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Abstract: Language is the carrier of culture and reflects culture. Insufficient awareness of cultural involvement in communication will result in misunderstandings. Animal vocabulary is rich in culture connotations; therefore, it is necessary to make an in-depth study of it. This paper attempts to compare and contrast animal vocabulary in English and Chinese from cultural perspective with the purpose of reducing misunderstandings in intercultural communication.
Key words: animal vocabulary, culture, associations, comparison
摘要:语言是文化的载体,反映着文化。交际过程中对文化知识的认识不足往往会导致误会的发生。动物词汇具有丰富的文化内涵,因此非常值得我们对其进行深入的研究。本文从中英文化角度对动物词汇进行比较以加深对动物词汇所承载的文化内涵的理解和消除在跨文化交际过程中因文化意识不足而产生的误解。
关键字:动物词汇, 文化, 联想意义, 对比
Introduction
“Cultural connotation refers to the general meaning including connotative meaning and cultural meaning carried in different cultural circumstance. It includes the meaning added and the amplified meaning under special social and cultural background, and also includes the emotions and attitudes of some particular cultural colony” (Zhang, 2005: 5). Animal vocabularies are an important component part of almost all the human languages. “As a group of culture-bound vocabularies, animal vocabularies reflect culture diversities in the aspects such as social psychology, customary habits, beliefs as well as value orientations” (Zheng, 2002: 6). Chinese and English language is both abundant in animal vocabularies because animals have a close relation with us.
Culture, language and vocabulary
Culture refers to different customs, arts, and social institutions of a particular group of people. The classic definition of culture was put forward by Edward Talor, “Culture is a complex whole including knowledge, faith, art, law, morality and custom” (Talor, qtd in Goodman, 1992: 29). Goodman and Marx (1982: 85) saw culture as the “earned, socially transmitted heritage of artifacts, knowledge, beliefs, values, and normative expectations that provides the members of a particular society with the tools for coping with recurrent problems.” In view of broad sense, as a social phenomenon, culture is the total of material and spiritual wealth which is created and accumulated by certain group of people. Furthermore, Culture is a kind of historical phenomenon, different nations are unique in their cultures even they share some common elements.
Language is a system of sounds, words, patterns, etc. used by humans to communicate thoughts and feelings. Further study indicates that “Language is the principle means whereby we conduct our social lives. When it is used in context of communication, it is bound up with culture in multiple and complex ways.” (Kramsch, 2000: 3) “Language not only transmits but also shapes our thinking, beliefs, and attitudes. In other words, language is a guide to culture” (Chen and Starosta, 2007: 71). Thus, “Language is both a means of communication and a carrier of culture” (Xu, 2004: 145).
“Vocabulary is not merely an inventory of arbitrary labels referring to objects, entities, or events. Vocabulary also conveys cultural meaning that adds to, transform, or manipulate basic senses of vocabulary. Therefore, it is of great importance to make sense of words with the premise of cultural knowledge” (ibid: 2).
From the above, conclusion can be safely drawn. First, language and culture are interrelated. On the one hand, language is a mirror of culture. On the other hand, culture determines some associations of language. Second, as vocabulary is total number of words that make up language, associations of vocabulary has a close link to social culture.
2.The relations of associated meanings between Chinese and English animal vocabulary
2.1 Similar denotations with similar associations
Animals are good friends of humans. Along with the development of human civilization, a lot of animals are tamed to serve people, and many of them become pets. As a result, animal words are used widely in people’s life. People associate their feelings, attitudes and so on with different kinds of animals. Since people of different races live in the same world, it is possible for them to have some vocabulary connotations in common. For example: both “bee” and “蜜蜂” is regarded as a symbol of diligent, both “parrot”and “鹦鹉” give the impression of verbosity and mockery, both “swan”and “天鹅”gets the implication of grace.
2.1.1 Dog and 狗(gou)
Dog is an animal with four legs and a tail, often kept as a pet or trained for hunting or guarding buildings. Due to the different culture, the connotation of “dog” is extremely opposite in Chinese and Western culture.
In most cases,“dog” is neutral in its connotation in English language. It is often closely related to the description of common people's life. It is all right to refer to certain people as “a lucky dog” or “a big dog”. And there are a lot of idioms about dog, such as “Love me, love my dog”, “A good dog deserves a good bone”.
(1)“Every dog has its day” means everyone has good luck or success at some point in their life.
(2)“Not have a dog’s chance” means “to have no chance at all”.
(3)“Dog-eared” used to describe the pages whose corners are turned down.
However, Chinese hate to be compared to dogs. Even though most Chinese now think dog is man's faithful friend, the word “狗” in most Chinese phrases is associated with some derogatory connotations. Examples are: “走狗”,“狗咬吕洞宾”,“狐朋狗友”,“鸡鸣狗盗”.
