A Comparative Study Of English And Chinese Idioms From The Perspective Of Cultural Sources

The diversity of the world is embodied in language. The cultural differences between the West and the East are also reflected in language. As the essence of Chinese language and English language, English and Chinese idioms both are culture-loaded. Consequently, a comparative study on the cultural sources of English and Chinese idioms may shed great light on the cultural differences of the two languages.For the current researches have only covered part of the influence of culture on the use of English and Chinese idioms, the thesis attempts to answer the following questions:1. What are the cultural sources behind the English and Chinese idioms?2. What different cultural sources lead to the differences in the use of English and Chinese idioms?3. What influence do the different cultural sources put on the degrees of correspondence between English and Chinese idioms?This thesis conducts a comparative study on the cultural sources of English idioms and those of Chinese idioms. And qualitative analysis has been adopted in the thesis, where various English and Chinese idioms quoted from several dictionaries are analyzed, classified and compared. In this thesis the cultural sources of English idioms and those of Chinese idioms consist of the major aspects of culture which is closely related to the life of common people. To be specific, these include geographical environment, lifestyle, historical events, religious beliefs, customs and literature.Those different cultural sources lead to three differences in the use of English and Chinese idioms. Firstly, with different cultural sources, different objects were used as metaphors in English and Chinese idioms, which were things that people could find in their environment are important to them. Secondly, with different cultural sources, even the same objects used as metaphors in English and Chinese idioms expressed different connotation and extension. Finally, with different cultural sources, people implied something in English and Chinese idioms with different attitudes. In the exact words, a commendatory idiom in English culture may be neutral or derogatory in Chinese culture and vice versa.With different cultural sources there are some idioms in English and Chinese languages which have no equivalent or corresponding parts in each other. Most of them are semi-corresponding and non-corresponding. The influence of different cultural sources on the degrees of correspondence between English and Chinese idioms is firstly touched.Finally, the application of the findings is also touched upon: some ways to promote mutual understanding of idioms in cross-cultural communication are proposed according to the influence of cultural sources in English and Chinese idioms on cross-cultural communication between English-speaking people and Chinese.The research may serve to enrich language learners' knowledge on cultural sources of English and Chinese idioms, thus enhancing their cultural awareness. Consequently, it will be easy for people to get deep understanding about the connection of English and Chinese idioms to their cultural sources, which will greatly help with proper commanding and using of English and Chinese idioms and promoting mutual understanding of idioms-users in cross-cultural communication.