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Abstract: In this colorful world, language is also full of colors. This thesis is elaborated on the similarities between the English and Chinese color words, and has a contrastive analysis of their respective differences. As long as there are differences in the languages and cultures, there will be differences in the use of color words. As a elementary language teacher, in order to improve students’ abilities to learn the language, he should use the language similarities and pay full attention to the cultural differences and immerse himself and the students into the culture.
Key Words: Color words, Similarities, Differences, Cultures
Language is like a splendid building, consisting of various kinds of basic elements: letters, phonemes, morphemes and so on. When literarily used, it needs some additional ornaments such as color words. People are living in a beautiful world, full of colors: red flowers, green grass, blue sky and white clouds, which delight our eyes. And language, through which people perceive the world and express themselves, is also full of colors. It is colors that make the world so beautiful. It is colors that inspire endless imaginations. Still it is colors that make up our colorful life.
Color words are meaningful and interesting. There are several similarities and differences between the English and Chinese languages. As far as the study, there are three similarities.
1. Similarities in people’s recognition and perception
Although different countries differ more or less in history, customs, living style and cultural backgrounds, yet from the perspective view of physiology and psychology, all nations have common points in cognitive structure, in that they share the same physiological mechanism and visual nerve system. This can be proved by the biological basis proposed by Chomsky in his syntactic Deep Structure Theory. The common points of people`s cognitive structure are that their perception of colors has no differences theoretically. This can be shown from both English and Chinese color expressions, such as "gold", "blood red".
2. Similarities in rhetorical use
There is a striking similarity that color words are used rhetorically in both languages, such as "in black and white", "call black white". If we have a survey of all the literary works both home and abroad in history, we can find that almost all of them cannot cut themselves off from color words. Those color words not only appear as sensory words, but also form an important means of rhetoric. Although they cannot reproduce colors as directly as drawing, yet through language, they help to make vivid and lifelike descriptions, thus inspire people`s imagination, enhance the language effects, and make the readers feel personally on the scene. E.g. Simile: as white as snow, as green as grass. 3. Similarities in political symbolism
During the long course of Chinese history, different dynasties upheld different colors; therefore, color words have respective symbolic meanings. Yellow is one of the colors that were once upheld by the ancient Chinese people. In late Han Dynasty, there is a Yellow Ribbon Army, which regarded yellow as their symbol of revolution. In Chinese history, there are a lot of other colors used for symbols, such as the Greenwood Army and the White Lotus religious sect during the Qing Dynasty. In Britain, they also have colors as their political symbol, such as the White Rose vs. Red Rose war in the Middle Ages.
However, it also has some contrastive differences.
1. Differences in language itself
The English language has long been considered to have a strong adaptability, and the meaning of the English lexicon is very changeable and rich in connotations. Its lexicon has experienced a long history of evolution, resulting in the widening of the meaning of the English lexicon. So are the color words. However, Chinese is different. The long history of the Chinese language and the specific national traits have decided that the Chinese language is accurate, standard and strict. To coin words and expressions at will has always been considered inappropriate. The Chinese color words are constantly adjectives, and their place in sentence is fixed, always before the nouns, with little exceptions. In contrast, English color words are much more free. They have more grammatical characteristics. E.g. Adjectives: serving as modifier or complement, e.g. I like to drink black coffee. Nouns: serving as objects of preposition, subjects, and complements, mostly uncountable nouns, with some exceptions, e.g. There is too much red in the painting. What`s more color words are often used for specific names, such as Mr. White, Mrs. Black, and Miss Brown.
2. Differences beyond language
There is another important reason that explains the differences in the use of the color words: differences in the two cultures.
