the reason for the differences.So that it would be more freely on cross cultural communication in different cultural environment.

　　As the human visual,color can bring the physiological responses for people and the response have some common characteristics and this physiological response can make psychology in common.After studying more than 100 languages,some scholars believe that each language has a certain number of color words.Linguists Berlin and Kay(1969)referred 11 basic colors in English after a detailed study of the color words.In modern Chinese,there are corresponding colors:white,black,red,green,yellow,blue,brown,purple,pink,orange,gray.In the tradition of ancient Chinese culture,red,yellow,white,black,green and green is added in modern Chinese.

　　Except the basic color words,there are a lot of secondary color words in English,such as a golden,silver,ruby,carmine and indigo in,agate,scarlet,cerise,magenta,sanguine,ebony,rosy,beige,Azure,vermilion,russet,apricot,melon,fawn,chartreuse,etc.;

　　The color is impression caused by people's visual on the light of the objects.Chinese has a special unique pictographic.early people creating a corresponding color word by the things around in the social production of labor"Watching,emulated nature",that is starting from the observed entity and then forming the initial basic color words.

　　2.3.1The Similar Formation

　　1)adjective+color words.For example,dark red,white,light gray,red,light green,deep blue,dark brown,dull white,bright red,the light yellow are all suit for this kind of formation

　　2)color words+color words.For example,greenish yellow,purplish red,gray blue all obey this kind of formation.

　　3)color words+overlapping affixes(or suffix).For example,yellowish,reddish,greenish,bluely,a golden,rosy,yellowy adopt this method.

　　2.3.2The Different Formation

　　In Chinese,there are two types of unique word formation.First,color words+morpheme"color"is a kind of formation,such as drunk color,earth tones,Jade color,ink,silver,pink,maroon.The other is word+color words,such as orange,sapphire blue,green banana,pomegranate red,protein,apple green,olive,onion green,peacock blue,light yellow.

　　In English,when the word turns into color words,people often use the color of object to represent the color itself.For example,claret come from the wine,ruby originally refer to a ruby.

　　Chinese people idolize red.In Chinese culture,red has always been a positive symbol,a symbol of the festival,fortune,success,prosperity,etc.It is fully embodies in the traditional Chinese wedding:people post bright red character“囍”;the bride covers her face with a red cloth;and the bride must wear red,while the groom wears a red hibiscus,etc.These red dresses bring wedding festive atmosphere,they also suggests that the newlyweds will be prosperous.In Chinese,"红榜"means the honor roll."红包"means gifts and a reward money;"红尘"means prosperous society;"红火"describes strong,prosperous and busy;"红利"refers to the profit distributed to shareholders or to the worker's additional remuneration;If someone gets his boss,we call him"红人".To express the meanings of smooth and successful,we would say"满堂红".

　　Red in Chinese was first known as"赤色",which represents lucky,happy,enthusiastic,bold and unrestrained,passion,morale.Chinese red also stands for nobleness.In ancient China,many palaces and temples painted their walls red.The Chinese people's most favorite color is red,as a result,weddings and the Spring Festival is decorated in red."开门红","红双喜""生意红火""走红",these words prove that the Chinese think red is the color which can bring good luck.

　　In the west,red is the color of blood and fire.Red is commonly used as a derogatory sense,said cruel,fever,evil,cumbersome,blood,etc.Such as(1)The red rules of tooth and claw:slaughter and the rules of violence,(2)red revenge:bloody revenge;It also symbolizes the radical,violent revolution,such as(1)red hot political campaign:fierce political movement,(2)a red revolution:communism revolution;It also symbolizes danger,tension,such as(1)a red flag:danger signal,(2)a red adventure story:a stressful adventures;It is also a symbol of the wanton,obscenity,such as(1)a red waste of his youth:his youth wasted wildly,(2)a red light district:brothels.As for the red good,such as red-letter day:festival days,the red carpet:grand reception,etc.,has benefited from the exchange and fusion between different cultures.Paint the town red(binge drinking),roll the red carpet for sb.(grand welcoming someone)suggests that red is associated with happiness.

　　Yellow in Chinese culture is a kind of red development variations,such as old people call the days which are good to do something“黄道吉日”.But it is more representative power,majesty,this is because in the ancient five parties,the five elements,and five colors,yellow is the color of loess central.Yellow signifies the central government,homeland,so yellow is proprietary by all previous dynasties imperial,ordinary people can't use it,such as“黄袍”is the"dragon robe"of the emperor,“黄钺”is the ceremonial of the emperor,"黄榜"is the emperor’s letters,“黄马褂”is the jacket given by Qing dynasty emperor to the military etiquette.As for popular concept of“yellow”now related to“sex”,there is an argument that it is a phenomenon of communication between Chinese and western culture fusion.

