英汉词汇文化对比及对英语教学的启示(1)(2)
2016-07-10 01:10
导读：As a mirror of culture language is strongly influenced and shaped by culture. [2] Familial relation is very important to the Chinese people, so there are many kinship terms in Chinese. For example: (1
As a mirror of culture language is strongly influenced and shaped by culture. [2] Familial relation is very important to the Chinese people, so there are many kinship terms in Chinese. For example:
(1) 叔侄--- uncle and nephew (2) 爷孙--- grandfather and grandson
(3) 婆媳--- grandmother and wife (4) 夫妻--- husband and wife
Therefore if you want to learn and master one kind of language, learners should know the cultural background of the country that the language belongs to. If a learner just pays attention to the language itself but ignores the cultural background that the language represents, he will not master it correctly and use it properly.
Meanwhile language also reflects its influence on culture. “White” means “immaculate and sinless” in English, so westerners call “the auspicious day of marrying” as “white day”. Then in China, “white” is not good for lovers who will marry.
Vocabulary is the basic factor of all language and a key element in language learning. A well-known English linguist D.A.Wilkins said: “No language, people can’t express many things; while no vocabulary, people can express none.”[3] Vocabulary is the most active and flexible component of language. By this token, vocabulary can be reflected by culture. In other words, the discrepancies between different cultures can also be reflected by vocabulary.
This article is trying to focus on the cultural connotations of English and Chinese vocabulary and give some suggestions to English teaching. 2. The classification of vocabulary meaning
English linguist Geoffrey Leach divides the semantics into seven styles: 1) Conceptual Meaning; 2) Connotative Meaning; 3) Stylistic Meaning; 4) Affective Meaning; 5) Reflected Meaning; 6) Collocative Meaning; 7) Thematic Meaning [4] Conceptual meaning is the basic meaning, the central factor in linguistic communication, which is the word meaning used to express an object in the real world or a concept in our mind. It is also the denotative meaning of words. Then the rest of other meanings pertain to the connotation, which is the associative matters and feelings when using the words. The cultural connotation of vocabulary refers to the meaning of the culture of one nation that words imply, or the meanings except for the conceptual meaning of one word or a phrase.
（转载自中国科教评价网www.nseac.com ）
So in the following paper, the meanings except the conceptual meaning of vocabulary will be discussed.3. Analysis of the corresponding relationships of the cultural connotations of vocabulary between Chinese and English
Different nationalities have their own thinking ways, social background, customs, habits, ethic moralities and conventional taboo words, which lead to various kinds of national culture. The meanings of vocabulary must be stigmatized as a brand of national culture. Through analyzing and contrasting, the three kinds of corresponding relationships of the cultural connotations between English and Chinese vocabulary are as follows:
3.1 Complete corresponding relationship
It means “Two kinds of languages have same literal meanings and similar cultural connotations on the whole.” [5] It consists of 3 kinds:
