Cultural-differences-between-English-and-Chinese-color-words.doc

Cultural differences of the color red between English and Chinese
222009310012026
语言文学2班
刘冬梅
Abstract: In human language there exist a number of color terms that make the world colorful. The color words not only express the color, but also imply the culture of each country, different cultures can reflect one country’s history, aesthetic taste and national psychology. It is noticed that different people have different cultures have different sense to colors. This paper deals with the cultural connotations of the color red in English and Chinese, which, to some extent, can help readers reduce embarrassment in communication and understanding.
Key words: Culture Red Meaning English Chinese
Ⅰ. Introduction
In the long process of production and life, out of necessity, mankind has created color words. The history of color words has gone through a long-term change; now the color words not only express the color, but also imply the culture of each country, different cultures can reflect one country’s history, aesthetic taste and national psychology. 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 the English learning, we can find that different countries have different meaning of some color words. Color plays an important part in the culture. Almost everything can be described with color words, including economy, political, culture, and emotion. Sometimes we can not understand some English statements, because every language is rooted in its own culture. The paper mainly attempts to make a comparison of the color red between English and Chinese.
Ⅱ. The meaning of red in the western countries
In western countries, the red is the color of life, fire and blood. The red, like the fire and blood, has dual nature in the symbolic. Dazzling and centrifugal pale red has the characters of diurnal, male and tonic stimulating activity. The red, like the sun, can encourage people. From this meaning, the red represents the life, birth, love, warmth, inspired passion and celebration.
· For example, “red-letter days” means holidays such as Christmas and other special days. Such days are printed in red on calendars, rather than in blank for ordinary days. Another example is “to paint the town red” means celebrating widely, going out to drink and have a good time, eg: “tomorrow will be a red-letter day, he is getting married”, “on the night before he got married, he and a few friends painted the town red”. Also, “roll out the red carpet for someone” means “to give a lavish welcome”, as in “he was the first European head of state to visit their country, and they rolled out the red carpet for him”. The English people think red stands for devoting oneself to faith and philanthropism, in some liturgy, people in red express Agape love. In the article, red represents happy, sanguine is a symbol of persistent and dauntless. In the Whitsunday the church should be decorating in red.
· By contrast, scarlet has the characters of nocturnal, female, secret and ultimately centripetal activity, and stands for the secret of life. Red is the color of war, loss of blood, the destructive power of fire, and hate, and the sign of warning; even it can annoy people to some degree.
In some English idioms, “go into the red” means incurring a financial deficit; “see red” means someone fly into a rage, go mad and is in a towering rage; “paint in red” means describing something as shocking news; “red brick” means university of second choice; “red eye” means low-cost whisky; “red flag” means dangerous signal; “red neck” means clodhopper.
Red can also represent violence and cruelty, for example, “red battle” means bloody battle; “red activities” means violent activities; “red rules of tooth” means law of jungle；“red-covered papers” means national secret document; people will stick on a red label on the hazard materials; “red alert” means air alert.
The red also represents debauchery, American and British people call the sex service area the red-light district, for example, if a American or a English say “Is she really so red?”, he means “Is she really so profligacy?”. “A red waste of youth” means red boys and green girls’ debauchery. According to the bible, the scarlet woman is the symbol of evil, if a woman commits the crime of adultery, then a red capital letter “A” will be pinned on her dress as a punishment given to her. This literary quotation comes from bible: come now, and let us reason together, saith the lord; though your sins be scarlet, they should be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they should be white as wool. So both the scarlet and red have the meaning of salacity.
Ⅲ. The meaning of red in Chinese
Red is an ancient color to human. In ancient time, people get warm and light from the sun, fire was used to cook. The impression from the sun and fire were red, so they thought red is a warm color that can bring us into happiness and excitement. This view is handed down from the ancient time and becomes a tradition. In both Chinese and English culture, red is usually associated with happy occasions. In Chinese, red are the symbols of celebration, luck, victory, loyal and welcome. In china, we will hang red flags, red lanterns and stick red slogans to congratulate. “开门红” means achieving success at the first step; “走红运” means having good luck; “事业红火” means a prosperous business; some red faced people in the play represent loyal heroes. The red words, red candle, red endshield and the bride’s red coat in the wedding can bring not only happy but also the good luck that which will make the bride and bridegroom live a rich life.
