Abstract

Color is everywhere in our daily life. In the human language, color words have special physical properties and are very rich in both English and Chinese. At the same time, they show unique charm and make people deeply impressed. The use of color words in English and Chinese languages have a lot in common. However, due to different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, connotations of color words in two languages vary a lot, resulting in their individuality. Meanwhile, different translation methods bring different language effect, so the translation of color words should be properly handled. This paper mainly analyzes the color words in the terms of the commonness and individuality, and attempt at the translation of color words. It aims to let us know more about color words in Chinese-English translation and we can better study the two cultures.

Key words: color words; differences; similarities; color words translation

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Literature Review-1

3. The similarities of color words translation between English and Chinese-2

3.1 The semantic implication-2

3.2 The functional implication-3

4. The differences of color words translation between English and Chinese-4

4.1 The color words in Chinese-5

4.2 The color words in English-6

5. Translation of color words between English and Chinese-7

5.1 Literal translation-7

5.2 Free translation-8

6. Conclusion-10

Works Cited-11