The Comparative Study Of Basic Color Words In Burmese And Chinese

This paper based on the theory of the cultural linguistics、the theory of Berlin and Kay’s basic color terms, and the theory of the color science, defining the basic color words in Burmese and Chinese. The basic color words in Burmese is red 、yellow、green、blue、brown、white and black. The basic color words in Chinese is red、orange、yellow、green、blue、purple、brown、white、black and gray. I chose the 7shared basic color words in Burmese and Chinese, including red、yellow、green、blue、brown、white and black, as study object. Then mainly compares and analyzes the 7basic color words in Burmese and Chinese in the following aspects: Firstly basic color word of formation and characteristics of basic color word formations; Secondly differences and similarities of associative-meanings of seven basic color words to Burmese and Chinese; Thirdly the root causes of these differences and similarities:physiological basis; intercultural communication; religious beliefs; political history.This paper aims revealing the differences and similarities of basic color words in Burmese and Chinese, and the relevance between language and culture. It can help those students that studying of the basic color words in the two languages, and give teachers and translators to provide the reference.