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1、浙江大学20082009学年秋冬季学期 中英语言与文化比较 课程期末论文姓名 宋阳扬 学号 3072001236 专业 金融学(李志文商学班) 成绩 A Contrastive Study of the Semantic Association and Pragmatic Analysis of Animal Terms in English and Chinese* This paper is a curricular assignment of The Comparison of Language and Culture between Chinese and English. Of al
2、l the ten essay titles for the course provided by Teacher Wu, I chose the seventh title, which interests me most. As a curricular assignment, this paper fully abides by the requirements proposed by the teacher. To illustrate this, useful statistics are presented here for reference: (1) English abstr
3、act, 318 words; (2) Chinese abstract, 334 words; (3) text, 3910 words. BY SONG YANGYANG SONG YANGYANG: once a student of School of Management (from August 2007 to September 2008), now in Chu Kochen College, major in Finance. Address: Zijingang Campus, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province
4、. Postcode: 310000. Tel.: (86) 137-3220-9571. E-mail: Yangta.SoongAbstract: Language, which is often referred to as the carrier and container of culture, to a large extent, reflects the social life of different people. People use language to store and transmit their experience. In the broad sense, l
5、anguage is the symbolic representation of a people, and it comprises their historical and religious backgrounds as well as their ways of living and thinking. Nevertheless, due to different geographical surroundings, dissimilar ways of logical thinking, different aesthetic standards and different soc
6、ial systems, it is a widespread phenomenon that the same word can evoke different emotions among different people. Chinese and English can not be exceptional, too. Because of that, due attention should be given to the analysis and comparison of the cultural connotation of the words. It is especially
7、 shown in the expression of animal terms in English and Chinese. Animals, having a closing connection with people since the existence of human being, inflict a profound influence on humans life. Thus animals are often used to convey peoples emotion and gradually acquire unique connotations beyond th
8、eir literal meanings. But when it comes to make a contrastive study of animal terms, it may be somewhat an ambiguous conclusion to simply point their differences out. Actually, semantic association and pragmatic analysis of animal terms in English and Chinese is a far more intricate stuff. And this
9、paper will make an intensive research on this problem in a hope of better understanding the connotations of animal terms. Just as the title of the paper illustrates, this article mainly focuses on contrastive study, that is to say, there will be a lot of comparisons throughout the article. Through c
10、omparison, we can have a deeper insight of similarities and differences of animal terms in English and Chinese. Moreover, these comparisons can also give us a miniature of the impact on words exerted by culture, which can surely promote the communication between people from different cultures.Descri
11、ptors: ANIMAL TERMS, SEMANTIC ASSOCIATION, PRAGMATIC ANALYSIS, CULTURAL CONNOTATION【摘要】语言是文化的载体，不同民族的语言使世界上的文化呈现出千姿百态，精彩纷呈的局面。词语反映了特定的社会文化。然而，由于地理环境、思维方式、审美观念以及社会体制的不同，同一个在字面意思上相同的词语经常会被不同文化中的人们赋予不同的文化内涵。这在动物词语上表现的尤为明显。这些文化内涵上的差别，容易造成理解上的偏差和语用上的错误。本文就是针对这个问题，对英汉动物词语的语义联想及其语用进行了比较。正如文章标题中所说的那样，本文采用了比
12、较分析，列举了大量的典型动物词语，并分两个部分，分别对语义联想和语用分析进行了阐述。通过比较分析两种语言中有关动物的词语，可以透析出文化对词汇的影响，也可以生动的揭示出中英两种文化间的差异，从而促进来自不同文化的人们更好的进行文化交流和对话。【关键词】动物词语；语义联想；语用分析；文化内涵1. Semantic Association of Animal Terms in English and ChineseBefore we tackle this issue, we must have a clear definition of the so-called “semantic assoc
13、iation”. Briefly speaking, the semantic association of animal terms is the additional meaning attached to the conceptual meaning of words by the society and people either out of conventions or out of other cultural factors. So in this part, we will use culturally loaded words to exemplify semantic a
14、ssociation of animal terms. In order to illustrate these words in a more clear and intelligible way, Id like to clarify them into five broad groups: (1) animals with basically the same associations; (2) animals with partially equivalent associations; (3) animals with completely different association
15、s; (4) animals with cultural meanings absent in the other; (5) different animals with the same associations.1.1. Animals with basically the same associations The animals in themselves have their own characteristics, which is often used by people from different cultures to describe some specific pers
16、onalities. English and Chinese are the two languages belonging to two totally different language families. Yet due to the similarities of the objective environment and the convergency of different cultures, we can sometimes find that some animals can have remarkably similar associations in both Engl
17、ish and Chinese culture. We can exemplify this phenomenon. For example, in English culture, ants stand for thrifty, industry and prevision, and in Aesops Fables, there is a story concerning that: In a field one summers day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its hearts content.
