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LanguageandCulture

LanguageandCulture

Chapter1

Doeslanguageshapecultureordoescultureshapelanguage?

Inmyview,languageisamirror,infrontofwhichcultureisreflected.AsastudentmajoringinChineseasaforEignlanguage,I’dliketotakethisadvantagetodiscusstheculturaldifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglish.Inthefollowingpassage,Iamgoingtoelaborateontheculturaldifferencesreflectingincolors.

Therearemanycolorwordsinourlanguage,suchasred,white,black,yellow,purpleandsoforth,whichareusedfrequently.Inthefirstplace,I’dliketointroducethecommonusagesofthecolorwords.

+colorword

(1)”deep/dark+colorwords”:

indicatingthestrongcolor

deepblue;deepgreen;darkbrown;darkred.

(2)”light/pale+colorwords”:

indicatingthelightcolor

lightyellow;lightblue;palegrey;palewhite.

(3)“bright/rich/vivid+colorwords”:

indicatingthebrightcolor

bright/rich/vividred;bright/rich/vividyellow.

(4)“dull/dirty+colorwords”:

indicatingthedarkcolor

dullyellow;dullgold;dirtygrey;dirtywhite.

.“colorwords+-ish”

Thisgroupindicatesthedifferentshadesofthecolor.Anadjectivefollowedby-ishmeans“slightly…”

whitishsky,yellowishbookleaves;reddishface…

.“colorwords+colorwords”

Thispatternindicatesthemixtureofthecolor.Theformerstandsforthemaincolor,whilethelatterfunctionsasmodification.

redgreen;greenyellow;greyblue…

.“colorwords+and+colorwords”

Twocolorscoexistinginsomethingwithoutbeingmixedformadesignandcolor.

Thedogisblackandwhite.

Shehasayellowandblackcar.

Chapter

Englishaboundswithphrasescontainingcolorwords.Colorsmayconveydifferentmessagestopeopleofdifferentcultures.Duetotherespectiveculturalbackgroundandtradition,somephrasescontainingcolorwordshavefarsurpassedtheiroriginalmeanings,formingdifferentconnotations.

Whatdoesseeredmean?

Ifheisinabluemood,whatkindofmoodishein?

Ishehappy,sad,orwhat?

Obviously,redandbluedonotmeanjustthecolor.Eachhasadditionalmeanings-certainculturalassociations-thatarehiddenbehindtheword.Thefollowingpartwillbedevotedtothediscussionofculturaldifferencesofcertaincolorwords.

.1Red

InbothChineseandEnglish,redisusuallyassociatedwithhappyoccasions.Oncalendar,wecanfindthatholidayssuchasSpringFestivalareprintedinred,whichiscalled“red-letterdays”,whileordinarydaysareinblack.Besides,“topaintthetownred”istocelebratewildly,toenjoyoneselftoone’sheart’scontent.Anotherexampleisto“rollouttheredcarpetforsomeone”,meaningtogiveahospitableandformalreception.

Similarly,ChinesepeopletraditionallycutredcoupletsandappliquetocelebrateoccasionslikeweddingandNewYear.Besides,Wehaveaveryfamoustrademark“doubleredhappiness”(红双喜)whichissymbolicofgoodfortune.

Redisalsoassociatedwithcertainemotions.Letusseeafewexamples.

Heclenchedhisfistandwentveryred.

Herfaceturnedredwhenbombardedwithsuchanembarrassingquestion.

Icanseethatheisredwithanger.

Whenhecriticizedmywork,Ireallysawred.

Themerementionofhisenemy’snameislikewavingaredflagtohim.

Inthesentencesabove,wecanguessthemeaningofsome,forthereisanChineseequivalent,whiletheothersarenotsoeasytounderstandbyChinese.Forinstance,inEnglish,herfaceturnedredortobecomered-facedshowsone’sembarrassment,asitdoesinChinese脸红.Butwhatisthemeaningofseeredandwavingaredflag?

Bothsuggestanger.Theformermeanstobecomeveryangrywhilethelattermeanstocausequickangerinsomebodybydoingsomethingoffensive.

“Governmentpolicyininterestrates,andonfinancegenerally,hasbeenmarkedbyvacillation,wishfulthinking,electoralexpediencyofthemostshamefultypetowardstheendoflastyear,contortionsandcontradictions,alltoaccommodatetheredneckeconomicsoftheNationalCountryParty.(Harsard)”

Intheexampleabove,“redneck”isusedasanadjective,meaning“reactionary”.“redneckery”derivingfrom“redneck”refersto“reactionaryattitudes”.Forinstance,“...theredneckeryoftheQueenlandgovernment...(GarthNettheimABCBooksandWriting)”

Theliteralmeaningof“redneck”isred-neck.Howisitrelatedto“reactionary”?

“redneck”originallymeant(AmE)Southernfarmersof,usuallycarryingaderogatorymeaning.Now“reactionary”,theextendedmeaningof“redneck”,hassomethingtodowithitsspecialhistoricalandgeographicalbackground.

Anotherexample.

“Ironically,itwasRedNoseDay,thedaywhenmillionsofAustraliansdonnedrednosestosupportresearchintosuddeninfantdeathsyndrome.(NewIdea.)”

