英漢顏色詞的文化內(nèi)涵對(duì)比與翻譯(修改頁(yè)碼)

1、. - . - - 可修編-畢 業(yè) 論 文 院 別 政法學(xué)院 系 別 政法系 專(zhuān) 業(yè) 法學(xué) 年 級(jí) 08級(jí) 學(xué)生迪珩學(xué) 號(hào)3 論文題目 英漢顏色詞的文化涵比照與翻譯指導(dǎo)教師瓊 完成時(shí)間 年 月 學(xué)院教務(wù)處制A Contrastive Study of Color Words in Chinese and English and Their TranslationZheng Diheng A ThesisSubmitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Foreign Language School At Zhaoqing Univ

2、ersityNovember 3, 2011. - . - - 可修編-AbstractWhen translating, translators may feel some confused in color words. We need to know the different meanings between Chinese and English if we want to translate correctly. Chinese and English have many differences from each other. Language is a part of one

3、culture. In this paper, the writer will give a contrastive study of color words in Chinese and English and use some methods to solve the problems. Key Words:Color Words; Culture; A Contrastive Study; Translation 容摘要在中英翻譯的過(guò)程中，有時(shí)會(huì)遇到一些顏色詞的翻譯，要想正確翻譯顏色詞，就要先了解中英顏色詞文化的涵，尋找中英兩種語(yǔ)言中顏色詞使用的異同。由于諸多因素影響,彼此存在著很大差異

4、。語(yǔ)言是文化不可分割的一局部,因而漢英兩種語(yǔ)言的差異成為中西文化差異的一面鏡子。本文從顏色詞入手,通過(guò)比擬的方法對(duì)英漢根本顏色詞的異同進(jìn)展了分析探討,提出了顏色詞翻譯的幾種不同方法,以解決顏色詞翻譯過(guò)程中的文化不等值現(xiàn)象。關(guān)鍵詞：顏色詞；文化；比照；翻譯AcknowledgmentsOn the pletion of my thesis, I should like to e*press my deepest gratitude to allwhose kindness and advice have made this work possible. I am greatly indebted

5、 to my supervisor, Miss Zhang. OutlineThesis Statement: Recent studies of contrast and analysis of Chinese and western culture in the symbolic meaning of color words that we in the practical life better appropriate and application of words of color in Chinese and western culture. 1.Introduction2.Col

6、or Words in Chinese and English 2.1 Black 2.2 White 2.3 Red 2.4 Green 2.5 Yellow 2.6 Blue3.The Translation of Color Words3.1Literal Translation3.2Free Translation4. ConclusionTable of Contents1.Introduction 12.Color Words in Chinese and English.1 2.1 Black.1 2.2 White.22.3 Red. .22.4 Green.32.5 Yell

7、ow.42.6 Blue.43.The Translation of Color Words.53.1Literal Translation.53.2Free Translation.5 Conclusion.6 Notes .7 Bibliography .7. - - 可修編- = 1 * ROMAN * MERGEFORMAT I. Introduction From the scientific definition, color is a visual phenomenon launched, reflected or caused through certain light wav

8、e by the object; it is one kind of visual essential features of human eye.1 In my opinion, color words are used to describe colors of things and they have traits of national culture. Since different country have different customs, culture background and religions, the same color may have different m

9、eanings. As a result, it is important for the translators to consider about the e*actly definition of the color words. In this way, translations will be clearer and true. On the basic color words, there is not so much difference in English and in Chinese. In Chinese, there are 赤, 橙, 黃, 綠, 青, 藍(lán), 紫,wh

10、ile in English there are red, white, black, green, yellow, blue and purple. Owing to the different historic cultural background of the two cultures, the same color words have different symbolic meanings. The following will list the same and the differences between Chinese and English in the same col

