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1、Asymmetry of Color Words in Chinese-English Translation 颜色词在英汉翻译中的不对性 摘 要词汇在语言中最为活跃,词汇中的颜色词意义丰富,它们这些特定的意义是不同民族在不同的环境下长期铸就而成的。英汉颜色词在两种语言中的意义既有相同和相似之处,也存在着很多差异,因而要正确译出英汉语中大量与基本色彩有关的词语，关键是准确把握这些色彩词的基本语义和引申义。本论文旨在对英汉常用颜色词的意义进行比较,进一步找出其不同点；并且在分析差异产生的原因上，提出了克服差异所产生的障碍，对顺利进行跨文化交际和英汉双语翻译有一定的指导意义。在英汉语际间翻译时要充
2、分考虑到他们的不同之处, 特别是不同的文化含义。关键词：颜色词；文化；翻译 AbstractWords are one of the most active elements in a language. Color words connotative meanings can be very different from culture to culture due to different historical background, geography, customs and tradition. In a way, the meanings of color words can re
3、flect certain aspects of a culture. Both accurate interpretation and expression of color words depend on the profound understanding of a culture. To successfully translate those expressions including basic color words from English to Chinese or vise versa, it is a key step to master the basic and ex
4、tended meaning of the color words. The paper tries to compare some color words in their usage, further to explore the difference between English and Chinese, And in analyzing the reason why the difference produces, this paper puts forward the idea of overcoming the obstacle resulted from the differe
5、nce, which has certain directive significance in smoothly carrying on cross-cultural communication and English-Chinese bilingual translation. Therefore, translators have to be aware of the cultural differences in both languages. Key words: color words; cultural; translationContents摘 要 .iAbstract .ii
6、Introduction.1Chapter1 Brief Introduction of Color Words.31.1 Definition of Color Words.31.2 Classification of Color Words.4Chapter2 Comparison of Basic Color Words in Chinese and English.62.1 Red.62.2 White.72.3 Black.82.4 Yellow.92.5 Green102.6 Blue.11Chapter3 Analysis of Causes for Their Asymmetr
7、y on Translation.133.1 Different Environment Causing Asymmetry.133.2 Different Reasoning Causing Asymmetry143.3Different Idiomatic Expressions Causing Asymmetry.15Chapter4 Strategies of Dealing with the Asymmetry on Translation.17 4.1 Contacting the context.174.2 Complying with Cultural Habits.184.3
8、 Distinguishing the nuances.194.4 Using Figurative Meanings.20Conclusion.22Bibliography24AcknowledgementsIntroductionIt is commonly acknowledged that language and culture are closely related. On one hand, as Rebecca and Neil(1995:201) put it: language is one of the most important symbol systems in a
9、ny culture. Douglas once said, “A language is a part of culture and culture is a part of language, the two are intricately interwoven so that one can not separate the two without losing the significance of either language or culture” (Douglas, 1980: 76). To understand one language, understanding its
10、 culture is one must. Color is perception of people to the objective world. In human language there are great numbers of color terms recording color of the world. These color terms are often used in human language, so gradually they are endowed with rich emotional elements and cultural connotations.
