英語畢業(yè)論文The-Cultural-Differences-of-Animal-Words-in-English-and-Chinese

英漢動物詞匯的文化差異TheCulturalDifferencesofAnimalWordsinEnglishandChineseAbstract:Animalwordsareanimportantpartofalmostallthehumanlanguages.Asagroupofculture-boundwords,animalwordsreflectculturaldiversitiesintheaspectssuchassocialpsychology,customaryhabits,beliefsaswellasvalueorientations.EnglishandChinese,aslanguagewithalonghistory,arebothabundantinanimalwords,andalmostalloftheanimalwordscarrytheirownuniqueconnotationfromsocialculture,historicalbackgroundandgeographicconditions.WiththedeepeningofinterculturalcommunicationbetweenChinaandtheWesternWorld,itisrealizedthatanimalwordsarelikelytoformanareainwhichmisunderstandingindiversitiesoftheirculturalconnotation,andthattheinstructionoftheirconnotativemeaningcannotbeneglected.Animalwordsareforcertainausefulwindowbywhichtheculturaldiscrepancy,similarities,connotationanddiversitiesaremostliabletobedistinctlyperceived.Further,accordingtothestudyoftheculturalconnotationofanimalwords,onecanhaveanin-depthapprehensionofthecommonnessandindividualityofculturesandthusavoidmisusingtheirimplicationsandlessentheculturalshock.Keywords:animalwords；cultureconnotation；English；Chinese；differences摘要：動物詞匯幾乎是所有語言的一個重要詞匯組成部分。作為具有文化內(nèi)涵意義的詞匯，不同語言中的動物詞匯反映著不同民族社會心理，風(fēng)俗習(xí)慣，價值取向等文化因素方面的差異。漢語和英語同為源遠(yuǎn)流長的語言，都優(yōu)豐富的動物詞匯，但是，由于不同社會，歷史，地理等原因，英語和漢語的許多動物詞匯都具有反映各自民族文化特質(zhì)的內(nèi)涵意義。隨著中西文化交流的不斷深入，人們已經(jīng)認(rèn)識到，因為具有差異明顯的文化內(nèi)涵意義，英漢兩種語言中的動物詞匯不僅會成為跨文化交際中的一個敏感問題，也成為跨文化交際中不容忽視的一個重要方面。動物詞匯毫無疑問也可被視作文化的一扇窗戶，透過這扇窗戶，這些文化差異，文化共性，文化內(nèi)涵以及文化多樣性也會變得一目了然。而且通過對動物詞匯文化內(nèi)涵的研究，人們可以對文化間的個性與共性有更深入的了解，從而避免濫用和誤用動物詞匯的內(nèi)涵意義，減少文化沖突發(fā)生。關(guān)鍵詞：動物詞匯；文化內(nèi)涵；英語；漢語；差異ContentsI.Introduction………1II.LiteratureReview…….……..………………1III.RelationshipbetweenCultureandLanguage…2Ⅳ.TheCulturalDifferenceofAnimalVocabularyinTwoLanguages3A.Samewordsbutdifferentmeanings31.Samewordsbutconnotativemeaningonlyinonelanguage3a.Crane………………3b.Cat……………4c.Elephant…………4d.Tortoise…………52.Samewordsbuttotallydifferentmeanings……5a.Dog……………………5b.Dragon………………..5c.Bat6B.Samewordswithsamemeaning…………...…71.Donkey…….………………...72.Fox……………….…………………73.Wolf……………….…………………7C.Differentwordsbutsamemeaning………...……8V.TheReasonforConnotationDifferencesinDifferentLanguage...8A.Regionalinfluence…………..8B.Conventionalinfluence……………………..9C.Theinfluenceofreligion…………………...9D.Theinfluenceofhistory…………………9VI.Conclusion…………………9WorksCited…………11PAGETheCulturalDifferencesofAnimalVocabularyinEnglishandChinesePAGE第12頁共11頁2009年畢業(yè)論文TheCulturalDifferencesofAnimalVocabularyInEnglishandChineseI.IntroductionCultureisamirrorofnation,anditistheindivisibilityligamentofthespiritbetweensamenationanddifferentnations.Amysaid:“cultureiseverything.Anditconcludesthewayofourheadandsoon.Itisnotaproblemofbuildingandwriting”(Broukal59).Hersheysaid:“cultureistheconfluenceofspecialknowledgewhichisaunitedfamily.Itwassharedbyallfamilymembers”(EdwardT76).Languagecombineswithcultureclosely,languagemodelscultureandtheculturebringsuplanguage.Bothareanindispensablepartofintricatesystem.Inthesystem,ontheonehand,languagecanbefeltbutcultureisimplicitinhumanthoughtandsociety.Whenweencounterculturaldiversity,wecanrealizetheexistenceofculture;whenweuselanguage,wecanknowabouttheconnotationofculture.Sotheyinterplayeachother.Vocabularyalsoisthewindowoftheculture.Throughitwecanknowthedifferenceofculture,culturalsimilarity,culturalconnotationandculturalmultiformity.Soistheanimalvocabulary.Animalvocabularybecomesauniquesymbolofculturaltribes.Withthedevelopmentofhumanculture,animalvocabularyisgivenrichandvariedculturalconnotation.Itrepresentsaculturalmode.Inalmostallethnicalgroups,animalwordshavetakenonvariousandrichculturalconnotations.Theyhavebeencreditedwithmagicalorspiritualpowers;ascreatorsofhumanity;andasomenofgoodfortuneanddisaster.Theyhavebeenregardedasavatarofdivingbeingormanifestationsofgods’sacredpowersetc.Allofthosearesubjecttodifferentcultures.Cultureistheveryfactorthatendowsdiverseconnotationtoanimalwords.Ontheotherhand,animalwordsareforcertainausefulwindowbywhichtheculturaldiscrepancy,similarities,connotationanddiversitiesaremostliabletobeperceiveddistinctly.Further,accordingtothestudyoftheculturalconnotationofanimalwords,onecanhaveanin-depthapprehensionofthecommonnessandindividualityofculturesandthusavoidmisusingtheirimplicationsandlessentheculturalshock.II.LiteratureReviewInallkindsofvocabulary,peoplepaycloseattentiontoanimalvocabulary.In1980s,theprofessor,WangDechun,attachedimportancetotheresearchontheculturalconnotationofanimalvocabularyinChinese,andbecamethepioneerintheresearcharea.However,itwaseasytoseethattheresearchwasabouttheconnotationofanimalvocabularyinthisrange,buttheanimalvocabularycannotbeanalyzedintherangeofthewholeworld.Thusitleadedtounbalanceresearch.However,thelatterresearchersfilledtheblankspace.InthebackgroundofcultureinChinaandEnglish,XuYuanxiinvestigatedanddidsomeresearchontheculturalconnotationofanimalvocabulary,andpointedoutthattheimagesofobjectivethingwasdifferentindifferentnations.Thefirstwasanimalwordswiththesameconceptualmeaning,buttotallydifferentconnotativemeaninginEnglishandChinese,thesecondwasdifferentanimalwordswiththesameorsimilarconnotativemeaningindifferentlanguages.Comparingwiththeinternalresearchers,thewesternresearchersdotheresearchmoreextensivelyinthearea.ThenationaltheoreticianEdmundLeachnoticedwhenpeoplesufferedattack;theywereusedtothereversesideofanimalvocabularyasalanguageweapon(Leach163).In1964hepublishedhisthesis.Andinthisthesis,Leachmainlycaredwhyonlysomeofanimalvocabularyrelatedtotheculturaltaboo,andwhypeoplewouldfeelthattheywerelaughedwhentheindividualwascontactedwithanimalinthesameculturaltribe.Onthebasisofanthropologytheory,Leachdiscussedthespecificfunctionofanimalvocabularyontheattackofhumanlanguage,inordertoannouncetheothercontractionbetweentheconnotationmeaningandhumanthought.AnotheranthropologytheoreticianClaudeLevi-Straussfoundthephenomenathatsomeculturaltribesareusedtoregardingthemselvesasthedescendantofsomecertainanimal(Levi-Strauss215).Alloftheseprofessorstrytheirbesttoshowtheprofoundinfluenceandimportantfunctionofanimalconnotationwhichiscontactedcloselywithanimalsandculturaltaboos.Languageisaculturalcarrier.Culture-loadedvocabularyplaysanimportantroleinalanguage.Differentsocialbackgroundsandnationalcultureshavegreateffectsontheculturalconnotationsofvocabulary.Animalsarefriendsofhumanbeings.Languagesofallnationscontainalotofanimalwords,sodoEnglishandChinese.SoitisnecessarytoanalysetheculturedifferencesofanimalwordsinEnglishandChinese.III.RelationshipbetweenCultureandLanguageLanguagemirrorsculture.Differentculturesgivedifferentimagesofthings.Languageisalsoapartofanation’scultureandanimportantcarrierofculture.Thereareatleast200differentkindsofdefinitionsofculture.WhathasbeentermedtheclassicdefinitionofculturewasprovidedbyEdwardBurnettTylor,thefatherofcultureanthropologyinhis“primitiveculture”,“culture…isthatcomplexwholewhichincludesknowledge,belief,art,morals,law,customs,andanyothercapabilities,andhabitsacquiredbymannersamemberofsociety.”AndtheotherformalandsignificantdefinitionswereprovidedbyRichardE.PorterandLarryA.Samovar,Americanprofessorsinspeechcommunication:“Cultureisthedepositofknowledge,religion,timing,roles,spatialrelations,conceptsofuniverseandmaterialobjectsandgroupstriving.”(RichardE.90).InSapir’sownwords:“Humanbeingsdonotliveintheobjectiveworldalonebutareverymuchatthemercyoftheparticularlanguagewhichhasbecomethemediumofexpressionfortheirsociety.”(Sapir158).Notwolanguagesareeversufficientlysimilartobeconsideredasrepresentingthesamesocialreality.Hisprofoundinsights,severalofwhichseverasleadingrulesinthethesis,havelostnoneoftheirvalidityorimportant:firstisthat“l(fā)anguageisasymbolicguidetoculture”;secondisthat“vocabularyisaverysensitiveindexofapeople”(Sapir169).Fromthesetwoconclusionswecanseethatlanguageandcultureareinterrelated.Ontheonehand,languagereflectsculture,anditisusuallyconsideredasamirrorofsocialculture.Ontheotherhand,culturedeterminedsomesemanticfeaturesoflanguage,tosomeextent,evenifnotcompletely.Thevocabularyofalanguageisnotmerelyaninventoryofarbitrarylabelsrefertoobjects,entities,orevents.Wordsalsoconveykindsofculturalmeaningsthataddto,transform,ormanipulatebasicsensesofwordswiththepremiseofculturalknowledge.