The animal image analysis in Chinese and English idioms 英语论文.doc

The animal image analysis in Chinese and English idiomsAbstract:Idioms have strong national colors and distinctive cultural connotation.An idiom is a phrase which is an established and fixed part of a particular language.Idioms are the essence of language,they bear the cultural characteristics and cultural information of a nation.English and Chinese idioms,as two languages'gems,showed significant comparision, analysis and explored the difference between English idioms and Chinese idioms.Culture differences have great influence on idiom formation.The animal image analysis is a necessary part for Chinese and English culture comparative study. Key words:culture differences; English and Chinese idioms; animal image ; background analysis1. The common introduction on Chinese and English idioms Introduction The western culture started late compared with the Orient. Although between their internal, such as, Southern and Northern Europe, Western Europe and Eastern Europe, there are also differences. However the differences between Eastern and Western cultures embody the essence of the difference. Animals in human life play a variety of roles and also play a very important role which giving more warning and comfort in spiritual life of humans. Animals have different symbolic meaning in different culture background. Symbolic meaning is a direct product of human society. As Carl Jung said “Symbolism refers to the number of terms names and symbols. Not only contains textual meaning, cultural connotations, and even some we do not know the meaning of the origin. .” This thesis focused on analysis the different meaning of fiction and reality animals in China and Western world. . animal; symbolic significance; Chinese culture; Western culture; culture differenceLanguage, which is often referred to as the carrier and container of culture, to a large extent, reflects the social life of different people. People use language to store and transmit their experience. In the broad sense, language is the symbolic representation of a people, and it comprises their historical and religious backgrounds as well as their ways of living and thinking. Nevertheless, due to different geographical surroundings, dissimilar ways of logical thinking, different aesthetic standards and different social systems, it is a widespread phenomenon that the same word can evoke different emotions among different people. Chinese and English can not be exceptional, too. Because of that, due attention should be given to the analysis and comparison of the cultural connotation of the words. It is especially shown in the expression of animal terms in English and Chinese. Animals, having a closing connection with people since the existence of human being, inflict a profound influence on humans life. Thus animals are often used to convey peoples emotion and gradually acquire unique connotations beyond their literal meanings. But when it comes to make a contrastive study of animal terms, it may be somewhat an ambiguous conclusion to simply point their differences out1. Actually, semantic association and pragmatic analysis of animal terms in English and Chinese is a far more intricate stuff. And this paper will make an intensive research on this problem in a hope of better understanding the connotations of animal terms. Just as the title of the paper illustrates, this article mainly focuses on contrastive study, that is to say, there will be a lot of comparisons throughout the article. Through comparison, we can have a deeper insight of similarities and differences of animal terms in English and Chinese. Moreover, these comparisons can also give us a miniature of the impact on words exerted by culture, which can surely promote the communication between people from different cultures.2.The animal image analysis in idioms Animals are closely related with human beings during the long river of history, thus exercising considerable influence on the development of human society. The thousands years of harmonious coexistence prompt us to associate such feelings as happenings or unhappiness towards various animals. Our ancestors were smart enough to bring animals into linguistic uses.2 When certain animals find their places in idioms, they definitely carry cultural connotations with them. Various cultural backgrounds lead to the disparity of the conceptual meaning of idioms. Confusions can only be dispelled by mutual understanding of both cultures. When we translated such idioms, the focus of attention should be paid not only to the denotations of words, but also the connotations behind the idioms.2.1 A Comparison of Connotative Meanings of Animal Idioms in English and Chinese A. The same animal, the same connotationWe human beings share the same instinct to struggle for survival. Based on the experiences acquired in daily life and work, we thus developed common understandings towards certain animals. When these animals are applied in languages, their meanings are metaphorically more or less in the same way in different cultures. Their peculiarities are always associated with human characters.