　　In the western theory of color,yellow is considered to be the most bright and shiny,but at the same time it is the least depth of color.Compared to export-oriented yellow and blue,it does not cause other people think about depth.Yellow in western cultural concepts are timidity,betrayal,defect and other evil ideas.Giotto's"Judas kiss,"Judas is wearing a yellow dress.In ancient Greece,the golden apple is not only a symbol of love and beauty,but also refers to all evils and disaster because of in harmony.

　　It is said that the United States in New York,The world printed babbittry cartoons in yellow ink for sale,people call this kind of unhealthy publications“pornography”,and the New York news reports pornography,revenge,crime with exaggerate,rendering technique,people also call this kind of news“yellow journalism”.In western culture,yellow is the color of Judas’s robe,so it is related to bad semantic meanings,expect babbittry press,books with no literature value,such as yellow press),the main meaning is mean,cowardly,such as(1)yellow dog:the mean people,(2)yellow–livered:chicken.

　　In Chinese culture,white is a basic taboo word that reflects the Chinese people’s material and spiritual abandon and abuse.In ancient China,the west is a white tiger,and Xingtian,the Lord of autumn,ancient people conquered injustice and executed prisoners in autumn.So white is exhausted,lifeless performance,symbol of death and bad omen.So family members wear white after the death of relatives since ancient times.Set up a white mourning hall,a funeral to make white complications;Old also see white tiger as a demon,so they called the woman who brought man bad a“white tiger”.The psychological function of white in the process of its development due to the influence of the political function,and symbol of decadent,reactionary,backward,such as“白专道路”;It is also the symbol of failure,silly,there will be none,such as the failure of a party in the war is always under the“white flag”in surrender,the idiot is called"白痴",the output and get benefit or no effect called“白忙”and“白费力”,it also symbolizes the treacherous,insidious,such as the“白脸”;Finally,it also symbolizes knowledge shallow,no fame,such as civilians were called“白丁”,and“白衣”,the lack of exercise nor experience of scholars were known as“白面书生”,etc.

　　White in western culture is often on behalf of the"good"and"positive"meanings,while black on behalf of the“bad”and“negative”meanings.In the ballet Swan Lake black swan represents evil,fraud and hatred;White swan represents purity,kindness and love.This is close to Chinese caused by white associative meaning.Chinese expressed in“清白”innocent,“洁白”said purity,etc.White pigeon is often hailed as a symbol of peace;western bride’s white dress represents good fortune and joy.White in English often reminiscent of innocence,such as:white war:war of no gunpowder smoke,often refers to“economic competition”.Some things named because its color is white,such as:white money:silver coin;White coal:hydraulic.

　　Different from red,green is one of the most peaceful nature color，and it is not to expand the quartet,nor have the color of the expansion of that appeal.This kind of halcyon color is often a symbol of high quality environment and environmental causes.This wish of peace pass down from generation to generation,at the same time it also has the status of emotional color,accord with the virtues of the Chinese nation,implicative,gentle,calm and steady,it is one of China's most popular words in classical works.

　　Green is a symbol of peace,friendly,hope and vitality.Whether in English or Chinese,the cultural semantic connotation of green is consistent.In Chinese traditional culture,green has the duality;it said justice,and the evil wild.This is because in the human initial period and the life after the long process,with the green to protect themselves,human being live down;But at the same time,green also protected the natural enemies of the human and the other remnants of man-eaters.As a result,the righteous narrow is justice,such as people come to mountains,working people as“绿林”;Evil is evil,in the past,it also referred to“绿林”to be the king of the bandits,robbery,harassing people;Green symbol base,such as in the Han dynasty the servants with green hats,after the Yuan dynasty all prostitutes should wear“绿头巾”,in a show of low status,one’s wife was having an affair,inferiority,called for“绿帽子”of the husband.Green semantic connotations of the western culture with green grass color has a lot of relation,it is the life of plants.It is not only a symbol of youth and vitality,such as(1)in the green winter:warm winter,(2)in the green:powerful;and fresh,such as(1)green recollection,(2)keep the memory green:never forget;But it also says naive,no experience,such as(1)a green hand,(2)as green as grass:childish;It also symbolizes envy,such as(1)green with envy:full of jealousy,(2)a green eye:envy eyes;And also a symbol of money,such as(1)green power:the power of money,(2)green back:American bank note.

