Cultural Differences of Chinese and English Color Words 第7页The following are some examples:
Red
Red is not always associated with something joyful. In English the red light district refers to a district within a town or city where there are brothels, as in “She spent the past 30 years helping the prostitutes in the red light district-and the elderly.” Furthermore, in English-speaking countries, red can stand for something special. It is seldom used in our daily life. It can stand for violence and some special terrorist groups, as in the following two sentences: (1) This is a union organized by Reds; (2) Her husband was killed in a red battle. In China, we cannot find these kinds of usage of red. To Chinese people, red is a lucky color. So, the extended usage of red is always full of commendatory senses.
Pink
Pink can be associated with something best, as in “They kept their house in the pink of repair or in the pink of health”. The former means “they kept their house in the best condition” and the latter “in one’s best health”. Pink is also associated with women. Pink-collar employees (nurse, secretaries, etc.) are employees in traditionally held by women. But in Chinese, pink just is a color word, having no deep meaning.
Yellow
Originally yellow has no meaning of corruption and degeneration. After being introduced to China, the yellow has the meaning such as being reactionary, pornographic, and obscene etc. Therefore it has produced a set of words including derogatory sense for the color itself. Sometimes "yellow" is used for pointing the meaning of "failure ", too. If the love between men and women is over, they can say the affair is "yellow ". If one thing is unable to succeed, we can say: This is "yellow ".
In western countries, Yellow has a different sense of derogatory. For example, they use yellow colored paper to print and publish some books and periodicals with low taste, so we called the pornographic books and periodicals “yellow press” In American English, yellow journalism means yellow style of running a newspaper to attract readers with characters or sensational report of low taste. Furthermore, besides the basic meaning, the yellow word has the meaning of "jealous ", "suspect ", "timid ", and "coward ". If a person is yellow-belly, that is to say he/she is "the coward ".If one had been "yellow ", he or she must have lost the courage (A person who is "yellow” has no courage). Yellow is also often used for the suggestion and warning. Yellow alert refers to the preparing warning of air raids.
Purple
In western countries, purple is often associated with high rank or station in general or imperial or regal rank or power in particular. The purple refers to royal or very noble rank, as in “Those born to the purple (those who are from royal or very noble families) are destined to live in the public eye”. A purple passage or a purple patch refers to an extremely, or too, ornate portion in a literary work, music, painting, architecture, etc., as in “If he had confined himself to the dialogue and action and cut out the purple” that means he may have found a publisher for his novel.
In Chinese, purple indicates the degree of popularity (红), we use this phrase “红得发紫” to describe those famous stars who are extremely popular with.
Blue
In English, it always relates to emotion which indicates depression and melancholy. For example: It was blue (boring) Monday and John nodded sleepily over his books. You get a chance like this in a blue moon (vary rare). He is a person who is always a blue nose (put on air). Blue also means indelicacy in English, such as blue film, blue talk etc.
But in Chinese, We just know that blue is the color of sea. It indicates peace and serenity.
5 Conclusion
Some linguists rightly point out methods of dealing with cultural difference - to minimize the chance of misreading the original from the point of view of their own cultures, English learners need to be aware of and constantly alert to, among other things, the “pre-structure” imposed upon their consciousness by their own cultural background.
In fact, to enhance cultural sense in intercultural communication “The cross-cultural awareness is one of the basic requirements for English learners when he or she participates in the intercultural communication, which is a particular way of thinking, a criterion for judgment or an acute sensitivity to cultural elements consciously or unconsciously cultivated by the translator. An acute sensitivity to cultural differentiation will inevitably help English learners to master the pragmatic compass and overcome the restrains of cultural elements.
We should grasp and research the different color expressions and the scientific translation methods between English and Chinese, combine the knowledge of language and knowledge of culture together, which will play a positive role in improving our communication skills, promoting international mutual understanding and winning better cooperation.
To put it easy, stay motivated and talk to foreigners as much as possible, try to get touch with them, the frequent the better. And my most important piece of advice is: "Do something (anything). If you don't do anything, you won't get anywhere. Make it your hobby, not a chore, but above all have fun!"
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