Abstract：With the increasingly close intercultural communication activities in the world, the language and culture become more and more important in daily life. Language is the carrier of culture, and any language is rooted in a specific cultural background. Words are the most basic and active factors in the language. Different cultures must be refracted to the words in different levels. As a kind of natural living creature, “flower” has been blooming in the aesthetic field of Chinese and western nations, been endowed with various spiritual meanings, and has become a specific cultural symbol. The words of flowers, a kind of daily vocabulary, are closely related to the national culture. Because of the different cultural background and other factors, the associative cultural meanings of flower words are different.

On the basis of previous studies, this thesis will analyze the associative cultural meanings of English and Chinese flower words from three aspects of similarities, differences and vacancies. This paper explores the reasons of different associative cultural meanings of flower words from the perspective of national cultural semantics, so as to reveal the cultural differences between English and Chinese.

Keywords:  flower words  associative cultural meaning  national cultural semantic comparative study

Contents

Abstract

摘要

Chapter One Introduction-1

1.1 Background of the Thesis-1

1.2 Purpose of the Thesis-1

1.3 Structure of the Thesis-2

Chapter Two Literature Review-3

2.1 Definition-3

2.1.1 Definition of Associative Cultural Meaning-3

2.1.2 Definition of National Cultural Semantics-3

2.2 Previous Study on Associative Cultural Meaning-4

2.2.1 Studies Abroad-4

2.2.2 Studies at Home-4

2.3 Summary-5

Chapter Three Comparative Analysis on the Associative Cultural Meanings of English and Chinese Flower Words-6

3.1 Similar Associative Cultural Meanings of Flower Words-6

3.2 Different Associative Cultural Meanings of Flower Words-7

3.3 Associative Cultural Meaning Vacancy between Chinese and English Flower Words-9

3.3.1 Associative Cultural Meanings in Chinese-9

3.3.2 Associative Cultural Meanings in English-10

Chapter Four The Reasons of Different Associative Cultural Meanings of English and Chinese Flower Words Based on the National Cultural Semantics-13

4.1 Aesthetic Consciousness-13

4.2 Religious Belief-13

4.3 Natural Environment-15

4.4 Mode of Thinking-15

Chapter Five Conclusion-17

5.1 Major Findings-17

5.2 Limitations and Suggestions for Further Study-18

References-19