In this world, there exist various sorts of cultures. These cultures have both common points and their own respective characteristics as well. Language is part of culture, and from the very beginning it is permeated with cultural elements. People, in real life, are perceiving culture all the time, and gradually form a kind of set perception, which in turn greatly affects our response to external stimulations, that’s what meaning should we endow those external stimulations with. So, once color words are employed in the human society, they will trigger off peculiar response and fancy imagination. As a result, the perception of color words in nature differs from that in spectroscopy. That’s what we call cultural differences, which always confuse people of different cultures. For instance, there is an interesting difference in the use of Chinese "红" and English "green". When we notice that someone is filled with jealousy we Chinese resort to the expression "眼红", but the English speakers will say "green with envy". Take "tea" as another example: the Chinese "红茶" becomes "black tea" when it comes into English. How does this come about? From the perspective view of culture, Chinese people name it according to the color of the water, while the English speakers base it on the color of the tea itself. This example again shows that there do exist great differences in the use of the color words in Chinese and in English. The implied emotions and feelings of the color words have much to do with historic background, social customs and geographic surroundings. In the book Language, Edward Sapir pointed out: "Language can not exist beyond culture", which shows that language and culture is closely connected. The function of color words to convey emotions is obtained mainly through people`s habitually associating them with certain symbolic significance. And this association usually has a great deal to do with customs, living conditions and religions of that particular community.
There are other cultural factors that have great influence on language. They serve to illustrate a simple and familiar principle, that`s different cultural features—be they environmental, material, or social, produce different linguistic features. Therefore cultural differences between the Chinese and English languages is a major reason that causes the differences in the use of the color words in the two languages.
So far we have elaborated on the several similarities between English and Chinese color words, and have had a contrastive analysis of their respective differences. The conclusion is that as long as there are differences in the languages and cultures, there will be differences in the use of color words.
Therefore, when our students are learning a foreign language, we should pay full attention not only to the differencs between the languages themselves, but also the cultural differences: the historic background, social life, geographic surroundings and social customs etc, which are the cultural elements of a community that speaks the language. On this basis, we can have a better understanding of the connotation of specific cultures, immerse ourselves in it, and improve students to learn the language more effectively.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
[1]John R. Taylor. Language Categorization. Clarendon Press.OxFord.
1989.
[2]李瑞华 《英汉语言文化对比研究》.上海外语教育出版社.1996.
[3]邓炎昌 Colorful Language. 载《英语学习》.1982.
[4]李志荣 “汉英颜色词的跨文化透视”. 载《徐州师范大学学报》.1998.
Key Words: Color words, Similarities, Differences, Cultures
Language is like a splendid building, consisting of various kinds of basic elements: letters, phonemes, morphemes and so on. When literarily used, it needs some additional ornaments such as color words. People are living in a beautiful world, full of colors: red flowers, green grass, blue sky and white clouds, which delight our eyes. And language, through which people perceive the world and express themselves, is also full of colors. It is colors that make the world so beautiful. It is colors that inspire endless imaginations. Still it is colors that make up our colorful life.
Color words are meaningful and interesting. There are several similarities and differences between the English and Chinese languages. As far as the study, there are three similarities.
1. Similarities in people’s recognition and perception
Although different countries differ more or less in history, customs, living style and cultural backgrounds, yet from the perspective view of physiology and psychology, all nations have common points in cognitive structure, in that they share the same physiological mechanism and visual nerve system. This can be proved by the biological basis proposed by Chomsky in his syntactic Deep Structure Theory. The common points of people`s cognitive structure are that their perception of colors has no differences theoretically. This can be shown from both English and Chinese color expressions, such as "gold", "blood red".
2. Similarities in rhetorical use
There is a striking similarity that color words are used rhetorically in both languages, such as "in black and white", "call black white". If we have a survey of all the literary works both home and abroad in history, we can find that almost all of them cannot cut themselves off from color words. Those color words not only appear as sensory words, but also form an important means of rhetoric. Although they cannot reproduce colors as directly as drawing, yet through language, they help to make vivid and lifelike descriptions, thus inspire people`s imagination, enhance the language effects, and make the readers feel personally on the scene. E.g. Simile: as white as snow, as green as grass. 3. Similarities in political symbolism
During the long course of Chinese history, different dynasties upheld different colors; therefore, color words have respective symbolic meanings. Yellow is one of the colors that were once upheld by the ancient Chinese people. In late Han Dynasty, there is a Yellow Ribbon Army, which regarded yellow as their symbol of revolution. In Chinese history, there are a lot of other colors used for symbols, such as the Greenwood Army and the White Lotus religious sect during the Qing Dynasty. In Britain, they also have colors as their political symbol, such as the White Rose vs. Red Rose war in the Middle Ages.
