Abstract There are different kinds of colors。 Color is closely related to people’s life。 Color words are an essential part of language system in each nation。 The color words are frequently used in human language and gifted with plentiful emotions and cultural connotations。 In both Chinese and English, color words differ in meaning owing to different cultural content, traditional customs and religious beliefs。 We should pay attention to not only their basic meaning but also their deeper symbolic meaning。 Due to respective cultural background and tradition, people's feelings and expressions to the color are not the same, so the symbolic meaning of colors can produce distinctive differences between Chinese and Western cultures。 Therefore it is important to grasp the differences between the literal meaning and associative meaning。 This thesis mainly discusses the cultural connotation of color words which involve six basic colors white, black, red, green, yellow and blue both in Chinese and English language by means of comparison。 Further comprehension of color words in different cultural backgrounds can help us to communicate with others successfully。73199

Keywords: color words; cultural connotations; comparative study

摘要世界上存在各种不同的颜色，颜色与人们的生活密切相关。颜色词是每个国家语言系统中一个重要组成部分。在人类语言中,颜色词是经常使用的,具有丰富的情感和文化内涵。在中文和英文两种语言中，颜色词意思的不同是源于不同民族的文化内涵,传统习俗和宗教信仰的不同。我们不仅要注意它们的基本意义，更要关注他们的深层象征意义。因为各自处于不同的文化背景和传统,人们对颜色的感觉和表达是不一样的,所以颜色的象征意义造成了中西方文化的巨大差异。因此我们很有必要去理解颜色词的字面意义和联想意义的区别。本文主要通过对比中英两国语言中的六种基本颜色白,黑,红,绿,黄和蓝的区别探讨了颜色词的文化内涵，进一步理解不同的文化背景下的颜色词可以帮助我们与他人成功交流与沟通。

毕业论文关键词：颜色词；文化内涵；对比研究

Contents

1。 Introduction 1

2。 Literature Review 1

3。 Differences between English and Chinese in Color Words 2

3。1 White 3

3。2 Black 3

3。3 Red 3

3。4 Green 4

3。5 Yellow 5

3。6 Blue 6

4。 Reasons for Different Culture Connotation in Color Words 6

4。1 Traditional customs 6

4。2 Religious beliefs 8

5。 Conclusion 9

Works Cited 11

1。 Introduction 

Famous linguist Leech holds the opinion that the conceptual meaning of a word is the most basic sense expressed in the language of communication。 The connotative meaning attached to the concept of the meaning, is not a fundamental part of the language, but only incidental。 That is to say, the connotations of the word are demonstrating the national culture which are based on the conceptual meaning of words。 It can vary due to different persons, different ages and can also be due to different societies, nations or eras。

 The world we live in and the color are inseparable。 As a group of special words of the language, color words can be used to describe the specific color of object, to express emotions, attitudes, viewpoints and ideological connotations。 Six basic colors, white, black, red, green, yellow and blue, have the same concept of meaning between the Chinese and English language。 However, because of the different historical background, different religious beliefs and tradition and customs, the conceptual meanings of relative color words is a far cry from its connotation meaning。