11、or word. = 2 * ROMAN * MERGEFORMAT II. Color Words in Chinese and EnglishHere I will site si* color words black, white, red, green, yellow and blue, to show the same and the difference between Chinese and English culture.2. 1Black Black is the very darkest color, like night or coal. It also means wi

12、thout light; pletely dark, like a black night . In Chinese, the 黑 is always together with scoundrel, reactionary and evil, misfortune, illegal and covered. For e*ample, 黑市, 黑幫, 黑心腸, 黑社會(huì), 黑客. In Chinese traditional culture, black and white both belong to the Five Colors. In Chinese funeral, people us

13、ually wear a black armband to show their mourns to the death relative. On one hand, black stands for solemn and just, such as Baozheng ; On the other hand, it stands for evil and reactionary, like黑幕, 黑手. Black also stands for illegal and mit such as走黑道,黑店 is the hotel the does illegal deals,背黑鍋 mean

14、s be treated unjustly. Besides, black means misfortune, such as 黑材料, 黑五類(lèi), 黑夫妻, 黑后臺(tái) and so on. In English, black means evil or immoral. It also e*press as without hope, very depressing, full of anger or hatred.2For e*ample, black mood, black day, black sheep. In the west, black is a taboo color, whic

15、h stands for darkness. It means death and sinister, such as Black Mass, to wear black for her mother, black words, a black letter day, Black Friday. Black symbolizes wicked and guilty, for e*ample, black man, a black deed, black guard, Black-hand, black-hearted. And it means disgrace, such as a blac

16、k mark; a black eye,A black sheep. And black means dejected and resent: black dog, black future, a black look, and black thoughts. Although black means dead and evil, it also stands for solemn and dignified. Black suit is the westerners favorite traditional dress. In solemn occasions, the officials

17、and celebrities would prefer to dress in black.There is no greatly discrimination by using black between English and Chinese. 2. 2White In Chinese , 白 stand for pure and immaculate, like 潔白無(wú)暇,雪白,清白無(wú)辜.Meanwhile, 白also is the symbol of dead, ill omen. For e*ample, when one died his family members must

18、 dress in white, and hold a funeral and this is called 白事. 白 means without payment, like 白拿and白給. 白also means in vain, like 白費(fèi)力氣 and 白白浪費(fèi)一天的時(shí)間. In Chinese feudal society, the mon people were forbidden to dress in any other colors e*cept white, so they were called 白衣 or 布衣. The persons with no positi

19、on are 白丁 or 白身, their houses are 白屋. In English, white means having the color of fresh snow or of milk as Chinese, like a white shirt 白襯衫, a set of perfect white teeth (一口潔白無(wú)瑕的牙齒). White also use to e*press lucky, fortunate and goodwill, like a white day吉日, a white witch一個(gè)做好事的巫師, a white lie善意的謊話.

20、Sometimes, white means somebodys face pales, and e*tend timid and overcautious. Take white as a sheet蒼白如紙, white-livered懦弱膽小的for e*ample. White in the western culture is usually an esteem color. White is considered pure. White is the traditional color for the brides at weddings, and to wear white at

21、 funerals would be offensive. As white is the color of the snow, so there is a white Christmas and a white winter. Lily white means as white and pure as lily. White stands for honest and upright, such as a white spirit, white man, and white hand. White also stands for lucky, such as one of the white

22、 days in somebodys life, white magic, and white hope is a person who is e*pected to bring success to a team. White stands for legal and non-malice, such as white market, white list. Besides, white also has derogatory meanings; show the white feather means act in a cowardly way, the same as white lip

23、ped, a face white with fear, as white as a sheet. White flag symbolizes giving up on something. 2.3 RedIn Chinese, 紅 is the symbol of joyous, happy, successful. Like 紅榜,紅紅火火,紅燈籠,走紅運(yùn). These words are e*pressing the same meaning-full of joy and jubilant. 紅 also means dividends. Take 分紅 for e*ample.Red

