-
OUTLINE
Abstract
Key Words
I. Introduction
II. The
Definition and Classification of Color Words
2.1. The Definition of Color Words
2.2. The
Classification of Color Words
III. The Comparative Study
of the Color Words
3.1. The
Similarities of Color Words
3.1.1. Red
and
红色
3.1.2.
Black and
黑色
3.2.
The Differences of Color Words
3.2.1. Red and
红色
3.2.2. Black
and
黑色
3.2.3.
White and
白色
3.2.4. Yellow and
黄色
3.2.5. Blue
and
蓝色
3.2.6.
Green and
绿色
IV.
The Translation Methods of Color Words
4.1. Literal
Translation
4.1. Liberal
Translation
4.2.1.
Cultural
Equivalence Translation
4.2.2.
Functional Equivalence Translation
V
. Conclusion
Bibliography
中文标题、摘要、关键词
1
On
the English Translation of Chinese Color Words
Author:
Number:
Tutor:
Abstract:
In the
human
’
s language, the unique
charm that color words shows and displays makes
people
impressive. In the two
languages, English and Chinese, there are so many
expressions of color words.
Maybe the
same color has the same meanings. Maybe the same
color has the different meanings, which
is
decided
by
the
cultural
factors.
Therefore,
in
the
process
of
translating
Chinese
into
English,
translators
should
try
to
translate
color
words
according
to
the
deeper
meaning
of
the
relevant
background
knowledge
rather
than
translate
directly
according
to
the
literal
meaning
so
that
more
mistakes
could
be
avoided,
be
good
at
comparing
meaning
and
connotation
of
common
color
words
between Chinese and
English language to make every effort to make
fewer mistakes in the translation
process and to reduce mistranslation as
far as possible. This paper tries to compare the
meaning of color
words commonly used
and then further to find out the differences and
similarities in both English and
Chinese and to reach a conclusion about
how to translate Chinese color words into English
in the end. In
the
translation
of
color
words,
translators
must
think
of
the
cultural
element
in
order
that
they
can
understand, translate and express color
words accurately and properly communicate
fluently.
Key
Words:
color words; translation;
Chinese; English; culture
I. Introduction
Color,
an
important
field
of
mankind
to
understand
the
world,
is
closely
related
to
human
life.
Color
not
only
has
physical
attributes,
but
also
rich
cultural
connotation
and
extension of meaning,
thus color is an important subject in the study of
language, culture
and translation.
Between
Chinese and
English
language, there are a lot of expressions
of
color
that
have
special
cultural
connotations.
As
a
result
of
the
two
different
cultures
of
English
and
Chinese,
the
expressions
of
the
same
color
from
the
two
peoples
have
generality
and
also
have
otherness.
Sometimes,
even
the
two
are
opposite.
Thus,
in
the
translation
of
these
color
words
that
express
something,
be
sure
to
understand
its
real
meaning.
Usually,
sometimes
these
color
words
do
not
mean
the
color
but
other
special
meanings which are extended or
converted. This paper tries to find out the
differences and
similarities
by
the
contrast
of
English
and
Chinese
color
words,
and
discusses
the
translation of these kinds of words on
the premise of deepening understanding.
2
II. The Definition and Classification
of Color Words
There are a large number
of color words in Chinese and in English. But what
human
feel about color is consistent,
including the two nations. Of course, in different
languages,
how to classify or express
for people is both consistent and different. The
classification of
color words in
Chinese and in English is not only the same in
general but also different.
2.1. The Definition of Color Words
Color
words,
in
whatever
languages,
are
words
used
to
describe
the
colors
of
the
different kinds of things. This
definition is well known around the world, from
the scientific
definition,
color
is
the
visual
phenomenon
which
is
caused
by
the
launch
or
reflects
of
objects,
or
the
penetration
of
light
waves.
It
is
one
kind
of
the
basic
characteristics
of
human
’
s vision.
