The Embodiment in the Language in Chinese and English Cultural Differences 英汉文化差异在语言层面上的体现.doc

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1、英汉文化差异在语言层面上的体现The Embodiment in the Language in Chinese and English Cultural Differences 毕业论文中文摘要英汉文化差异在语言层面上的体现摘要：英语是国际交流的一种主要语言。在英语学习过程中，中西方文化差异和冲突日渐凸现。本文主要谈及了东西方文化差异在语言上的反映，以及应当如何学习这些差异，在学习过程中提高自身的跨文化意识，达到文化融合。语言和文化密切相关，语言层面上的差异很大程度上反映了文化的差异。而词汇和日常用语是语言的基本构素，因而文化差异在这一层次上体现的最为突出和明显。本文通过语言交流的重要性，英

2、汉文化差异的主要体现，影响文化差异的因素三大方面对比分析一些具体的语言材料和具体事例，说明由于历史背景和宗教信仰等因素，探讨英汉文化所体现出来的词汇文化，语言交流文化，费语言交流文化以及思维方式之间的差异。关键词： 文化差异 因素 英汉对比毕业论文外文摘要Title The Embodiment in the Language in Chinese and English Cultural DifferenceAbstractEnglish is one of the mostly used languages in international communication. In the pr

3、ocess of English learning, the differences and conflicts between Western culture and Chinese culture will emerge gradually. This article concentrates on the linguistic reflection derived from the discrepancies between the two cultures and acquainting ourselves with these discrepancies, thus we know

4、in what way shall the two cultures assimilate. A language is closely related to its culture.Cultural differences are mostly reflected in lexicon. This paper analyzes the topic through three major aspects: assocoations, communication and cultural influencing. This paper aims to explore cultural diffe

5、rence caused by different history,religion and political systerm between Chinese and English which lexicon reflects by comparatively analyzing some language materials. The paper indicates there are many cultral differences in lexical culture, language communication,non-language communication and thi

6、nking ways.Keywords： Cultural difference Factor Comparison between English and ChineseContents1 Introduction12. The Importance of Word Associations23. The Differences of China and English Speaking Countries in Communication43.1 The Differences of Greeting43.2 The Differences of Thinking Methods43.3

7、The Differences of Connotation of Words53.4 Words with Same Literary Meaning But Different In Coloration63.5 Words with Same Concepts but Different in Associations73.6 Idioms with the Same Cultural Reflection but Uses Different Images83.7 Different Words in Different Cultural Backgrounds84. Factors

8、Affecting Word Cultural Differences Between Chinese and English94.1 History Influence94.2 Customs and Habits104.3 Religious Cause11Conclusion13Bibliography14Acknowledgements151 IntroductionLanguage is closely related to culture. Language is a component of culture, it is the carrier of culture, and i

9、t reflects the culture and serves the culture. Language distinguishes one culture from another clearly and is closely linked to culture. Language is influenced and shaped by culture, and it reflects the characteristics of cultures. Language can also be considered as the mirror to a culture. Cultural

10、 differences play important roles in words understanding. The various kinds of cultural differences lead to peoples different interpretations of the same object. People often associate certain qualities with certain creatures or objects. And these qualities often arouse certain reactions or emotions

11、. Then word association appears. There are some culturally loaded words, reflecting the cultural characteristics. Most cultures have their own individual imprints on word symbols, so the meanings of words are usually culturally determined or modified.However, different nations have their own cultura

12、l systems. Influenced by history, geographic region, customs, and habits, etc, people of different cultures will have different associations in the cultural atmosphere. As we know, China and English speaking countries have their own cultures, which affect the differences between Chinese and English

13、deeply. And the differences between Chinese and English also reflect the culture distinctions. Because of the differences in cultures, when they conduct study on words in Chinese and English, they need to connect the study of the Chinese and English cultures. Only in this way can they find out it is

14、 the related cultural tradition, cultural psychology, and social folk customs that account for the differences between Chinese and English. Then the differences in associative meanings of words appear. Therefore, In order to avoid cultural misunderstanding, people should pay attention to the cultura