24、 in the Chinese culture is a basic esteem color. In the Chineses mind, it signifies e*citement and succeeding, lucky, loyal and flourishing. In Chinese traditional wedding, people put up the character 喜, the bride is dressed in red, the bridegroom wears a red flower on his breast. On happy days, peo

25、ple decorate their houses with red lanterns and doublets. 紅火 means prosperous, 紅塵 means the world of mortal, 紅包 is a red envelop containing money as a gift, tip or bonus. We say someone 走紅 when he has his good lot, and 紅人 means the one who is trusted unduly by his superiors. In Chinese, red has the

26、most pronounced political color, and is frequently used to stand for revolution and progress. The first regime of the munist Party is 紅色政權(quán), and the first armed forces is 紅軍.And 紅衛(wèi)兵 the red guard, 紅色根據(jù)地 the red base area. Besides, 紅燭 the red candle stands for dedication. Red also means beautiful and

27、pretty. A ladys splendid dress is called 紅妝 , a beautiful young woman is 紅袖 or 紅顏. In English, red sometimes means joyous as the same in Chinese. For e*ample, a red letter day是一個(gè)喜慶的日子, red carpet 表示紅地毯并可引申為隆重歡送的意思. But red is derogatory sense in many times, for e*ample, a red battle血戰(zhàn), red alert緊急警報(bào)

28、,red ruin火災(zāi), red-handed血淋淋的, in the red負(fù)債累累. In these words, red means bleed, danger, brutal and deficit. Red in the western culture mainly refers to color of blood, and in minds of the westerner, blood is the liquid of the life. So the westerners always associate red with the violence and dangerous

29、, for e*ample red hands, red revenge, and a red battle. It also stands for radical and violent, such as red revolution, red activities, red-headed; like a red rag to a bull means likely to cause strong violence. It also stands for dangerous and tense, such as red alert, a red flag. Red in the west a

30、lso has mendatory meaning, which is joyous, such as paint the town red means go out and enjoy a lively, boisterous time in bars or night-clubs, a red-letter day means a day that is important or remarkable because something happen on it, and the red carpet is specially good or respectful treatment th

31、at is given to an important guest. In accordance with some te*tual research, the mendatory meanings are from the Far East. 2.4 Green Green means having the color of grass or the leaves of most plants and trees or cover with grass or other plants. For e*ample, After the rains, the land was green with

32、 new growth.(雨天過(guò)后，一片新綠) In Chinese, 綠 stand for life, it often appear with green hills and clear waters. Chinese use 綠 to describe the graceful of nature. Like, 青山綠水, 綠葉成陰, 綠茸茸. In the Chinese traditional culture, Green ranks the first in the Five Colors, signifying everything grows. In the feudal s

33、ociety, the dress of the government official on a lower level was regularized to be green, so it also symbolizes humble. 青衫綠袍 is a symbol of low position in the official career. In English, green stand for youthful vigor. Like to be in the green of ones years(*人正風(fēng)華正茂), a green old age(老當(dāng)益壯) . At the

34、 same time, green also means melancholy and sad, lack e*perience, be jealous of. A green hand means greenhorn-a person who is not e*perienced. A green prospect means have a dark future. To be green with envy means be jealous of. In English there is a term green-eyed or green with envy, both of them

35、mean jealous and envious. However in Chinese眼紅describes the same meaning. In Chinese 帶綠帽子means to be a cuckold. If we translate it word by word, misunderstanding will arise. No matter in English or Chinese, this symbolic meaning of green is all identical. Green in the western culture is mainly relat

36、ed to the color of the plants, it is the symbol of vigor and energy, for e*ample, a green old age is associated with an old but vigorous man or woman. And to remain green forever means to keep fresh and vigorous forever, and also in the green; green also means fresh, such as keep a memory green, a g

37、reen wound, green meat; and it means immature, ine*perienced and easily fooled, such as a green hand, a green horn refers to a raw, simple and ine*perienced person, easily fooled or parted from his money. In some certain phrases, green has different meanings. For e*ample, green-light means give perm

