文化影响了动物词的意义演变,而动物词的文化意义又折射出了丰富的文化内容。许多动物词的意义不同是因为英汉的文化内容、传统和心理的不同,而且这种不同很容易引起理解和表达上的错误。文章阐述动物词的文化蕴涵及其的翻译。通过比较分析,表明在这两种文化中,(1)有些动物代表类似的形象,如狐狸;(2)有的代表完全不同的形象,如狗和龙;有些不同很微妙,如猪;(3)有的性格在两种语言中由不同的动物代表,如英语中的马常常扮演汉语中牛的角色,而英语中的狮子往往相当于汉语中虎的形象。这些发现不仅有趣而且对跨文化交际和翻译实践有指导意义。 Culture influenced the evolution of the meaning of animal words, while the cultural meanings of animal words reflected rich cultural contents. The meaning of many animal words is different because of the differences in cultural content, tradition and psychology between English and Chinese, and such differences can easily lead to misunderstandings and expressions. The article elaborates the cultural implication of animal words and their translation. Through comparative analysis, it is shown that in both cultures, (1) some animals represent similar images such as foxes; (2) others represent entirely different images such as dogs and dragons; some are subtle, such as pigs; 3) Some characters are represented by different animals in both languages. For example, horses in English often play the role of Chinese cattle, while English lions tend to be equivalent to Chinese tigers. These findings are not only interesting but also instructive in intercultural communication and translation practice.