(1)“狗拿耗子-多管闲事”. It is used to describe the people who always poke their nose into other people's business.
(2)“狗仗人势” means “be a bully with the support of a powerful person”.
(3)“狗嘴里吐不出象牙” means “a filthy mouth can not utter decent language”.
2.2 Different denotations with different associations
Some animal words have different connotations and associations owning to different cultural environments. Take Dragon and龙(long) for example.
“Dragon” in English and “龙”in Chinese are both imaginary animals but have very different connotations and associations. In the western mythology, dragon is a special kind of huge lizard, with numerous scales on its body, and flame can be emitted from its mouth. According to the Oxford Advanced Learner's English-Chinese Dictionary, “Dragon is an imaginary animal with wings and claws, and able to breathe out fire.” From these descriptions, it can be easily found that west people do not like dragon at all. In Middle Ages dragon is the symbol of crime and evil, which stems from the Bible in which, Satan, was called “the great dragon”. In western countries, “dragon” is widely used to describe fierce persons, especially women. The dragonish woman also called “dragon.” For examples:
(1)“She is really a dragon; you had better keep away from her”(Wei, 2005). This sentence means that she is fierce and unpleasant.
(2)“To sow dragon teeth” means do something that will lead to serious result.
(3)“The old dragon” refers to devilish people.
However, in China, “龙” is regarded as a kind of spirited and scared animal that can bring out the cloud and rain. In feudal society, dragon stands for monarch. Chinese feudal emperors were often referred to as“真龙天子”, wearing “龙袍”, and lives in palace decorated with the “dragon”.Nowadays, “龙” still has a high position in Chinese mind. They consider themselves as “龙的传人” and made “龙” to be nation totem. As a result, a lot of things are named with the “龙”, such as “龙山”, “龙舟”, “龙船”. There are a lot of idioms and phrases about “龙” in China, and all of them are commendatory.
(1)“龙王” is the name of a god who rules the rivers and seas and is in charge of rain in Chinese mythology.
(2)“龙跃云津” used to describe rapid advancement in one's career.
(3)“龙头老大” is the tile of chief or chieftain, boss, or leader.
Conclusion
With the globalization, the communication among nations is increasing. As a carrier of culture, different national languages, in particular vocabulary (including animal vocabularies), are endowed with different cultural associations. Put it simply, language (including animal vocabularies) are given special cultural connotations for the different social backgrounds and national conventions. More often than not cross-culture communication encounters difficulties due to the different associated meanings of vocabulary. So cultural awareness in language learning, especially animal vocabulary learning is extremely needed.
Key words: animal vocabulary, culture, associations, comparison
摘要:语言是文化的载体,反映着文化。交际过程中对文化知识的认识不足往往会导致误会的发生。动物词汇具有丰富的文化内涵,因此非常值得我们对其进行深入的研究。本文从中英文化角度对动物词汇进行比较以加深对动物词汇所承载的文化内涵的理解和消除在跨文化交际过程中因文化意识不足而产生的误解。
关键字:动物词汇, 文化, 联想意义, 对比
Introduction
“Cultural connotation refers to the general meaning including connotative meaning and cultural meaning carried in different cultural circumstance. It includes the meaning added and the amplified meaning under special social and cultural background, and also includes the emotions and attitudes of some particular cultural colony” (Zhang, 2005: 5). Animal vocabularies are an important component part of almost all the human languages. “As a group of culture-bound vocabularies, animal vocabularies reflect culture diversities in the aspects such as social psychology, customary habits, beliefs as well as value orientations” (Zheng, 2002: 6). Chinese and English language is both abundant in animal vocabularies because animals have a close relation with us.
Culture, language and vocabulary
Culture refers to different customs, arts, and social institutions of a particular group of people. The classic definition of culture was put forward by Edward Talor, “Culture is a complex whole including knowledge, faith, art, law, morality and custom” (Talor, qtd in Goodman, 1992: 29). Goodman and Marx (1982: 85) saw culture as the “earned, socially transmitted heritage of artifacts, knowledge, beliefs, values, and normative expectations that provides the members of a particular society with the tools for coping with recurrent problems.” In view of broad sense, as a social phenomenon, culture is the total of material and spiritual wealth which is created and accumulated by certain group of people. Furthermore, Culture is a kind of historical phenomenon, different nations are unique in their cultures even they share some common elements.
Language is a system of sounds, words, patterns, etc. used by humans to communicate thoughts and feelings. Further study indicates that “Language is the principle means whereby we conduct our social lives. When it is used in context of communication, it is bound up with culture in multiple and complex ways.” (Kramsch, 2000: 3) “Language not only transmits but also shapes our thinking, beliefs, and attitudes. In other words, language is a guide to culture” (Chen and Starosta, 2007: 71). Thus, “Language is both a means of communication and a carrier of culture” (Xu, 2004: 145).
