A Cross-cultural Study On English And Chinese Connotations In Basic Color Terms

Language is the carrier and reflection of culture. As a part of language, color terms have penetrated into every field, not only reflecting a nation's understanding of natural environment but also showing the different world outlook and cultural connotations. English and Chinese, both as languages with a long history, are abundant in basic color terms, and almost all the basic color terms carry their own peculiar connotations which result from different social cultures, historical processes and geographic conditions. With the deepening of the cross-cultural communication between China and the western world, it has been realized that basic color terms form an area in which misunderstanding seems inevitable. Therefore, a cross-cultural study on English and Chinese connotations of basic color terms between English and Chinese is of great significance.According to the theory of relationship between language and culture:language is a part of culture as well as a mirror of it, the author tentatively makes a cross-cultural study on the connotations of some basic colors terms by using the comparative method including black and hei(黑),white and bai(白),red and hong(红),yellow and huang(黄),green and lu(绿),blue and lan(蓝).From the comparative study of cultural connotations of basic color terms between English and Chinese, more are known about the different social values, moral values and the common characteristics of different cultures. Meanwhile, it is expected that the thesis may be helpful in the use of color terms in cross-cultural communication, English teaching and translation.This thesis consists of five chapters. In Chapter One, the author first has a general review of the studies about color perception and color terms made home and abroad and makes an introduction to the method and the organizations. Chapter Two is about the relationship between language and culture. Based on it, the relationship between color and culture is also highlighted:as a part of language, color terms and the expressions embody them with the culture while culture is transmitted through them. Chapter Three is the main body. Comparison is made on the connotations of English and Chinese color terms in three aspects: 1) cultural equivalences of English and Chinese color terms; 2) cultural non-equivalences of English and Chinese color terms; and 3) cultural zero-equivalences of English and Chinese color terms. Through the comparative analysis, certain characteristics can be found as follows: the cultural connotations of each color term have the characteristics of multiplicity and polarization; within the two languages, some identical cultural connotations are incuded in each pair of corresponding color term; in same language, some identical even contray cultural connotations can be found between different color terms; in the two languages; some identical cultural connotations also exist between the non-corresponding color terms. Then the causes for similarities and differences are probed which include the factors of perception, national psychology, environment and religion. Chapter Four focuses on the implications of this study which are related to cross-cultural communication and translation, re-emphasizing the indispensable relationship between language and culture. Conclusions are drawn in the last chapter.