RedNoseDayreferstoadayonwhichanappealismadefordonationsforresearchintosuddeninfantdeathsyndrome,markedbythedistributionofplasticrednosestodonors.InChinese,however,thereisnosuchconnotation.

SomeWesternerstake“red”asanevilomenorredfordanger,stemmingfromthespiritsofbullfighters.Sotheredrag(orredflag)thatbullfightersusetoprovocatebullsisconsideredannoying.AccordingtotheRandomHouseDictionary,redfurtherdevelopstobethesynonymforpoliticalradical.

Furthermore,redhassomeextendedmeanings,suchascruelty,disaster,trivialformalities,etc.

redalert�alarminginemergency

aredbattle�acruelbattleinwhichalotofliveshavebeenlost

becaughtred-handed�becaughtonsite

haveredhands�commitamurder

redideas�revolutionaryconcepts

redruin�fire(asadisaster)

redtape�bureaucraticwritings

inthered�indebt

don’tcarearedcent�don’tcareatall

.White

TomostChineseandWesterners,whitehassomemeaningsincommon.Whitesuggestspurity,innocenceandhonesty.

Maryisawhitegirl.(pureandinnocent)

Tomisaverywhiteboy.Henevertellslies.(honest)

Butinthissense,whatdoesthetermawhiteliemean?

Canaliebepureandinnocent?

Actually,awhitelieisaharmlessone,intendednottohurtsomeone.Forexample,yourmotherboughtadressforyouthatshewasverysatisfiedwith,andwantedtoknowifyoulikedit.Maybeinyourmind,itwasoutofthefashionorthecolorwasnottoyourtaste.Butyousaid,“Oh,Ireallylikeit”inordernottoletherdown.Itwasalie,butagood-intentionedlie.

TheconnotationofwhiteinChinesealsoincludessomethingunhappy.Atfunerals,Chinesepayrespecttothedeadandexpresstheirsorrowbywearingwhiteandwritingelegiaccoupletsinwhitepaper.IntheWest,however,whiteisthetraditionalcolorforthebridesatweddings,andtowearwhiteatfuneralswouldbeoffensive.Socareshouldbetakenintranslatingthephrase红白喜事.Toavoidmisunderstanding,wecanputitsimplyasweddingsandfunerals.Talkingaboutredandwhite,thereisaninterestingcoincidenceinChineseandEnglish.InChinese,thosewhoarepopularandfindfavorwiththeirbossesarecalled红人(redguyliterally).ButIrishpeoplecallthemthewhite-headedboy.Inthissense,redequalswhiteinthetwocultures.

Wehaveafamousdramacalled《白毛女》.Ifwetranslateitliterallyas《AWhite-hairedGirl》,thoseWesternerswillbeconfusedanditwillbeveryhardtoseetheprofoundmeaningbehindit�InoldChina,folksingeneralweremadeghosts,whilethingshavechangedalotinnewChina.

Inaddition,hereisacollectionofexpressionscontainingthewordwhite.

thewhitearea�ananti-revolutionaryarea

awhiteday�aluckyday

whitelightdistrict�ever-brightarea

awhiteelephant�somethingburdensomeandvalueless;hugeburden

showthewhitefeather�showfear

awhiteslave�someonewhoisforcedtobeaslave

daysmarkedwithawhitestone�happydays

awhitewar�awarwithoutbloodshed;aneconomiccompetition

bleedwhite�extorteverycentfromsomeone

.Black

InbothChineseandEnglish,therearevarioustermsindicatingthatblackoftencarriesanegativemeaning:

blackmail(勒索),blacklistmeanstobeacuckold.Ifwetranslateitwordbyword,misunderstandingorconfusionwillarise.

Whenpairedwithdifferentwords,itsmeaningisdifferent.Thefollowingexampleswellillustrateitsvarioususages.

greenapple�unripeapple

greenback�USdollars

greenfromtheschool�freshfromtheschool

greenhouse�awarminghouse

givethegreenlighttosomebody�allowsomeonetodosomething

agreenoldage�bearone’sagewell

greenpower�mightypower

greenrevolution�agriculture-relatedreform

greenroom�thedrawingroomforactorsandactresses

gotothegreenwood�tobetheherointhewood

.Yellow

YellowappearsinsuchChineseexpressionsas黄色书刊,黄色电影,黄色音乐.Shouldtheybetranslatedasyellowbooks,yellowmovies,yellowmusic?

Ofcoursenot.Wecanreplace黄色withfilthy,obscene,orvulgar.InEnglish,wehavethephraseyellowjournalismwhichlaystoomuchemphasisonscandalsorexaggeratestheordinarynewstoasensationaldegree,sometimesevenwithdistortion.

Similarly,wehaveYellowPages(黄页)bothinChineseandEnglish.  Thisisabookwiththetelephonenumbersofdifferentshops,businesses,organizations,etc.,arrangedintheorderofdifferentcategories.YellowPagesisaveryusefulhandbookwhosepagesareyellow,butthecontentisnotyellowintheChinesesense.

Generallyspeaking,yellowistosomeextentderogatorythatcarriestheconnotationsofcowardice,jealousy,suspicionandcontemptibility.Hereistheproof.

yellowalert�alertinadvance

yellowboy�goldcoin

ayellowdog�acontemptibleperson

ayellowdogcontract�acontractsignedinthepr

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