18、An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.“Why not come and chat with me,” said the Grasshopper, “instead of toiling and moiling in that way?” “I am helping to lay up food for the winter,” said the Ant, “and recommend you to do the same.” “Why bother ab
19、out winter?” said the Grasshopper, “we have got plenty of food at present.” But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil. When the winter came the Grasshopper had no food and found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing every day corn and grain from the stores they had coll
20、ected in the summer. Then the Grasshopper knew: It is best to prepare for the days of necessity. Aesops Fables: The Ant and the GrasshopperThis story is a good example to highlight the ants industry. Besides that, The Bible also mentions the wonderful diligence of ants: Go to the ant, you sluggard;
21、consider its ways and be wise!It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.Bible: Proverb 6:6-8 (King James Version)In our Chinese culture, the ants also signify thrift, union and prevision. The idiom such as “蚂蚁搬家”, which indicate
22、s that when you see ants moving house, it is about to rain. And another idiom “蚁穴”, which means ants cave, often refers to as an omission which can bring about big troubles, and “天下英才，云屯蚁聚”, which means the elites from the world assemble in one place. All these phrases are good examples to testify t
23、he Chinese peoples view towards ants.We can also take snake as another example. In western culture, the snake is a really awful creature. Bible symbolizes snake as Satan Recently, there are scholars arguing that the image of snakes in The Bible is misunderstood by most people. One renowned scholar p
24、oints out that in Bible, “the snake is used as a symbol for everything from Satan to alcohol, from lying to wisdom. Quite a range! Symbolism is used to make it easier to understand something, and does not denote inherent characteristics.” These scholars analysis may be right, but since most people s
25、till regard the snake as evil, so in this paper, we still regard the snake in accordance with what most people think. (: “See, I will send venomous snakes amoung you,vipers that cannot be charmed,and they will bite you.” declares the Lord.Bible: Jeremiah 8:17 Sin and Punishment It will be as though
26、a man fled from a liononly to meet a bear,as though he entered his houseand rested his hand on the wall,only to have a snake bite him. Bible: Amos 5:19 The Day of the LordIn China, almost every idiom containing the character “蛇” can give us an image of a disgusting, wicked or ungrateful person, such
27、 as “佛口蛇心”, which literally means a person with a Buddhist mouth but a snake-like heart, can be used to reflect someones insidiousness. Another idiom, “强龙不压地头蛇”, also conveys negative meanings indicating that an outlander can be easily bullied by natives. Other idioms like “蛇神牛鬼”, “人心不足蛇吞象”, “蛇食鲸吞”
28、all display our resentment towards the snake. Other animals having similar associations in both cultures include wolf (indicating people who are cruel and greedy), fox (symbolizing sly person), deer (standing for timidity), pig (denoting dirty and greedy qualities) etc.1.2. Animals with partially eq
29、uivalent associations In both English and Chinese, there are some animal terms that are partially equivalent in meanings because of cultural similarities as well as differences. That is, in some aspects, they may have the similar cultural connotation while in other phases, they may evoke different e
30、motions.We can exemplify this phenomenon by considering some specific animal terms. For instance, cat, in both Chinese and English society, are regarded as a lively and lovely animal. People in both countries keep them as pets. But in China, people sometimes feel that the cat may be disloyal, for th
31、e cat turns glad eyes to everyone. While in English culture, the mystery of the cat always gives inspiration to writers. Thus so many pomes use cats to communicate the authors innermost emotion to readers: That way look, my infant, lo!What a pretty baby-show!See the kitten on the wall,sporting with
32、the leaves that fall.William Wordsworth: The Kitten and the Falling Leaves Cruel, but composed and bland,Dumb, inscrutable and grand,So Tiberius might have sat,Had Tiberius been a cat.Matthew Arnold: Had Tiberius Been a CatBut on the other hand, the black cat is extremely unpopular in English-speaki
33、ng countries, which is so often connected with the witch. This association may derive from the tale that there is always a black cat accompanying the witch. So if a pedestrian come across a black cat in the street, there may be some misfortunes waiting for him.Another example is the tiger, which is