15、l distinction and intercultural awareness. 2. The Importance of Word AssociationsLanguage as the keystone of culture is tightly related with culture. Learning a language is inseparable from learning its culture. It is universal that cultures in the world vary, so are the meanings of words. It is cle

16、ar that people often associate qualities with certain creatures or objects. These qualities often arouse certain reactions or emotions, although there is little or no scientific ground for such association. The qualities that are associated, or the emotions that are aroused, are not always the same

17、with different people. In the process of cognition about vocabulary and culture, the word associations are very useful, since the word associations can better reflect the cultural differences. Similarly, the cultural differences result in different associative meanings. Some lexical images we often

18、meet with in our daily communication inevitably reflect the national customs, thinking models, value attitudes and so on. Sometimes, when some special words appear in a sentence or in a short passage, it is especially difficult for us to understand them because of the cultural gap, and then false in

19、terpretation may result. The cultural gap is a hard nut in international communication; therefore, people should know the differences in word associations in different cultures. But the knowledge of the relation between words and cultures would help people to overcome these problems. People should p

20、ay attention to the related cultural knowledge, when dealing with words that are unique to culture, so that they can understand such words better to avoid misunderstanding. For example; the word “candle”, in Chinese culture, is more than a thing which is lit to give light. Most Chinese people are ab

21、le to recite the famous sentences: “ 春蚕到死丝方尽，蜡炬成灰泪始干。”Here the burning candle is associated with a never changing faith and devotion to love .The image of a candle burning itself to give light to others becomes the virtue that is highly valued by the Chinese people. It emphasizes the willingness to

22、sacrifice oneself for others. Although these cultural associations implied in the word “candle” are quite familiar to Chinese people, they are hardly understood by a foreigner without any Chinese cultural background.From the above, it is clear that learning one countrys culture is very helpful for l

23、earning its language. When learning a foreign language, people should not only learn the pronunciation, the spelling, the grammar, but also learn to understand its culture, that is to say, they need to learn enough about the languages culture so that they can communicate with native speakers success

24、fully. The relationship between language and culture is so closed, which is most readily seen in words. The system of meanings of words shaped in a particular culture is unique. Sometimes the natives are quite familiar with the cultural message inscribed in some words, while an outsider may fail to

25、understand them, so misunderstanding and other communicative obstacles may arise in cross-cultural communication. Cultural gap is usually regarded as one of sources of problems to the interpretation in the intercultural communication. People should know the differences in word associations in differ

26、ent cultures in order to succeed in international communication.3. The Differences of China and English Speaking Countries in CommunicationThe cultural differences between China and other countries can be embodied in various aspects in our daily lives. The most obvious difference can be precented th

27、rough the following seven points:3.1 The Differences of GreetingThere is obvious differences in greeting between Chinese and English. Chinese people always say “Have you eaten?”, “Where are you going?” and “What are you going to do?” when they meet each other. But English people like to say “Good mo

28、rning (afternoon, evening)”, “hello”, “hi”, “How are you?” or “How are things going?” etc. Even that they can use weather to greeting, like: “Lovely weather, isnt it?” or “Its ever so hot today, isnt it?”English people will be stuck in confusion if we use Chinese greeting on him. Take instance: A yo

29、ung British girl just arrived in Shanghai for work. One day, she went to bank for change her money. The bank clerk asked her: “Did you have your lunch?” She felt surprised because this kind of asking can be judged as an indirect invitation in English society. Meanwhile, foreigner will feel unhappy i

30、f they hear such greeting: “Where are you going?” For they think that you are inspect their privacy. Their responds in their mind may be: Its none of your business.3.2 The Differences of Thinking MethodsThinking methods refers to the habits of peoples ways of thinking or the procedure of thinking, w

31、hich is assimilated by some certain society culture. English should use many kinds of connection to attain grammar completion. Its sentence was well-organized and well-ranged in structure that you can understand it at a glance; for example: A wolf remains a wolf even though it is in sheeps clothing.