“Fox”, for example, shares the almost same connotative meanings in both English and Chinese sly. In Chinese, when we say “他是只老狐狸。”, we mean “He is very sly.” Besides, Chinese people tend to tag a pretty, seductive woman as “狐狸精” and call a group of rogues “狐朋狗友”. In English, we have similar phrases like“as cunning as a fox(像狐狸一样狡猾)” and “play the fox(耍滑头)” in which fox is embodied with an cunning image. We can also find examples in Oxford English Dictionary “I could not help reflecting on the strange stDonkeys are always associated with stupidity, so we have “as stupid as a donkey” in English and “他笨得像头驴” in Chinese. Parrot is a kind of bird with a hooked beak and colorful feathers which, after being trained, can imitate peoples speech though not understanding the real meaning. In this way, the word “parrot” in English is given a new meaning as “to repeat others words without thinking about what they mean.” In Chinese, similar phrases like “鹦鹉学舌” can be found. “Bee” in the two languages means “hard-working”, “wolf” is likened to cruelty and “pig” is a symbol of laziness.ratagem by which the old fox had saved himself.” B. . The same animal words, different cultural connotations Diversification of cultures derives from different processes in which human beings adapt to the environment and try to change the world. Different cultural backgrounds will exert different meanings on the same animal. An animal image, when put into language, is most likely to have its conceptual meaning behind its denotation. In the western world, as intelligence and wisdom has been embedded in the connotations of owls, they always appear in cartoons and tales with the image of teachers, sophists or judges. 3So there comes the expression, “as wise as an owl”. However, in the eyes of Chinese, owl is an ominous symbol, which would possibly bring in unluckiness and unfortunate. “猫头鹰进宅，好事不来” is a portraiture of this kind of superstition. In English culture, “As wise as an owl” indicates that the native English people associate wisdom with this bird. Another example, “He peers owlishly at us through his glasses(他透过眼镜严肃而机智地打量着我们). In Chinese, the bat is a symbol of “good fortune”, “health” and “happiness”, for bat(蝠) and “福(happiness)”are homophones. The composition of bat and deer (蝠鹿) shares the same pronunciation with “good fortune and apromotion in official position(福禄)”. In English culture, bat, however, is an ugly and brutal animal, which is associated with dark and evil things. From the idiom “as blind as a bat” (有眼无珠), and “crazy as a bat”(精神失常), we can see bat always have negative associations in western culture.10C. Different animals with the same associations The associative meanings of the word vary from culture to culture, but sometimes we may find that people from different cultures use different animal terms to express the same associative meaning. For example, in our Chinese culture, when describing someone who is of great strength, we say that he is “ (as strong as an ox)”. However, in English culture, the horse is regard as the strongest. So they will say someone “as strong as a horse”. Maybe the most interesting thing is that we use ” to imply someone who is likely to exaggerate the fact while Englishman use the phrase “talk horse” to express the same meaning. And moreover, the English phrase “to spur a willing horse” can also find its counterpart in our Chinese idiom .4 D. No correspondence of cultural connotations All the Chinese people know the “crane” in Chinese stands for longevity as crane is believed to be immortal.So Chinese parents name their child as “鹤年”or “鹤龄” to show their hope that the child will live to a ripe old age. But to western minds, crane is only thought to be a bird with a long neck. No connotations can be found in this animal.“鸳鸯(mandarin duck)” is another typical example. It is a romantic symbol of a loved couple in Chinese. “只羡鸳鸯不羡仙”, which means a happily-ever-after couple is what lovers hope to be, must have confused the westerners in that they don't have metaphor meaning about mandarin duck. In English, “oyster” is a symbol of quietness, but it is hardly served or ever seen in China. So when Chinese come to the phrase of “as dumb as an oyster”, no connotation can be aroused. The same goes with “oyster pink”and “oyster white”. Take the dragon as an example, which is an obvious case. To westerners, the dragon is often regarded as a symbol of evil. As in The Bible, Satan, the devil, is called “the great dragon”: And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down - that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. Bible: Revelation 12:7-9 The Woman and the Dragon Therefore, in their eyes, the dragon is a fierce monster that must be destroyed. Apart from the aforementioned paragraph cited from The Bible, there are many stories of saints or heroes dealing with the struggles against such monster, which in most cases are slain in the end. Besides that, English people sometimes refer to a fierce and unpleasant woman as a dragon. Foe example, she is a real dragon; youd better keep away from her. The situation is quite different in Chinese, where the dragon is attached to a lot of commendatory cultural meanings. In our Chinese culture, the dragon is the symbol of authority, prestige, and divine power. And it also has traditional connotations such as wealth, grace and prosperity.5 So it is comprehensible why we Chinese call our nation as “东方巨龙”, and address ourselves as “龙的传人” (means offspring of the dragon). Furthermore, we have long used the dragon to indicate the feudal emperor and such terms include “龙颜” (the appearance of the emperor), “龙体” (the body of the emperor) and “龙袍” (the rob for the emperor). Besides that, the dragon can also denote the elites among people and these terms include “卧虎藏龙”，“ 龙驹凤雏”and“望子成龙”.Like the dragon, the magpie, which is considered as “gossip person” in Western culture, is viewed by Chinese people as a bird of propitious sign.11 2. The causes for the differencesA. Different geographic environmentsEngland is an island country and it used to be the dominant power in fishery, ship manufacturing industry and marine transportation. Fish has become an indispensable part in British peoples life, which makes idioms of the English language full of marine characteristics.5 In English, there are many idioms related with the fish, such as:"Drink like a fish" (牛饮), "a big fish"（大人物，大亨）, "a dull fish"（迟钝汉）, "a cool fish"（无耻之徒）, "a cold fish"（冷漠的人）, "a loose fish"（放荡鬼）and so on.China, on the contrary, is a country based on agriculture, in which ox played an extremely essential role in ancient autarky life. No wonder “ox” has become a symbol of power and hardworking in Chinese culture. For example,"他壮得像头牛" (He is as strong as an ox), in English, this should be translated as "He is as strong as a horse". This is because horse, instead of ox, is the most important kind of livestock in western culture. Thats why there are idioms like “work like a horse(辛苦地工作) ” and “eat like a horse(狼吞虎咽)”12. B. Customs Living habitsDogs have long enjoyed the fame of “mens best friend” in the western world. Thus, lots of words and idioms in connection with “dog” are created. For example, “lucky dog”、“jolly dog”. Dog stands for more than“faithfulness” and a good company for hunting and house-guarding in English. As family members, dogs are favored in most idioms. For example, “Love me, love my dog.” (爱屋及屋), “Every dog has his day.”每人都有得意之时), “To let sleep dog lie” means “to make no trouble” or “not to disturb people.”In Chinese, the lovely cute pet has such a bad imagedirty and filthy. Dog, in ancient China, is solely a house-guard, which means the relationship between people and the dog is only master and servant. Low in position, dog in Chinese idioms always carries derogatory meanings. For example, there are “狗腿子(literally means the leg of a dog) in Chinese which means an henchman or a lackey, “狗嘴里吐不出象牙来”(A filthy mouth cant utter decent language.) and “狗头军师”(villainous advisor).13 Religious beliefReligion has exerted a big influence on culture and filtrated into the language we use. It reflects different attitudes towards admiration and taboo of each nation. Since English and Chinese nationalities have different religious beliefs, they also have differences in terms of the word connotations.6China is a country with varieties of religious belief, in which Buddhism is the most widely spread one.Buddhism holds the view that Buddha is the dominant power of the whole world and killing any living creature is an irremissibly sin.7 Peaceful co-existence with animals is advocated, so few idioms with animal word can be found in Chinese. English, on the contrary, is greatly influenced by Christianity. Bible is where most religious idioms come from in English. “Cast pearls before swine” stems from the Sermon on the Mount. “A little bird told me” is from Ecclesiastes in the Bible.8 “The leopard can never change its spots” is used to say that people cannot change their characters and personalities. As a matter of fact，it comes from The Old Testament. We also have “As poor as the church mouse” in English, which is similar with the Chinese saying “一贫如洗”, because there is no food for the mouse to eat in the church, and church mice are always hungry. Fables and mythologiesFables and mythologies are also important sources of idioms. Ancient people were not able to explain natural phenomenon in a scient