记忆女神的女儿哪集有h:The Similarities and Dissimilarities

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The Similarities and Dissimilarities of The Cultural Connotations of Animal Words in Both Chinese and English

Contents
Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………1
Key words…………………………………………………………………………………1
1.Introduction………………………………………………………………………….......2
2. Cultural connotation of animal words in English and Chinese…………………………2.
2.1. An animal word has the same cultural connotation in English and Chinese………….2
2.2. An animal word has different cultural connotations in English and Chinese………...3
2.3. Different conventional cultures……………………………………………………….3
2.4 .Different aesthetic appreciations……………………………………………………...4.
2.4.1. The same animal word bears favorable meanings in English but derogatory meanings in Chinese……………………………………………………………………………….....4
2.4.2. The same animal word bears derogatory meanings in English but favorable meanings in Chinese………………………………………………………………………………….4
3. An animal word has both the same and different cultural connotations in English and Chinese …………………………………………………………………………................5
4. An animal word has no corresponding cultural connotations in English and Chinese…………………………………………………………………………………….6
4.1. An animal word has Chinese connotations but none in English………………………6
4.2. An animal word has English connotations but none in Chinese………………………7
5. Different animal words have similar cultural connotations……………………………..7.
6. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….8
Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………...9
Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………....10
Abstract: A language and its culture are closely connected with each other , in which the language can’t exist without its culture , and there must be brands of specific cultural connotations. This paper tries to make an analysis of English and Chinese animal words and phrases from the view of cultural distinctions , and tries to find out general characters and specific characters.
Key words: animal words ;culture connotation ;distinction
The Similarities and Dissimilarities of The Cultural Connotations of Animal Words in Both Chinese and English
1. Introduction
Animals are friends of human beings from ancient times. Languages of all nations contain a lot of words denoting animals and so do Chinese and English. In the social development, animal words gradually get their established connotations in all languages, that is, people associate their feelings and emotions, even happenings and natural phenomena with various animals which are thought to represent different characters like people, or serve as omens. Many animals have become a kind of symbol in people’s thinking, and this symbol is reflected in the language. This paper makes a detailed comparison of cultural connotations of animal words in the two languages in the background of cultural communication.
2. Cultural connotation of animal words in English and Chinese
Similarities and dissimilarities in the cultural connotations of animal words in the two languages should be taken into consideration in cross-cultural communication and translation because both English and Chinese are rich languages with a great number of words in which there are many words concerning animals related with people closely. On the one hand, animals are one of the most important sources of human's living. On the other hand, some animals are divined and respected by people. The symbolism of animals reflects special animal cultures of different nations. Because of people's way of living, histories, social customs, and so on and so forth, all play important roles in the change of connotative meaning of animal words. In a word, all the people, drawing on their background, decide what a word means. So the cultural connotations of animal words in one language sometimes coincide with those in another. However, under more circumstances, they are distinguished from each other.
2.1. An animal word has the same cultural connotation in English and Chinese
Thanks to the similar ecological environment, animal has marked characteristics whether Chinese or English speaking people have something in common on the attitude towards them and even use them in comparison to describe the special properties of people or things. So people in the two cultures try to study animals from their basic properties, which offer them the same or similar association and cultural connotation of animals. There are similar sayings in the two languages such as “as fat as a pig” “肥得像头猪”, “as happy as a lark” “像百灵鸟一样快乐”, “make a monkey out of somebody” is like the Chinese saying “拿某人当猴耍”. People in China explain “He is as cunning as a fox” as “他这个人像狐狸一样狡猾”.
Swan stands for holiness and purity in English ,meanwhile, in Chinese ,the saying “癞蛤蟆想吃天鹅肉” refers to fantasying impractically. The ugliness of toad is used to lay emphasis on the holiness of swan. Swans dance in China originated form a legend in which a beautiful girl jumped into the water in order to fight against feudal marriage. Finally, she became a pretty swan. In English, the swan in “All your swan is goose” refers to nice wish.
English speaking people use bug to refer to someone who is partial to somebody or something, such as “a camera bug”(摄影迷), “a football bug”(足球迷), “a bug at sports(体育迷)”.
In China , bug has a similar usage, for example, “懒虫”means a lazy person; “糊涂虫”refers to an unwise person; “蛀虫” refers to someone who embezzle national or others’ properties.
These animal words with both the same denotative meaning and connotative meaning prove that they reflect the common characters of the two cultures in some aspects. To most people, there are some similarities in the national environment and their living conditions. So many animal words possess the same connotation, even in two different cultures. There are many other examples to show the some animal having the same cultural connotation in both languages,such as:
Wolf   as cruel as a wolf(像狼一样凶残)
Pig   eat like a pig , make a pig of oneself(大吃大喝)
Bee   as busy as a bee(像蜜蜂一样忙碌)
Ass   make an ass of oneself(干蠢事)
Dog   live a dog’s life(过着狗一样的生活)
2.2. An animal word has different cultural connotations in English and Chinese
In most cases, the referential meanings of an animal are the same but their cultural connotations are obviously different, conflicted even opposite in two cultures. The common phenomenon in language is worth attention. Different cultural environments provide Chinese and English speaking people with different imaginations on animals and offer richer cultural connotations to animal words .In the following paragraphs, the author presents the differences of cultural connotation of animal words in English and Chinese from two aspects: different conventional cultures and different aesthetic appreciations.
