英漢語中白與黑的文化涵義比較【關(guān)鍵詞】白色；黑色；英漢語；對比研究；文化內(nèi)涵I.IntroductionPeople live in a colorful world and color plays a vitally important role in our lives. As a powerful form of communication, color is irreplaceable. There are various words in the world to describe colors, which take up a great part in language. As is known to all, sometimes, Even if one knows the meanings of all the words in a phrase or sentence and understands the grammar of the sentence completely, the meaning of the phrase or sentence may still be confusing, and so it is the case of color words.Language and culture have a close relationship. Language is not only one part of culture, but also a mirror of it. Language is an important tool for human beings to communicate with each other. Language is the symbolic representation of a people, and it comprises their historic and cultural backgrounds as well as their approaches to life and their ways of thinking. Languages of different nations are subject to the social culture, and in turn, reflect special cultural contents of the nations respectively. Therefore, communication can be carried on successfully only in the situation that language knowledge and cultural knowledge are put together.There exist a great number of color terms in both Chinese and English. In some sense, they express the same meaning in Chinese and English, however, there are also a lot of differences. The main reason is that different people have given the different cultural connotations to the color words, which accumulate all the work and experience of life of the forefathers of a nation and reflect this nations customs, culture psychology and the mode of thinking. Thus, to have a good master of the differences and similarities of the meanings of color words and their cultural connotations is a prerequisite for a better understanding of Chinese and English cultures, which will promote the cultural communication.So this thesis, which will research the cultural connotations of basic color words in English and Chinese, has certain realistic significance. Through taking a large amount of color phrases about“white” and“black” in English-Chinese expressions, this thesis aims to analyze and research the cultural connotations of the vocabulary with the methods of comparative study in cross-cultural communication.II.The Similarities and Differences on the Cultural Connotations of WhiteThe color word“White” contains a lot of similarities and differences in English and Chinese. The following part mainly focuses on its similarities.A. The Similarities in English and ChineseWhite is the color of snow, there are many phrases like“as white as snow” in both English and Chinese. And it is the basic meaning of white. White has similar associations in both the west and the east. Moreover, White shows two extremes which are good and bad. So the thesis aims at introducing it from two aspects:1.Commendatory Meanings of WhiteIn English and Chinese, White contains much positive significance. It symbolizes“brightness” and“purity”. In fact,“brightness” is a comprehensive word, which merges into the meaning of“happiness and good luck”,“success”,“innocence” and“kindness”.In the western culture, white is the most sacred color. It is the symbol of God and angel. White stands for lucky and happiness, such as one of the white days in somebodys life. Whats more, it also has the meaning of purity. When people celebrate their marriage, they like using white to decorate everything and the wedding is called“white wedding”. The groom always dresses in white, because white means the newly married couples loyalty to their marriage and their purity of love.White can stand for kindness, such as a“white lie”. It is a lie that does not do harm and is merely more convenient or polite than telling the truth. Of course, white also represents success.“A white hope refers to a person who is likely to be the winner or bring success.”1 And“The white moment of life” indicates a successful period.In Chinese, white is the color of snow, jade and silver, so it stands for the unsullied moral conduct, and it can symbolize gentleman. Besides, white is one of the pure colors, so it has a high status. The carved balustrade in the palace, the memorial column and the memorial archway in nobles are all white.”2 Therefore, white is also connected with the connotation of purity in Chinese, such as“Jie Bai Wu Xia”. Nurses are called“Bai Yi Tian Shi” or“Bai Yi Zhan Shi”, because they wear white uniform, and take good care of the sick people, who looks like the holy and pure angels bringing life and brightness to patients. White also has the meaning of innocence in Chinese, such as“Bai” in“Qing Bai Wu Gu”, and“Bu Bai Zhi Yuan” which contains the same meaning.In addition, white is the symbol of brightness, so people think that some white-feathered animals, such as“Bai Lu”,“Bai He”,“Bai Lang”,“Bai Yan”,“Bai Tian E”, can bring