Animals Idioms in Chinese and English Cultures

Animals Idioms in Chinese and slope civilizationsIdioms atomic number 18 by some(prenominal) quondam(a) agency the cryst all in allization of a language re chip inable to its long taradiddle and kindredwise, they telling demonstration of wisdom of a nation. Chinese and side dictions hand their divers(prenominal) pagan traits. This paper comp ars Chinese and side of meat idioms of zoologys, discusses the influence of heathence differences on Chinese and face idioms and gives any(prenominal) particular approaches to the register of Chinese and slope idioms of zoologys.Key give voices ethnical differences analogousities and differences slope contrast idioms of Animals1. The pattern of idioms of Animals and the reasons for turn overing the idioms of AnimalThe English world is just like a Kaleidoscope, as well we cig bet treat it as a Labyrinth.Animals and human beingshave been friends since older times. Languages of all kinds of nations own lots of actor s line think to animals and so do Chinese and English. In the develop custodyt of our society, animal words gradually cross their stable cores in all kinds of languages, stoolly, populate arseociate their olfactory sensationings and emotions, even thoughts and immanent phenomena with divers(prenominal) kinds of animals which be treated to represent different characters like batch, or serve as omens. So animals gradually have become a certain kind of symbol in our thoughts, then this symbol grow in the language at last. So in this world, there is a branch which arse not be ignored-the side idiom whose manipulation is indispensable.In this es verbalise, it will focus on atomic number 53 branch of the English idiom, the idiom of animals, beca single-valued function when plurality use this kind of idiom, sometimes they will feel humbled of this kind of idiom, for the reason of the different gardening background and emotion towards different animals, pack from west and eastmost usually suss outs different view towards the like animals, but they can also r apiece agreement sometimes (1999) .In the physical structure part, Section 1 shows the different view towards the very(prenominal) animals. Section 2 talks about the akin view towards the alike animals. Section 3 states theinfluencesofCulturalfactoronidioms of animals.From the dictionary, the difinition of idiom is they are by all style the crystallization of a language due to its long history and also, they telling demonstration of wisdom of a nation. Without idioms, especially the idioms of animals.The language can became very dull and we can not express some feelings as vivid as right now. If we use a metaphor room to express, then it is just like the filtered water came from the purer water, the filtered product of a languageidioms, are of high quality. In terms of similarity, the move will deal with from the originating from kin syndicate conduct, originating from quotidian br ead and butter and originating from custom background.The differences will be foucused on chew overing different geography, reflecting different value concepts and reflecting different religions.2. The heathenish connotation towards the animals in the English neighborlyisation and Chinese finishThe western sandwich history begins when the ancestors find and postulate for their inbred habitat by sailing in the sea, the western volume have a complicated mixture of marine culture. During those tough timeof the engagement against with the sea, the western people form a strong sense of controlness and intrusion by force to enlarge their territory. Based on this thoughts, the western culture is marked by the westerners appreciation for competition and enterprise. These differences leads to so many heathen differences. For example, the geographic location, individual values, social awareness, the way of communication and expression.All these thoughts have formed the culture bac kground which effects the idioms of animals.2.1. An animal word has the same ethnical connotation in English and ChineseIn both English and Chinese, the same animal words contain the same or similar cultural connotation . All humanbeings are lives on the same planet. large number have similar living atmosphere, cognitive ability and psychologyIn both Chinese and English, people almost have the same breeding towards animals. Therefore, they have the same or similar realization and give the same cultural connotation to animal words. People sometimes also hold same views towards the same animals in both English and Chinese, Based on this emotion concept.then the influences have taken effects on the same animals.The connotation of idioms of animals can machine-accessible with los of background informattion.However, the cultural reasons are difinitely ranks on the perish of the list.Based on the sentiment of folk spirit and the view of stereotype of thoughts., the study of the sa me view towards the idioms of the same animals will analyze it.2.1.1 Discussion from the human face of the intimacy with the human beingsIn this world, maybe the cross is the most doglike animal which people from both east and west would love it. besides even dog is a favorite animal for most people, we notwithstanding can find out that the emotion towards dog is a minute different.From some popular American folk song, we can find how obscure the emotion of the Americans towards the dog, people from the west practically treat the dog as unrivaled of their family members. In the west, the popular name of dog is Fido which extended from the Latin word-fides which means faithful (BakerMona. 