“Vocabulary is not merely an inventory of arbitrary labels referring to objects, entities, or events. Vocabulary also conveys cultural meaning that adds to, transform, or manipulate basic senses of vocabulary. Therefore, it is of great importance to make sense of words with the premise of cultural knowledge” (ibid: 2).
From the above, conclusion can be safely drawn. First, language and culture are interrelated. On the one hand, language is a mirror of culture. On the other hand, culture determines some associations of language. Second, as vocabulary is total number of words that make up language, associations of vocabulary has a close link to social culture.
2.The relations of associated meanings between Chinese and English animal vocabulary
2.1 Similar denotations with similar associations
Animals are good friends of humans. Along with the development of human civilization, a lot of animals are tamed to serve people, and many of them become pets. As a result, animal words are used widely in people’s life. People associate their feelings, attitudes and so on with different kinds of animals. Since people of different races live in the same world, it is possible for them to have some vocabulary connotations in common. For example: both “bee” and “蜜蜂” is regarded as a symbol of diligent, both “parrot”and “鹦鹉” give the impression of verbosity and mockery, both “swan”and “天鹅”gets the implication of grace.
2.1.1 Dog and 狗(gou)
Dog is an animal with four legs and a tail, often kept as a pet or trained for hunting or guarding buildings. Due to the different culture, the connotation of “dog” is extremely opposite in Chinese and Western culture.
In most cases,“dog” is neutral in its connotation in English language. It is often closely related to the description of common people's life. It is all right to refer to certain people as “a lucky dog” or “a big dog”. And there are a lot of idioms about dog, such as “Love me, love my dog”, “A good dog deserves a good bone”.
(1)“Every dog has its day” means everyone has good luck or success at some point in their life.
(2)“Not have a dog’s chance” means “to have no chance at all”.
(3)“Dog-eared” used to describe the pages whose corners are turned down.
However, Chinese hate to be compared to dogs. Even though most Chinese now think dog is man's faithful friend, the word “狗” in most Chinese phrases is associated with some derogatory connotations. Examples are: “走狗”,“狗咬吕洞宾”,“狐朋狗友”,“鸡鸣狗盗”.
(1)“狗拿耗子-多管闲事”. It is used to describe the people who always poke their nose into other people's business.
(2)“狗仗人势” means “be a bully with the support of a powerful person”.
(3)“狗嘴里吐不出象牙” means “a filthy mouth can not utter decent language”.
2.2 Different denotations with different associations
Some animal words have different connotations and associations owning to different cultural environments. Take Dragon and龙(long) for example.
“Dragon” in English and “龙”in Chinese are both imaginary animals but have very different connotations and associations. In the western mythology, dragon is a special kind of huge lizard, with numerous scales on its body, and flame can be emitted from its mouth. According to the Oxford Advanced Learner's English-Chinese Dictionary, “Dragon is an imaginary animal with wings and claws, and able to breathe out fire.” From these descriptions, it can be easily found that west people do not like dragon at all. In Middle Ages dragon is the symbol of crime and evil, which stems from the Bible in which, Satan, was called “the great dragon”. In western countries, “dragon” is widely used to describe fierce persons, especially women. The dragonish woman also called “dragon.” For examples:
(1)“She is really a dragon; you had better keep away from her”(Wei, 2005). This sentence means that she is fierce and unpleasant.
(2)“To sow dragon teeth” means do something that will lead to serious result.
(3)“The old dragon” refers to devilish people.
However, in China, “龙” is regarded as a kind of spirited and scared animal that can bring out the cloud and rain. In feudal society, dragon stands for monarch. Chinese feudal emperors were often referred to as“真龙天子”, wearing “龙袍”, and lives in palace decorated with the “dragon”.Nowadays, “龙” still has a high position in Chinese mind. They consider themselves as “龙的传人” and made “龙” to be nation totem. As a result, a lot of things are named with the “龙”, such as “龙山”, “龙舟”, “龙船”. There are a lot of idioms and phrases about “龙” in China, and all of them are commendatory.
(1)“龙王” is the name of a god who rules the rivers and seas and is in charge of rain in Chinese mythology.
(2)“龙跃云津” used to describe rapid advancement in one's career.
(3)“龙头老大” is the tile of chief or chieftain, boss, or leader.
Conclusion
With the globalization, the communication among nations is increasing. As a carrier of culture, different national languages, in particular vocabulary (including animal vocabularies), are endowed with different cultural associations. Put it simply, language (including animal vocabularies) are given special cultural connotations for the different social backgrounds and national conventions. More often than not cross-culture communication encounters difficulties due to the different associated meanings of vocabulary. So cultural awareness in language learning, especially animal vocabulary learning is extremely needed.