good luck to somebody, especially in ancient China.The meanings of white mentioned above are all its commendatory aspects in English and Chinese.2.Derogatory Meanings of WhiteHowever, white also has some derogatory sense both in English and Chinese. It can symbolize“death” and“ill omen”.In western countries, white is associated with“death”. We can see that white is the color of vampire and all ghosts in the western films. For example,"white lady" is a female imp with a key in her waist in Teutonic tale. She absorbs ghosts of kids and young girls, and is always dressed in white. Thus she signifies the death. Furthermore, Christians believe that evil spirits, ghosts of the dead are dressed in white.In Chinese, white, opposite to red, is a basic taboo color. It is the expression of exhausted and non-blooded, non-life, and stands for death and ill omen. For example, when one died, his family members must wear white hats, or white flowers made by white cloth, white mourning apparel and white shoes, and a white rope tied in the waist. The ornaments in the funeral are almost white, even the white mourning money. So white is the color of mourning dress in China, and in ancient time, the children were not allowed to dress in white if their parents were still alive.“Bai” is also connected with the things of ill omen such as misfortune or death. In the ancient mythology,“Hei Bai Wu Chang” is two ghosts, who always take the souls of dead bodies to the nether world. White also symbolizes illness, such as“Lian Se Cang Bai”.In addition, white and“Bai” also indicate"failure". It often happens in a war or some games. The yielding part will hang a“white flag” or“Bai Qi” as a sign of accepting the failure or giving up something.B. The Differences in English and ChineseAlthough white shares some similarities in English and Chinese. It inevitably has a great deal of differences because of different cultural backgrounds. Lets see it respectively.1. The Specific Meanings of White in EnglishWhite in the western culture is usually a kind of honorable color:Under the western cultural background, white is considered the color of festival, connected with good luck. Ancient Greek and Roman offered the white oblation to gods. According to the Bible, in Israel, the sacrifices to gods are also white. The reason is that white is the holiest color in Christianism, which is manifested in the belief that Jesus and his angels wear white dress.3In the west,“White” tends to indicate“power”White House, which is the official residence of the United States, and White Hall, the seat of British Government. These two stand for the American and British Government representatively. In English, white is considered to be an excellent color. As there are many races with different colors in the west, the white always regard themselves as the first-rate peoples in the world.White can also be used for symbolizing falseness and uselessness. White sepulcher means“the hypocrite”(the source produces Christianity“the Holy Bible”). White elephant means the trash which cost much money and has no use. White elephant can also refer to a car, a ship, or a house, which needs to make the investment constantly, but can not regain enough profits.Whats more,“The white feather”, deriving from cock-fighting, where a game cock displaying the white rim of feather under his hackle acknowledges defeat, waiting to give up, is an implication of fear, cowardice or timidity. However,“Bleed white” and“to leech somebody white” mean that people are oppressed to work heavily until they can not work any more, which are the metaphors of the capitalist sucking the last drop of blood from the poor.In other cases, for example,” A white hat” could not be translated to be“Bai Mao Zi”. It refers to the kind. This is because in American movies, the kind guys in the west always wear a white hat, and the evil tends to wear a black hat.“A white war” often refers to the economic war, because there has no blood in such wars. And“the white book” is not a book that is blank, but the official documents in the USA and in Portugal.“White English” is the flag of the loyal navy in England.“A white night” refers to a sleepless night, especially a night spent for celebration and all that.“A white noise” points to the sound that is used to cover up the noise.4“White horse” does not direct a horse in white color; instead, it refers to the wave in the sea. And“white way” indicates a busy street.