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1、浅析英汉颜色词汇的互译【关键词】色彩词；联想意义；比较；翻译方法. IntroductionIn both English and Chinese, there are a great number of color words expressing the colors in the world. The conceptual meanings conveyed by the terms of colors are roughly the same in English and Chinese. However, language belongs to culture. The same t
2、erms of colors in these two languages may have different cultural associations, which is not transparent to Chinese learners of English as a foreign language. In English, a group of color words are particularly rich in cultural associations, which means that they can be used either literally to refe
3、r to different colors or metaphorically to convey their associative meanings in different languages and cultures. A lot of color words are produced under a special historical or geographical background, so if we dont understand these color words and their social customs and cultural background, we m
4、ay find it hard to communicate with others. Therefore its quite essential for us to grasp the differences of the literal meaning and associative meaning of color words between English and Chinese, so as to promote cultural communication and improve translation practice. The Associations of Color Wor
5、ds between English and ChineseThe nature is so colorful, that so many words are created according to describe it. Among these words, color words constitute an indispensable part. But with the change of history and culture, color words are not only used to express colors themselves, but represent som
6、e other different meanings. People often use color words to explain their moral characters, mood and opinions because color words can produce various associations which may affect peoples feelings and behaviors. Color words of different languages share the same conceptual meaning, but different cult
7、ural backgrounds and thinking modes also result in distinct differences in the connotative meanings. In a word, different kinds of color have different connotative meanings in different countries, so we should get a deep understanding of their differences as well as similarities.A. Color Words with
8、Similar AssociationsThough we have mentioned lots of different meanings of color words between English and Chinese, we can not neglect that certain color words in English and Chinese share the same conception.1. RedRed symbolizes happiness, pleasure, blessedness and blessing both in Chinese and the
9、English-speaking countries. It often connects with success and importance. The phrases give somebody a red carpet of reception means to make a warm welcome to some important person. When the Spring Festival is coming, Chinese often put the red couplets on doors and windows. Red also means that someo
10、ne is healthy and sanguine both in Chinese and the English-speaking countries. For example: a fine old gentleman, with a face as red as a rose. This sentence means that the old gentleman is very healthy and sanguine. Red is often used to show some emotions in English. Such as in become red-faced, tu
11、rn red, and see red. The phrase become red with anger or shame is the same as the phrase脸红 in Chinese.Black is not an auspicious word both in Chinese and in English. It is often used to express ones anger or some evil things. When black is used to qualify a noun, it often means bad things and someth
12、ing hopeless, as in black market黑市, a black heart黑心, black money黑钱, black guard恶棍, a black sheep害群之马, and black eye丢脸. All these phrases can be directly translated into Chinese.3. GreenBoth green light in English and绿灯 in Chinese are associated with authoritative permission to go ahead with some pro
13、ject. Apparently, they are derived from traffic regulations.4. PurpleIn China, purple is more often adopted by the feudal emperors and the Taoism. They called the auspicious air紫气, the Taoist books are紫书, the place which the deity living in is紫台, the emperors palace is紫禁城 the Forbidden City.In Engli
14、sh, purple shares the same connotation as in Chinese language. In the eye of Westerners, purple is the symbol of emperor and power. To be born in the purple means to be born in a royal family; to be raised to the purple means to be promoted to the position as a pope; purple passages mean too florid
15、words. In Chinese,红得发紫 means popular. Here is more, Marry into the purple: marry into a family of high social position. Purple patches: pompous passages. Turn purple with rage: fly into a fury. Purple Heart: an insignia awarded to those wounded in the battle. 1B. Color Words with Different Associati
16、onsA lot of color words are produced under special historical and geographical background, most of which are called culture limited word. If we dont understand these words or the social customs, culture backgrounds, it is even harder for us to communicate with each other. Therefore, it is of great i
17、mportance to grasp the differences of the associative meaning between English and Chinese color words.1. RedRed in the Chinese culture is a basic esteem color. In the Chineses mind, it signifies excitement and succeeding, lucky, loyal and flourishing. In Chinese traditional wedding, people put up th
18、e 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,红尘 means the world of mortal,红包is a red envelop containing money as a gift, tip or bonus. We say someone走红 when h
19、e has his good lot, and红人 means the one who is trusted unduly by his superiors. 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. And红卫兵 the red guard,
20、红色根据地 the red base area. Besides,红烛 the red candle stands for dedication. Red also means beautiful and pretty. A ladys splendid dress is 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
21、life. So the westerners always associate red with the violence and dangerous, for example, red hands, red revenge, and a red battle. It also 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 sta
22、nds for dangerous and tense, such as red alert, a red flag. Red in the west also has commendatory meaning, which is joyous, such as paint the town red means go out and enjoy a lively, boisterous time in bars or night-clubs means a time that lots of people come into bars to have fun, a red-letter day
23、 means a day that is important or remarkable because something happen on it. 22. WhiteWhite, opposite to red, is a basic taboo color in Chinese traditional culture. It is the expression of exhausted and non-blooded, non-life, and stands for death and ill omen. For example, when one died his family m
24、embers 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 called白衣 or布衣. The persons with no position are白丁 or白身, their houses are白屋.White in the western culture is usually