38、ission to go ahead with. 2.5 Yellow Yellow is having the color of lemons or butter, like pale yellow flowers (淡黃色的花朵).黃色 is a special color for Chinese. In antiquity of China, 黃色 is a special color which is always used in imperial house and it is the symbol of sacred and noble, like 黃袍,黃冠and黃門(mén). Toda

39、y, 黃色 also use to describe something obscene, like 黃色, 黃色書(shū)刊and 掃黃. In Chinese traditional culture, yellow is located in the center of the Five Colors. So far, yellow is still the symbol of old China.黃袍 is the emperors dress,黃屋 is his carriage,黃鉞is his guard of honor, 黃榜 is the proclamation published

40、 by him. And 黃道吉日 means an auspicious day.However, yellow in modern China has negative meanings, such as 黃色書(shū)刊, 黃色錄象.Here yellow has an e*tended meaning of obscene and pornographic, while in English are the blue video, the blue talk. In English, from the Bible, we know that Juda is in yellow when he

41、betrays Jesus. And from that time, yellow is use to describe as timid and contemptible. For e*ample, a yellow dog 卑劣小人and yellow-belly 可鄙的膽小鬼. Yellow in the west mostly has derogatory meanings. Here are some e*amples: yellow alert: alert in advance; a yellow dog: a contemptible person; yellow looks:

42、 suspicious looks; yellow streak: tending to be coward and chicken-hearted. In English, yellow has some particular meanings in certain te*ts that have no relationship with sentiment. For e*ample, the yellow pages is the telephone dictionary, yellow boy is the golden coins. 2.6 Blue In Chinese, 藍(lán)色 st

43、and for pure, neat, broad and e*tensive. For e*ample, 白云, 藍(lán)田玉生(比喻名門(mén)出賢弟子)and 藍(lán)圖 . It seems that blue is a favorable word to Chinese.The blue sky, can arouse us to yearn for a better future. In English, blue have varied of meanings. The Black Americans like singing bluesa sorrowful music when they are

44、 forced to manual labor. As a result, blue is not only a color word of a clear sky or the sea, but to describes the feeling of sadness. For e*ample, blue Monday (倒霉的星期一), tossing the blue(垂頭喪氣). Besides, blue means se*y and obscene, like a blue film (片), blue talk (下流的言論) blue jokes (黃色笑話) and so on

45、. Of course, blue also means something good in English, like blue blood(出身名門(mén)貴族), blue stocking(才女) and blue chip(績(jī)優(yōu)股). In these words, blue means someones family background is highly privileged. In Western culture, however, blue does not associate with happiness and imagination, but gloom and depres

46、sion. He is in a blue mood means he is sad or gloomy. Blue is also often associated with high social status or being aristocratic. He is a real blue blood means he is from an aristocratic family. In addition, in U.S., a book with the names of famous figures, especially top government officials, is c

47、alled blue book. Blue film means erotic film while in Chinese we call it 黃色電影. Here are more e*amples: blue about the gills: in depression blue devils; depression and gloom once in a blue moon: not very often at all blue in the face: look pasty blue murder; horrible screaming and shouts sing the blu

48、es: in low spirits; very depressed out of the blue: happening in a way that is sudden and une*pected = 3 * ROMAN * MERGEFORMAT III. The Translation Methods of Color Words From the above contrastive study of color words in Chinese and English, we know that the same color word contains different cultu

49、ral meanings, because of the different history background, national mentality, religion and cultural tradition. Therefore, when translating between Chinese and English, we should use some translating methods to make our words more appropriate.3.1 Literal Translation Some color words have the same me

50、aning between Chinese and English. In this case, translators can translate literally. For e*ample: = 1 * GB2 * MERGEFORMAT 他氣得臉色發(fā)白。 He turned white with rage. = 2 * GB2 * MERGEFORMAT The referee held up a red card. 裁判亮出了一紅牌。 = 3 * GB2 * MERGEFORMAT The murder took place in a cold, black night. 謀殺案發(fā)生

