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摘要：
本文旨在探讨动物文化内涵在中西方的异同，本文将从以下三方面进行讨论：一，简要叙述英汉动物文化的差异表现；二，对英汉动物文化内涵进行比较；三，在英汉动物文化内涵产生差异的社会因素中作者提出了自己的观点。了解这些将有利于跨文化交流。
关键字： 动物；文化内涵；比较
1. Introduction
Due to the two culture’s different history background， custom， cultural condition and so on， which cause many differences on animal cultural connotation in Chinese and English. In different culture， people like different animals.[1] This is the basic difference of animal culture in Chinese and English.
2. Comparison of Animal Cultural Connotation in Chinese and English
2.1 Similarities
Different nations have different languages， Chinese and English have big differences in syllable， form and structure. There are so many prominently characterized animals that people are familiar with， we always borrow them to indicate human or things have the similar characteristics， which make the animal vocabulary become richer in associative and symbolic significance. [2]When Chinese and English people describe the same characteristic of one thing， they are likely to choose the identical animal. Such as， as sly as a fox—狡猾得像狐狸， as slow as a snail—像蜗牛一样的慢，a rat crossing the street is chased by all. （老鼠过街，人人喊打） and so on.[3]
2.2 Differences
The similarity of animal cultural connotation in Chinese and English is relative， only the diversity is much common to us. It can be seen from many English books， that the English people have very different association of most animals from China.[4] This is a reflection of culture.
Dragon and phoenix will be discussed in this part. Dragon is not a real animal but an imaginary one. In China， dragon is one kind of mythic animal who can walk on the land， hover in the sky， and swim in the sea. At the same time， dragon has appeared in many idioms， such as， “生龙活虎” （full of vim and vigor）， “画龙点睛” （the last but the most important step）. [5]However in English-speaking countries， a dragon is an animal which can spit fire and sometimes possessing three to nine heads. Dragon in the Christianity fine arts represents villainy. Talking about dragon makes people feel terrible.
In Chinese traditional culture， phoenix is an unusual animal which is the king of all birds. In China phoenix is not only bring good luck to human beings， but also bring happiness to mankind. [6]But in English-speaking countries， phoenix is a bird in myth. Phoenix would make a nest with fragrance before its death， and then sing a sad song. It uses the wings to set fire， in order to burn itself into ashes.[7] Then from the ashes a new phoenix appears. Therefore in English， phoenix has the meaning of “regeneration、resurrection”. 3. My Views on Different Animal Cultural Connotation
3.1 Different Literature Tradition
The difference of literature tradition reflects in many aspects， including religion literature historical allusion， famous novels and poems. China is greatly influenced by Buddhism and Taoism， and many Chinese words stem from the Buddhist scripture and stories.[8] However most English people believe in Christianity， thus the Bible has become the most important source of their vocabulary and culture. As a result， the animal vocabulary’s cultural connotation of Chinese and English is correspondingly different from each other.
3.2 Different Natural Environment
The making of language has great relation to people’s work and life. And the rich culture is one of the products created by people in the process of adapting to each kind of environment. Likewise we can say that different natural environment causes the difference of animal types. People live in different environment and ecology atmosphere， and correspondingly endue animal vocabulary with different cultural connotation.
Conclusion
The thesis mainly probes into three aspects of animal cultural connotation in Chinese and English， which contains definition of culture， comparison of animal cultural connotation in Chinese and English， and the author’s view on animal cultural connotation.
After the accomplishment of this thesis， the author will keep an eye on the recent development of this subject and continue to make further study on the topic of comparison of animal cultural connotation in Chinese and English.
Bibliography
1. Vern， Terpstra & Kenneth， David. Cultural Environment of International Business. Brussels： South-Western Educational Publisher. 1992.
2. Eastman，Carol. Aspects of Language and Culture. San Francisco： Chandler and Sharp Publishers.1975.
3. 王希杰. 动物文化小品集. 武汉：湖北教育出版社.1998.
4. Herbert， Sutcliffe & Harold， Berman. Words and Their stories. Washington， D.C.： Voice of America.1978.
5.高美丽. 英汉动物词汇及其文化内涵对比.学林出版社，2005：300.
6. Barry， Tomalin & Susan， Stempleski. Cultural Awareness. Oxford： Oxford University Press.1994.
7. 黄苹. 汉英动物文化的社会差异. 邵阳学院学报，2005（4）：25-26.
8. 李悦. 英汉动物词的文化内涵比较及其翻译.中南大学学报（社会科学版），2003（5）：67-68.
