Abstract:  From ancient times, there has been an intimate relationship between animals and human beings. In the long history, animals keep their pace with human evolution and growth, thus animal expressions are always a part in the process of cultural changes, which is the case in both Chinese and English languages. Chinese or English words related to animals play the important role of cultural transmission, reflecting a nation’s historical culture, religious belief, societal formation, value and morality of the thousands of years’ changing history. This thesis is to make a comparative study of animal expressions in Chinese and English on their different connotations and the causes and analyze culture differences and their impacts on communication. 

Key words: animal expressions; comparison; Chinese; English; cultural connotations

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1. Introduction-1

1.1 Animal Expressions-1

1.2 Cultural Connotations of Animal Expressions-1

1.3 Research Values-2

1.4 Previous Studies-2

2. General Comparison on Animal Expressions in Chinese and English-3

2.1 Animal Expressions with Similar Connotations in the Two Cultures-3

2.2 Different Expressions with Same Connotations-4

2.3 The Same Expressions with Different Connotations-5

2.4 Unique Cultural Connotations in One Language-7

3.An Analysis of Causes of Various Culture Connotations-8

3.1 Geographical and Customary Causes-8

3.2 The Influence of History-9

3.3 The Influence of Religion-10

3.4 The Influence of Literature-11

4. Influence on Intercultural Communications-12

5. Conclusion-15

References-17