2.3. Different conventional cultures
The dragon in English and “龙”in Chinese are both imaginary animals but have very different connotations.
To Chinese “龙” is something sacred and has been referred to as the ancestor of the Chinese nation. That is why the Chinese call themselves “龙的传人”(descendants of the dragon) and Chinese feudal emperors were often referred to as “真龙天子”,wearing “龙袍”,living in palaces decorated with the dragon. “龙王”(the dragon king)is a powerful god in Chinese legendary which rules the seas and other water bodies and is in charge of raining . Many Chinese would “望子成龙”,but its literal translation “to expect one’s son to become a dragon” would sound ridiculous to the English speaking people, because in their mind the dragon is some evil monster which can spit fire and possesses three to nine heads. There are very few English idioms with the word “dragon” except “blind dragon” and “fight like a dragon”. Out of such consideration, “亚洲四小龙” is properly turned into “the four tigers of Asia”.
Phoenix is an unusual kind of animal, which is the king of all the birds in Chinese legendary. It is believed that phoenix is the symbol of peacefulness and it brings people good luck. In ancient times, it was used to compare to a person with virtue. “凤毛麟角”refers to rare, precious persons or things.
“山窝里飞出了个金凤凰”means that a person with special ability comes from a remote village. However, In English, it is said that phoenix lived in Sahara for about 500 years. It would build a nest covered with spice before burning itself into ashes from which a new phoenix was born. Therefore, phoenix, in English, stands for regeneration. For example, Religion, like a phoenix, has been resurrected form the ashes of the war.
2.4 .Different aesthetic appreciations
Aesthetic appreciation is related with people’s preference or detestation towards animals. The corresponding animal word will have favorable meaning if the animal is appreciated, on the contrary, it will have negative meaning if the animal is disgusted.
2.4.1. The same animal word bears favorable meanings in English but derogatory meanings in Chinese
Take dog for example, in most cases, the word “dog” is favorable in its connotation in the English language. This is reflected in sayings like “Love me, love my dog”; “a lucky dog”. “To help a lame dog over the stile” means to help someone in difficulty. “Every dog has its day” means every person will some day succeed or become fortunate. But figures of speech like these are not proper in Chinese as the word 狗in most Chinese phrases are associated with some derogatory connotation, as is reflected in sayings like “狗急跳墙,狗头军师,狗仗人势,狐朋狗友,狗心狼肺,狗眼看人低,狗嘴里吐不出象牙,丧家之犬”,etc.
In Greek and Roman mythology, owl always stays by the goddess of witness. It is invited to make a verdict on arguments between animals, especially on emergent occasions. Therefore, in English, owl is a bird standing for witness. Such as “as wise as an owl” Owlish refers to clever, shrewd. For example, Patrick peered owlishly at us through his glasses. However, in Chinese, owl is thought as a symbol of omen because it always flies around graveyard at night, sending out sad voice. In the old legend ,it is said that someone would die if the owl rest on his house . Owl is related to bad luck, death .There are many expressions showing people’s view towards owl, such as “夜猫子进宅,无事不来”, “夜猫子抖翅,大小有点事”, “夜猫子进屋,全家都哭”,etc.
Whale is a huge animal, so in English it is a symbol of valuable things. The following examples proves it---- a whale of a chance(一个极好的机会), whale on skating (滑冰高手), a whale at tennis(善打网球的人).However, in china, people pay little attention to its value but to its huge appetite. “蚕食鲸吞”means that a small country is embezzled like a silkworm eating little by little or like a whale swallowing.
2.4.2. The same animal word bears derogatory meanings in English but favorable meanings in Chinese
In Chinese, “猫” is a symbol of loveliness, shrewdness. Chinese people love cat because it is a lovely companion and it is a master in catching mice. Some ancient poets wrote poems to prize cats. But in English, cat is embodiment of devil. People detest cat, especially the black cat. In Chinese , “喜鹊”is an auspicious bird .it is said that its voice brings good news as the following saying shows:
今朝闻鹊喜,家信必有归;
破颜看鹊喜,拭泪听猿啼;
鹊声喳喳宁有知,家人听鹊占归期.
What’s more, its voice is the forest of fine weather, such as
鹊声宣日出
晴色喧从喜鹊知
It is proved that magpie can bring us good luck, whereas in English, it refers to wordy,garrulous people .for example:
She is a magpie of a woman.
She kept muttering like a magpie.
It is suggested that people in English speaking counties feel disgusted towards its voice. Besides, it stands for chaos, disorder. For example, “a magpie collection”, “to magpie together”. Apart from the above examples, there are many other animals, such as cricket, cuckoo, bat, petrel, and mouse, having favorable meanings in English but having derogatory meanings in Chinese.