　　In Chinese culture,“blue”is a solemn and elegant color,expressions such as“景泰蓝”;contain something good or elegant.People often think of the blue and calm,quiet,and the sky,the sea together,at present or future vision and unlimited reverie,such as“like a spring to bluish green blue”words can give a person with beautiful enjoyment.But in English culture,“blue”is often said unhappy mood,such as“It was a blue Sunday,and he had to go to work.”(this is an awful Sunday,he had to work overtime.)If the sentence of“blue Sunday”interpreted as“blue”on Sunday,it would be confusing,and if it is interpreted as"beautiful"on Sunday,it would be wrong,feeling said conjunction is likely to be the turning point in the sentence meaning of"but"not said even the meaning of"and".With a similar expression of“blue”and"blue mood"(low moods),there is"She looks in a blue mood today.("She feels sort of blue today.

　　“Blue”is a very typical,in English culture,transmission characteristic of cultural meanings of color words,it has its historical origin.After Columbus discovered America,many African blacks were sold to plantation slavery in the United States,they were forced to engaged in heavy manual labor.Long working hours,poor living conditions,hard working environment made them homesick.They were often humming a song called“blues”while working,the tune is very deep,slow,full of sadness.In English culture,“blue”gradually developed the meaning of“melancholy depressed,unhappy”.

　　In addition to expressing unpleasant emotions,“blue”in English culture,has other expressions,but mostly derogatory meanings,such as“out of the blue”(completely by accident),“a bolt from the blue”,the“blue-collar”(manual workers),etc."Blue"even has a meaning of“immoral"and"dirty”,such as“to make a blue joke”(dirty joke),and“blue movie/film”(porn film),etc.

　　In ancient China,black is sky.Black in Chinese culture carry only heavy mysterious feeling,it is a grave and serious tone,its semantic meaning due to the influence of western culture appears more complicated.On one hand,it is a serious,justice symbol,such as folk tales of the"Bao gong”,Zhang fei,Li kui in the black face;On the other hand it is due to its own light to dark sinister,relish,and the feeling of terror.It symbolizes evil,reactionary,such as in the case of an insidious vicious people is“黑心肠”,and is familiar with“黑幕”hidden evils,reactionary group member is a“黑帮”and“黑手”,the rulers fighting for political persecution list of dissidents referred to as the“黑名单”,it said crime,illegal,such as call dry bandits acts“黑道”,the killing of goods,the inn of dry illegal deeds is called the"黑店",prohibited goods transaction called,“黑市”,by taking bribes from illegal means。

　　Black is a basic taboo color in western culture,embodies the spirit of the west on the abandoned and disgust.It symbolizes death,bad omen,such as(1)to wear black for her father:mourning for her father,(2)a black letter day:dangerous day.It symbolizes the evil,crime,such as(1)Black Man:evil demons,(2)a Black deed:extreme behavior;It also symbolizes the shame and disgrace,such as(1)black sheep,(2)a black eye:bad reputation;It also symbolizes the frustration,anger,such as(1)black dog:depression,(2)He gave me a black look:He looked at me angrily.

　　4.1.1 Western color words cause different emotional colors of color advocating

　　Color China since ancient times formed崇尚源worship in the ancient world and the concept of yin and yang.In Chinese feudal society,the ruling class to maintain the feudal hierarchy from starting as a means to distinguish the color caste system,so that the color hierarchy compete with cultural identity,which is mainly manifested in the various sectors of the color of clothing and household horses of different colors on.As in the Tang Dynasty,the official has points and nine,robes of varying colors.Mishina above robes of purple,four products,five products in red,six items,seven items for the green,tattoo on the robes,and no text decoration civilian clothes,so called white civilians also called smelt.Five Emperors over five Zuosystem reveals ancient cultural connotation of Chinese basic color terms,and with the changing times,in Western culture,deepening economic and trade exchanges and cultural connotation of Chinese basic color terms will be more abundant.

　　Western culture deeply influenced by Christianity,Westerners which have many likes and dislikes of color from the Bible.In the Bible,black symbolizes the devil and evil,suffering and misfortune,so called dead black color,such as black Friday symbolism and Christianity are closely linked,which means Friday crucifixion of Jesus on this day.White is a symbol of God,angels,happiness,joy and morality.Betrayed Jesus in the Bible of the Jews wearing yellow clothes,yellow will be given a timid,shameless justice.The black,white and yellow on the implication of the phrase derives from these cultural significance,such as the black flag(pirate flag),black-hearted(black-hearted,vicious),a white day(Jiri),a whitelie(white lie),a yellow dog(despicable person),turn yellow(cringe).Therefore,the western culture it has re-bogey black white yellow tired tradition.