Ⅳ.TheCulturalDifferenceofAnimalVocabularyinEnglishandChineseAsweallknow,inmanyEnglishbookswecanseethattheEnglishspeaking-peoplehavedifferentmeaningsofmostanimalsfromChina.Sothroughitwefindthatitisareflectionofculture.Thus,similaritiesanddissimilaritiesintheconnotationsofanimalvocabularyinChineseandEnglish.Sometimesitcanbetakenintoconsiderationincross-culturalcommunication.A.SamewordsbutwithdifferentmeaningBecauseofdifferentculturalbackground,natural,EnglishpeopleandChinesepeoplehavedifferentassociationswiththesameculturalconnotationstothesameanimalvocabulary.1.Samewordswithconnotativemeaningonlyinonelanguagea.Crane(仙鶴)TheEnglishwordcranemeaning“alargewadingbirdwithlonglegsandneck”.Itdoesn’thaveconnotativemeaning,butitsChineseequivalent“鶴”connotemanythings.Forexample“purity”,“transcendence”,“l(fā)oftiness”andsoon.Thecraneisrelatedtolongevity,Chineseoftenrefertograyhairoftheoldas“crane’shair(鶴發(fā))”.ThereisaChineseidiom“whitehairandruddycomplexion”(鶴發(fā)童顏).Itisfrequentlyappliedtothedescriptionoftheelderlyandhealthypeople.SoinChinesecranesymbolizes“l(fā)ongevity”.IftheChinesewishapersonhavelonglife,theyusuallysay“turtle’slifeorcrane’slife(龜年鶴壽)”.ThecraneinChinaisalsoasymbolofhermit.BecausecraneshadbeenkeptasfriendstohermitsinancientChina.Afamouspoetinhispoemremainedsingleallhislife.HelivedaswellasisolatedlyinHangZhou.Inthereheplantedcountlessplumtreesonthehillandcultivatedmanycranes.Helikesthemverymuch.Healsoregardplumashiswifeandcranehissons.Soitiswhythewordscraneoftensymbolofhermit.CranehasananothermeaninginChinese.Thatissomebodyasoutstandingasacranestandingamongaflockofchickens.Itreferstothosewhoareeithermorecapableormorehandsomethanothers.Thisphraseisstillusednowadays.b.Cat(貓)Catisasmallanimalwithfourlegsthatisoftenkeptasapetorusedforcatchingmice.InEnglish“cat”hasrichandvariedculturalconnotations,e.g.:“aspitefulorunpleasantwoman”,“greatenergyorvitality”,“asecretofsecrets”.The“cat”canbealsousedtorefertoapersonwithdifferentconnotationsandcolors:“fatcat(有錢有勢的人)”,“barber’scat(瘦弱的人,面帶饑色和病容的人)”,“acoolcatorhepcat(時髦人物)”,“aqueercat(奇怪的人)”,“anoldcat(脾氣壞的老太婆)”.ItisverydifficultforChinesepeopletounderstandtheseEnglishexpressionduetodifferentculture.InEnglish,manyidiomswithcat,suchas“bellthecat(為別人冒險)”“l(fā)etthecatoutofbag(泄露機密)”,“acatinpan(叛徒)”.e.g.“Don’tbeacat,”Jimsaid.“別那么損人”吉姆說。Don’tlistentohergossip;sheisacat.別聽她搬弄是非，她是個心底惡毒的女人。Fromtheexampleabove,wecanseethat“cat”isusedtorefertomanykindsofcharacters:fromevilwomentocommonpople;tosymbolizefreedomorlifeorstrom.c.Elephant(大象)Elephantisaverylargegreyanimalwhichhasatrunkwithwhichitcanpickupthings.InEnglish“elephant”hasthefollowingnationalculturalmeanings:“slow,clumsy”e.g.:asthickskinnedasanelephant感覺遲鈍,elephanthumor笨拙的幽默.“enormousinsizeorstrength”e.g.:elephantdugout大防空壕.“somethingthathascostsalotofmoneybuthasnousefulpurpose”.d.Tortoise“烏龜”Tortoiseisaslow-movinglandanimalthatcanpullitsheadandlegsintothehardroundshellthatcoversitsbody.Thenationalculturalmeaningsfor“烏龜”areasfollows:“l(fā)ongevityandlonglife”.Stonetortoisessymbolicofvenerableoldagecanbeseeninfrontofancienthalls,templesandpalaces.Inmanyliteratureworksandstoriseitisportrayedasananimaloflonglife.Therearemanyexpressionslike“龜壽、龜齡、龜鶴遐壽”.