3. An animal word has both the same and different cultural connotations in English and Chinese
Language, the reflection of especially social culture, is the result of social development and effects people's ideas, thought and imagination. Different nations have different imaginations about animals according to their own thinking rules, knowledge scales, living customs and moral standards and the people endow them different cultural functions. Meanwhile, because of the similarity of the object living circumstances, it is unavoidable that some animal words, on the other hand, have the same cultural connotation.
Fox, in both English and Chinese, refers to a common wild animal with a cunning nature. When used in comparison, it is a synonym of “slyness, trickiness, and deceitfulness ”. On this point ,the similarity of cultural connotation of the animal word is beyond our mind .People are very familiar with a series of English and Chinese idioms or sayings .For example, as cunning as a fox(狡猾得像个狐狸),as sly as a fox(像狐狸一样狡猾),a sly old fox(一只狡猾的老狐狸); “露出了狐狸尾巴”, “狐狸再狡猾也逃不过猎人的眼睛”
  Meanwhile, fox have different connotations in the two respective cultures. For example, in Chinese ,the coquettish women are blasphemed as “狐狸精”;a group of evil people who accomplish with each other are called “狐朋狗友”;the behavior that a person bullies others by evil authority is referred to “狐假虎威”;flattering is known as “狐媚”.In English, fox does not have a derogatory meaning to such extents. It refers to deceitfulness while it refers to prizing on the fine looking and shrewdness. For example, in America, “a fox” is used to refer to a ***y, charming or a smart girl; “crazy like a fox” refers to a shrewd person who is not easily cheated. Even some people take fox as their name, from which people's favoritism towards the animal is obviously understood.
  In English, peacock always has derogatory meanings. Webster’s third Now International Dictionary of the English Language explains it as following: One making a proud or arrogant display of himself. Collins Co build English Language Dictionary explains that if you describe someone, especially, a man as a peacock, you mean that he is rather proud of himself and likes wearing attractive clothes and looking good .It shows that peacock usually has derogatory sense in English. Therefore, “as proud as a peacock”, “all the girls were peacocking in their bustle on” are often used in their daily life. In Chinese, peacock is said to be vain ,conceiting .For example, “孔雀开屏,自作多情” , “孔雀爱羽,虎豹爱爪”,in Bleak Night,Yangsuo wrote “孔雀一亮相,显得又矜持又傲气”.
  On the other hand, peacock is a symbol of gook luck. People say that it is auspicious to see peacock open the wings. People of Dai Minority living in the south of Yunnan province show their hope by peacock dance, whereas, in English, prettiness is ignored while its vanity is taken notice of.
4. An animal word has no corresponding cultural connotations in English and Chinese
  We change our living experience to language and devote meanings to it. However, languages distinguish from each other caused by different cultures. Some connotations exist in one language but they don’t exist in another” R.Lado.said in Linguistics Across Cultures in 1957.That is, there are rich connotations of one thing in one culture but none in another. Similarly, the connotations of an animal word are plentiful in one culture while none exists in another because it lacks corresponding associations.
4.1. An animal word has Chinese connotations but none in English
  Chinese people like to use the mandarin duck as the symbol for love because a mandarin couple always lives together in the water at ease. In a newly-married couple's room, there are many things with pictures about mandarin duck such as “鸳鸯帐”, “鸳鸯被”,“鸳鸯枕”.But the image of the mandarin duck in the phrase have to be translated into “love birds” as the mandarin duck is a kind of duck, which has no symbolic meaning at all in English.
  The English speaking people feel puzzled when they meet“你真熊”, “他太牛了”, “那个家伙简直象条泥鳅”.Because in English, bear has no symbolic meaning of stupidness or incompetence, neither cattle refers to stubbornness. There is no loach in most English speaking countries. So people do not think it as a kind of fish, let alone a cunning animal. Of course they can not understand the connotative meaning of “滑”as sly,tricky,diplomatic and so on.
  Chinese people believe that tortoise can live for hundreds of years. So it is a symbol of a long life in Chinese culture. It is the reason that there are many carvings about tortoise on ancient palaces, temples and other buildings in china. On the other hand, tortoise has a very derogatory meaning. It is a terrible insult for somebody to be called “王八”, “乌龟王八蛋”.In English there are no such allusion whether with a favorable meaning or negative meaning.
  Silkworm comes from china and the silk fabrics are very popular in foreign countries. Silk culture of china is known in the whole world as “丝绸之路”leads to western countries. Silkworm is spoken highly in the poem for its dedication .So cultural connotations of silkworm are endowed to Chinese whereas to most English speaking people, silkworm is, at most, a kind of small animal. Generally speaking, it is obvious to see the great influences of different cultures on animal words.
4.2. An animal word has English connotations but none in Chinese
  It is difficult for Chinese people to understand some animal words because they have special meaning in English .For example, “as merry as a cricket”, “as cunning as a dead pig”, “as blind as a bat”, “as dumb as an oyster” and “as happy as a crow”, and so on.
