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1、6/6Unit4LanguageandCultureSomeIdeasRelatedtolanguageandculture1.InterrelationshipbetweencultureandlanguageEachculturehasitsownpeculiaritiesandthrowsspecialinfluenceonthelanguagesystem.Forexample,referringtothesamecommondomesticanimal,Englishchoosestheword“dog”,whileChinesehasi
2、tsowncharacter“狗”;Chinesehasthephrase“走狗”whileEnglishhastheexpression“runningdog”,butthemeaningsattributedtothetwoexpressionsarecompletelydifferentaccordingtoChinesecultureandWesternculturerespectively.ToWesterners,“runningdog”hasapositivemeaningsincetheword“dog”,inmostcases,i
3、sassociatedwithanimageofananimalpet-thefavoritefriend,thustheyhavethephrases“luckydog”(幸运儿),“topdog”(胜利者),“olddog”(老手),“gaydog”(快乐的人),anditisusuallyusedtodescribeeverydaylifeandbehavior,asin“Loveme,lovemydog”(爱屋及乌),“Everydoghasitsday”(凡人皆有得意日).ButinChinese“走狗”referstoalackey,a
4、nobsequiousperson.SinceChineseassociatesderogatorymeaningtothecharacter“狗”dependingontheculturaldifference,Chinesehassuchexpressionsas“狗东西”,“狗腿子”,“狗仗人势”,“狗胆包天”,“狗嘴里吐不出象牙”,“狼心狗肺”,“痛打落水狗”,“狗急跳墙”. Wecanobviouslyseethatthemeaningattributedtolanguageiscultural-specific.Agreatdealof
5、cross-culturalmisunderstandingoccurswhenthe“meanings”ofwordsintwolanguagesareassumedtobethesame,butactuallyreflectdifferentculturalpatterns.SomearehumorousaswhenaTurkishvisitortotheU.S.refusedtoeatahotdogbecauseitwasagainsthisbeliefstoeatdogmeat.SomearemuchmoreseriousaswhenaFr
6、enchcoupleonatriptoChinatooktheirpetpoodleintoarestaurantandrequestedsomedogfood.Thedogwascookedandreturnedtotheirtableonaplatter! Wecansummarizetherelationshipbetweencultureandlanguageasthefollowing:languageisakeycomponentofculture.Itistheprimarymediumfortransmittingmuchofcul
7、ture.Withoutlanguage,culturewouldnotbepossible.Childrenlearningtheirnativelanguagearelearningtheirownculture;learningasecondlanguagealsoinvolveslearningasecondculturetovaryingdegrees.Ontheotherhand,languageisinfluencedandshapedbyculture.Itreflectsculture.Culturaldifferencesare
8、themostseriousareascausingmisunderstanding,unpleasantnessande