“asymbolforcuckold”.Thecreatureisalsothesymbolforthecuckold.Tocallapersonatortoiseortortoiseeggishighlyinsulting,highlyprofane.“timidness”.Sometimesitalsomeans“timidness”,suchas“縮頭烏龜”2.Samewordsbuttotallywithdifferentmeaningsa.Dog(狗)Thedoghasverycloserelationshipwithpeopleinbothculture.InEnglishspeakingnationspeoplehavethetraditiontoraisedogsaspets.Tothem,dogistheman’sbestfriend.InEnglishpeopleusuallyusethedogtorefertosomepersonas“acleverdog(聰明人)”,“anolddog(有經(jīng)驗的人)”,“atopdog(重要人物)”,“aluckydog(幸運兒)”etc.andsomeexpressionsuchas“Toletsleepingdogslie.”means“tomakenotrouble”.“everydoghasitsday”means“everypersonsomedaywillsucceedorbecomefortunate.”TherealsosomebywordsinEnglishaboutanimalwords“dog”eg:(1)Loveme,lovemydog愛屋及烏(2)Helpalambdogoverastile幫助人度過難過(3)Thetailwagsthedog本末倒置(4)Olddogswilllearnnonewtricks老年人學(xué)不了新東西Alltheseexamplesshowthat“dog”canbeusedtopeoplerequirementoffriendship,sincerityandfaith.ButinChinese,theword“dog”havetheoppsitemeaning.Itisassociatedwithsomederogatoryconnotations.Therearesayinglike:“走狗，狗改不了吃屎，狗咬狗，狗急跳墻，落水狗，狗膽包天，狗仗人勢，狗腿子，狗眼看人低，狗嘴里吐不出象牙，狼心狗肺，狐朋狗友，雞鳴狗盜”.Therearetoomanysayingtodisplayhere.ButnowmanyChinesealsoregardedthedogasman’sfailthfulfriend.b.Dragon(龍)InChinesecultural“龍”isamythicalanimal.Itisregardedasauspiciouscreatureandithasalwayssymbolizedanimperial,especiallyanemperorinancientChina.InChineselegendary“龍王(thekingofdragon)”isapowerfulgodwhorulestheseasandotherwaerbodiesandhealsoisinchargeofrain.BecausetheYellowEmperorwentuptotheHeavenbyridingagragon,theempororsindifferentdynastiesafterwardscalledthemselves“真龍”,Chinesefeudalemperorswereoftenreferedtoas“真龍?zhí)熳印?wering“龍袍(dragenrobe)”livinginpalacesdecoratedwiththedragon.Theysymbolizedthepoweranddignity.SoChinesepeoplerespectedandadmiredit.InChinesemythology,theyellowEmperorlaidthefoundationofChinesecivilization.Later,hewentuptothetheHeavenbyridingadragon.ItissaidthatthedragonwassentbytheEmperoroftheHeaventogethim.Becauseofthemythologyrelatedtotheyellowemperorwhowassowell-repectedtheoffspringregardedhimastheancestoroftheChinesenation.ThatisthereasonwhytheChinesecallthemselves“descendantofthedragon(龍的傳人)”.Thus,therearesomeexperssion.Forexample“anoutstandingperson”weoftensay“臥龍，乘龍快婿，人中龍鳳”,“auspicious”,“望子成龍，龍鳳呈祥”,“strongandvigorous”,“龍騰虎躍，龍馬精神”.ButinWestern,graonisoftenasymbolofevil.Itcanberegardedasafiercemonsterwhichcanspitfireandsometimespossessesthreeornineheads.Thereareseveralstoriesofsaintorheros,themostnotableperhapsisthestoryofBeowulf,anAnglo-Saxonepicaroundtheyearof700A.D.tellingushowtheheroBeowulfdefeatsamonstercalledGrendel,butiseventuallykilledinslayingageagon.DragonusuallyhasthefollowingnationalmeaningsinEnglish.Suchas,asymbolofevil,theSatanandafiercelyvigilantorintractableperson.However,inChinese,cultural“龍”isamythicalanimalwithpalpusandscalyskinthatcanmakecloudsandbringrains.ItisregardedasanauspiciouscreatureandithasalwaysbeenrespectedandadmiredbyChinesepeople.c.Bat(蝙蝠)Batisasmallanimallikeamousethatfliesaround atnight.Towestrners,thebatisconsideredasanevilcreatureandusuallyassociatedwithnegativequalities.Thenationalculturalmeaningismainly“tobehaveinaneccentric,bizarremanner”,forexample:Ascrazyasabat像蝙蝠一樣瘋狂Heisabitbatty他有些瘋瘋癲癲的。