  “White elephant” refers to an animal with huge body, big ears long nose and sharp teeth in Chinese, however, in English it refers to huge but clumsy and useless things.
  Buffalo has no connotative meanings in Chinese, whereas, in American English, an idiom “to buffalo”means. How it originated is relased with “West Movement”. At that time, people in the west part of America hunted a great number of buffalo for the skin then they could get much money from leather trading. However, they found that it was not an easy job to hunt buffalo, so some people complained: “We are buffaloed.” Which means that they felt helpless. Then it evolves into threaten, menace.
  In English, beaver is hard-working by nature and is known for building Den with branches of trees, stones and mud. “ ranger beaver” refers to a person who is diligent. “ goat” in English refers to a person who always does ***ual harassment towards women . “Duck” can to be used to a lovely person apart from the denotative meaning. “Cow” is a symbol of hardy and filthy. “A unicorn”, looking like horse but having only one horn, exists in the western legend. Which refers to something existing in name only. In Chinese, there is no animal word with such images, let alone corresponding cultural connotations.
  Besides, as far as chicken, goose, and ox are concerned, Chinese people consider them as common animals. Therefore, when they feel confused when thy come across the following sentences:
    You are a chicken, that is why you will not climb the tree
    You are a goose, how can you do that?
In the first sentence, we cannot get what the person said from the denotative meaning but from connotative meaning as “coward”. In the second sentence, goose suggest stupidness means fool.
Words vacancy is the evidence of national peculiarity of cultures in languages. Some animal words are endowed special cultural connotations in Chinese but none in English, or vice versa. This phenomenon will make people from two languages confused to some extent.
5. Different animal words have similar cultural connotations
In English and Chinese, some animal words have different referential meanings but they have similar or same cultural connotation, two different animal words from the two cultures respectively take on the same connotation. These words show that people in different cultures understand the objects by the same means and the phenomenon is related to their history to some extent. Some examples are presented as following:
  In English, horse is also used often to refer to a person, such as a “willing horse”. Plain good sense is referred to as “horse sense”. In the Chinese language, there is no such allusions ,but “牛”is often used to refer to a person .A hardworking person is called a “老黄牛”. Lu Xun’s saying of “俯首甘为孺子牛”is known to almost everybody in china. Because Chinese people have been using 牛in farming for thousands of years while horse has been used to do most farming work in Britain . Similarly, people of the two languages always use different animal words to express the same thought, especially in idioms as following:
落汤鸡   a drowned rat
鸡皮疙瘩 goose flesh
杀鸡取卵 kill the goose that lays the golden egg
瓮中之鳖 rat in a hole
胆小如鼠 chicken-hearted
蠢得象头猪 as stupid as a goose
象蜜蜂一样勤劳 as industrious as an ant
热锅上的蚂蚁   a cat on a hot tin roof
老虎的***摸不得 one should not twist the lion’s tail
拦路虎 a lion in the way
深如虎穴 beard the lion in his den
狐假虎威 donkey in a lion’s hide
非驴非马 neither fish nor fowl
吹牛 talk horse
牛饮 drink like a fish
公鸭嗓 as hoarse as a crow
过着牛马般的生活 lead a dog’s life
6. Conclusion
  Thus it can be seen that the cultural connotations of animal words in different languages is a subject to be further explored. It is clear to conclude that animal words is not only the sighs of real animal but also gifted with special cultural connotations of different cultures, Therefore, if people want to have a good grasp of animal words, they must try their best to understand the connotations of these words especially the cultural connotations, so they should read books as many as possible in order to understand the cultural differences. Only deeply acquaint themselves with the cultural convention and living customs, can people communicate with English speaking people confidently and successfully.
Acknowledgements
First of all, I would like to show my deepest gratitude to my tutor – Mrs. Lei Rong, for all the help she has offered me during the preparation and writing of this paper and for all the pains she took in reading and correcting my drafts. It is obvious that without her patient instruction, helpful suggestions and constant encouragement, I could not have fulfilled this task as successfully as I wished.  

Secondly, I wish to express my thanks to all those who have helped me in the preparation of this thesis. In the past two months, I have received considerable help from the teachers, and the other faculty members and the other students in different departments of Science College, Xinjiang Agriculture University, withoThe Similarities and Dissimilarities of The Cultural Connotations of Animal Words in Both Chinese and English

Contents
Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………1
Key words…………………………………………………………………………………1
1.Introduction………………………………………………………………………….......2
2. Cultural connotation of animal words in English and Chinese…………………………2.
2.1. An animal word has the same cultural connotation in English and Chinese………….2
2.2. An animal word has different cultural connotations in English and Chinese………...3
2.3. Different conventional cultures……………………………………………………….3
2.4 .Different aesthetic appreciations……………………………………………………...4.
