英语毕业论文The-Cultural-Differences-of-Animal-Words-in-English-and-Chinese.doc

英汉动物词汇的文化差异

The Cultural Differences of Animal Words in English and Chinese

Abstract: Animal words are an important part of almost all the human languages. As a group of culture-bound words, animal words reflect cultural diversities in the aspects such as social psychology, customary habits, beliefs as well as value orientations. English and Chinese, as language with a long history, are both abundant in animal words, and almost all of the animal words carry their own unique connotation from social culture, historical background and geographic conditions. With the deepening of intercultural communication between China and the Western World, it is realized that animal words are likely to form an area in which misunderstanding in diversities of their cultural connotation, and that the instruction of their connotative meaning cannot be neglected. Animal words are for certain a useful window by which the cultural discrepancy, similarities, connotation and diversities are most liable to be distinctly perceived. Further, according to the study of the cultural connotation of animal words, one can have an in-depth apprehension of the commonness and individuality of cultures and thus avoid misusing their implications and lessen the cultural shock.
Key words: animal words；culture connotation；English；Chinese；differences

摘　要：动物词汇几乎是所有语言的一个重要词汇组成部分。作为具有文化内涵意义的词汇，不同语言中的动物词汇反映着不同民族社会心理，风俗习惯，价值取向等文化因素方面的差异。汉语和英语同为源远流长的语言，都优丰富的动物词汇，但是，由于不同社会，历史，地理等原因，英语和汉语的许多动物词汇都具有反映各自民族文化特质的内涵意义。随着中西文化交流的不断深入，人们已经认识到，因为具有差异明显的文化内涵意义，英汉两种语言中的动物词汇不仅会成为跨文化交际中的一个敏感问题，也成为跨文化交际中不容忽视的一个重要方面。动物词汇毫无疑问也可被视作文化的一扇窗户，透过这扇窗户，这些文化差异，文化共性，文化内涵以及文化多样性也会变得一目了然。而且通过对动物词汇文化内涵的研究，人们可以对文化间的个性与共性有更深入的了解，从而避免滥用和误用动物词汇的内涵意义，减少文化冲突发生。
关键词：动物词汇；文化内涵；英语；汉语；差异

Contents
I. Introduction……………………………………………………….......1
II. Literature Review…………………….……..… ……………............1
III. Relationship between Culture and Language………………….....2
Ⅳ.The Cultural Difference of Animal Vocabulary in Two Languages3
A. Same words but different meanings.......................3
1. Same words but connotative meaning only in one language............... 3
a. Crane ………………………………………………..............3
b. Cat …………………………………………….....................4
c. Elephant…………………………………………..................4
d. Tortoise…………………………………………...................5
2. Same words but totally different meanings…………………….....5
a. Dog ……………………………………………………........................5
b. Dragon………………………………………………………………..5
c. Bat.........................................................................................................6
B. Same words with same meaning………................................…...….....7
1. Donkey…………………….…………....……………………...7
2. Fox……………….………………………………….................7
3. Wolf……………….…………………………………...............7
C. Different words but same meaning….......................................……...……....8
V. The Reason for Connotation Differences in Different Language...8
A. Regional influence…………………………………………………………..8
B. Conventional influence……………………………………………………..9
C. The influence of religion…………………………………………………...9
D. The influence of history………………………………………………….....9
VI. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………...9
Works Cited………………………………………………………….....11

The Cultural Differences of Animal Vocabulary in English and Chinese

I. Introduction

Culture is a mirror of nation, and it is the indivisibility ligament of the spirit between same nation and different nations. Amy said: “culture is everything. And it concludes the way of our head and so on. It is not a problem of building and writing” (Broukal 59). Hershey said: “culture is the confluence of special knowledge which is a united family. It was shared by all family members” (Edward T 76).
Language combines with culture closely, language models culture and the culture brings up language. Both are an indispensable part of intricate system. In the system, on the one hand, language can be felt but culture is implicit in human thought and society. When we encounter cultural diversity, we can realize the existence of culture; when we use language, we can know about the connotation of culture. So they interplay each other.
Vocabulary also is the window of the culture. Through it we can know the difference of culture, cultural similarity, cultural connotation and cultural multiformity. So is the animal vocabulary. Animal vocabulary becomes a unique symbol of cultural tribes. With the development of human culture, animal vocabulary is given rich and varied cultural connotation. It represents a cultural mode.
In almost all ethnical groups, animal words have taken on various and rich cultural connotations. They have been credited with magical or spiritual powers; as creators of humanity; and as omen of good fortune and disaster. They have been regarded as avatar of diving being or manifestations of gods’ sacred powers etc. All of those are subject to different cultures. Culture is the very factor that endows diverse connotation to animal words. On the other hand, animal words are for certain a useful window by which the cultural discrepancy, similarities, connotation and diversities are most liable to be perceived distinctly. Further, according to the study of the cultural connotation of animal words, one can have an in-depth apprehension of the commonness and individuality of cultures and thus avoid misusing their implications and lessen the cultural shock.

