中英数字词语文化内涵之分析

学 士 学 位 论 文 论文题目： AN ANALYSIS ON CULTURAL IMPLICATIONS OF CHINESE AND ENGLISH NUMERICAL EXPRESSIONS 中英数字词语文化内涵之 姓 名： 徐瑶 学 号： 0501623 院 系： 外国语学院 专 业： 英语 指导教师： 尤爱莉 二〇〇九 年 六 月 AN ANALYSIS ON CULTURAL IMPLICATIONS OF CHINESE AND ENGLISH NUMERICAL EXPRESSIONS by Xu Yao Supervised by You Aili Submitted to the English Department in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts at Beijing Language and Culture University June 2009 摘要 数字词语是词汇的重要部分，其意义与其所处的文化背景有着不可分割的联系。它不仅直接反映文化背景还深受文化因素的影响。并且数字词语在日常生活中的使用不单是表达数量,更主要的是利用它们的文化内涵来表达特定的哲理或丰富的象征意义，并在跨文化的交流中发挥重要影响。中英数字词语的内涵和外延意义,虽有共同之处,也存在着明显的差异。本文在总结前人对数字词语文化内涵的研究基础上，进一步分析其差异，从而找到导致其差异的原因。更重要的是作者特别针对在英汉数字词语的跨文化交际中占主要地位的英汉数字词语的互译这一问题，提出了一套可行的方法。以便让外语学习者意识到在文化差异导致下产生的数字词语外延意义及文化内涵的不同，避免在跨文化交际活动中因文化差异而引起误解和冲突。 本文主体由三部分组成。第一部分列举了中英数字词语中包含不同文化内涵的现象。在这一部分作者首先将数字词语分成了两类，即单个的数字词和包含单个数字词的习语。随后作者分别列举并比较了这两类数字词语中包含不同文化内涵的现象。在第一部分的基础上，作者在第二部分中深入探究了造成这种现象的诸多原因，其中着重分析了社会、历史、宗教及心理因素。为在中英数字词语的跨文化交际中减少冲突与误会，在第三部分中作者特别讨论了跨文化交际中中英数字词语互译这一问题，并提出了一些行之有效的互译方法。 关键词：数字词语；文化差异；文化内涵；中英数字词语互译 Abstract Numerical expressions are a crucial part of language, and there is a tight relationship between numerical expressions and their cultural background. Numerical expressions not only reflect culture directly, but they are influenced by culture. However, besides expressing the concept of quantity, the more important function of numerical expressions is that they can reveal certain philosophy and metaphorical meaning; therefore it has great impact on cross culture communication. Though there are lots of similarities between the connotation and denotation of Chinese and English numerical expressions, differences do exist. This article aims at analyzing their differences further more, and finding the reasons behind that phenomenon. And what is more important is that the author proposes an effective way for foreign language learners to get aware of numerical expressions’ different cultural implications which are lead by different cultural backgrounds. The thesis consists of three parts in its main body. The first part lists the phenomenon of different cultural implications of Chinese and English numerical expressions. In this part, the author classifies the numerical expression into two groups: the individual numerical expressions or the simple numerals and numerical idioms, then these two groups are studied separately. The differences of Chinese and English numerical expressions’ cultural connotations are emphasized. Based on the previous part, the second part probes into the reasons which lead to the difference of cultural implications and analyzes the social, historical, religious and psychological factors. In order to reduce the conflicts between the cross culture communication of Chinese and English numerical expressions, in the third part, the author discusses the translation of Chinese and English numerical expressions, since it is regarded as an important part of the cross culture communication of Chinese and English numerical expressions. Key words: numerical expression; cultural differences; cultural implication; the translation of Chinese and English numerical expressions Contents Abstract in Chinese………………………………………………………………i Abstract in English……………………………………………………………....ii Introduction………………………………………………………………………1 1. Differences between the cultural implications of Chinese and English numerical expressions……………………………………….……................2 1.1 The definition of numerical expression …………………………………..3 1.2 Chinese and English numerals’ conceptual and associative meanings……3 1.2.1 The conceptual meaning of Chinese and English numerals...………4 1.2.2 The associative meaning of Chinese and English numerals………...4 1.2.2.1 One……………………………………………………...........5 1.2.2.2 Three………………………………………………………....6 1.2.2.3 Two ……………………………………………………….....7 1.2.2.4 Seven ………………………………………………………..8 1.3 Differences between Chinese and English numerical idioms……………10 1.3.1 Difference in describing specific psychology and behavior……….10 1.3.2 Difference under fixed historical background and custom…….......12 2. The causes of the different cultural implications of Chinese and English numerical expressions ……………………………………………………...13 2.1 The different cultural origins……………………………………………13 2.2 The different historical backgrounds and social customs ………….......14 3. The proper translation of Chinese and English numerical expressions......16 3.1 Developing cultural awareness…………………………………………17 3.2 Using free translation…………………………………...…...