2.4.1. The same animal word bears favorable meanings in English but derogatory meanings in Chinese……………………………………………………………………………….....4
2.4.2. The same animal word bears derogatory meanings in English but favorable meanings in Chinese………………………………………………………………………………….4
3. An animal word has both the same and different cultural connotations in English and Chinese …………………………………………………………………………................5
4. An animal word has no corresponding cultural connotations in English and Chinese…………………………………………………………………………………….6
4.1. An animal word has Chinese connotations but none in English………………………6
4.2. An animal word has English connotations but none in Chinese………………………7
5. Different animal words have similar cultural connotations……………………………..7.
6. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….8
Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………...9
Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………....10
Abstract: A language and its culture are closely connected with each other , in which the language can’t exist without its culture , and there must be brands of specific cultural connotations. This paper tries to make an analysis of English and Chinese animal words and phrases from the view of cultural distinctions , and tries to find out general characters and specific characters.
Key words: animal words ;culture connotation ;distinction
The Similarities and Dissimilarities of The Cultural Connotations of Animal Words in Both Chinese and English
1. Introduction
Animals are friends of human beings from ancient times. Languages of all nations contain a lot of words denoting animals and so do Chinese and English. In the social development, animal words gradually get their established connotations in all languages, that is, people associate their feelings and emotions, even happenings and natural phenomena with various animals which are thought to represent different characters like people, or serve as omens. Many animals have become a kind of symbol in people’s thinking, and this symbol is reflected in the language. This paper makes a detailed comparison of cultural connotations of animal words in the two languages in the background of cultural communication.
2. Cultural connotation of animal words in English and Chinese
Similarities and dissimilarities in the cultural connotations of animal words in the two languages should be taken into consideration in cross-cultural communication and translation because both English and Chinese are rich languages with a great number of words in which there are many words concerning animals related with people closely. On the one hand, animals are one of the most important sources of human's living. On the other hand, some animals are divined and respected by people. The symbolism of animals reflects special animal cultures of different nations. Because of people's way of living, histories, social customs, and so on and so forth, all play important roles in the change of connotative meaning of animal words. In a word, all the people, drawing on their background, decide what a word means. So the cultural connotations of animal words in one language sometimes coincide with those in another. However, under more circumstances, they are distinguished from each other.
2.1. An animal word has the same cultural connotation in English and Chinese
Thanks to the similar ecological environment, animal has marked characteristics whether Chinese or English speaking people have something in common on the attitude towards them and even use them in comparison to describe the special properties of people or things. So people in the two cultures try to study animals from their basic properties, which offer them the same or similar association and cultural connotation of animals. There are similar sayings in the two languages such as “as fat as a pig” “肥得像头猪”, “as happy as a lark” “像百灵鸟一样快乐”, “make a monkey out of somebody” is like the Chinese saying “拿某人当猴耍”. People in China explain “He is as cunning as a fox” as “他这个人像狐狸一样狡猾”.
Swan stands for holiness and purity in English ,meanwhile, in Chinese ,the saying “癞蛤蟆想吃天鹅肉” refers to fantasying impractically. The ugliness of toad is used to lay emphasis on the holiness of swan. Swans dance in China originated form a legend in which a beautiful girl jumped into the water in order to fight against feudal marriage. Finally, she became a pretty swan. In English, the swan in “All your swan is goose” refers to nice wish.
English speaking people use bug to refer to someone who is partial to somebody or something, such as “a camera bug”(摄影迷), “a football bug”(足球迷), “a bug at sports(体育迷)”.
In China , bug has a similar usage, for example, “懒虫”means a lazy person; “糊涂虫”refers to an unwise person; “蛀虫” refers to someone who embezzle national or others’ properties.
These animal words with both the same denotative meaning and connotative meaning prove that they reflect the common characters of the two cultures in some aspects. To most people, there are some similarities in the national environment and their living conditions. So many animal words possess the same connotation, even in two different cultures. There are many other examples to show the some animal having the same cultural connotation in both languages,such as:
Wolf   as cruel as a wolf(像狼一样凶残)
Pig   eat like a pig , make a pig of oneself(大吃大喝)
Bee   as busy as a bee(像蜜蜂一样忙碌)
Ass   make an ass of oneself(干蠢事)
Dog   live a dog’s life(过着狗一样的生活)
2.2. An animal word has different cultural connotations in English and Chinese
In most cases, the referential meanings of an animal are the same but their cultural connotations are obviously different, conflicted even opposite in two cultures. The common phenomenon in language is worth attention. Different cultural environments provide Chinese and English speaking people with different imaginations on animals and offer richer cultural connotations to animal words .In the following paragraphs, the author presents the differences of cultural connotation of animal words in English and Chinese from two aspects: different conventional cultures and different aesthetic appreciations.
2.3. Different conventional cultures
The dragon in English and “龙”in Chinese are both imaginary animals but have very different connotations.
To Chinese “龙” is something sacred and has been referred to as the ancestor of the Chinese nation. That is why the Chinese call themselves “龙的传人”(descendants of the dragon) and Chinese feudal emperors were often referred to as “真龙天子”,wearing “龙袍”,living in palaces decorated with the dragon. “龙王”(the dragon king)is a powerful god in Chinese legendary which rules the seas and other water bodies and is in charge of raining . Many Chinese would “望子成龙”,but its literal translation “to expect one’s son to become a dragon” would sound ridiculous to the English speaking people, because in their mind the dragon is some evil monster which can spit fire and possesses three to nine heads. There are very few English idioms with the word “dragon” except “blind dragon” and “fight like a dragon”. Out of such consideration, “亚洲四小龙” is properly turned into “the four tigers of Asia”.