11、 In cross-cultural communication, different nations with different cultural backgrounds or people of the same nations with the same backgrounds but belonging to different social groups or social classes have different perception of various colors. The different perception so colors result in a serie
12、s of associative meanings of color terms. Misunderstanding and misreading occurs from time to time and serious problems have even been caused in communications. Thus appropriate translating of color terms is becoming more and more urgent,which is also beneficial to the cultural exchange and can help
13、 to enrich cultures on both sides. As we know, the unavoidable existence of cultural differences coded in Chinese and English color terms determines the impossibility of complete transference of culture. The focus of the thesis is the color words translation and the approaches to them emerging in cu
14、ltural differences.This thesis consists of four chapters. Chapter one describes the color words, giving a brief introduction. Chapter Two and Three serve as the main body of this thesis, the former being the contrastive study of color terms in the two languages, while the latter approaches to the cu
15、ltural differences in the process of translating color terms. And at the end of this thesis, namely, in the last chapter, offer some recommendations for translation.Chapter 1Brief Introduction of Color WordsThe color is a kind of human beings aesthesia in the objective world. Various colors exist in
16、 the nature or in social life. The so-called “beautiful world” or “colorful life” proves that peoples actual life is closely related to color. Therefore, it is important for a translator to know color words.1.1 Definition of Color WordsColor words, in whatever languages, are words used for describin
17、g the colors of different kinds of things. This definition is well known throughout the word, from the scientific definition, color is the visual phenomenon which is caused by the launch or reflects of objects, or the penetration of light waves. It is one kind of the basic characteristics of humans
18、vision. The material world is full of all sorts of colors, almost nothing the same. The visible light such as sunlight, lights, etc. irradiates the objects; the objects abort and reflect the light waves selectively. Then, colors appear (He Guoxing, 2004: 1-2). Obviously, as a part of words, color wo
19、rds are used in writing to transmit information. In physics, it stands for the color reflected by objects.1.2 Classification of Color wordsOn account of natural true quality, the classification of English and Chinese color words and the meaning of words are unanimous on the whole. While “English and
20、 Chinese Expressions on Colors can be categorized into three kinds: basic color words (基本颜色词), color words with colors of objects (实物颜色词)和color words in shades(色差颜色词)” (Jiang Feng&Ding Lijun, 2005: 86). Firstly, the major colors in the natural world. According to John1.Saeed(2000: 74), Chinese has s
21、ix basic color words: black, white, red, yellow, green and blue. That is to say they are “赤、橙、黄、绿、青、蓝、紫” in Chinese. In English, they are “red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet”; A Physiologist Ewdald Hering observed that all color variations can be described in Terms of six colors: bl
22、ack, white, red, yellow, green and blue. Suffice it to say that the “Primary colors” (Kay, P.andC.K.MacDnaiel, 1978: 610-614), the first six of all eleven basic colors，are hardly excluded from any researchers work. Secondly, color expressions on objects, which are commonly associated with gold, silv
23、er, orange in English, and “金 、米色、银色” in Chinese. Thirdly, compound color expressions which can be found that are related to lead-gray, chestnut-brown, orange-red and so on in English, and in Chinese, they are铅灰、栗色、桔红等. From above these, color words play a very important role in Chinese and English
24、cultures. Meanwhile, it is also true that a translators role in translating color words is not an easy one. He is, in a sense, a kind of middleman, one who belongs to two language-culture contexts. He must serve as a receptor of one message while being a producer of message in another language.Chapt
25、er 2Comparison of Basic Color Words in Chinese and EnglishThere are different kinds of colors. Color is closely related to peoples life. In human language, color words show the special charm. The color words are frequently used to describe the colors of different things. Besides indicating their spe
26、cific colors, such as red, white, black, yellow, green and blue, they also reflect the different cultural connotations in different language.2.1 Red Red in the Chinese culture is a basic esteem color. In the Chineses mind, it signifies excitement and succeeding, lucky, loyal and flourishing. In Chin
27、ese traditional wedding, people put up the character喜, the bride is dressed in red, the bridegroom wears a red flower on his breast. On happy days, people decorate their houses with red lanterns and doublets. 红火 means prosperous, 红包 is a red envelop containing money as a gift, tip or bonus. We say s
28、omeone 走红 when he has his good lot, In Chinese, red has the most pronounced political color, and is frequently used to stand for revolution and progress. The first regime of the Communist Party is 红色政权, and the first armed forces is 红军. Red also means beautiful and pretty. A ladys splendid dress is
29、called 红妆, a beautiful young woman is 红袖 or 红颜. Red in the western culture mainly refers to color of blood, and in minds of the westerner, blood is the “liquid of the life”. So the westerners always associate red with the violence and dangerous, for example, red hands, red revenge, and a red battle.