The material world is full of all sorts of colors,
almost nothing the same.
The visible
light
such as sunlight,
lights,
etc. irradiates the
objects; the objects
abort and
reflect the light waves selectively.
Then, colors appear. (He Guoxing, 2004: 1-2)
Obviously,
as a part of words, color
words are used in writing to transmit information.
In physics, it
stands for the color
reflected objects.
2.2. The
Classification of Color Words
The Chinese and the English have a lot
in common in the cognition of color words.
Although great differences existed in
the number of colors vocabulary, the
classification of
Chinese
and
English
color
words
is
almost
the
same
on
the
whole.
English
and
Chinese
Expressions on
colors can be categorized into three kinds: basic
color words, color words
with colors of
objects, color words in shades. (Jiang Feng & Ding
Lijun, 2005; 86)
2.2.1. Basic Color
Words
In
the
late
1960s,
two
American
scholars
Brent
Berlin
and
Paul
Kay
put
forward
a
total
universal
inventory
of
eleven
basic
color
words:
white,
black,
red,
yellow,
green,
brown,
blue,
pink,
orange,
gray,
and
purple,
with
the
publication
of
Basic
Color
Terms,
Their Universality
and Evolution. According to John I. Saeed, there
are six color words in
Chinese: black,
white, red, yellow, blue and green. (Saeed, 1997:
74), That is to say that
there are
“
黑
,
白
,
红
,
黄
,
蓝
,
绿
”
in Chinese.
Basic
color
words
refers
to
red
(
红
),
yellow
(
黄
)
，
white(
白
),
black(
黑
),
green(
绿
),blue(
蓝
)in
this
article.
In
western
painting,
oil
painters
use
these
six
colors
to
tone variety of colors.
3
2.2.2. Color
Words with Colors of Objects
Color
words with colors of objects refer to words with
the natural color of the object
to
describe the color. Like,
gold/golden(
金黄
),
silver(
银白
),
orange(
橘黄
), lead-
gray(
铅灰
),
orange-
red(
橘红
), peach-
pink(
桃红
), and chestnut-
brown(
栗色
), and so on. Such a
kind of
words is widely used in life
and literary works.
2.2.3.
Color Words in Shades
Color
words
in
shades
means
colors
show
their
differences
under
the
natural
light
from the sun or white
light, which usually indicates color aberration to
some degree. This
kind of words in
English includes (1) deep/dark; (2) light/pale;
(3) bright/rich/vivid.
This
paper
mainly
discusses
the
comparison
and
translation
between
Chinese
and
English
of
the
basic
color
used
commonly.
Among
these
basic
color
words
have
their
similarities and their differences,
namely, the basic color words in Chinese and
English are
the main object to study
and analyze in this article.
III. The Comparative Study of the Color
Words
There
are
different
kinds
of
colors.
Colors
are
closely
linked
with
people
’
s
life.
In
human
language, color words have their special charm.
The color words are often used to
describe the color of different things.
Besides indicating the basic colors, such as
black, red,
white, yellow, green and
blue, they also reflect the different cultural
connotation in different
languages.
3.1. The Similarities of
Color Words
In Chinese and English,
some color words have the same meaning. This
article mainly
introduces the
similarities of two colors, red and black.
3.1.1. Red and
红色
Red,
together
with
other
words,
not
only
derives
a
lot
of
language
meaning
of
objective things, but
also reveals the word, politics and cultural
connotations.
In Chinese, the main
symbolic meaning of
“
red
”
is festival, success, popularity with
the attention.
In national
flag, the most color is
red,
so red is
the color that
we
advocate
mainly
in
Chinese
culture,
which
shows
the
pursuit
of
Chinese
in
the
spiritual
and
the
material,
such
as,
hanging
red
lanterns,
pasting
red
couplet
and
red
“
fu
”
word
are
the
customs
when
Chinese
people
are
in
a
festival
day.