本文旨在探讨动物文化内涵在中西方的异同，本文将从以下三方面进行讨论：一，简要叙述英汉动物文化的差异表现；二，对英汉动物文化内涵进行比较；三，在英汉动物文化内涵产生差异的社会因素中作者提出了自己的观点。了解这些将有利于跨文化交流。
关键字： 动物；文化内涵；比较
1. Introduction
Due to the two culture’s different history background， custom， cultural condition and so on， which cause many differences on animal cultural connotation in Chinese and English. In different culture， people like different animals.[1] This is the basic difference of animal culture in Chinese and English.
2. Comparison of Animal Cultural Connotation in Chinese and English
2.1 Similarities
Different nations have different languages， Chinese and English have big differences in syllable， form and structure. There are so many prominently characterized animals that people are familiar with， we always borrow them to indicate human or things have the similar characteristics， which make the animal vocabulary become richer in associative and symbolic significance. [2]When Chinese and English people describe the same characteristic of one thing， they are likely to choose the identical animal. Such as， as sly as a fox—狡猾得像狐狸， as slow as a snail—像蜗牛一样的慢，a rat crossing the street is chased by all. （老鼠过街，人人喊打） and so on.[3]
2.2 Differences
The similarity of animal cultural connotation in Chinese and English is relative， only the diversity is much common to us. It can be seen from many English books， that the English people have very different association of most animals from China.[4] This is a reflection of culture.
Dragon and phoenix will be discussed in this part. Dragon is not a real animal but an imaginary one. In China， dragon is one kind of mythic animal who can walk on the land， hover in the sky， and swim in the sea. At the same time， dragon has appeared in many idioms， such as， “生龙活虎” （full of vim and vigor）， “画龙点睛” （the last but the most important step）. [5]However in English-speaking countries， a dragon is an animal which can spit fire and sometimes possessing three to nine heads. Dragon in the Christianity fine arts represents villainy. Talking about dragon makes people feel terrible.
In Chinese traditional culture， phoenix is an unusual animal which is the king of all birds. In China phoenix is not only bring good luck to human beings， but also bring happiness to mankind. [6]But in English-speaking countries， phoenix is a bird in myth. Phoenix would make a nest with fragrance before its death， and then sing a sad song. It uses the wings to set fire， in order to burn itself into ashes.[7] Then from the ashes a new phoenix appears. Therefore in English， phoenix has the meaning of “regeneration、resurrection”. 3. My Views on Different Animal Cultural Connotation
3.1 Different Literature Tradition
The difference of literature tradition reflects in many aspects， including religion literature historical allusion， famous novels and poems. China is greatly influenced by Buddhism and Taoism， and many Chinese words stem from the Buddhist scripture and stories.[8] However most English people believe in Christianity， thus the Bible has become the most important source of their vocabulary and culture. As a result， the animal vocabulary’s cultural connotation of Chinese and English is correspondingly different from each other.
3.2 Different Natural Environment
The making of language has great relation to people’s work and life. And the rich culture is one of the products created by people in the process of adapting to each kind of environment. Likewise we can say that different natural environment causes the difference of animal types. People live in different environment and ecology atmosphere， and correspondingly endue animal vocabulary with different cultural connotation.
Conclusion
The thesis mainly probes into three aspects of animal cultural connotation in Chinese and English， which contains definition of culture， comparison of animal cultural connotation in Chinese and English， and the author’s view on animal cultural connotation.
After the accomplishment of this thesis， the author will keep an eye on the recent development of this subject and continue to make further study on the topic of comparison of animal cultural connotation in Chinese and English.
Bibliography
1. Vern， Terpstra & Kenneth， David. Cultural Environment of International Business. Brussels： South-Western Educational Publisher. 1992.
2. Eastman，Carol. Aspects of Language and Culture. San Francisco： Chandler and Sharp Publishers.1975.
3. 王希杰. 动物文化小品集. 武汉：湖北教育出版社.1998.
4. Herbert， Sutcliffe & Harold， Berman. Words and Their stories. Washington， D.C.： Voice of America.1978.
5.高美丽. 英汉动物词汇及其文化内涵对比.学林出版社，2005：300.
6. Barry， Tomalin & Susan， Stempleski. Cultural Awareness. Oxford： Oxford University Press.1994.
7. 黄苹. 汉英动物文化的社会差异. 邵阳学院学报，2005（4）：25-26.
8. 李悦. 英汉动物词的文化内涵比较及其翻译.中南大学学报（社会科学版），2003（5）：67-68.