小议“颜色词”在英汉语言中的运用差异

An Analysis of the Differences of "Color-related" Words in English and Chinese

英语和汉语中都有许多颜色词,这些词在言语交际中运用较普遍,但是在实际应用中这些颜色词常常并不表达其本义,即表面意义上的“颜色”,而常常指其区别于字面的意义——即具所蕴涵的文化意义。因此,在将汉语翻译成英语时,我们应该特别注意这些词组语的文化意义。在某些方面汉语主要的颜色词和英语的意义类似,但是也有不同。应该指出,在不同的语言中同一颜色词并不一定表达同一意义;而同一意义可以用不同的颜色词来表达。所以,对于英语学习者来说,正确使用颜色词是很重要的。

There are many 'color-related' phrases and expressions in both English and Chin-ese. They are used widely in our daily life. While the 'color-related' expressions do not mean just the color. Each has additional meanings, certain cultural meanings. So in translating from Chinese to English, care should be taken with the 'color-related' terms or expressions. In some aspects, most Chinese primary colors are the same or similar to those in English. Yet there are still differen-ces. It should be pointed out that the same do not always represent the same meanings in different languages; Different languages might use different color to describe the same object or phenom-enon. It is very important for English learners to use the 'color-related' words correctly.