30、 It stands for radical and violent, such as red revolution, red activities, red-headed; like a red rag to a bull means likely to cause strong violence. It also stands for dangerous and tense, such as red alert, a red flag. Red in the west also has commendatory meaning, which is joyous, such as a red
31、-letter day means “a day that is important or remarkable because something happen on it”, and the red carpet is specially good or respectful treatment that is given to an important guest. 2.2 White White, opposite to red, is a basic taboo color in Chinese traditional culture. It is the expression of
32、 exhausted and non-blooded, non-life, and stands for death and ill omen. For example, when one died his family members must dress in white, and hold a funeral and this is called白事. In Chinese feudal society, the common people were forbidden to dress in any other colors except white, so they were cal
33、led 白衣 or 布衣. The persons with no position are 白丁 or 白身 (Li Ruihua, 1996: 22), their houses are 白屋. For political reasons, white means decadent, reactionary and backward, such as “White Terrorist”. It stands for failure and foolish, for example, “white flag”, “white Addicts”, “white busy”, “white do
34、ing”, etc. It also stands for evil, like “white face”.White in the western culture is usually an esteem color, it is almost all favorable. White is the color itself, for example, the color of snow, milk and lilies. Westerners believe that white is elegant and pure. So, it is the color they like. It
35、stands for purity, such as, a white soul, white wedding. It stands for honesty, such as, a white spirit, white men, white hand. It stands for luck, such as, one of the white days of somebodys life, white magic. It also stands for legitimate, such as, white market, white list, a white lie. Moreover,
36、white is the traditional color for the brides at weddings, and to wear white at funerals would be offensive. 2.3 Black In Chinese traditional culture, black and white both belong to the Five Colors. In Chinese funeral, people usually wear a black armband to show their mourns to the death relative. O
37、n one hand, black stands for solemn and just, such as black-face Baogong, black-face Zhangfei and black-face Likui. On the other hand, it stands for evil and terror, like黑心肠,黑幕,黑帮,黑手. Black also stands for illegal and commit such as走黑道,黑店 is the hotel the does illegal deals, 背黑锅 means be treated unj
38、ustly. Besides, black means misfortune, such as黑材料，黑五类，黑夫妻，黑后台 and so on. In the west, black is a taboo color, showing the hatred of westerners in sprit. It means death and disaster, such as Black Mass, to wear black for her father, black words, a black letter day, Black Friday. Black symbolizes wic
39、ked and guilty, for example, black man, black mail, black guard, and black-hand, black-hearted. And it means disgrace, such as a black mark, a black eye, a black sheep. And black means frustration and angry: such as black dog, the future looks black: he gave me a black look. Although black means dea
40、d and evil, it also stands for solemn and dignified. Black suit is the westerners favorite traditional dress. In solemn occasions, the officials and celebrities would prefer to dress in black. 2.4 Yellow In Chinese traditional culture, yellow is located in the center of the five colors. So far, yell
41、ow is still the symbol of old China. 黄袍 is the emperors dress, 黄屋 is his carriage, 黄钺is his guard of honor, 黄榜 is the proclamation published by him. And黄道吉日means an auspicious day. Besides, it also stands for auspicious, like the lucky day to do something important. However, yellow in modern China h
42、as negative meanings, such as黄色书刊，黄色录象.Here yellow has an extended meaning of obscene and pornographic, while in English are “the blue video”, “the blue talk”. Yellow in the west mostly has derogatory meanings. Here are some examples: yellow alert: alert in advance; a yellow dog: a contemptible pers
43、on; yellow streak: tending to be coward and chicken-hearted. In English, yellow has some particular meanings in certain texts that have no relationship with sentiment. For example, the yellow pages is the telephone dictionary, yellow boy is the golden coins.2.5 Green In Chinese culture, Green ranks
44、the first in the five colors, signifying every thing grows. In the feudal society, the dress of the government official on a lower level was regularized to be green, so it also symbolizes shamble. 青衫绿袍is a symbol of low position in the official career. It means bravery and rudeness. Those who lived
45、in the forests helped the poor by robbing the rich were called绿林好汉. It also means inferior and humble sometimes in China the Chinese people are likely to associate the phrase戴绿帽子, literally meaning “to wear a green hat”, which actually indicates a husband becomes a cuckold.Green in the western cultu
46、re is mainly related to the color of the plants, it is the symbol of vigor and energy. For example, a green old age is associated with an old but vigorous man or woman. And to remain green forever means to keep fresh and vigorous forever, and also in the green; green also means fresh, such as keep a
47、 memory green, a green wound, green meat. And it means immature, inexperienced and easily fooled, such as a green hand, a green horn refers to a raw, simple and inexperienced person, easily fooled or parted from his money. Besides, it also stands for jealous and envious, for instance, it is said “he was absolutely green-eyed (green with envy) when he saw my new Jaguar car”, this