When
a
man
marries
a
woman,
his
4
family members
will paste
red
“
hi
”
in
their
rooms
to
represent
happiness
and joy. Being
prosperous and lively is expressed as
“
红火
”
in Chinese. The flouring and lively place is
called
“
红尘
”
.
The Chinese film
Raise the Red Lantern
is a tragedy that shows a picture of
sad and miserable life of a woman in
the feudal society, but here
“
Raise the Red
Lantern
”
means
“
joy,
festival
”
.
Similarly,
in
the
classic
greatest
masterpiece,
A
Dream
of
Red
Mansions
, the
“
red
mansions
”
means prosperity
and happiness.
In English,
“
red
”
can also make abstract extension, and signify the
attribute concept of
things linked with
red closely. For example, the word
“
red
”
in
“
to paint the town
red
”
refers
to
the carnivals and celebrations, but with noises.
“Red
carpet
treatment
”
expresses the
kind
of
courtesy
or
deference
showing
persons
of
high
status.
Especially,
“
red
carpet
”
,
the
specific
image,
is
used
to
express
solemnity
and
nobleness.
For
example,
the
visiting
princess was
treated to the red carpet in Rome. Red is similar
to Chinese, so it can also be
used to
represent good luck, happiness and joy. A red-
letter day means the Memorial Day or
wedding day;
“
red-
carpet
”
indicates grand
reception and welcome.
Sometimes,
“
red
”
is
used
to
express
feelings,
such
as
indignation,
anger,
shyness,
which is a common
phenomenon in the two languages.
“
面红耳赤
(red-
faced)
”
means being
angry,
“
脸红
(blush)
”
means shy , and
so on. In English,
“
see
red
”
and
“
like a red rag to a
bull
”
mean being
angry. For example, whenever anyone teased John
about his weight, he
saw red.
In
Chinese
and
English,
“
red
”
has
another
important
symbolic
meaning,
that
is,
revolution, such as red army, a red
revolution, red hot political campaign.
3.1.2. Black and
黑色
The meaning of
black in Chinese and English culture is the same.
It stands for death,
suffering and
sorrow.
In Chinese culture and
historical tradition and psychology, black is
linked closely with
bad, darkness,
evil, trick, etc. For example, in the early
vernacular novels,
“
黑店
”
is an inn
where someone may be killed
or money and goods may be robbed. And in English,
it is not
so different
from
Chinese;
even some
are equivalent in
meaning
and form.
For example,
“
黑市
”
is translated into black market, which refers to
the illegal trade.
“
黑手党
”
is turned
into
black
hand.
“
黑心肠的
”
is
expressed
as
black
hearted.
“
黑社会
”
indicates
criminal
society.
“
黑金政治
”
is money politics.
5
Of course, like red, black can be used
to express feelings, such as anger, glare, etc.,
which are mainly used in English, such
as black in the face, look black and so on.
3.2. The Differences of Color Words
In Chinese and English,
most color words have different meanings. This
article mainly
introduces the
differences of six colors, red and black, white,
yellow, blue and green.
3.2.1. Red and
红色
In
Chinese
and
English,
“
red
”
symbolizes
revolution,
but
revolution
in
Chinese
is
different
from
revolution
in
English.
Revolution
in
Chinese
is
good,
but
revolution
in
English often has a derogatory meaning.
In Chinese,
“
red
”
symbolizes revolution and press,
such
as
the
first
regime
of
the
Communist
Party
of
china
called
red
political
power,
the
earliest armed forces called
“
red
army
”
. Someone that asks
himself to improve in politics
and
studies
hard
in
business
is
“
red
”
and
so
on.
However,
in
English,
it
symbolizes
radicands
and
violent
revolution.
For
instance,
red
hot
political
campaign
means
intense
political movement, a red revolution;
red activities mean left-wing radical movement.
Even
in
Le
Rouge
et
Le
Noir,
written
by
Stendhal,
a
French
writer,
“
the
red
”
means
the
anti-
feudalism revolution.