In Chinese, the red also represent the revolution, “红色革命” means resisting despotic rule. The red can also represent the dangerous signal in Chinese, the fire truck and the alarm light in china are also red.
In Chinese, red is also the description of the Erotic event. For example, “红杏出墙” means wife is disloyal to her husband; “依红偎翠” means man enjoys a beautiful spring scene.
Ⅳ. Translation
The red in Chinese is not always corresponding with the red in English, for example, the Chinese “红糖” is called “brown sugar” in English; in China, lots of people like drinking “红茶”, but in English, they call it “black tea”; “红榜” should be translated into “honor roll ”; “红豆” should be translated into “love pea”; “红运” should be translated into “good luck”; “红利” should be translated into “dividend”; “red ruin” in English means “火灾”; “a red battle” means “血战”; “red sky” means “彩霞”. There is a saying in English: Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight, red sky in the morning, shepherd’s warning (朝霞不出门，晚霞行千里).
In China, “红娘” means someone who help two people fall in love with each other, but “red lady” in English means lewd woman, and “pink lady” means a kind of cocktail, and “红娘” should be translated into “match-maker” or “go-between”. Chinese may not clearly understand the phrases come from the culture of bullfight, like “see red” and “like a red rag to a bull”. Besides, “red nose” in English is different from “红鼻子” in Chinese, in China,  “红鼻子” means brandy nose, but in English, “red nose” is a souvenir of loving heart.
Red in both Chinese and English can mean people’s health. In Chinese, “红光满面” is “ruddy/ rubicund cheek”; “red-blooded” means people who have a strong body and healthy condition, it is similar to the Chinese saying “人凭血强，日凭月亮”. In Chinese, “红” and “朱” mean power and noble, for example, “满朝朱紫贵”、“红顶商人”、“红头文件”； in English, scarlet also means power and noble, it is derived from the culture of cardinal’s red robe. Another example, Hawkes thinks the translation of the title of “红楼梦” which is translated into “A Dream of Red Mansions” has somewhat misleading because the images in the original title has gone. In Chinese, the word “红楼” specifically refers to the dwellings of rich men’s daughters. It is a sign of opulence and grandeur. But to the western readers, a dream of the red mansions means an images that a sleeper in a crimson-colored room, which is full of charm and mystery.
“Red belt” means the Eastern European bloc controlled by Soviet Union; “red regime” means communism regime; “red party” communism means political party, but this three political terminologies have derogatory senses in the western media. In English, “red flag” represents danger, but in Chinese, “红旗” means advanced unit or advanced individual. “A red heart with to preparations” doesn’t mean “一颗心两种准备”，in western, when people see this phrase, heart transplant will come to their mind, and “two preparations” means that the operation have the possibility of both success and fail.
Ⅴ . Conclusion
As the carrier of cultures, language absorbs different cultures of different nations. Color words, as important parts of language, express special characteristics and customs. The influence of the social culture to the color words is deep-rooted. Each color has its way of expression in different nations. Therefore, color words have symbolic significances which are important for us to comprehend and grasp in English and Chinese culture. Based on the above discussion, “red” in English has more derogatory meanings, while in Chinese it has more positive meanings.
Ⅵ.Bibliography
包惠南,包昂.《中国文化与汉英翻译》 北京：外文出版社,2004.
包惠南. 《文化语境与语言翻译》 北京：中国对外翻译出版社,2001.
杨海庆， 《中西文化差异及汉英语言文化比较》北京：知识产权出版社，2005。
邓炎昌，刘润清：《语言文化-英汉语言文化对比》，北京：外语教学与研究出版社，1989。
罗选民：《从互文性〈红楼梦〉书名的两种英译》，谢大振（主编）《翻译的理论建设和文化透视》，上海：上海外语教育出版社，2000。

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