51、在一個(gè)寒冷而漆黑的夜晚。 = 4 * GB2 * MERGEFORMAT 春風(fēng)又綠江南岸，明月何時(shí)照我還？王安石“泊船瓜洲“Spring wind of itself turns the south shore green,But what bright moon will light me home“(Tr.Burton Watson) In e*ample = 1 * GB2 * MERGEFORMAT , white is a color like that of snow, milk or bone, there is no different meaning between Chin

52、ese and English. In e*ample = 2 * GB2 * MERGEFORMAT , red is the color of fresh blood. E*ample = 3 * GB2 * MERGEFORMAT is under the similar circumstance that black means the color of coal or of very dark night. In e*ample = 4 * GB2 * MERGEFORMAT , in the Chinese line, the word of 綠 give the readers

53、a new feeling that the spring breeze blow gently, and the line e*press the emotion of the writer that he miss his hometown. The 綠 translation to turngreen is proper, because green is also means spring and life in English. As we know, when in Christmas, westerns are always put charismas trees in thei

54、r house and decorate them. 3.2 Free Translation As we all know, because Chinese and English have their own history backgrounds and national cultures, it is impossible to convey in the same way all the time. Similarly, the same color word may have different significance between Chinese and English. I

55、n this situation, translating literally may be unacceptable. For e*ample: = 5 * GB2 * MERGEFORMAT Neither of the two organizations uses public funds for direct support of abortions, but they do support groups which provide abortions with other funds a red flag for conservatives.這兩個(gè)組織都未動(dòng)用公款直接資助墮胎，但他們

56、所資助的團(tuán)體卻利用其他經(jīng)費(fèi)來(lái)資助墮胎，這就激怒了保守派人士。 = 6 * GB2 * MERGEFORMAT The peting interests groups confront each other with a show of passion and drama, sometimes over inconsequential matters or over a mere linguistic difference.利益沖突集團(tuán)有時(shí)為了一些枝節(jié)問(wèn)題或僅僅為了一個(gè)字眼而爭(zhēng)得面紅耳赤，劍拔弩。 = 7 * GB2 * MERGEFORMAT 曉來(lái)誰(shuí)染霜林醉，總是離人淚。王實(shí)甫“西湘記“Why

57、 like wine-flushed face is frosted forest red“Its dyed in tears the parting lovers shed. (Tr.*u Yuanzhong) = 8 * GB2 * MERGEFORMAT 賈寶玉神游太虛境，警幻仙曲演紅樓夢(mèng)。Jiao Baoyu visits the Land of Illusion; And the fairy Disenchantment performs the Dream of Golden Days. = 9 * GB2 * MERGEFORMAT 賈寶玉品茶櫳翠庵，姥姥醉窩怡紅院。Jia Ba

58、oyu tastes some superior tea at Green Bower Hermitage;And Grannie Liu samples the sleeping acmodation at Green Delights. In e*ample = 5 * GB2 * MERGEFORMAT , it is wrong to translate a red flag for conservatives into 保守派人士的一面紅旗. In Chinese, red flag is the symbol of revolution. While in English, lik

59、e waving a red flag in front of a bull means something that is likely to make somebody very angry. In e*ample = 8 * GB2 * MERGEFORMAT and e*ample = 9 * GB2 * MERGEFORMAT , the translator use Golden to translate紅樓夢(mèng) and 怡紅院 rather than Red. In these two e*amples, red and golden have similar meanings,

60、but goldenfits the background of Jiafu at that time. Green means jealous and envious, like, green with envy, green as jealousy, green-eyed monster. 眼紅 should translate into green-eyed, not red-eyed. Because the American dolls are green, they use green to describe a person who is rich.For e*ample: In