…….........18 3.2.1 Literal translation………………………………………………18 3.2.2 Paraphrasing…………………………………….........................19 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………21 References………………………………………………………………………23 Introduction As human civilization develops constantly, our language is also experiencing the continuous evolution which can be reflected clearly by the enlarging vocabulary and expressions. So we can say that vocabulary and expressions is a mirror of society and culture. People are unlikely to communicate with each other from different culture, if they fail to understand the cultural implications of foreign words. As an important part of language, numerical expression is also fully influenced by culture, and to some extents reveals its cultural backgrounds. Though numerical expression is ubiquitous and people from every culture are all using them in their daily life, it still bears its own cultural impacts and implications. So we can not just take numerical expressions for granted, but we should take their cultural differences into consideration. And in the cross culture communication or foreign language studying, a clear understanding of both the connotation and denotation of numerical expressions is indispensable. Many previous studies were focused mainly on “describing and classifying typical contexts of situation within the context of culture… [and] types of linguistic function in such context of situation”(Firth, 1935, p.27). In other words they thought cultural and situational semantics provide an interesting starting point for the study of language as a whole entity (Malinowski, 1923). But this article targets at the cultural impacts on numerical expressions specifically. Since Chinese and English are two typical examples which can reflect the huge differences between eastern and western culture, the author choose Chinese and English numerical expressions to compare and explore their cultural implications. Though some scholars have also noticed this phenomenon, they put more efforts on listing the differences (Hu, 2005), or the reason for those differences (Wang & Li, 2007), this article explores the effective translation of Chinese and English numerical expressions. And it is valuable for foreigners to master the cultural implications of those expressions and can help them to reach a deeper understanding of the expressions. So we can reduce the misunderstandings between the cross culture communication of Chinese and English numerical expressions. This paper believes that the traditional term “numeral” is not adequate to illustrate the conflicts caused by the misunderstandings of the numbers’ connotations in the cross culture communication. Because the “numeral” only means symbols represent a single number, but it is the terms and idioms which contain the single numerals that cause many confusions and conflicts in the cross culture communication. So in this thesis the author broadens the concept and borrows another concept “numerical expression” which includes the following two parts, the first group is individual numerical words or numerals such as the ordinal numbers; the second group is the numerical idioms which are idioms or proverbs that contain individual numerals. So the first part of this thesis mainly aims at discussing the phenomenon of Chinese and English numerical expressions’ cultural implications in these two groups respectively. So based on the phenomenon of same numerical expression having different cultural connotations, the second part contributes the reasons that lead to this phenomenon. The author believes that besides the historical and religious factors, psychological differences and different views toward the world should also be included. However, Only pointing out the reasons is not enough, the way that we deal with those differences is more important and valuable. Therefore in the last part, the author proposes the successful translation of Chinese and English numerical expressions that will help us get familiar with the cultural implications and the connotations of Chinese and English numerical expressions, and diminish the conflicts in the cross culture communication in a long term. 1 Differences between the cultural implications of Chinese and English numerical expressions No matter in which country or in what type of culture, numerical expression can be found easily. It is partly because that numerical expression occupies important position in human’s common sense, and partly because its basic function is calculating which is necessary for any human being. But still we can find, especially in the cross culture communication, even those simple numerical expressions carry some special cultural marks. So the first step of this paper is to find out those subtle differences. 