25、an esteem color. White is considered pure. White is the traditional color for the brides at weddings, and to wear white at funerals would be offensive. As white is the color of the snow, so there is a white Christmas and a white winter. Lily white means as white and pure as lily. White stands for ho
26、nest and upright, such as a white spirit, white man, and white hand. White also stands for lucky, such as one of the white days in somebodys life, white magic, and white hope is a person who is expected to bring success to a team. White stands for legal and non-malice, such as white market, white li
27、st. Besides, white also has derogatory meanings; show the white feather means act in a cowardly way, the same as white lipped, a face white with fear, as white as a sheet. White flag symbolizes giving up on something.3. BlackIn Chinese traditional culture, black and white both belong to the Five Col
28、ors. In Chinese funeral, people usually wear a black armband to show mourns to the death relative. On one hand, black stands for solemn and just; On the other hand, it stands for evil and reactionary, 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 ille
29、gal deals,背黑锅 means be treated unjustly. Besides, black means misfortune, such as黑材料,黑五类,黑夫妻,黑后台.In the west, black is a taboo color, which stands for darkness. It means death and sinister, such as Black Mass, to wear black for her mother, black words, a black letter day, Black Friday. Black symboli
30、zes wicked and guilty, for example, black man, a black deed, black guard, black-hand and black-hearted are always mean disgrace, such as a black mark, a black eye, a black sheep. And black means dejected and resent: black dog, black future, a black look, and black thoughts. Although black means dead
31、 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. 34. YellowIn Chinese traditional culture, yellow is located in the center of the Five Colors. So far, yellow
32、 is still the symbol of old China.黄袍 is the dress of emperor,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. However, yellow in modern China has negative meanings, such as黄色书刊,黄色录像. Here yellow has an extended meaning of obscene a
33、nd 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 person, yellow looks: suspicious looks, yellow streak: tending to be coward and chicken-hearted
34、. 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. 45. GreenIn the Chinese traditional culture, Green ranks the first in the Five Colors, signifying ev
35、erything grows. In the feudal society, the dress of the government official on a lower level was regularized to be green, so it also symbolizes humble.青衫绿袍 is a symbol of low position in the official career.In English there is a term green-eyed or green with envy, both of them mean jealous and envio
36、us. However, in Chinese眼红 describes the same meaning. In Chinese带绿帽子 means to be a cuckold. If we translate it word by word, misunderstanding will arise. No matter in English or Chinese, this symbolic meaning of green is all identical. Green in the western culture is mainly related to the color of t
37、he 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 memory green, a green wound, green me
38、at; 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. In some certain phrases, green has different meanings. For example, green-light means give permission to go ahead w
39、ith. 5. Comparison of English and Chinese Expressions of ColorsA. The Relation between Colors and Social Cultural IdeologyThe nature is varicolored. The colors will produce specific meanings in the minds of people, and cause specific associations and inspire special responses; this can be illustrate
40、d by the word yellow. We will expound on the relations between the color yellow and its ideology of social culture. The yellow is the representative color of Chinese nation from ancient times, and also one of the colors, that the Chinese nationality admires and advocates. In ancient times, the yello
41、w symbolized such cultural meanings as sacredness, imperial power, honor, loftiness, solemnity, land, territory. So the yellow symbolizes central imperial power and the state. Besides, one of the first ancestors in Chinese nationally Xuanyuan emperor had the lucky of soil morality. It was said that
42、he often wore the yellow crown, so the yellow became the emperors favorite color later. Chinese officials often wore more yellow robes in ancient times, thus forbade common people to wear the yellow clothes. Originally yellow has no meaning of corruption and degeneration.After foreign things introdu
43、ced to China, the yellow has the meaning such as being reactionary, pornographic, and obscene. Therefore it has produced a set of words including derogatory sense for the color itself. In recent years, the government removes the public hazards in the society to eradicate pornography, then there appe
44、ars one batch of new words made up by yellow again, for instance: Huang Yuan, yellow goods, pornographic den and yellow tide. But sometimes yellow is used to refer to failure, too. If the love between men and women is over, they can say the affair is yellow. If one thing is unable to succeed, we can
45、 say这件事黄了.Now let us have a look at the yellow cultural association in English. Yellow stems from U.S.A. Since the 18th century, U.S.A. mostly has used yellow colored paper to print and publish some books and periodicals with low taste, so we called the pornographic books and periodicals yellow pres
46、s. In American English, yellow journalism means yellow style of running a newspaper to attract readers with characters or sensational report of low taste. Furthermore, besides basic meaning, yellow word has the meaning of jealous, suspect, timid, and coward. If a person is yellow-belly, that is to m
47、ean the coward. If one had been yellow, he or she must have lost the courage, it also means a person who is yellow has no courage. Yellow is also often used for the suggestion and warning. Yellow alert refers to the preparing warning of air raids. Among the football match, yellow card refers to the
48、warning of a players foul. In the past, if passengers suffered from the yellow fever in oceangoing steamship, a kind of yellow signal flag, yellow jack would rise soon.B. Different Metaphorical Meanings of English and Chinese Color ExpressionsWhat does green with envy mean in English? Does jealousy
49、or envy make eyes become blue and green? He was in a blue mood. How shall we explain it? Is his mood happy or sad? Quite obviously, the color-related expressions mentioned have been endowed with the culture atmosphere in depth. According to the dictionary, the word green means face become green; and green with envy means envying very much. While being used to reflect the mood, the words of blue and mood in the second example show melancholy. This sentence should be t
