-
I.
Introduction
Translating
color
words
is
one
of
most
important
and
difficult
parts
in
English-Chinese
translation, though very interesting and
meaningful. The same color
words
may
indicate
the
same
meaning
in
some
areas
around
the
world,
while
they
may
represent
discrepancies
in
different
languages
or
cultures.
Sometimes
even
the
same
color
words
in
one
literary
work
can
symbolize
different
things,
and
perhaps
some
may be conflicting. These color words not only
reflect the basic visual effects
on the
sensory, but also a broad and deep social and
cultural significance.
“
V
ocabulary
is
the
most
active
factor
in
the
language.
Color
words
are
not
arbitrarily invented by
linguists, but extracted out from life by human
beings in order
to
meet
their
own
expressive
needs.
The
more
expressions
human
beings
need,
the
more meanings of color words will be
gifted
” (Yuan
1997:48).
In order to promote the cross-culture
exchanges, this paper chooses some basic
colors words to analyze, and tries to
find more appropriate translation methods to deal
with them.
This
paper
is
divided
into
two
parts.
In
the
first
chapter,
it
talks
about
the
difference
between
color
and
the
national
psychology.
Chapter
two
discusses
the
comparison
with
English
and
Chinese
color
words.
And
at
the
end
of
this
paper,
a
conclusion
is
made
that
according
to
different
situation,
people
should
choose
the
fittest method to translate English
color words.
II.
Synopsis of Color Words
As
one of the parts of human
beings
’
vocabulary, color
words play an important
role,
and
have
different
functions
in
terms
of
different
categories.
The
following
chapter will give the general
introduction to the definition, categories and
functions.
2.1
Definition
Color
is said to be a particular nature of light besides
the heterogeneities of the
space and
time, or a kind of the
observer
’
s sight caused by
stimulations of retina from
optical
radiation.
Color
is
also
regarded
as
visual
characteristics
excluding
images
which are caused by
the light acting on the human
beings
’
eyes. And color
words are
1
the terms which describe the colors.
2.2
Functions
As
the
qualifying
phrases,
revealing
the
features
of
the
objective
world
is
the
most direct function of color words.
Yet everything has deeper meaning, thence it is
necessary to grasp functions of color
words, and it will be very helpful in translation.
III.
T
he Difference between Color
and The National Psychology
Because of
human culture common function as well as cultural
infiltration and
the influence of
convergence, different nationalities often will
give a kind of color in
the
same
symbolism.
For
example,
red
is
enthusiastic,
a
symbol
of
the
festival
and
progressive;
Green
is
the
color
of
life,
shows
the
vitality
of
youth
and
vigorous
vitality; White is
pure and simple but elegant, contains the holy
immaculate, simple
natural meaning;
blue is halcyon, gives a person with profound
implication, relaxes
our feeling......
(Deng Yanchang Runqing,2006:56)
3.1
Red.
No matter in China or
in English speaking countries, red symbols
enjoyment and
happiness.
For
example
in
China,
at
New
Year's
door
to
put
red
couplets,
although
YangBaiLao is
disadvantaged for her daughter still buy two foot
red TouSheng, young
people have a
traditional wedding ceremony, the bride is to put
on red clothes, doors
and Windows, the
wall to put red “xi” word.
In
western
countries,
people
get
Christmas
and
other
section,
holiday
called
red-letter days, means a vary festival,
joy, and celebrated festival. In a head of state,
when to meet at the airport VIP
spreading the red carpet treatment as the highest.
Ancient Chinese commonly used
“beauty”
or “red pink”
alleged face of woman,
with
fair
red
boudoir
“or”
red
chamber
refers
to
a
silver
spoon
in
his
mouth
the
daughter of the attic. (Feng Qingsheng,
2001:34)In the English words of color in red
with no “woman” of the secondary
meaning, so
in the
above
words were translated
into English
can't
literally
righteousness
literal
translation, can
avoid
the
“red”, and
translate
the
overstepping
languages
will
“beauty”
translated
as
“a
step
girl”
or
“a
pretty face”, “red pink”
can be translated as “a gaily
dressed girl” and “red ladies” or
2
“red chamber” can be translated as “a
lady 's room” or “a boudoir ”.
3.2 Green.
Green
in
Chinese
culture
is
the
noise,
implied
despised
and
unorthodox,
also
often
have
“women
and
lusty”
content.