1.1 The definition of numerical expression Since the usage of numerical expression is very wide, it will be more convenient and clear for further analyzing, if we divide the numerical expression into two groups. First group is the simple individual numerical word or simple numeral. For example, the common ordinal number: one, two, three…. And the other group is numerical idiom which means the idiom that contains individual numerals. For example, in Chinese, we have“一心一意”; in English, there is “in the seventh heaven”. So only if we take both of these two situations into consideration, we can have a comparatively complete understanding of numerical expressions 1.2 Chinese and English numerals’ conceptual and associative meanings The internal attribution of any thing can be studied clearly by comparison, so if we want to analyze the internal attribution of numerical expression----its cultural implication, we should choose numerical expressions form totally different language systems which are more likely to have diverse cultural backgrounds to compare. Since Chinese and English are two representative language system of eastern and western of which both the cultural and historical background are different, this paper chooses numerical expressions from Chinese and English to compare. According to Leech (1974), there are seven senses in words’ meaning among which conceptual and associative meaning are in sharp contrast. Conceptual meaning means the denotation and the most basic meaning of word. On the other hand, associative meaning refers to the connotation of word, in other words, it is what kind of picture people may associate when they hear the word, and it is diverse from culture to culture even from person to person. Therefore when we talk about the associative meaning of words, to a large extent we are talking about their cultural implications. 1.2.1 The conceptual meaning of Chinese and English numerals As we know that there is a close relationship between people’s life and number, so no matter Chinese or English, they all have a numerical system to represent numbers and basic calculation. And partly because individual numerals are principally natural thing, partly because the basic logic of calculation in our human’s mind is same, the conceptual meanings of Chinese and English individual numerical expressions are same. But people choose different symbols to represent various kinds of objects in nature; the relationship between symbols and objects is arbitrary. So that the only thing different is that Chinese and English use different symbols to represent individual numerical expressions. For example, the number “1” either in Chinese or in English represents the smallest positive integral number, but in Chinese, we use the symbol “一”， in English, it is represented by “one”. And both Chinese and English people can not deny the logic that 1 plus 1 equals to 2. Therefore we can safely say that in the territory of mathematics, there is no difference between Chinese and English individual numerals, or we can say the conceptual meaning of Chinese and English individual numerals is same. But the individual numeral does not only exist in the area of mathematics, it still can be found in literature or even in the daily conversation. When it is used in those situations, its meaning become wide and complicated, it is likely to be covered by cultural connotations. That is to say the conceptual meaning of individual numerals gives way to its associative meaning. 1.2.2 The associative meaning of Chinese and English numerals In this part, several examples will be presented to show the fact that a same individual numeral would have similar or different associative meanings when it is in the different cultural background. As Halliday has said that “the total range of meanings that is embodied in and realized through the language system is determined by the context of culture” (1971, p.59), so same numerical expression is also supposed to have different cultural implications. And the sample numerals we choose are all very typical examples which bear distinctive implications in different cultural backgrounds. 1.2.2.1 One The number one is the most simple but also the most complicated number. The reason for being simple is that it is the beginning of any natural words, but the reason for being complicated is that it has a lot of philosophical meanings either in Chinese or in English. Chinese people have great admiration for the number one since the Period of Warring States. (475-221 B.C.) And the first person who stated this kind of admiration is Lao Zi, in his book<道德经>, he declared “道生一，一生二，二生三，三生万物”. This is regarded as the earliest philosophy in China, the core significance of it is that the number one is the root of everything, and the number one in his idea is no longer only a simple number, it is viewed as the abstract universal rule which can generate everything, and give meaning to everything. So in Chinese people’s eyes the number one is the symbol of complete and beginning. And this kind of belief is handed down to every generation. “昔之得一者,天得一以清,地得一以宁,神得一以灵,谷得一以盈,万物得一以生,侯王得一以为天下贞”(<道德经>), all those old sayings prove how important the number one is to Chinese people. Even now the superior associative meaning of the number one is rooted in our head. When a baby is born, his or her family will celebrate this baby’s coming. And the day they choose