II. Literature Review

In all kinds of vocabulary, people pay close attention to animal vocabulary.
In 1980s, the professor, Wang Dechun, attached importance to the research on the cultural connotation of animal vocabulary in Chinese, and became the pioneer in the research area. However, it was easy to see that the research was about the connotation of animal vocabulary in this range, but the animal vocabulary can not be analyzed in the range of the whole world. Thus it leaded to unbalance research. However, the latter researchers filled the blank space. In the background of culture in China and English, Xu Yuanxi investigated and did some research on the cultural connotation of animal vocabulary, and pointed out that the images of objective thing was different in different nations. The first was animal words with the same conceptual meaning, but totally different connotative meaning in English and Chinese, the second was different animal words with the same or similar connotative meaning in different languages.
Comparing with the internal researchers, the western researchers do the research more extensively in the area. The national theoretician Edmund Leach noticed when people suffered attack; they were used to the reverse side of animal vocabulary as a language weapon (Leach 163). In 1964 he published his thesis. And in this thesis, Leach mainly cared why only some of animal vocabulary related to the cultural taboo, and why people would feel that they were laughed when the individual was contacted with animal in the same cultural tribe. On the basis of anthropology theory, Leach discussed the specific function of animal vocabulary on the attack of human language, in order to announce the other contraction between the connotation meaning and human thought.
Another anthropology theoretician Claude Levi-Strauss found the phenomena that some cultural tribes are used to regarding themselves as the descendant of some certain animal (Levi-Strauss 215). All of these professors try their best to show the profound influence and important function of animal connotation which is contacted closely with animals and cultural taboos.
Language is a cultural carrier. Culture-loaded vocabulary plays an important role in a language. Different social backgrounds and national cultures have great effects on the cultural connotations of vocabulary. Animals are friends of human beings. Languages of all nations contain a lot of animal words, so do English and Chinese. So it is necessary to analyse the culture differences of animal words in English and Chinese.

III. Relationship between Culture and Language

Language mirrors culture. Different cultures give different images of things. Language is also a part of a nation’s culture and an important carrier of culture. There are at least 200 different kinds of definitions of culture. What has been termed the classic definition of culture was provided by Edward Burnett Tylor, the father of culture anthropology in his “primitive culture”, “culture… is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs, and any other capabilities, and habits acquired by manners a member of society.” And the other formal and significant definitions were provided by Richard E. Porter and Larry A. Samovar, American professors in speech communication: “Culture is the deposit of knowledge, religion, timing, roles, spatial relations, concepts of universe and material objects and group striving.”(Richard E.90). In Sapir’s own words: “Human beings do not live in the objective world alone but are very much at the mercy of the particular language which has become the medium of expression for their society.” (Sapir 158). No two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality. His profound insights, several of which sever as leading rules in the thesis, have lost none of their validity or important: first is that “language is a symbolic guide to culture”; second is that “vocabulary is a very sensitive index of a people” (Sapir 169).
From these two conclusions we can see that language and culture are interrelated. On the one hand, language reflects culture, and it is usually considered as a mirror of social culture. On the other hand, culture determined some semantic features of language, to some extent, even if not completely. The vocabulary of a language is not merely an inventory of arbitrary labels refer to objects, entities, or events. Words also convey kinds of cultural meanings that add to, transform, or manipulate basic senses of words with the premise of cultural knowledge.

Ⅳ. The Cultural Difference of Animal Vocabulary in English and Chinese

As we all know, in many English books we can see that the English speaking-people have different meanings of most animals from China. So through it we find that it is a reflection of culture. Thus, similarities and dissimilarities in the connotations of animal vocabulary in Chinese and English. Sometimes it can be taken into consideration in cross-cultural communication.

