英语动物词汇文化与汉语的比较分析 第6页
3.4 Mythology, Religions and Customs
Albatrosses have been described as “the most legendary of all birds”. In The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, a man on a ship kills an albatross which is then hung round his neck to show that he has brought bad luck. So someone with a burden or obstacle is said to have “an albatross around their neck”, the punishment given in the poem to the mariner who killed the albatross. Partly due to the poem, there is a widespread myth that sailors believe it disastrous to shoot or harm an albatross. In truth, however, sailors regularly killed and ate them, but they were often regarded as the souls of lost sailors. Affected by some mythologies and folklores, animals have been gradually added some mysterious and awe-inspiring colors because some animals are rare in those regions. Therefore, different cultures have their distinctive “totem” animals, i.e. their favorite animals, in which the regional and racial features characterize the various associative meanings of animals. To primordial communities, it’s the distinctive natural ability and the function of animals, man’s curiosity that result in man’s conceptualization of these totem animals. Then, animal worship appears. Of great importance in Chinese myth and culture, the tiger is one of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals. Also in various Chinese arts, the tiger is depicted as an earth symbol and equal rival of the Chinese dragon—the two representing matter and spirit respectively. “白虎” (the White Tiger) is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. In the suburbs of Kunming, China, there is a tourist attraction where the tiger worship of the Yi is displayed for visitors. This attraction called the Solar Calendar Square is complete with a growling tiger statue, measuring to be five meters high.（李君文 杨晓军，2000）
Although tiger and lion are both common in Chinese and English cultures, the associative meanings they have are not absolutely identical. In China, a common depiction of lion is the “king of the beasts”; hence, the lion has been a popular symbol of royalty and stateliness, as well as a symbol of bravery. Consequently, imperial guardian lions started to be placed in front of imperial palaces for protection. But there are not many idioms about lion in Chinese except for a few like“河东狮吼”(lioness’ roar, describing the fear of a hen-pecked husband). In spit of lion’s solemn image, there are more idioms and proverbs in Chinese about tiger as a result of its longer history in China.
In English culture, “Lion” is the nickname of medieval warrior rulers with a reputation for bravery, such as Richard I of England, known as Richard the Lionheart. Lions are frequently depicted on coats of arms, either as a device on shields themselves, or as supporters.
It has been extensively depicted in literature, in sculptures, in paintings, on national flags, and in contemporary films and literature. The lion’s role as King of the Beasts has been used in cartoon; the 1994 Disney animated feature film The Lion King. The lion is used as a symbol of sporting teams, from national association football teams such as England, Scotland and Singapore to famous clubs such as the Detroit Lions of the NFL; and some famous brands also take lion as their symbol, like the famous car Peugeot.
To Chinese people, it’s “tiger” that is referred to as the king of animals and stands for power, vigor and bravery. Tiger enjoys a title of the “king of forest” of “king of beasts” in China, since we take the figure of“王”on the forehead of tiger. 原文请找腾讯752018766优,文'论~文^网
http://www.youerw.com to stop doing a dangerous thing than it is to continue doing it);“纸老虎”(“paper tiger”, an expression borrowed from the famous remark of Chairman Mao, which refers to a country or organization that seems powerful but is not).
After illustrating the concepts and related idioms of lion and tiger in Chinese and English, it’s advisable to draw a safe conclusion that the ideas about the two cultures are interchanged: what we call“拦路虎”expressed in English is “a lion in the way”;“置身虎穴”is “to put one’ s head in the lion’s mouth”; and“虎头蛇尾”is “in like a lion, out like a lamb”. （杜新宇, 2004）
3.5 Different Thinking Models and Aesthetic Judgements
Another cause of these cultural differences may be the various thinking models and categorization of different nations. Categorization is the mental process of classifying our experiences into different categories based on commonalities and differences. Categorization is a major ingredient in the creation of human knowledge, and it allows us to relate present experiences to past ones. Influenced by the historical and social factors, the categorization of Chinese language would be different from that of English. (刘润清, 文旭, 2006)
牛饮 drink like a fish
落汤鸡 a drowned cat
拦路虎 a lion in the way
瓮中之鳖 rat in a hole
一丘之貉 birds of a feather
如鱼得水 like a duck to water
胆小如鼠 as timid as a rabbit
蠢得像猪 as stupid as a goose
非驴非马 neither fish nor fowl
害群之马 a black sheep
狗急跳墙 even a worm will turn
多如牛毛 as plentiful as black berries
赶鸭子上架 teach a pig to play on a flute
热锅上的蚂蚁 a cat on hot bricks
宁为鸡头不为凤尾 Better be the head of a dog than the tail of a lion. 上一页 [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] 下一页
英语动物词汇文化与汉语的比较分析 第6页下载如图片无法显示或论文不完整，请联系qq752018766
