汉英“红色”文化语义对比

Comparison of Cultural Connotations of "Red" in Chinese and English

汉英两种语言颜色词及其意义都非常丰富,而红色在其中又是最富有生命力和文化内涵的颜色。美国著名颜色研究专家Berlin和Kay认为,人类语言有1个普遍的颜色范畴;任何语言至少都有2个基本颜色词,它们表示黑和白,如果一种语言有3个基本颜色词,它必定有表示红的名称…这与红色是人类生命的颜色密不可分。从古到今,红色都给人以各种各样的联想意义,而不同的民族又有自己鲜明的民族文化特征,这是汉英民族长期以来经过千百代人民的生活实践而形成的。因此,有必要研究不同民族的红色寓意产生的背景,以更好地理解两种语言和文化赋予同一颜色不同内涵的根本原因,从而对跨文化交际及翻译起一定的指导作用。

Color words have profound meanings in both Chinese and English, among which red is the most vigorous and richest in cultural connotations. American color study expert Berlin and Kay conclude that there exist universally for humans eleven basic perceptual color categories, that there exist at least 2 basic colors which represent black and white, and that if there is a third color, it is red... Red is held so important a color largely because it is the color of human life. Through human civilization, red has aroused different associations. The Chinese and English-speaking people, having different experiences, have formed their distinctive cultures about the same color. As a result, it＇s necessary to explore into their backgrounds in order to better understand the root cause of the different connotations that the two languages and cultures have endowed the same color with, and to guide cross-cultural communication and translation.