A. Same words but with different meaning
Because of different cultural background, natural, English people and Chinese people have different associations with the same cultural connotations to the same animal vocabulary.
1. Same words with connotative meaning only in one language
a. Crane (仙鹤)
The English word crane meaning “a large wading bird with long legs and neck”. It doesn’t have connotative meaning, but its Chinese equivalent “鹤” connote many things. For example “purity”, “transcendence”, “loftiness” and so on.
The crane is related to longevity, Chinese often refer to gray hair of the old as “crane’s hair(鹤发)”. There is a Chinese idiom “white hair and ruddy complexion” (鹤发童颜). It is frequently applied to the description of the elderly and healthy people. So in Chinese crane symbolizes “longevity”. If the Chinese wish a person have long life, they usually say “turtle’s life or crane’s life(龟年鹤寿)”. The crane in China is also a symbol of hermit. Because cranes had been kept as friends to hermits in ancient China. A famous poet in his poem remained single all his life. He lived as well as isolatedly in HangZhou. In there he planted countless plum trees on the hill and cultivated many cranes. He likes them very much. He also regard plum as his wife and crane his sons. So it is why the words crane often symbol of hermit. Crane has an another meaning in Chinese. That is somebody as outstanding as a crane standing among a flock of chickens. It refers to those who are either more capable or more handsome than others. This phrase is still used nowadays.
b. Cat(猫)
Cat is a small animal with four legs that is often kept as a pet or used for catching mice. In English “cat” has rich and varied cultural connotations, e.g.:“a spiteful or unpleasant woman”, “great energy or vitality”, “a secret of secrets”. The “cat” can be also used to refer to a person with different connotations and colors “fat cat (有钱有势的人)”, “barber’s cat(瘦弱的人,面带饥色和病容的人)”, “a cool cat or hep cat(时髦人物)”, “a queer cat(奇怪的人)”, “an old cat(脾气坏的老太婆)”. It is very difficult for Chinese people to understand these English expression due to different culture. In English, many idioms with cat, such as “bell the cat(为别人冒险)” “let the cat out of bag(泄露机密)”, “a cat in pan(叛徒)”.
e.g. “Don’t be a cat,” Jim said.
“别那么损人” 吉姆说。
Don’t listen to her gossip; she is a cat.
别听她搬弄是非，她是个心底恶毒的女人。
From the example above, we can see that “cat” is used to refer to many kinds of characters: from evil women to common pople; to symbolize freedom or life or strom.
c. Elephant(大象)
Elephant is a very large grey animal which has a trunk with which it can pick up things. In English “elephant” has the following national cultural meanings: “slow,clumsy” e.g.: as thick skinned as an elephant 感觉迟钝, elephant humor 笨拙的幽默. “enormous in size or strength” e.g.: elephant dugout 大防空壕. “something that has costs a lot of money but has no useful purpose”.
d. Tortoise “乌龟”
Tortoise is a slow-moving land animal that can pull its head and legs into the hard round shell that covers its body.
The national cultural meanings for “乌龟” are as follows: “longevity and long life”. Stone tortoises symbolic of venerable old age can be seen in front of ancient halls, temples and palaces. In many literature works and storise it is portrayed as an animal of long life. There are many expressions like “龟寿、龟龄、龟鹤遐寿”. “a symbol for cuckold”. The creature is also the symbol for the cuckold. To call a person a tortoise or tortoise egg is highly insulting, highly profane. “timidness”. Sometimes it also means “timidness”, such as “缩头乌龟”
2. Same words but totally with different meanings
a. Dog(狗)
The dog has very close relationship with people in both culture. In English speaking nations people have the tradition to raise dogs as pets. To them, dog is the man’s best friend. In English people usually use the dog to refer to some person as “a clever dog(聪明人)”, “an old dog(有经验的人)”, “a top dog(重要人物)”, “a lucky dog(幸运儿)” etc. and some expression such as “To let sleeping dogs lie.” means “to make no trouble”. “every dog has its day” means “every person some day will succeed or become fortunate.” There also some bywords in English about animal words “dog”
eg: (1) Love me, love my dog
爱屋及乌
(2) Help a lamb dog over a stile