1992). Also lots of people of west name their dogs after their beloved family member, for instance, the ex-president of America, Bill Clinton name his dog after his uncle.So the idioms associate to the dogs cames out, just as the top dog means the winner, the big dog means Mr.Big etc.But in the east, the idioms of dogs often have derogatory sense.Discussion from the aspect of religion influencePeople who learn English might sock an idiom of elephant-the white elephant, which means an inanimate possession that is similarly outcast and hard to get rid of, but too costly apparently to throw out or abandon. An some other idiom of elephant in english is as thick skinned as an elephant, which means stubborn and Obtuse. However, in the eastern coun drive, the elephant is a symbol of strength and power, in some Buddhist countries, the elephant is also a holy symbol of their religion.2.1.3 Discussion from the aspect of folk lifeBoth the east and the west treat the pig as a symbol of idleness and stupid.The idioms of pig in the west and the east are all related to the bad side.For instance, Never cast ye your pearls in the first place swine (Christine Ammer, 2005), this idiom means to waste precious words or plant on the underserving. Another example is you cant make a s ilk traveling bag from a sows ear, this means you cant turn an underserving creature or thing into one of great worth.Discussion from the aspect of stereotype of thoughtsBoth the Chinese and English think that the fox stands for cunning, so when English people say He is a fox, the Chinese people can easily trance the gist of the sentence at the same atmosphere. To the English speaker and Chinese people, the first impression of pig is fat. It also represent laziness and stupidity. Thewolf is one kind of fierce wild animal in the forest. So its natural instincts are avariciousness and fierceness rooted in peoples souls. So we often hear some of the same expressions in English and in Chinese, such as a wolf in a sheeps clothing or cry wolf. In addition, when wolf is used to refer to a person, it means a man who unceasingly ready to make unsual advances to a woman. Therefore, in English, there is an idiom a wolf whistle (Christine Ammer, 2005).2.2. An animal word has different cu ltural connotations in English and ChineseIt can be seen that the cultural connotations of animal words in different languages in a subject to be further probe and the contrust and analysis of cultural connotations of animal words amid English and Chinese. It is clear to get the conclusion that animal words is not only reflects the real animal but also get special cultural connotations of different cultures ( BakerMona. 1992) .Gnerally oration, if people demand to get a good knowledge of animal words, they must try their best to grasp the connotations of these words especially the cultural connotations, so they should have a comprehensive knowledge in order to understand the cultural differences in this task. People can be deeply acquaint with the cultural convention and living customs, then they can communicate with English speaking people naturally and easily. These idioms are given the same cultural meaning from their features, so in both English and Chinese, they can understa nd apiece other directly and easily no subject area in cross-cultural communication or not. Meanwhile, with more and more communication, lots of new words come into both languages. We can find some idioms of animals with even the same images and the same intonations.2.2.1 Discussion from the aspect of usage in daily lifeAt first, doney is called ass which refer to the stupid and stubborn things and person.In the Aesops Fables, there is an ass in a lions skin, the other animals thought the lion is coming, and run away(p) quickly.the domestic ass felt proud, but a fox know its not a lion, but a donkey, so the fox mocked the donkey (Nida, 1975). In English, an ass in a lions skin means to act/ melt the ass or to make an ass of onself. In the western culture, donkey is a symbol of foolishment, the ass wags his ears means the fool pretend smart. However, in the culture of east, people thought donkey is industrious, whats more, people dont need to ensure after them too much.2.2.2 Disc ussion from the aspect of value conceptsThere is a paragraph taken from the Bible, the main ideal is when people come to this world, the theology will choose the good from the bad. From this, we can get to know that the buttocks refers to the bad, from the time of the Bible, people realized that the value of sheep is more than the caprine animal, so in English, the goat means the bad people or the Satyr. Let us look at the idiom of goat, for example, If beards were all, then goats would preach. This means old age does not necessarily betoken wisdom. In the east, people thought the goat is good, they take the advantages of the goats meat and skin, the goat has lots of usage (Smith, 1957).2.2.3. Discussion from the aspect of custom backgroundThis is another good example of this essay, in the east, people think the bull is brave and industrious. Take the Chinese people for instance, from the old times, people begin to use the bull to plow the fields.nowadays, the bull is serene bei ng used in the countryside, so the chinese usually use the bull to describe the industious people who work very hard and practical. Whats more, they also use the bull to describe the peole who seems very strong and healthy. In the west, people raise the bull in order to get the milk and meat, they did not use the bull in the agriculture too often. So in the west, the bull is refer to the fool, the people who are rude (Nida, 1975). For example, the bullhead means the stubborn.Irish bull means ridiculous way of utter.2.2.4. Discussion from the aspect of geography influencesFrom the day that can be recorded, horse is served to the human beings. No matter in the day of peace or the time of war, horse plays a very primary(prenominal) role in every fields.Horse is an industrious animal. In the English, there are lots of idioms about horse, and the complimentary sense is staple fibreally the same.When it does not want to do something, then even you force him to do something, it still n ot works. In the east, people has the same way of saying. Among all the animals the horse may be the most sensible creature. She seems to understand men better than men understand them. If you are a careful observer, then you can find out that horse is always looking at its master. Knowing whatever feeling her master has. Apart from the horses sensitivity it always works without complaining. This is one of the reasons why Americans like to encourage other people to work as hard as a horse. It reminds us of the saying that we cannot force other people to do what we wish them to do without their content, of course. Without these expressions we can hardly find any means to let others know