“To make ones name white again” means“to prove ones innocence”.All of the phrases above have nothing to do with the color“bai” in Chinese. So it is of great importance for both Chinese people and the westerners to recognize these different connotations when they communicate with each other.2. The Specific Meanings of White in ChineseOwing to some historical and political reasons,“bai” has some specific meanings which“white” does not have.White can have some political meanings. In Chinese feudal society, white symbolizes having no status and poorness. The common people were forbidden to dress in any other colors except white, so they were called“Bai Yi” or“Bu Yi”,and their houses are“Bai Wu”. There is a famous verse saying“Tan Xiao You Hong Ru，Wang Lai Wu Bai Ding”. Here the color term“Bai” refers to“illiteracy or commoner” as in“Bai Yi”.5“White” also has the reactionary symbolic meaning in Chinese culture, e.g.“Bai Qu” means the area is occupied by enemy;“Bai Se Zheng Quan” refers to the reactionary government;“Bai Jun” is the reactionary government troops, and reactionaries massacre in the revolutionary and suppression are called as“Bai Se Kong Bu”. The betrayers are named“Bai Fei”or“Bai Gou Zi”.Things of justice always are open and straightforward, which are unnecessary to be concealed or hided. Therefore,“white” also symbolizes being proper, legal. Such as“Bai Se Shou Ru”, it is main economic source of urban residents in China because this part of income is usually open, legal and more transparent;“Bai Dao” means the legal way; and“Bai Shi” is a legal and public trading market.White also can be connoted as in vain, useless and blank. For example,“Bai Fei Shi” has the meaning of all in vain or a waste of time and energy.“Bai Da” means no use or no good,“Bai Song” conveys the message of giving away for free of charge or for nothing.“Bai Chi” means eating without paying. And“Bai Shou” meant to be poor, or had nothing at all. They are completely different from the connotations of English.In other cases, for instance,“Lian Se Bai Li Tou Hong” means someone is in good health. So here“Bai” can not be translated directing to“white”, but“healthy” or“good”. We have a famous drama calledBai Mao Nv. If we translate it literally asA White-haired Girl, those Westerners will be confused and it will be very hard to see the profound meaning behind it.III.The Similarities and Differences on the Cultural Connotations of BlackAs the above-mentioned parts mainly show the cultural connotations of white,the following parts will pay close attention to another color termblack. First, Lets see its similarities in two languages.A.The Similarities in English and ChineseJust like white,the basic color word-black also has much common cultural connotations both in Chinese and English.It contains good and bad aspects.So let us study it from the two aspects.1. Commendatory Meanings of BlackBoth in English and Chinese, black expresses a negative meaning in most cases. However, it also conveys positive messages. Black can have the meanings of“solemnness”and“fairness” in the two languages. Because of its dull hue, black is always the symbol of gravity, humility and ceremony.In the medieval age of the west, many theologists excluded the fresh colors such as red, yellow, pink and so on. In their opinions, these colors stood for danger and vagueness. And they would weaken peoples attention. 6 Instead; people of that time were fond of black, because it meant austerity and gravity. So there is no surprise that black suit and black dress is the most favorite conventional garment of the westerners. And on grand occasions, people such as high officials, famous businessmen and authoritative scholars are more likely to dress in black. When the symphony orchestra performs, all musicians wear black dress in order to show their solemn performance.In ancient times of China, black is similar to color of the iron, so the ancient people often link up hard specialty of iron with black. They used black to symbolize“Outspokenness and uprightness”,“firmness”,“strictness”, and“unselfishness”. In opera, they often used black to symbolize the historical personages upright, impartial and incorruptible character. For example, Bao Zhen in Song Dynasty, whose face is made up with black.In addition, the judges in the court in both China and Western countries wear black garment to show the authority and fairness of the law. And, both in the west and in the east, people are likely to dress in black when they are present at a funeral to express their honors to the dead and their relatives.2. Derogatory Meanings of BlackBlack is a mysterious color. Both in the hell of Christianity and in the nether world of Chinese legend, it symbolizes the place of darkness which has no bright. And it is said that it is the home of evil persons after death.Death always makes people sad. So black is linked together with sorrow and misfortune.“In a black mood” means depressed;“a black dog” means the sad;“black box” in each plane is used to take a note of all the information of the flying. And if there is an air disaster, it could be used as a proof to analyze the causes of the disaster. So“black box” has the close relationship with evil and disaster.