However, it also has some contrastive differences.
1. Differences in language itself
The English language has long been considered to have a strong adaptability, and the meaning of the English lexicon is very changeable and rich in connotations. Its lexicon has experienced a long history of evolution, resulting in the widening of the meaning of the English lexicon. So are the color words. However, Chinese is different. The long history of the Chinese language and the specific national traits have decided that the Chinese language is accurate, standard and strict. To coin words and expressions at will has always been considered inappropriate. The Chinese color words are constantly adjectives, and their place in sentence is fixed, always before the nouns, with little exceptions. In contrast, English color words are much more free. They have more grammatical characteristics. E.g. Adjectives: serving as modifier or complement, e.g. I like to drink black coffee. Nouns: serving as objects of preposition, subjects, and complements, mostly uncountable nouns, with some exceptions, e.g. There is too much red in the painting. What`s more color words are often used for specific names, such as Mr. White, Mrs. Black, and Miss Brown.
2. Differences beyond language
There is another important reason that explains the differences in the use of the color words: differences in the two cultures.
In this world, there exist various sorts of cultures. These cultures have both common points and their own respective characteristics as well. Language is part of culture, and from the very beginning it is permeated with cultural elements. People, in real life, are perceiving culture all the time, and gradually form a kind of set perception, which in turn greatly affects our response to external stimulations, that’s what meaning should we endow those external stimulations with. So, once color words are employed in the human society, they will trigger off peculiar response and fancy imagination. As a result, the perception of color words in nature differs from that in spectroscopy. That’s what we call cultural differences, which always confuse people of different cultures. For instance, there is an interesting difference in the use of Chinese "红" and English "green". When we notice that someone is filled with jealousy we Chinese resort to the expression "眼红", but the English speakers will say "green with envy". Take "tea" as another example: the Chinese "红茶" becomes "black tea" when it comes into English. How does this come about? From the perspective view of culture, Chinese people name it according to the color of the water, while the English speakers base it on the color of the tea itself. This example again shows that there do exist great differences in the use of the color words in Chinese and in English. The implied emotions and feelings of the color words have much to do with historic background, social customs and geographic surroundings. In the book Language, Edward Sapir pointed out: "Language can not exist beyond culture", which shows that language and culture is closely connected. The function of color words to convey emotions is obtained mainly through people`s habitually associating them with certain symbolic significance. And this association usually has a great deal to do with customs, living conditions and religions of that particular community.
There are other cultural factors that have great influence on language. They serve to illustrate a simple and familiar principle, that`s different cultural features—be they environmental, material, or social, produce different linguistic features. Therefore cultural differences between the Chinese and English languages is a major reason that causes the differences in the use of the color words in the two languages.
So far we have elaborated on the several similarities between English and Chinese color words, and have had a contrastive analysis of their respective differences. The conclusion is that as long as there are differences in the languages and cultures, there will be differences in the use of color words.
Therefore, when our students are learning a foreign language, we should pay full attention not only to the differencs between the languages themselves, but also the cultural differences: the historic background, social life, geographic surroundings and social customs etc, which are the cultural elements of a community that speaks the language. On this basis, we can have a better understanding of the connotation of specific cultures, immerse ourselves in it, and improve students to learn the language more effectively.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
[1]John R. Taylor. Language Categorization. Clarendon Press.OxFord.
1989.
[2]李瑞华 《英汉语言文化对比研究》.上海外语教育出版社.1996.
[3]邓炎昌 Colorful Language. 载《英语学习》.1982.
[4]李志荣 “汉英颜色词的跨文化透视”. 载《徐州师范大学学报》.1998.