Phoenix is an unusual kind of animal, which is the king of all the birds in Chinese legendary. It is believed that phoenix is the symbol of peacefulness and it brings people good luck. In ancient times, it was used to compare to a person with virtue. “凤毛麟角”refers to rare, precious persons or things.
“山窝里飞出了个金凤凰”means that a person with special ability comes from a remote village. However, In English, it is said that phoenix lived in Sahara for about 500 years. It would build a nest covered with spice before burning itself into ashes from which a new phoenix was born. Therefore, phoenix, in English, stands for regeneration. For example, Religion, like a phoenix, has been resurrected form the ashes of the war.
2.4 .Different aesthetic appreciations
Aesthetic appreciation is related with people’s preference or detestation towards animals. The corresponding animal word will have favorable meaning if the animal is appreciated, on the contrary, it will have negative meaning if the animal is disgusted.
2.4.1. The same animal word bears favorable meanings in English but derogatory meanings in Chinese
Take dog for example, in most cases, the word “dog” is favorable in its connotation in the English language. This is reflected in sayings like “Love me, love my dog”; “a lucky dog”. “To help a lame dog over the stile” means to help someone in difficulty. “Every dog has its day” means every person will some day succeed or become fortunate. But figures of speech like these are not proper in Chinese as the word 狗in most Chinese phrases are associated with some derogatory connotation, as is reflected in sayings like “狗急跳墙,狗头军师,狗仗人势,狐朋狗友,狗心狼肺,狗眼看人低,狗嘴里吐不出象牙,丧家之犬”,etc.
In Greek and Roman mythology, owl always stays by the goddess of witness. It is invited to make a verdict on arguments between animals, especially on emergent occasions. Therefore, in English, owl is a bird standing for witness. Such as “as wise as an owl” Owlish refers to clever, shrewd. For example, Patrick peered owlishly at us through his glasses. However, in Chinese, owl is thought as a symbol of omen because it always flies around graveyard at night, sending out sad voice. In the old legend ,it is said that someone would die if the owl rest on his house . Owl is related to bad luck, death .There are many expressions showing people’s view towards owl, such as “夜猫子进宅,无事不来”, “夜猫子抖翅,大小有点事”, “夜猫子进屋,全家都哭”,etc.
Whale is a huge animal, so in English it is a symbol of valuable things. The following examples proves it---- a whale of a chance(一个极好的机会), whale on skating (滑冰高手), a whale at tennis(善打网球的人).However, in china, people pay little attention to its value but to its huge appetite. “蚕食鲸吞”means that a small country is embezzled like a silkworm eating little by little or like a whale swallowing.
2.4.2. The same animal word bears derogatory meanings in English but favorable meanings in Chinese
In Chinese, “猫” is a symbol of loveliness, shrewdness. Chinese people love cat because it is a lovely companion and it is a master in catching mice. Some ancient poets wrote poems to prize cats. But in English, cat is embodiment of devil. People detest cat, especially the black cat. In Chinese , “喜鹊”is an auspicious bird .it is said that its voice brings good news as the following saying shows:
今朝闻鹊喜,家信必有归;
破颜看鹊喜,拭泪听猿啼;
鹊声喳喳宁有知,家人听鹊占归期.
What’s more, its voice is the forest of fine weather, such as
鹊声宣日出
晴色喧从喜鹊知
It is proved that magpie can bring us good luck, whereas in English, it refers to wordy,garrulous people .for example:
She is a magpie of a woman.
She kept muttering like a magpie.
It is suggested that people in English speaking counties feel disgusted towards its voice. Besides, it stands for chaos, disorder. For example, “a magpie collection”, “to magpie together”. Apart from the above examples, there are many other animals, such as cricket, cuckoo, bat, petrel, and mouse, having favorable meanings in English but having derogatory meanings in Chinese.
3. An animal word has both the same and different cultural connotations in English and Chinese
Language, the reflection of especially social culture, is the result of social development and effects people's ideas, thought and imagination. Different nations have different imaginations about animals according to their own thinking rules, knowledge scales, living customs and moral standards and the people endow them different cultural functions. Meanwhile, because of the similarity of the object living circumstances, it is unavoidable that some animal words, on the other hand, have the same cultural connotation.
