不同的地理特征对汉英习语影响文档格式.docx

1、 Chinese; English 【摘 要】 地理环境与人类的生存密切相关,远古的人类就是在不断地征服自然,改造自然中,发展、壮大起来。可以说,古代人类最重要的活动就是征服自然,发展生产。当时的人类的文化受到地理环境的影响。中国位于欧亚大陆的东部,东边是难以逾越的太平洋,西南是有世界屋脊之称的喜马拉雅山,西北是一片大沙漠,可以说中国是相对地与外界隔离。并且中国有大片土地供耕耘,气候也适合农耕,因此中国的文化是农耕文化,其文化偏向土地。而英国,乃至整个西方,适合耕耘的土地少,而且面向地中海,大西洋,适合发展海洋文化。而西方文化的发源地古希腊,更可以被称为是典型的海洋文化,因此,英国的文化更偏向

2、海洋。习语是中西文化中的精华,本篇将列出中西习语中受地理影响的部分。旨在弄清地理环境与文化之间的关系。 【关键词】 地理;习语;汉语; 英语 1、Introduction The environment influences the culture. Human and the nature are related closely. For one thing, human depends on the nature, and is bound by the nature. For anther, human always try to master the nature and rebuil

3、d it. As we all know, the Chinese culture and the English culture have different nature environments. China has a large plain for tillage. But in the western countries, especially in the Greece, the mother of the western civilization, has small land for tillage, the land is for the stock breeding. W

4、hile the Greek have less land to develop the agriculture, they live near the sea, the Mediterranean, so they can sail in the sea for commerce. Because of the differences, the Chinese culture and the English culture are different. The Chinese culture is the agriculture civilization and the English cu

5、lture is from the Greek civilization, so the English culture is the sea civilization. 2、The similarities between English idioms and Chinese idioms about the geography The idioms are the fossils of the Chinese and English cultures. In the Chinese and English idioms, there are many idioms about the ge

6、ography. Some of the Chinese and English idioms have the similar meanings, but others are in different meanings. In the group of idioms, which have similar meaning, many of them use the same images, while others use the different images to explain the same thing. 2.1The similarities between English

7、idioms and Chinese idioms about the geography In many of the Chinese and English idioms, they have the same meanings. Coincidently, many of them use the same images. It shows that the Chinese people and English people experience the similar conceptions. Meanwhile, some of them have the same meanings

8、, but they use the different images to explain. From that, we could know that although the Chinese and English people have the same experience, they have the different cultures. So the idioms always use the different images. 2.1.1 The Chinese-English geography idioms that use the similar images In t

9、he ancient China and England, the people may have the same experience, and coincidently use the same image to describe the same thing. It is very coincidental. （1） Fish in trouble waters and “浑水摸鱼” Meaning: to profit in a confused environment e.g. Dont fish in trouble waters; that does you no good.

10、（2） Pour /throw cold water on and “泼冷水” Meaning: to discourage e.g. The board of director poured cold water on his new investment proposals in that region. （3） Make waves and “兴风作浪” Meaning: to make trouble e.g. They lift it was not the time to make waves by staging a sit-in. （4） Go wit 不同的地理特征对汉英习语

11、影响h the stream and “随波逐流” Meaning: do as others do e.g. He listened to the same music and dressed the same way as his friends. He went with the stream, for he lacked confidence in making his own decision. （5） Burn ones boat/ bridges and “破釜沉舟” Meaning: to do something that make it impossible to go b

12、ack e.g. Starting your own business has a lot of risk , so think twice before you burn your boat. The idioms in this group reflect that the English idioms and Chinese idioms are nearly coincidental. People in different cultures experience the similar conceptions. The examples （1） to （4） are using th

13、e same images. The example （5）,in Chinese we use “釜” and “舟” but, in English they just use “boat” or “bridge”. In both Chinese and English the boat, the cooking pot and the bridge are all very important to people lives. 2.1.2The Chinese-English geography idioms that use different images While the an

14、cient Chinese people and English people coincidently use the same image to explain the same thing. Most of the time, the Chinese and English people use the different images to explain the same thing. （1） Be in /get in hot water or In deep water and “泥菩萨过江” Meaning: to be in or get into trouble e.g.

