A Comparison of Color Words between Chinese and English Culture 英语毕业论文.doc

A Comparison of Color Words between Chinese and English Culture It is the bright and colorful nature which provides the place for life and the foundation for developing. Color is a present from nature to human. The red sun, blue sky, green grassland, everything has its color. We can not imagine what the world would be if there is no color of great variety. From ancient times to the present, with the development of the social, the numbers of color words become more and more. The researchers find that among all the languages, eleven basic color terms are recognized: white, black, red, green, yellow, blue, brown, purple, pink, orange and grey. Generally speaking, each language at least has two color terms: black and white. (Jhon.H.Bodley, 1999:173) In human language, the symbolic significances which color words stand for are rich and varied. The color words not only have the function of aesthetic feeling, but also have the function of information. Although some nations have same feelings to some colors, but each nation also have their special views to colors. The symbolic significance of various color words in different languages often differ a lot in feature, some of which even arouse advocating and taboos. So we should not only notice their basic meanings, but also understand their symbolic significances. ? 1. The Colorful Cultures in the World Color plays an important part in the culture. Almost everything can be described with color words, including economy, political, culture, emotion…For example, in economical life; the color words are vastly used. There are great number of phrases and fixed usages which relate to color in economical glossary. Red is always related to debt or bankrupt; black money means the money with wrong source, black market means exchanging things which the government forbidden or a market which doing illegal speculated. Blue-chip rate is British favorable credit rate. In #England, green back equal to American dollars fo