关于英语和中国文化动物词汇内涵差异的研究

题目（英文）The Study on the Differences of Animal Words Connotations between English and Chinese Culture

题目（中文）关于英语和中国文化动物词汇内涵差异的研究                           

Abstract

Animals, as human’s best friends, have been attracting the attention of many linguists, biologists and sociologists. A large number of animal terms exist in both Chinese and English, some of which have been used as metaphors to symbolize people’s thinking. however there exist culture-specific animal metaphors in Chinese and English. So there are some difficulties in people’s understanding of animal metaphor. In order to achieve accurate understanding and avoid misunderstanding between the different cultures, it is necessary to conduct a systematic study of animal metaphor in Chinese and English. Animal words are frequently used in our language, This thesis analyzes the differences in animal metaphor between Chinese and English from three aspects. Based on the discussions of those, differences of animal metaphor in Chinese and English are explained from the three aspects.

Keywords: animal words, metaphor, Chinese culture, English culture, cultural differences

Contents

1 Introduction 1

2 The overview of animal words 1

3 The comparison of cultural connotations of some animal words 3

3.1 Same animal images with different meanings 3

3.1.1 Dog 3

3.1.2 Bat 3

3.2 Different animal images with similar meanings 4

3.2.1 Cattle and Horse 4

3.2.2 Goose and Hen 4

3.3 Void of cultural connotation in different languages 5

3.3.1 Mandarin duck 5

3.3.2 Crane 5

4 The reasons for the differences of connotations between Chinese and English 5

4.1 Differences in linguistic forms 5

4.2 Differences in the origin of civilization 6

4.3 Differences in aesthetic standard 6

4.4 Differences in natural environment and social conventions 7

5 Conclusion 7