“Black comedy” and“black humor” come from this association, too. The former refers to a drama school that appeared in the sixties of the 20th century. It displays the real world which is hopeless with absurdity, morbid state, and exaggerative humorous tactics. And it also refers to the comedy which describes the terrific story. The latter means a kind of absurdity, morbid state, exaggerative humor, which reflects the sorrowful human life. Black in Chinese also has the meaning in this aspect. Such as“black mood”,“black July” and so on.Black is also related to the meaning of being bad, evil and illegal. In western countries there are underworld organizations such as Black Hand, Black Shirt Undeniable, which are the reflection of humans evil nature. They are cancers in this civilized society. Another example is“black hearted”, which can be translated as“Hei Xin Chang” in Chinese. And both in the two languages, it means that a person not only has an evil mind, but also often does harm to others. And the word black in“black sheep”“Hai Qun Zhi Ma”,“a black deed”“E Lie Tou Ding” and“a black lie”“Bu Ke Rao Shu De Huang Yan” all contain the similar meaning as in the phrase“black hearted”.In Chinese,“Hei Qian” refers to the money gained through illegal activities, which is called“black money” by British and Americans. And“black market” refers to the illegal underground market.“Hei Bang” means criminal gangs or organizations that break laws and violate discipline;“Zou Hei Dao” refers to disobeying national decree and doing something that break laws.They are the typically derogatory meanings of black shared in English and Chinese.B.The Differences in English and ChineseIn the usages of black in English and Chinese, they have something in common. However, because of their different cultures and other factors, there are more differences.1. The Specific Meanings of Black in EnglishIn the west, black is a taboo color, which has some negative senses. It means misfortune. For example, Friday September 24, when the financial panic of 1869 began, is known as Black Friday. Black Friday in this sentence is translated into“unfortunate Friday”. Because what this sentence narrated was that in September 24, 1869, the U.S. government at that time introduced a large amount of gold and opened the markets by lowering the price. By doing so, they bring out economic depression. This has brought great misfortune to people. So, people call this day“Unfortunate Friday”.In the art of heraldry in England, black replies wisdom and firmness. But in the works of art, black indicates evil, cheat and falsehood. And in English,“black guards” or“blacks” refer to the employed grave diggers who always wear black clothes. It also means hooligan or scoundrel. And“black coat” suggests those laborers who are different from those who work in the industries. And black has something to do with politics in the west. So in the English-speaking countries, there are various political parties and factions that are with the name of black terms. Take“black hand” in the USA for example, it is an Italian underground organization that is exclusively against the USA and committees crimes in America. And“Black Panther” refers to the party of the black.“Black Sash” is the organization in the Southern Africa set up by women to fight against segregation. And“black” refers to the black colored people in the west, too.“Black belt” is an area where the black dwell.Black also contains some other connotations in English. They are beyond the understanding of Chinese people. It is usually applied in the area of economy. For example, since he took over the business, the company has been in the black. In the example above, black has a good meaning, it means running the business profitably.“On the black”, in the west, it means having profits. But in the sentence“Man has written one of his blackest records as a destroyer on the oceanic islands.” Here“blackest record” means the most shameful things in English. People who are ignorant of the meaning can hardly comprehend the sentence.2. The Specific Meanings of Black in ChineseIn Chinese traditional culture, black and white both belong to the Five Colors. For a long time, People think black will bring lament and the distressed to people, so Chinese people use it to symbolize ominous.“Black” is regarded as the opposite to“Red”, which shows the fall back Party of the counter-revolutionary and stubbornness.Black is also on behalf of the“secret” and“hidden”. Such as“Black gold”, it is often used to describe the origins of money, usually from the corruption, but in some occasions,“black gold” will be valuable and only means black things, usually the most commonly used to describe the oil.Colloquially, black often means be ignored, be excluded from the line of sight out of the focus, such as describing a person shall not be recognized as superior“black out.”And there are quite a few other terms about black in Chinese that can not be just literately translated in English. Black here shows t