is exactly one month after the baby is born. That is because Chinese people think the number one represent beginning of anything, so we should celebrate the crucial day wishing this day will be the beginning of baby’s smooth life. In English, the number one also has rich associative meanings. As we know the most influential book in western countries is the Bible, so the stories and sayings from Bible shape westerners’ mind as well as reflect their culture. In Bible, the God is referred as “The great one” or “The holy one” and the Satan is called as “The evil one”. That means in westerners’ eyes, the number one is the symbol of top and extreme. Though the number one in Chinese background and in English background does not have the identical connotations, their cultural implications are not totally different. Because Chinese people also can understand when the number one is used as the symbol of the top, and the westerners can accept its meaning of the beginning either. 1.2.2.2 Three Generally speaking, Chinese and English speaking countries have the similar view towards the number three, namely from the positive perspective. But there are still differences in terms of the degree and the specific form. In this section, we will have a brief observation of the cultural implication of the number three in Chinese and English background. In Chinese culture, the number three is one of the most significant numbers which bears special Chinese cultural implications. Chinese people think the number three is an auspicious number and from human society to natural phenomenon, the development of everything should be divided into three stages. This kind of tradition and philosophy started since Han dynasty, “天以三成之，王以三自持” （董仲舒，《春秋繁露》）. That is to say without three stages of development, the heaven or the super nature can not exist and the whole ruling system can not last a long time either. And if anything that fulfills its three stages of development, it is regarded as reach the complete and prefect period. This kind of implication is omnipresent in Chinese philosophy, the old sayings like, “三省吾身”from Confucius tells us if we can examine our own conscience from three aspects (royalty, credit, good habits ), we are complete. From this, we can see the importance of the number three in Chinese people’s mind, and the other example can be found in 《说文解字》which is the oldest and most authoritative book of explaining Chinese characters. In this book the number three is explained as the number indicating human, heaven and earth these three most precious works that gods have ever made. However, in western countries the cultural implication of the number three is also auspicious but in different ways. In English, the number three is the symbol of almighty, power, and unity. (Ifrah, 1998) Moreover, in the English speaking countries the number three is given the mysterious religious implication by the prevailing religious tradition of the Trinity. But the tradition of the Trinity is not the only place where the religious implication of the number three can be found. In the Christian theology, there are three aspects of virtue, specifically, piousness, hopeful and mercy. So from all this examples we know that the number three in English is more than an auspicious number but a religious one. 1.2.2.3 Two So from the above examples, we can see that occasionally, no matter in Chinese or in English some numerical expressions have the similar cultural implication, but only in different ways and to different degrees. However, there still are a lot of Chinese and English numerical expressions which bear totally different even opposite cultural implications. In this section, the author will give examples to illustrate this point. Chinese people have special feelings to the even numbers, which can be proved in the believe“天地万物之至理，无独必有对”. And the number two as the smallest even number is even more important in the Chinese culture, and this kind of affection can be seen clearly in the famous philosophy book of ancient china----<易经>. This book reveals the believe in even numbers, and the number two as the smallest even number has important position in Chinese culture and influences Chinese people’s view towards world to a great extent. This book believes that yin and yang are two original spirits that bring birth to the whole world. And yin and yang can also be regarded as two poles which complete each other as well as restrict each other, only when these two poles become balanced; it is the time to give birth. So in Chinese people’s mind the number two is an auspicious number. Not only there are lots of idioms that contain the number two and the core of Chinese philosophy is about the balance of two poles---yin and yang, also in the architecture, the concept of auspicious number two can be found, for example, the principle that runs though all ancient Chinese architect