浅析英语中六种基本颜色词的英美文化内涵

Studies on the Cultural Connotations of the Six

English Color Words

姓名：胡樱子

班级：

1004

学号：

6

号

完成时间：< /p>

2014

年

1

月

5

日

1

Studies on the Cultural Connotations of the Six

English Color Words

胡樱子

6

号

Abstract

:

The German linguistician J

·

Green said, on the cultures of different nations

in the world, it’s their languages that is more

vivid than their bones, tools and tombs

to prove their cultures. Actually, language is deeply embedded in the culture. It is the

cultural

treasure

handed

down

through

years.

According

to

the

statistics,

there

are

more than five thousand kinds of languages in the world. Among these languages, we

have

not

found

any

language

that

has

no

color

words.

As

an

important

part

of

the

human

language,

color

words

are

closely

related

to

our

life.

There

are

many

color

words in English, which make the English culture more colorful and wonderful. In the

long

historical

process,

when

we

use

and

enrich

our

language,

we

also

give

these

color words

many different

social

significance and cultural

connotations.

The paper

aims to briefly analyze the six English basic color words: red, yellow, black, blue and

green, and explores their cultural connotations by the analysis of its religion, history,

politics and economy.

Key words:

English; color words; cultural connotation

摘要：

< br>德国语言学家

J

·

Green< /p>

曾说，关于各民族的情况，有一种比骨骼、工具、墓葬更为

生动的 证据，那就是他们的语言。确实，语言是深深植根于文化的东西，是我们祖先历经

千百万 年流传下来的文化财富。据统计，世界上有超过五千种语言，但是，在如此多的语

言种类 中，我们还没有发现一种完全没有颜色词的语言。颜色词作为人类语言不可缺少的

一个重 要组成部分，与我们的生活密切相关。英语中存在着大量的颜色词，这些颜色词使

得英语 文化更加丰富多彩、绚烂多姿。在漫长的历史过程中，人们在使用和丰富语言的同

时，也 赋予了这些颜色词不同的社会意义和文化内涵，本文拟对红、黄、黑、白、蓝、绿

这六种 基本颜色词进行分析，并从宗教历史、政治经济等方面探究它们的文化内涵。

关键词：

英语；颜色词；文化内涵

2

1.

Introduction

Human language is a dispensable part of human culture. Our culture contains our

language;

On

the

contrary,

our

language

can

reflect

our

culture.

We

express

our

feelings

by

language,

so

our

language

contains

rich

cultural

information.

There

are

many

English

color

words

existing

in

English

language.

These

color

words

have

largely

enriched

the

English

culture.

English

color

words

can

not

only

describe

the

different colors, but also reflect our feelings and mood.

In the book

The spirit of the

art

, the founder of the modern abstract art, Wassily Kandinsky had pointed out that

colors can directly influence our feelings and emotions.

[1]

During the long process of

the development and use of language, we have

given many cultural connotations to

the

color

words.

Besides,

different

nations

have

given

their

unique

connotations

of

their

own

nations

to

their

color

words.

In

thi

s

case,

it’s

necessary

to

master

the

semantic

origins

and

cultural

connotations

of

the

English

color

words,

which

is

beneficial for us to learn the language and culture of the Anglo-American countries.

2.

Symbols of English color words

Color is a dispensable part of our life. Can you imagine what the world would be

if we lost all the colors? I think it must be a pale world and we wouldn

’

t live a happy

and

colorful

life,

because

colors

are

pleasing

to

the

eye

and

satisfying

to

the

heart.

Color words are sensory words, which is an important part of human language. In our

daily

life,

we

often

use

color

words

in

different

occasions

to

show

our

meanings

instead of say something directly, which can achieve a better effect. In Chinese culture,

we have many color words, such as red, black, white, yellow, green, blue, and purple

and so on. Both of them have positive and negative meanings when using on different

occasions.

We

have

given

them

many

symbolic

meanings.

Similarly,

English

color

words also have many different special symbolic meanings, and we can see them in

many literary works.

English color words not only describe the colors, but also play an important role

in expressing the ideological contents of words and enhancing the appeals of language.

They

also

have

totally

different

meanings,

references

and

analogies

to

the

different

languages, different cultures.

[2]

2.1

Red

Red is an eye-catching color. It is the color of fire and blood. In China, people

regard

the

red

color

as

an

auspicious

color,

and

we

use

this

color

in

the

weddings,

celebrations

and

ceremonies.

But

in

Anglo-

American

countries,

people

have

given

many

cultural

connotations

and

associative

meanings

to

the

color

red

in

English

during the use of the English color words. It not only symbolizes auspiciousness and

3

abundant energy, but also reminds us of blood, violence, danger and sexual passion.

2.1.1 Symbols of auspiciousness and enthusiasm

“A red letter day” means the festal occasions

and an auspicious moment. People

often use this phrase on the festive days.

“A red

-

carpet welcome” means to welcome

somebody in a solemn ceremony. For example, the sentence

“

President Jiang Zeming

received a red-carpet welcome in USA

”

means that President Jiang received the warm

welcome from the Americans

. What’s more, the national flower

of the US is the red

roses,

which

represent

enthusiasm.

In

the

poem

My

Love

is

a

Red,

Red

Rose

;

the

Robert Burns used double

“

red

”

to emphasize his love to his sweetheart. Nowadays,

people in many countries give red roses to his or her sweetheart as a present on the

Valentine’s Day

to show their love

. On Mother’s Day, people

often give their mother

the red carnation to show their love and respect to their mother.

2.1.2

Symbols of danger and violence

Red can make people exciting and sensitive, so it often associates with alerting,

danger,

violence

and

blood.

Red

light

is

the

most

penetrating

color

among

all

the

lights.

Red

light

is

originally

used

as

the

traffic

signal

to

warn

the

drivers

to

slow

down or stop, but now it often means the

danger is coming. The phrase “see the red

light” means

someone feels danger or misfortune is closing to him. When translating

the novel

The Story of the Stone

, David Hawks realized

that the word “red” may

get

the English readers think of something bad, so he decided to choose the original name

of the story.

[3]

2.1.3

Symbols of orgy and sexual passion

Red

is

the

so-called

hot

color,

which

can

irritate

our

sexual

passion.

The

ubiquitous

red

light

districts

in

big

cities

of

the

western

countries

often

hang

a

red

light to solicit business.

[4]

The phrase “to point the town red” means that people in

cities drink and revel all night long. In America, people use

“

red pepper

”

to indicate

the vixenish and enthusiastic girls.

2.2

Yellow

Yellow

is

a

light

color.

It

often

gives

us

a

mild

and

soft

visual

feeling.

But

because of the religious cause, people in Anglo-American countries dislike this color.

They think that this color represents jealousy, cheat and abjection.

2.2.1 Symbols of contemptibility, jealousy and sickness

In

English,

yellow

is

a

disgusting

color,

which

means

jealousy

and

traitor.

According

to

the

Bible,

Judas,

the

person

who

betrayed

the

Jesus,

often

dressed

in

yellow. And the yellow roses in love means the failure in love and the love has gone

by.

In

this

case,

we

can

understand

why

some

foreigners

dislike

the

yellow

race,

because they

regard

the

yellow race as the people who would bring

yellow peril to

them.

4