32、 The logic between two sentences is clear as soon as we see the conjunction “even though”. However, Chinese does not use such as conjunction. A sentence that can express the meaning is all right in spite of its structure. Just as a Chinese saying: 人不犯我，我不犯人. You can translate it into English as “If

33、others let me alone, Ill let them alone.” or “We will not attack unless attacked”. So we can see that English has more conjunctions like “if” or “unless”.In addition, different thinking methods are the result of the different location. China is located in Asia that each season has its own feature. T

34、orridity is the main feature in summer. However, England is located in Northern Europe and its summer is warm and comfortable. In Chinese peoples mind, the words 赤日炎炎, 酷暑难熬, 挥汗如雨 are the best description of summer. But Shakespeare has a sonnet that describes summer like this: “Shall I compare thee t

35、o a summers day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate.” The poet used summer to compare with his lover, who is lovely and warm. From this point, we can see that “summer” has so distinct association in Chinese and English culture.Furthermore, Chinese use year-month-day as their time order, but Eng

36、lish peoples time order is month-day-year. In the concept of space, Chinese is country-province-city while English people are opposite.3.3 The Differences of Connotation of WordsWhat is connotation? The Oxford Advanced Learners English-Chinese Dictionary gives this definition: “idea which a word mak

37、es one think of in addition to the main meaning.” Some words are inseparable with the cultural tradition. The differences of connotation of words mainly refer to the misfit of cultural intension, the lacking words in the culture and a word with same instructive meaning, which owns a bound of associa

38、ble meanings in a language but none in the other. The misfit of cultural intension means that different races treated the word with the same intension as one with a different cultural connotation. According to a newspaper: on October 18th of 1992, there were two Japanese students went to their Ameri

39、can friends home. Because the day is the Americans Ghosts Day, they were made up. Unfortunately, they remembered the wrong door number and entered the other Americans house. The woman who had opened the door was frightened by the two “monsters” and exclaimed for help. Her husband came out with a gun

40、 and shouted: Freeze, Freeze! One student heard the shouting and stayed there without any action. But the other ran out desperately, so the gun fired and the young man died. This tragedy is just the problem caused by words connotation. “Freeze” means “Icy” “Frozen”, but it also has the meaning of “S

41、top there.” or “Dont move.” The young Japanese student who died would have survived if he had known the special cultural meaning of the word “Freeze”.3.4 Words with Same Literary Meaning But Different In ColorationWhen talking about the Chinese countryside, English speaking people in China have occa

42、sionally asked: “Why do you call the rural people peasants? I thought their status had changed and that they are now respected.” To many Chinese, the question itself might be puzzling. Why not call them peasants? Why should the term imply lack of respect?In fact, the English word “peasants” does not

43、 have exactly the same meaning as the Chinese 农民. They have some difference in connotation, that the English term quite likely has a derogatory meaning. Its definition is: “a usually uneducated person of low social status” or “a countryman, rustic”. However, the Chinese term 农民 does not, of course,

44、have such derogatory coloration. In china today, the English term “peasants” is used in its primary sense: “A member of the agricultural class, including farmers, laborers, etc.” No wonder an American or Englishman would think: In a country that stresses equality, why use a term that implies the rur

45、al masses are of low status and ill-bred?3.5 Words with Same Concepts but Different in AssociationsThe differences of cultural background can also result in the language image without equivalence and may produce a total contrary association. This kind of word mainly refers to the concepts of animals

46、, plants and birds. We shall take two legendaries or mythological creatures: dragon and phoenix. The dragon stands for the king or emperor, and the phoenix for the queen or empress. There are few negative connotations in them, and even today, these mythological creatures may appear everywhere. As an

47、 auspicious creature that supposedly brings good luck, the dragon gives rising to the saying that parents 望子成龙long to seeing their son become a dragon, that is, be successful. To westerner, however, the dragon is often a symbol of evil, a fierce monster that destroys and therefore must be destroyed.

48、 Chinese think that the connotations of tortoise or turtle are twofold. On the one hand it means longevity. Stone tortoises, venerable old age, can be seen in front of ancient halls, temples and palaces. On the other hand, the creature is also the symbol for the cuckold. To call a person a turtle or

49、 tortoise（王八）or a turtle egg（王八蛋）is highly insulting, highly profane. In Western culture, there is no such association; the turtle is just a slow-moving and not very attractive creature.Moreover, the word “dog” in English and Chinese also has different association. Admittedly, the endeared qualities of the animal to Western people are found in dogs in China as well: loya