color words小论文.doc

A comparison on color words In Chinese and Western Culture (5B1113 113108, Chen Yimin) Abstract From the things we use to the world we see on the picture, colors are everywhere in our daily life. People in different places have different opinion on colors but because of we all live in the same nature, people also have many similar sight on colors. The color is not only exist in what we see, but also exist in our words. In both Chinese and English, the words of different colors are abundant. In Chinese we have poems and phrases that make up in color words “万紫千红总是春” and so do it in English “color me red”. Due to the respective cultural background and tradition, people’s feeling and expression to the color words are not only their own basic meaning, but also their deeper symbolic meaning. To avoid the misunderstanding during the communication between the two languages is very important. The paper is to make a contrastive study of some major differences in color words. It analyses the differences in two different cultures from history, custom and religion background. Key words: culture differences, common point, custom, history, religion Introduction Color words have come into our long language history before long. Different history, geography, religion and custom, even the way of thinking make the color into different meaning. As different countries have different culture, it isn’t surprise to see that they have different explanation to different color and its color words. Language is not only the carrier of the culture, but also the most important part of culture, from the words in language we use, we can know about the culture and custom directly. Color words are one of the most important parts of the language and the culture. To have a good master of the differences and similarities of color words and their associations, indications and culture connotations is a prerequisite for a better understanding of the two cultures. The following passage will introduce