Usually,
“
red
”
in Chinese is good, but
“
red
”
in English often gives people something
like sorrow, disgust and shame. For
example,
“
the red light
district
”
refers to the area
of a
brothel
in
town,
where
people
should
not
go.
“Running
a
business
in
the
red”
means
running at
a boss.
3.2.2. Black and
黑色
In Chinese, a
“
black
”
is often assigned to the meaning of illegality
and bad luck. In our
daily life, those
residents who are unregistered are black
residents.
In
English,
“black”
has the meaning of
unfortunateness, disaster, disgust, anger and so
on. For instance,
“
black
sheep
”
and
“
black
Monday
”
are what the
students call the first day
of school.
“Black
Friday
”
is called by
businessman on September 13, 1873, the New York
stock market crash, along with global
economic crisis that year.
3.2.3. White and
白色
Both in
Chinese and in English, there are many differences
of the meaning of white.
In Chinese
culture,
“
white
”<
/p>
is often linked with death and funeral.
For example,
“
红白
喜
事
”
is
translated
into
weddings
and
funerals.
“
白
(white)
”
refers
to
the
funeral
where
6
people wear white clothes
and white hat to show mourning. But in English
culture,
“
white
”<
/p>
is
the
color
that
people
advocate,
the
symbol
of
purity,
innocence,
happiness
and
auspiciousness.
For
example,
in
western
wedding,
“
white
”
is
the
main
color.
The
bride
wears
white
and
holy
wedding
dress
and
white
veil
to
represent
the
purity
of
love
and
happiness of the wedding.
But due to the continuous development
of the language, there are exceptions in many
Chinese and English words now.
< br>“
White
”
is
separated from their original meaning.
“White”
both in
Chinese and in English, has its unique extended
meaning. In Chinese,
“
white<
/p>
”
can
express
something without a price, blank, clear and so on.
At this moment,
“
white
”
is no
longer a color
but a verb. For example,
“
白手
”
symbolizes empty-handed.
“
白纸
”
indicates
blank paper.
“
白话
”
is translated into colloquialism.
“
白痴
”
is a fool, and so on.
In
English,
“
white
”
can
express
innocence,
goodwill,
luck
and
honesty
etc.,
like
“
a
white day
”
,
“
white
rage
”
and
“
a white
lie
”
. Some words include
“
white
”
,
and can also be
translated into
“
white
”
, but
the meaning is changed. For example,
“
white
elephant
”
means
something
that
is
costly
and
burdensome
is
kept
safely.
There
are
many
more,
such
as
“
White
House
”
, the American
government,
“
white
sale
”
,
“
white
war
”
and so on.
3.2.4. Yellow and
黄色
In Chinese
culture, in old times
“
yello
w
”
symbolized the central
regime and territory
on behalf of the
authority and majesty, which occupies an extremely
important status in the
Chinese
mind.
In
addition
to
the
son
of
heaven,
ordinary
people
can
’
t
use
yellow.
Traditionally,
“
y
ellow
”
is the color of
royalty and proprietary. For example,
“
Huang
Bang
”
is
the
son
of
heaven
’
s
letters.
But
in
English,
“
yellow<
/p>
”
has
nothing
to
do
with
these
meanings.
But in modern
Chinese, the word,
“
yellow
”
, often appears in some
derogatory terms to
express dirty and
degradation. Meanwhile,
“
yel
low
”
, together with other
words, makes up a
lot of new vocabulary
used widely. For instance,
“
yellow
movies
”
,
“
yellow
music
”
and so
on.
Most of these things are related to sex.
In western culture, on mentioning
yellow, people will think about that Judas
betrayed
Jesus, so there is no doubt
that the symbolic meaning of
“
yellow
”
is not good. It
expresses
press with no interest and
books without literary value, such as
“
yellow
press
”
, which is not
pornographic but only sleazy meaning,
“
yellow
pages
”
indicates the phone
book of stores,
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