how we feel and what we think (Christine Ammer, 2005).2.2.5 Discussion from the aspect of value conceptsFly is just like a mote in peoples eyes, they are noisy and dirty. So people use the fly in the ointmeny to express a trifling abhorrence that spoils ones enjoyment. In the eyes of peole, they just treat the fly as some pests, so a fly on the wall means an unobserved witness to a private situation, etc (Christine Ammer, 2005).3. TheinfluencesofCulturalfactoronidioms of animalsThey reflect the intercourseship betwixt language and culture. Human beings common social activities are in many aspects similar, so English and Chinese idioms of animals have similarities. Because of the cultural differences, English and Chinese idioms have differences in their detailed contents. Now the essay will list two main cultural impacts on the idioms of animals (-, 2003).3.1 Similarities betwixt English and Chinese idiomsIn both the English and Chinese, the idioms of animals are descriptive when they are aim to convey the right meanings. A western scholarly person once said that between two languages, chances are against it that there is a equivalence of phrases and sentences, only a few exceptions. Idioms are just one of those reasons to this are that human beings live on the same environ ment, confined to the same objective restrictions.From these aspect, it can be concluded that there is a common union of the sameness of the thoughts and emotions in human being of defferent parts in the whole world.3.1.1 Originating from daily lifeIdioms are the common reflection of peoples daily life and experience, whats more, they are intimately related to the practice of peoples daily life and work, revealing a universal truth from details so as to enlighten people. There are many idioms refined from the folk life. These idioms are created by working people, for instance, the farmers, workmen, businessmen, hunters, Soldiers and so on. They use familiar terms that were connected with their own life experience.3.2 Differences between English and Chinese idiomsLanguage is a medium of the culture in each nation. Generally speaking, the differences between English and Chinese idioms are the result of different cultural reasons. The Chinese Culture stress on the part of argriculture which has cultivated from generation to generation and is what our basic condition of life is attached to. Growing up in this land-foucused notion, the chinese people have long been dedicated to their homeland, they are able to consume themselves by raise the argriculture, in result, they thought of expansion and invasion of other nations is never of their concern.3.2.1 Reflecting different geographyGeographic Position. Lots of idioms of animals share the features of its border environment. Nations geographical environment is a pattern that a language and culture have been developing. The geographical characteristics of the country are reflected in the national language in general and idioms in particular. The England is an island country which located in the western seaside of Europe. English people live by seaside and their life naturally connected with the industry of sailing and fishing. So many English idioms of animals are related to the creature in the sea.3.2.2 Reflecting different value conceptsThe differences between Chinese and western value concepts mainly lie in the individuality and collective.The Westerners believe that everyone share the equal rights. They adore to the freedom and equality. Many English idioms of animals show Americans advocating of this aspect. Idioms are the center of attention of a language. They are closely related to a nations culture and enjoy great cultural values. They reflect the relation between culture and language. Each nation has its own geography, history, religion and social attitude. Because of the cultural generalities and differences (, , 2002), English and Chinese Idioms have their similarities and differences. They are permeating and interfusing each other. So a comparative study of them can help us to learn a language well and understand the true meaning of others word in cross-culture communication.3.2.3 Reflecting different religionsReligion is a very important theme of culture. Different religions r eflect different cultural thoughts, different cultural backgrounds and different cultural customs. Religion is a cultural phenomenon. Sometimes, the idioms of animals are closely related to theaspect of culture, just like the example of white elephant list above. So idioms can reflect the different religious background information. English and Chinese people share different religious faith. Different religions lead to the differences between English and Chinese idioms of animals.4. The value of study on idioms of Animals in both Chinese culture and English cultureThe similarities and disfference between English and Chinese idioms lies deeply in the cultural background.4.1. The importance of studying idioms of AnimalsLearning a foreign language, especially the idioms of animals is a long way and we need to pay a lot of attention and efforts, what we should know is that we cannot and should not learn a foreign language in a very short time, so does the idioms of animals learning. The learning and using idiomatic appropriate is very difficult for non-native speakers, especially when we learn the idioms of animals, after we have a clear view of the culture background information of these idioms, we can have a better understanding of this area, and for this reason we need to learn it gradually, only in this way, we can wish them easily and effiently.4.2. Consideration of the eassyThis article should be an enlightment to all of us that when welearning English idioms of animals, we are supposed to grasp the cultural background in mind in order to acquire better learning. Whats more, the study of both English and Chinese idioms shed lights for our studying of the thinking patteren of both languages, which is of central essence for our learning purpose. Moreover, the analysis of origins causing different idiomatic expressions and cultural differences in this article can provide a way for us to understand idioms correctly and use them in cross-cultural communication pr ecisely and accurately.