15、She has got into hot water again for her inquisitive nature recently. （2） A drop in the bucket/ocean and “九牛一毛” Meaning: a negligible or tiny quantity; something that make little difference e.g. Ten cents means a lot of money to the beggar on the street, but is a drop in the ocean for most people. （

16、3） Paddle ones own canoe and “自力更生” Meaning: to depend on oneself e.g. Dont worry too much about your son ; he is big enough to paddle his own canoe. （4） A big fish （in a little pond） and “顶天立地” Meaning: an important person （in a small community） e.g. I told you when George came to our department tw

17、o years ago that hed soon job-hop. He is a big fish. The idioms in this group reflect that the English idioms and Chinese idioms have the same meaning, but use the different images. In the example （2） in English they use “ocean”, while in Chinese we use “牛”. The example （4）, in English they use “fis

18、h”, but in Chinese we use “地”. The example （5）, in English they use “fish”, but in Chinese we use “牛”. These show that the English culture belongs to the sea civilization, and the Chinese culture belongs to the agriculture civilization. Because fish is the normal thing in sea civilization, and the o

19、x is a very important animal for the agriculture. 3 The differences between English idioms and Chinese idioms about the geography The environment influenced the idioms very much. For example , in China ,there a large land for tillage ,so in Chinese idioms , there are many idioms about “tu” （土）、“di”（

20、地）、 and “niu”（牛）-these are all connected closely to the agriculture. But the western culture is different. In the western countries, especially in the Greek the mother of the western civilizations, there are many mountains and small land for tillage. They had to develop the business at sea. So in th

21、e English idioms, there are many idioms about the sea, the boat and the fish. There is a typical example, which could explain this. In China ,we say “hui jin ru tu” （挥金如土）, but in English ,they say “spend money like water”. These two are all describing that someone spend money very much, but in Chin

22、ese we use “tu”, while in English they use “water”. 3.1 The different images about the geographical words in Chinese and English idioms No matter whether the idioms have the same meaning, or have the different meanings, their images are all about the geographical words. In Chinese idioms, many of th

23、e images are connected to the land. In English, many of the images are connected to the sea. 3.1.1 The Chinese geography idioms The land is very important to the peoples live. Also the agriculture is the most important activity in the peoples common live. There are so many idioms use the geographica

24、l words to explain something. There are some example could show it. （1） Juan tu chong lai （卷土重来） Stage a comeback （2）Mian ru tu se （面如土色） Look ashen; look pale e.g. turn pale with fright （3） Yi bai tu di （一败涂地） Fail complet 不同的地理特征对汉英习语影响ely; suffer a crushing defeat; be routed. e.g. We just cant po

25、ssibly fail completely, after all the preparation weve made. （4） Hu tian qiang di （呼天抢地） Lament to heaven and knock ones head on earthutter cries of anguish. From this group of idioms, we could see that the land is very important to the Chinese. So in the Chinese idioms, there are many idioms about

26、the land. The Chinese culture belongs to the agriculture civilization. 3.1.2 The English geography idioms In England, the sea is connected to the peoples life closely. England is an island country. In England, the field is less, the land is for stock breeding. The English people always make their li

27、ving on the sea. So there are many idioms about the sea and the ship. （1） At sea On a ship, etc on the sea e.g. spend three months at sea Not know what to do; confused e.g. Im all at sea ; I have no idea how to repair cars. （2） Miss the boat Miss an opportunity; be too late to participate in somethi

28、ng e.g. She put her application in for her interview one day late. Unfortunately for her the university authorities could do nothing and she had missed the boat （3） At bottom In reality; really basically e.g. He seems aggressive but at bottom he is kind and good-natural （4） Another kettle of fish （a

29、 different kettle of fish ） A completely different person or thing from the one previously mentioned e.g. He is good at playing tennis in private, but playing in public is a different kettle of fish. This group of idioms reflect that the sea、the boat、the fish are very important to the peoples lives. The English culture belongs to the sea civil