34、often connected with fierce and cruel personalities in English culture, for they always describe a person “as fierce as a tiger”. And the common association appears in our Chinese culture, too. Our ancestors have created phases like “拦路虎” (means a tiger getting in the way), “虎视眈眈”(means staring at s
35、omeone like a tiger), “如狼似虎” (means behaving like wolves and tigers) etc. But besides that, in our Chinese culture, the tiger also has a martial connotation which entitles the tiger as “the king of all beasts”. And in Chinese idioms, tiger is always combined with another holy animal in china, dragon
36、. These idioms include “生龙活虎”, “龙腾虎跃” and so on.1.3. Animals with completely different associationsAs everything is unique, same animal terms in the two languages may differ completely in their associative meanings. To discuss this phenomenon, we can basically separate this issue into three categori
37、es:1.3.1. Animals pejorative in English while commendatory in ChineseTake the dragon as an example, which is an obvious case. To westerners, the dragon is often regarded as a symbol of evil. As in The Bible, Satan, the devil, is called “the great dragon”: And there was war in heaven. Michael and his
38、 angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down - that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his a
39、ngels with him.Bible: Revelation 12:7-9 The Woman and the DragonTherefore, in their eyes, the dragon is a fierce monster that must be destroyed. Apart from the aforementioned paragraph cited from The Bible, there are many stories of saints or heroes dealing with the struggles against such monster, w
40、hich in most cases are slain in the end. Besides that, English people sometimes refer to a fierce and unpleasant woman as a dragon. Foe example, she is a real dragon; youd better keep away from her.The situation is quite different in Chinese, where the dragon is attached to a lot of commendatory cul
41、tural meanings. In our Chinese culture, the dragon is the symbol of authority, prestige, and divine power. And it also has traditional connotations such as wealth, grace and prosperity. So it is comprehensible why we Chinese call our nation as “东方巨龙”, and address ourselves as “龙的传人” (means offspring
42、 of the dragon). Furthermore, we have long used the dragon to indicate the feudal emperor and such terms include “龙颜” (the appearance of the emperor), “龙体” (the body of the emperor) and “龙袍” (the rob for the emperor). Besides that, the dragon can also denote the elites among people and these terms i
43、nclude “卧虎藏龙”, “龙驹凤雏” and “望子成龙”.Like the dragon, the magpie, which is considered as “gossip person” in Western culture, is viewed by Chinese people as a bird of propitious sign.1.3.2. Animals pejorative in Chinese while commendatory in EnglishWe will take the dog to illustrate the topic in this par
44、t. In china, the dog is very pejorative in meaning. This can be easily seen in the terms such as “走狗”, “狗腿子”, “狗嘴里吐不出象牙”, “狐朋狗友” and so on. We can not list all the terms involving dog, but these aforementioned words are enough to demonstrate how negative the Chinese peoples attitude is towards dogs.
45、But in Western culture, the condition is quite the reverse. The dog, in Westerners eyes, is not only a pet getting along well with people, but also considered as a family member. And just as an old saying goes: “There are three faithful friends: an old wife, an old dog and ready money.” So it maybe
46、hard for them to comprehend why “走狗” (literally meaning running dog) is so despised by us Chinese. Furthermore, just as the cat, the dog also frequently appears in western literature: Yet, my pretty sportive friend,Little is it to such an endThat I praise thy rareness!Other dogs may be thy peersHapl
47、y in these drooping ears,And this glossy fairness.Elizabeth Barrett Browning: To Flush, My DogAnother renowned English poet, GeorgeGordonByron, can be almost awarded as “the person loving the dog most in the world”. And one of his eight dogs, Boatswain, which was buried in Newstead Abbey, even has i
48、ts own inscription written by Byron himself: Near this spot Are deposited the Remains of one Who possessed Beauty without Vanity, Strength without Insolence, Courage without Ferocity, And all the Virtues of Man without his Vices. This Praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery If inscribed over human ashes, Is but a just tribute to the Memory of BOATSWAIN, a DOG Who was born at Newfoundland, May, 1803, And died at Newstead, Nov 18th, 1808.Byron: INSCRIPTION ON THE MONUMENT OF A NEWFOUNDLAND DOGApart from Boatswain, there is another famous dog
