Figurative Meaning of Animal Words in Chinese and English Culture 词汇学论文

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1、FigurativeMeaningofAnimalWordsinChineseandEnglishCultureAbstract:Asweknow,animalsaregoodfriendsofhumanbeings.Inthelongprogressofhumansociety,animalscontributemuchtoman'sliving.Therefore,animalwordscometohumanlanguageandplayaveryimportantroleinhumancom

2、munication.TherearealotofanimalwordsinbothEnglishandChinesebutthetwocountrieshavegreatdifferencesinculturalbackgroundsandthinkingmodes.Thesedifferencesbetweenthetwoculturesleadtodifferentfigurativemeaningsofanimalwords.Myessaywilltrytocomparethefigura

3、tivemeaningsofanimalwordsbothinEnglishandChinesefromthefollowingaspects:sameanimalassociationvehicleswiththesimilaranddifferentfigurativemeanings,thedifferentanimalassociationvehicleswiththesimilarfigurativemeaningsandthesemanticgaps.KeyWords:animalwo

4、rds;figurativemeaning;associationvehicle;EnglishandChineseculture1.InfluenceofanimalwordsinbothChineseandEnglishculture      Languageisthecarrierandcontainerofculturalinformation.Asaresult,wecanfindinlanguageallhumanknowledgeandexperiencewhichareinter

5、pretedasculturalinformation.[1]Soinhumanlanguagethereexistaplentyofanimalwordsthatareoftenusedaskindsofassociationvehicles.Humanbeingsoftenassociatetheirfeelingsandemotionswithvariousanimalsaccordingtoanimals'featuressuchastheirappearances,habitsandch

6、aracteristicssothatthenamesorimagesofanimalspossessspecificculturalconnotations.     UniversalitybetweenChineseandEnglishculturesandsimilarityinthethinkingmodesmakepeopleassociatethesameanimalwordswiththesameorsimilarfigurativemeanings.Butdifferencesb

7、etweenthesetwoculturesalwaysleadtodifferentassociation,ieChineseandEnglishpeoplehavedifferentfigurativemeaningstosameanimalwordsorusedifferentanimalassociationvehiclestoexpresssameorsimilarfigurativemeanings.2.Animalwordsasassociationvehicles      Iti

8、swellknownthattherearemanyfigurativeexpressionsinEnglishandChinese,especiallyanimalmetaphors.However,becauseofdifferenthistories,socialbackgroundsandcultures,theconnotationsofanimalwordsaredifferent.IfChinesepeopleandEnglishpeoplewanttousethef