When
the
Han
dynasty
the
ministers
of
the
green headscarves, after a Yuan dynasty
that the LuTouJin.
women's
black
hair;
window
is
the
window
of
the
boudoir.
His
wife's
infidelity made her
husband called humiliated husband “wearing a green
hat”.
The “green” English
has money, jealousy, lack of experience, fresh
connotative
meaning.
In
the
United
States,
the
bill
is
green,
so
in
the
United
States,
commonly
used green means “money, QianPiao” or
“economic strength” and the American dollar
bill calle
d the “long
green”, “green power” means the power of money,
“green
-
eyed”
means jealousy, and “Do you see any
green in my eye?” Meaning is “do you think I
am childish and insulted? ” , an
entry
-
level beginners are
called “green hand”, “green
wound” is a
new
injury, no experience is
easily called a “green horn”, “green goods”
means fresh goods,
hale and
hearty
3.3 Yellow.
Chinese people in
yellow bad
taste, symbol and decadent, those content vulgar
obscene,
serious
pornography
literature
and
art
to
works
be
demoted
for
yellow,
yellow
film
of
books,
yellow
music
in
recent
years,
with
calculation
machine
the
popularity of the
software, and the yellow software, but the name of
the “yellow
Engl
ish
in
yellow irrelevant
and English
said
“yellow” of Chinese words should be
“pornographic, filthy, vulgar,
obscene”, etc., and the color of the English
words. But
blue is often used to say in
the mandarin language “yellow”, namely “dirty,
obscene,
obscen
e”
meaning,
such
as
“blue
jokes”,
“blue
revolution”,
“blue
films”,
“blue
software”,
etc.
In
Chinese
language
and
English
words
and
some
of
the
yellow
of
recipients, such as “zodiac”,
“HuangMaoYaTou”, “yellow flowers”, etc.
The English “Yellow Pages” but
translated as “the Yellow Pages phone thin”, is a
according
to
different
stores,
career,
enterprise
the
authority
of
the
classification
number check, thin and “dirty”,
“obscene” no relationship, but because it was all
in
3
Yellow
paper
printing,
so
called
“the
Yellow
Pages.
”
The
English
“yellow
boy
is
more is not “dirty little boy”, but
“gold” commonly known as.
In
English, “yellow” implied “betrayal, evil, timid”.
“Yellowdog” for the mean
guy, “yellow
belly” and “yellow livered” refers to a coward,
“yellow union” refers to
specialized
workers'
strike
the
trade
union
of
destruction,
is
the
recipient
of
the
manipulation of the puppet
organizations.
3.4 Blue.
English and Chinese language in
blue, can be used to
refer
to
the fall, the sky
color,
gives a person with vaster, quiet and unregulated
feel. Chinese blue secondary
meaning
less, but English in blue secondary meaning is
more, it is used to explains
refers to
the man's “gloomy mood”, “the mood displeasure”,
“sad depressed”, such as
the
phrase
“in
a
blue
mood”,
“to
have
the
blues”
blue
of
all
has“
depression”
and
“depressed
”,
“boring”,
and
“bad
luck
”.Holiday
blue
means
winter
Holiday
depression,
especially the coming Christmas, fly snow on,
people were trapped in the
home,
feel
lonely;
Also
refers
to
before
Christmas,
because
of
financial
difficulties
and
cannot
with
special
purchases
and
gifts,
appear
cold
Chen
and
the
mood
very
sullen.(Bao Huinan, 2003:124)
Blue will also be used to explains
refers to the “yellow, ” “dirty”, such as “a blue
film” means “yellow movie”, “to make a
blue joke” means “open a dirty joke”.
Blue also means royal and nobility,
faithful and justice, “ Blue blood ”means of
noble origin, a Blue blood, “
Blue
-
ribbon”means the
first
-
class, “ Blue book ”is
social
celebrity collection. “ True
blue ”refers to the white man.
3.5 White.
White
caused in the English and Chinese language
association is more similar,
explains
refers to
the pure or clear.
But
some phrases
in
English in
the “white” but
does not mean that Chinese “white”
mean, such
as “a white lie”,
not “white lies”, but
a “harmless and
white lies”; And as “the white coffee”, not “white
coffee”, but “milk
coffee”.
In
Chinese,
also
there
are
many
contain
“white”
words
not
said
color,
with
English translation of “white”
irrelevant, an
d just and other words
together make up a
4