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.

Keywords: color words; cultural connotations; comparative study

Contents

Abstract

摘要

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