Fox, in both English and Chinese, refers to a common wild animal with a cunning nature. When used in comparison, it is a synonym of “slyness, trickiness, and deceitfulness ”. On this point ,the similarity of cultural connotation of the animal word is beyond our mind .People are very familiar with a series of English and Chinese idioms or sayings .For example, as cunning as a fox(狡猾得像个狐狸),as sly as a fox(像狐狸一样狡猾),a sly old fox(一只狡猾的老狐狸); “露出了狐狸尾巴”, “狐狸再狡猾也逃不过猎人的眼睛”
  Meanwhile, fox have different connotations in the two respective cultures. For example, in Chinese ,the coquettish women are blasphemed as “狐狸精”;a group of evil people who accomplish with each other are called “狐朋狗友”;the behavior that a person bullies others by evil authority is referred to “狐假虎威”;flattering is known as “狐媚”.In English, fox does not have a derogatory meaning to such extents. It refers to deceitfulness while it refers to prizing on the fine looking and shrewdness. For example, in America, “a fox” is used to refer to a ***y, charming or a smart girl; “crazy like a fox” refers to a shrewd person who is not easily cheated. Even some people take fox as their name, from which people's favoritism towards the animal is obviously understood.
  In English, peacock always has derogatory meanings. Webster’s third Now International Dictionary of the English Language explains it as following: One making a proud or arrogant display of himself. Collins Co build English Language Dictionary explains that if you describe someone, especially, a man as a peacock, you mean that he is rather proud of himself and likes wearing attractive clothes and looking good .It shows that peacock usually has derogatory sense in English. Therefore, “as proud as a peacock”, “all the girls were peacocking in their bustle on” are often used in their daily life. In Chinese, peacock is said to be vain ,conceiting .For example, “孔雀开屏,自作多情” , “孔雀爱羽,虎豹爱爪”,in Bleak Night,Yangsuo wrote “孔雀一亮相,显得又矜持又傲气”.
  On the other hand, peacock is a symbol of gook luck. People say that it is auspicious to see peacock open the wings. People of Dai Minority living in the south of Yunnan province show their hope by peacock dance, whereas, in English, prettiness is ignored while its vanity is taken notice of.
4. An animal word has no corresponding cultural connotations in English and Chinese
  We change our living experience to language and devote meanings to it. However, languages distinguish from each other caused by different cultures. Some connotations exist in one language but they don’t exist in another” R.Lado.said in Linguistics Across Cultures in 1957.That is, there are rich connotations of one thing in one culture but none in another. Similarly, the connotations of an animal word are plentiful in one culture while none exists in another because it lacks corresponding associations.
4.1. An animal word has Chinese connotations but none in English
  Chinese people like to use the mandarin duck as the symbol for love because a mandarin couple always lives together in the water at ease. In a newly-married couple's room, there are many things with pictures about mandarin duck such as “鸳鸯帐”, “鸳鸯被”,“鸳鸯枕”.But the image of the mandarin duck in the phrase have to be translated into “love birds” as the mandarin duck is a kind of duck, which has no symbolic meaning at all in English.
  The English speaking people feel puzzled when they meet“你真熊”, “他太牛了”, “那个家伙简直象条泥鳅”.Because in English, bear has no symbolic meaning of stupidness or incompetence, neither cattle refers to stubbornness. There is no loach in most English speaking countries. So people do not think it as a kind of fish, let alone a cunning animal. Of course they can not understand the connotative meaning of “滑”as sly,tricky,diplomatic and so on.
  Chinese people believe that tortoise can live for hundreds of years. So it is a symbol of a long life in Chinese culture. It is the reason that there are many carvings about tortoise on ancient palaces, temples and other buildings in china. On the other hand, tortoise has a very derogatory meaning. It is a terrible insult for somebody to be called “王八”, “乌龟王八蛋”.In English there are no such allusion whether with a favorable meaning or negative meaning.
  Silkworm comes from china and the silk fabrics are very popular in foreign countries. Silk culture of china is known in the whole world as “丝绸之路”leads to western countries. Silkworm is spoken highly in the poem for its dedication .So cultural connotations of silkworm are endowed to Chinese whereas to most English speaking people, silkworm is, at most, a kind of small animal. Generally speaking, it is obvious to see the great influences of different cultures on animal words.
4.2. An animal word has English connotations but none in Chinese
  It is difficult for Chinese people to understand some animal words because they have special meaning in English .For example, “as merry as a cricket”, “as cunning as a dead pig”, “as blind as a bat”, “as dumb as an oyster” and “as happy as a crow”, and so on.
  “White elephant” refers to an animal with huge body, big ears long nose and sharp teeth in Chinese, however, in English it refers to huge but clumsy and useless things.
  Buffalo has no connotative meanings in Chinese, whereas, in American English, an idiom “to buffalo”means. How it originated is relased with “West Movement”. At that time, people in the west part of America hunted a great number of buffalo for the skin then they could get much money from leather trading. However, they found that it was not an easy job to hunt buffalo, so some people complained: “We are buffaloed.” Which means that they felt helpless. Then it evolves into threaten, menace.
  In English, beaver is hard-working by nature and is known for building Den with branches of trees, stones and mud. “ ranger beaver” refers to a person who is diligent. “ goat” in English refers to a person who always does ***ual harassment towards women . “Duck” can to be used to a lovely person apart from the denotative meaning. “Cow” is a symbol of hardy and filthy. “A unicorn”, looking like horse but having only one horn, exists in the western legend. Which refers to something existing in name only. In Chinese, there is no animal word with such images, let alone corresponding cultural connotations.