　　4.1.2 Different ways of thinking and understanding the causes of expression in different languages

　　Mr.Wan Bi Following the way of thinking when it comes to the differences between Chinese and English with English culture states:“Differences between English language reflects the difference between English and Chinese way of thinking,for example,when the British culture,people are accustomed to thinking.formal analysis,from small to large,prominent subjective effects and subject-centric;Chinese people’s thinking habits are often the overall grasp,from small to large,from reality and focus on the main object integration“this can be of Chinese from greenhouse and snakehead translation been confirmed.Greenhouse is green(green)plus house(house),the Chinese translation of“greenhouse”Westerners emphasize the intrinsic features of this house,that in cold weather conditions,to maintain the vitality of the plants,it is in the“green“state;and we Chinese people are giving to highlight its overall feeling,that feeling into them than any other house,“warm”.Again,snake fish,which is a black,like a snake head fish.Westerners think the shape of the fish’s head is distinguished from other fish characteristics.Therefore,there is a“snakehead,”while the Chinese color based on external characteristics of the fish named“black fish”.In addition,Western philosophy also gives us examine people’s awareness in the West provide a clue.Chinese philosophy stresses“virtual,”Chinese cultural emphasis on likeness.Such as child care,the pursuit of Chinese paintings intended to send,two things I,multi-fuzzy writing technique,up to Vivid;while Western philosophy stresses“real“Western culture pay attention to science,accurate,such as the proportion of Western painting very accurate description of the object of attention to give people real feeling.This culture is also reflected in the color of the word temperament,such as the red gives festive and successful visual effects,so people value the red and red things used to be close together,the“red”.If the Crimson can be blood sugar Fitness praise known as“brown sugar“,in fact,this is closer to the color of brown sugar,English is more accurately called fixed brown sugar(brown sugar).Similarly,the Chinese“tea“is not really a red color,if with the“green“considered together,this red and green tea relative name reflects both the Han nationality of red,green color preference,but also demonstrates the exquisite symmetry Chinese culture America’s tradition.The English called black tea is black tea(black tea),this tea really deep shade closer to nearly black in color.Seen,the use of Chinese color words rather vague,but very expressive;English words tend to use color accurate and true.It is this emphasis on virtual and real,God-shaped cultural differences,creating a different color terms.

　　4.2.1 Better Knowledge of Translation Principles

　　One of the purposes of color words in English and Chinese Translation of different cultural significance is to achieve cross-cultural communication.Accurate understanding of color extended meaning of the word culture is the foundation of the faithful translator fluent in English and Chinese color words.In this paper,the different cultural meanings of color words in English and Chinese Translation roughly divided into three types:discoloration law,law and grace subtractive method.

　　When the same method refers to the meaning of the expression of color,English and Chinese sometimes use a different color word,when the color words in the source language into the target language transform the corresponding color words,to conform to the reader in which cultural background and language habits method.For example:Chinese“yellow movie“,“tea,”“red eye“and may change color as the English were blue films,black tea,green-eyed.Another example:

　　(1)My finger was caught in crack of the door and gotpinched black and blue•my finger in the door,the weight of black and blue.

　　English practice of using black and blue to describe someone bruised,scarred,but in Chinese,but with“black and blue one“or“black and blue”.

　　4.2..2 Improvement of Translation Skills

　　Firstly,we can use the literal translation color words.In Peter Newmark’s A Textbook of Translation,a book that he believes is the most basic method literal translation means,and that“literal translation is the first step,a good translator is only meant to express completely inaccurate,or in the translation some call-and informational text only abandon literal translation.Accordingly,under certain circumstances,in English to Chinese or Chinese to English,you can use the literal translation method color words,such as,red light t red),black market(black),white people(white),golden coast(gold Coast),red light district(red-light district),in there(deficit),the White House(White House),although the literal translation method covers most of the color words,but there are a few color word-by-word translation is not,in which case,we can use another translation methods,namely the peer culture method.

　　Secondly,the culture is equal between Chinese and English.The same color words may have different meanings,and different color words may have the same meaning,so we can use the peer culture method.For example,black tea(black tea),blue film(yellow film),green-eyed(suffering from pink eye),brown sugar(brown sugar),black sheep(spendthrift).Translate color words is not easy.Only when we are British,Chinese culture has grasped the two in order to appropriately translate good color words.

　　Language is the carrier of human culture.Language elements will necessarily reflect the respective culture of this language,such as vocabulary and semantic.On one hand,language is a nation's way and tool to observe the world and tools.On the other hand,it is the result of the development of a national culture.Languages agglomerate a high level of the spirit of national culture.It carries rich cultural connotations.Color word can not only express the specific practical color,but also contains different meanings because of the different countries and different cultures.

　　In practical use,the meaning of each color word is more flexible,especially in current cultural communication.Both English and Chinese mutual penetration,fusion and reference can rich the usage of the color word.

　　In all,the usage of color words in English and Chinese is colorful and full of cultural marks.Also,the culture connotation is full.Therefore,we must may more attention to the similarities and differences of color words in analyzing and translation.

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