Havebatsinthebelfry行為乖張、精神失常Theymaybeevenworse.Mentionofthebatoftenevokestheimageofanugly,sinister,blood-suckingcreature.Thismaypossiblybebecauseofthevampirebat.TheemoyionsaroundinEnglish-speakingpeoplearethosethatthedreadowlarousesamongChinese:frightanfrevulsion.ToChinese,however,thebatisasymbolofgoodfortune,well-being,happinessallpositivequalities.Thereasonforsuchassociationisprobablybecausethenameofthecreatureispronouncedthesameastheword“?！?Thusthepopularityofthetraditionaldesignthatshowsthebatandthedeertogether,“幅鹿”pronouncedthesameas“福祿(goodfortune,happiness,wealthandposition).”B.SamewordswithsamemeaningAllthehumanbeingsliveinthesameenvironment,boththeChinesepeopleandEnglishpeoplenearlyhavethesameknowledgeoftheanimal.Asaresult,theyhavesameorsimilarassociciationandgivethesameclturalconnotationstoanimalwords.Forexample:1.Donkey(驢)Donkeyisagreyorbrownanimallikeahouse,butsmallerandwithlongears.Inbothlanguages“assordonkey”havethesameconnotativemeaningsasfollows:①“stupid,foolish”inEnglishtherearesomeexperssionssuchas:Anassinalion’sskin冒充聰明的傻瓜;Ifadonkeybraysatyou,don’tbrayathim別和蠢人一般見識.ThesameexpressionsinChineseare:“蠢驢、笨驢”.②“obstinate”exampleinEnglishare:asstubbornasadonkey非常固執(zhí).InChinesethesameexpressionis“犟驢”.2.Fox(狐貍)Foxisawildanimallikeadogwithreddish-brownfur,apointedfaceandathicktail.Inbothlanguage“fox”havethesameconnotativemeanings.Forexample,Englishpeoplewouldsay,“Heisafox”他是一個非常狡猾的人.Chinesepeoplecanunderstandthemeaningofthesentence.SowecanseethatinEnglish,“fox”canbeusedtodescribesomebodyisfraudulentandcunning.AtthesametimeinChinesethebestexamplecomesfromanidiom“狐假虎威”“thefoxborrowsthetiger’sterrorbyworkinginthelatter’scompany—bullypeoplebyflauntingone’spowerfulconnections).Itisastoryaboutthefox:onedayahungrytigercaughtafox.Whentigerisgoingtoeatthefox,thefoxliedtothetigerthatheisakingoftheanimals.Inordertomakethetigerbelievehimthatthefoxasktothetigerwalkwithhimtoalloftheanimals.Whentheanimalssawthefoxwalktogetherwiththetiger,theyallranbecauseoftheirlives.Inthiswaythefoxcheatthetiger.Thisstoryshowstheslyandcunningofthefoxinavividway.ThusinChinesetherearemanyChineseexpressionswith“狐貍”.Theyareusedtoexpressthemeanin“sly,craftyandcunning”.Forexample,老狐貍、滿腹狐疑.3.Wolf(狼)Wolfisawideanimalthatlookslikealargedogandlivesandhuntsingroups.Inbothlanguages“wolf”sharesthesameconnotativemeanings.Wolfisgreddy,savageandcrule.Forexample:①“rapacious,andfierce”inEnglishtherearesameexpressionlike:ascruelasawolf像狼一樣兇殘;thewolfinsheep’sclothing披著羊皮的狼;throwtothewolves出賣朋友;haveawolfbyears騎虎難下;crywolf狼來了.SomeexpressionsinChineseare:狼子野心、狼心狗肺、豺狼虎豹、狼狽為奸,etc.