语言与文化.doc

A contrastive study of English and Chinese idioms from the perspective of culture Abstract Language is the major medium in intercultural communication. With the rapid development of intercultural communication in recent decades, the cultural factors in different languages have been attracting more and more attention of linguistic scholars. Originating from various sources of cultural creation, idioms are heavily loaded with cultural implications. They can reflect cultural factors of different languages in both direct and profound ways. English and Chinese, as two languages owning most speakers in the world today, both abound in idioms. Misunderstanding of cultural factors in English and Chinese idioms often causes failure in intercultural communication between English-speaking people and Chinese. Therefore, a contrastive study of cultural factors in English and Chinese idioms is very meaningful. To be bilingual one must be bicultural. The cultural factors in idioms should be taken into consideration in language teaching and learning for the purpose of better intercultural communication. Keywords: contrastive study; cultural factors; English idioms; Chinese idioms; intercultural communication 摘要 语言是跨文化交际的主要媒介。随着最近几十年跨文化交际的迅速发展，不同语言中的文化因素吸引了越来越多的语言学者的关注。来源于各种不同的文化创造之中，习语负载了很多文化内涵。它们能够直接而深刻地反映出不同语言的文化因素。英语和汉语是当今世界上两种拥有最多使用者的语言，二者都拥有大量的习语。对英汉习语中文化因素的误解常常 造成英汉跨文化交际的失败。因此对比研究英汉习语中的文化因素意义深远。要掌握两种语言，必须掌握两种文化。为了更好地进行跨文化交际，在语言教学与学习中应该注意习语中的文化因素。 关键词: 对比研究; 文化因素; 英语习语; 汉语习语; 跨文化交际 I Introduction In recent years, Chinese people have more and more chance to communicate directly with foreigners. Sometimes we find that even if you know the meaning of every expression you see or hear, you may not understand the idiom because you dont know the culture behind it. Idioms are easily found in many languages. They are the gems of languages, many of which have experienced longtime use and become fixed language forms. Idioms are the crystallization of human intelligence; they have