  Besides, as far as chicken, goose, and ox are concerned, Chinese people consider them as common animals. Therefore, when they feel confused when thy come across the following sentences:
    You are a chicken, that is why you will not climb the tree
    You are a goose, how can you do that?
In the first sentence, we cannot get what the person said from the denotative meaning but from connotative meaning as “coward”. In the second sentence, goose suggest stupidness means fool.
Words vacancy is the evidence of national peculiarity of cultures in languages. Some animal words are endowed special cultural connotations in Chinese but none in English, or vice versa. This phenomenon will make people from two languages confused to some extent.
5. Different animal words have similar cultural connotations
In English and Chinese, some animal words have different referential meanings but they have similar or same cultural connotation, two different animal words from the two cultures respectively take on the same connotation. These words show that people in different cultures understand the objects by the same means and the phenomenon is related to their history to some extent. Some examples are presented as following:
  In English, horse is also used often to refer to a person, such as a “willing horse”. Plain good sense is referred to as “horse sense”. In the Chinese language, there is no such allusions ,but “牛”is often used to refer to a person .A hardworking person is called a “老黄牛”. Lu Xun’s saying of “俯首甘为孺子牛”is known to almost everybody in china. Because Chinese people have been using 牛in farming for thousands of years while horse has been used to do most farming work in Britain . Similarly, people of the two languages always use different animal words to express the same thought, especially in idioms as following:
落汤鸡   a drowned rat
鸡皮疙瘩 goose flesh
杀鸡取卵 kill the goose that lays the golden egg
瓮中之鳖 rat in a hole
胆小如鼠 chicken-hearted
蠢得象头猪 as stupid as a goose
象蜜蜂一样勤劳 as industrious as an ant
热锅上的蚂蚁   a cat on a hot tin roof
老虎的***摸不得 one should not twist the lion’s tail
拦路虎 a lion in the way
深如虎穴 beard the lion in his den
狐假虎威 donkey in a lion’s hide
非驴非马 neither fish nor fowl
吹牛 talk horse
牛饮 drink like a fish
公鸭嗓 as hoarse as a crow
过着牛马般的生活 lead a dog’s life
6. Conclusion
  Thus it can be seen that the cultural connotations of animal words in different languages is a subject to be further explored. It is clear to conclude that animal words is not only the sighs of real animal but also gifted with special cultural connotations of different cultures, Therefore, if people want to have a good grasp of animal words, they must try their best to understand the connotations of these words especially the cultural connotations, so they should read books as many as possible in order to understand the cultural differences. Only deeply acquaint themselves with the cultural convention and living customs, can people communicate with English speaking people confidently and successfully.
Acknowledgements
First of all, I would like to show my deepest gratitude to my tutor – Mrs. Lei Rong, for all the help she has offered me during the preparation and writing of this paper and for all the pains she took in reading and correcting my drafts. It is obvious that without her patient instruction, helpful suggestions and constant encouragement, I could not have fulfilled this task as successfully as I wished.  

Secondly, I wish to express my thanks to all those who have helped me in the preparation of this thesis. In the past two months, I have received considerable help from the teachers, and the other faculty members and the other students in different departments of Science College, Xinjiang Agriculture University, without which, the completion of this paper would have been impossible.
Finally, I am also grateful to all my teachers who have taught me how to study and what to learn, which helped me a lot in the writing of the paper. And I would also like to thank all my fellow classmates, who have given me great support in the course of the paper writing and during all four college years.
Bibliography
1. Peter Newark. A Textbook of Translation.[M] Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.2001: 58-145
2. Larry A. Samovar.etc.Communication Between Third edition[M].北京:外语教学与研究出版社,2000
3.F.T.伍德. English Verbal Idioms[M].天津:宇航出版社,1989.
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ut which, the completion of this paper would have been impossible.
Finally, I am also grateful to all my teachers who have taught me how to study and what to learn, which helped me a lot in the writing of the paper. And I would also like to thank all my fellow classmates, who have given me great support in the course of the paper writing and during all four college years.
Bibliography
1. Peter Newark. A Textbook of Translation.[M] Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.2001: 58-145
2. Larry A. Samovar.etc.Communication Between Third edition[M].北京:外语教学与研究出版社,2000
3.F.T.伍德. English Verbal Idioms[M].天津:宇航出版社,1989.
4.郭锦桴.汉语与中国传统文化[M].北京:中国人民大学出版社.1991:76-89,103-145.
5.胡文仲.英语习语与英美文化 [M].北京:外语教学与研究出版社.2000:103-177.
6.胡文仲. 文化与交际[M].北京:外语教学与研究出版社.1994:395-402,418-426.
7. 胡文仲. 英美文化词典[M].北京:外语教学与研究出版社.1995.
8. 胡文仲. 跨文化交际面面观[M]. 北京: 外语教学与研究出版社.1999.
9.蒋磊. 英汉习语的文化关照与对比[M].武汉:武汉大学出版社.2000:124-133,175-196.