②“eatingsomethingveryquickly”.ExpressionsinEnglishare:Yououghttoseehimwolfitdown.你應(yīng)當(dāng)看著他狼吞虎咽的把它吞下去;wolfdown餓狼撲食;InChinesetheexamplesare“狼吞虎咽、餓狼撲食”.③“sexuallyaggressive”when“wolf”isusedtorefertoaperson,itmeans“amanwhogetsreadytomakesexualadvancestoawoman”.So,inEnglishthereisaidiom“awolf-whistle(情調(diào)口哨)”.InChinesethereisalsosuchanexpression“色狼”.C.DifferentanimalwordsbutwithsamemeaningsDifferentanimalwordshavesimilarculturalconnotationsinEnglishandChinese,inotherwords,peopleusedifferentanimalwordstoexpresssimilarmeanings.Eventhoughtheanimalwordsaredifferent,theyhavesimilarconnotations.Theanimalof“cow”and“horse”aretotallydifferentkindsofanimals,butthe“cow”intheChinesecultureandthe“horse”intheEnglishculture,bothrepresentthefigureofhardworkingandindustry.InEnglish,theword“horse”isalsousedtorefertoaperson,suchasa“willinghorse”.Loudharshlaughiscalled“horselaugh”;roughandnoisyplayiscalled“horseplay”;andplaingoodsenseisreferedtoas“horsesence”.InChineselanguage,thereisnosuchallusion,buttheword“?！眎softenusedtorefertoaperson:ahardworkingpersoniscalled“老黃?！?LuXun’ssayingof俯首甘為孺子牛isknowntoalmosteverybodyinChina.ThisisbecausetheChineseusing“?！眎nfarmingforthousandsofyearswhilethehorsehasbeenusedtodomostfarminginEnglish.Sothesentence“Heisasstrongasahorse”isoftebtranslatedintoChineseas“他健壯如?！?Toreferto“timid”,Chinesepeoplewouldliketosay,“膽小如鼠”.ButEnglishpeoplewouldliketosay“rabbit,chicken,pigeon”suchas:“astimidasarabbit,chicken-heartedorpigeon-hearted”.Tomean“urgent”,Chinesepeoplewouldsay,“熱鍋上的螞蟻(likeahenonahotgirdle)”.ButEnglishpeoplewouldliketosay,“l(fā)ikeacatonhotbricks(熱磚上的貓)”.Ⅴ.TheReasonsforConnotationDifferencesinDifferentLanguagesA.RegionalinfluenceItiscasethatEnglishandChinesepeopleliveinadifferentnaturalenvironmentandtheirsocialdevelopmentsarealsodifferent.Britainisasea-girtcountry,andthereisavastseacoast,soitisveryrichinfishery.Becauseofthis,therearelotsofidiomsaboutfishery.Incontrast,theChineseliveinthenorthtemperatezoneofthefertileEast-Asiancontinent.theyareseentobefavoredbynature.Theyarelessthreatenedbynaturalenvironmentandarecontenttolivewithnatureharmoniously.Theirsemi-closesgeographicalconditionsandnaturalagriculturalB.ConventionalinfluenceDuetodifferentlivingconventions,differentnationshaveculturaldifferences.InChinese,theanimalwords“magpie”isconsideredasgoodluckbecause“magpie”inChineseispronounced“xique”,“xi”inChinesemeansgoodandhappy.However,insomeplacesinScotland,ifamagpiefliesnearawindow,itisasymbolofbadluck.InastateofEngland,ifsomeonehappenstomeetamagpiehehastospitthreetimestoavoidbadluck.C.TheinfluenceofreligionReligion,themaincomponentofhumanculture,itreflectsdifferentattitudestowardsadmirationandtabooofeachnation,ChinesecultureisdeeplyaffectedbyTaoism,BuddhismandConfucianism,amongwhichtheaffectofBuddhismisthemostinveterate,whileEnglishcultureisgreatlyinfluencedbyChristianity.ThereisnoquestionthatChineseexpressionsreflecttheinfluenceofBuddhism,idiomsfromBibleandChristianityarealsoabundant.D.TheinfluenceofhistoryDifferentcountriespossessdifferenthistoryculture.AsweallknowEnglandisgovernedbythePopeandtheKingforalongtime.SoinEnglish,therearesomanyidiomstoexpresstheiroutrage,disdainandaversenesssuchas“thekingandpope,thelionandwolf”(Chitra65).Chinaisanancientcountrywith5000yearsculturaltradition.InancientChina,theKingwasregardedasadragon,andthequeenwasconsideredasaphoenixⅥ.ConclusionAnimalwordsinbothlanguagesarenotjustsymbolsrepresentingtheimageofdifferentanimals.MostanimalwordsinEnglishandChinesehavemorethanonenationalculturalmeaningsintheirownculture.Meanwhile,thesamekindofnationalculturalmeaningscanbeexpressedbydifferentanimalwords.Inthecontrastivesanalysis,theconceptualmeaningofeachanimalwordisdiscribed.Thereasonsforgeneratingdifferentculturalmeaningsofeachanimalwordarediscussed.ThenationalculturalmeaningsofEnglishandChineseanimalwordsarecollected,grouped.FromthiskindofcontrastivesanalysiswecanseethatthesimilaritiesanddissimilaritiesofnationalculturalmeaningsbetweenEnglishandChineseanimalwords.Theinfluencesofdifferentmythologies,traditions,socialvalues,folkcustoms,literaryworks,geographicalconditions,etc,onnationalculturalmeaningsofEnglishandChineseanimalwordshavebeenfoundout.Asaresult,abetterunderstandingofthenationalculturalmeaningsofanimalwordsinEnglishandChinesecanbeachievedandmisunderstandindcanbeavoidedatthesametime.Inall,culturaldifferencesmakeanimalwordsbeartheiruniquecultureandthusgrantthemdifferentnationalculturalmeanings.WhathavebeendoneinthispapercanserveasanappropriateapproachtounderstandthenationalculturalmeaningsofanimalwordsinEnglishandChinesecorrectly.WorksCitedAmy,Broukal.ContextandcultureinLanguageteaching.OxfordClaude,Levi-strauss.Totemism,trans.RodneyNeedhamlondon:MerlinPress,1964.Edward,Sapir.Language:AnIntroductiontotheStudyofSpeech.London:OxfordUniversityEdmund,Leach.“AnthropologicalAspectsofLanguage:AnimalCategoriesandVerbalAbuse.”inNewDirectionsintheStudyofLanguage,ed.EricH.Lenneberg.Cambridge:M.I.T.Press,1964.Fernando,Chitra.IdiomsandIdiomaticity.ShanghaiForeignLanguageEducationPress,2000.Hall,EdwardT.Beyondculture.NewYork:Doubleday,1976.Nida,EugeneA.Language,Culture,andTranslating.Shanghai:ShanghaiForeignLanguageEducationPress,1993.RichardE.Porter,LarryA,Samover.CommunicationBetweenCultures,thirdedition.WadsworthPublishingCompany,adivisionofIIPInc,1998.Sinclair,John.CollinsCobuildEnglishDictionary.Shanghai:ShanghaiForeignLanguageEducationPress,1995.陳德彰.漢英動物詞語的文化內(nèi)涵[M].北京:外語教學(xué)與研究出版社，2000鄧炎昌,劉潤清.語言與文化[M].北京：外語教學(xué)與研究出版社，1984胡文仲.跨文化交際面面觀[C].北京:外語教學(xué)與研究出版社，2000胡文仲.英美文化詞典[M].北京：外語教學(xué)與研究出版社，1995李慶明.英漢語言文化比較[M].西安：西北工