英汉数字习语的比较

A Comparative Study of Numerals in Chinese and English Idioms

英汉两种语言中均有很多包含数字的习语。文章在分析大量数字习语的基础上,探讨数字在英汉习语中使用的形式、语义、修辞等方面的相同点。

In English and Chinese, there are a great number of idioms consisting of numerals, which express ideas Very vividly. This paper discusses the similarities between the Chinese idioms and English idioms, such as formative patterns, the semantic and rhetoric functions of numerals in both the languages. The formative patterns mainly include the separate or repeated use of one numeral, and the use of two or more numerals in succession or antithesis. In the semantic aspects, numerals are exploited to record an actual number, to indicate an understated or exaggerated amount, or to express a fixed thing. In addition, numerals can be adopted as a means to achieve many rhetorical effects such as hyperbole, metonymy, metaphor, euphemism, repetition and so on.