中英植物习语中的文化差异分析
关键词: 植物；习语；文化差异 Abstract Language is an important carrier of culture, which plays an important role in the process of exchanging culture. Meanwhile, language is influenced by culture, which reflects the national characteristics, national habits and modes of thinking. Idioms are from life and are created by people in labor process and contain a large amount of cultural information. This paper intends to make a comparative study of English and Chinese plant idioms, in order to explore the cultural differences between Chinese and English plant idioms, so as to serve intercultural communication. Differences of plant idioms between English and Chinese are mainly manifested in the following aspects: religion, ecological environment, economy, and ideology. Through the study of plant idioms differences on the above several aspects, communication barriers of language can be better to be eliminated in intercultural communication.
Key words: plants; idioms; cultural differences
Contents
摘 要 i
Abstract ii
I. Introduction 1
II. Present Situation 2
III. Language, Culture and Idioms 3
3.1 Language and Culture 3
3.2 Idioms in Language 4
3.3 Plant Idioms and Culture 7
IV. The Cultural Differences Reflected in the Plant Idioms 7
4.1 Religious Beliefs 7
4.2 Ecology Environment 8
4.3 Economic Conditions 9
4.4 Ideological Values 9
V. Conclusion 12
Bibliography 14
Acknowledgements 15 An Analysis of Cultural Differences of the English and Chinese Plant Idioms
I. Introduction
Idioms are beautiful gems of language. Chinese and English languages own a wealth of idioms which are succinct and expressive. Plant idioms, as a branch of idioms, are widely used both in Chinese and English people’s daily life. Since the rise of comparative linguistics, many scholars have carried out comparisons between Chinese and English idioms on the cultural level.
There is a dialectical relationship between culture and language. Language is an extremely special component of culture. It reflects culture. Culture depends on language. Yet language cannot free itself from the constraints of culture. There is a similar opinion: “We have seen that culture influences language by way of symbols and rules as well as our perceptions of the universe. Equally important is that meaning shifts from culture to culture” (Samovar, L.A et al 1998: 123)
Idioms are usually concise. People of different languages make use of idioms in different ways, thus idioms often generate some difficulties and misunderstanding in intercultural communication. Some plant idioms are always culture-loaded. For example: the idiom roses all the way means pleasing or triumphant progress, it actually originates from a poem written by Robert Browning. Another example, the apple of one’s eye means precious person or item, it indeed comes from Bible. Similarly, it is no exaggeration to say that Chinese plant idioms are epitomes of Chinese splendid culture. For instances, the Chinese idiom “红叶题诗” means a good match met by chance. And it can be traced back to an allusion in Tang Dynasty. Without taking the cultural backgrounds into consideration, it is hardly possible to understand the basic meanings of those culture-loaded idioms in Chinese and English, let alone apprehend and grasp the cream of the two languages or embark on intercultural communication.
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