从文化的角度探析英汉习语的起源.docVIP

【标题】从文化的角度探析英汉习语的起源 【作者】周 颖 【关键词】英汉习语；文化；意义 【指导老师】程 琼 【专业】英语 【正文】I. IntroductionIn everyday speech and reading, people use idioms frequently, so we need at least to understand the more common ones: Idioms, an essential part of the language and culture of a society, are characterized by their concise expressions. 1? It covers set phrases and short sentences, which are peculiar to the language in question and loaded with the native cultures and ideas. In a broad sense, idioms include colloquialisms, catchphrases, slang expressions, proverbs. They are usually highly specialized in meaning and closely tied to distinctive cultural features and cultural attitudes.?As we all know, idioms, as a special form of language carry a large amount of cultural information. Such as history, geography, religion, custom, nationality, psychology, though pattern and so on. So they are closely related to culture. They are the heritage of history and the product of cultural evolvement. Generally speaking, idioms come from society, culture and history. They include in everything and relate to our life and play an important role in culture. Based on other’s research, in order to study and understand idioms correctly, we can from the following aspects to learn: the origins of English and Chinese idioms, and comparison between English and Chinese idioms.II. The Origins of English IdiomsA. English Idioms and Historical Development“As we all know, the historical development of the English-speaking counties, particularly Great Britain and the United States, has undoubtedly exerted a significant effect on the English language.”2 As times go on, language also goes through gradual changes. The trail of these changes can be found clearly in the English Idioms. Looking back on the historical development, we can see that the greatest influence on ethnical culture includes Roman conquest, Germanic conquest, Scandinavians invasion and Norman conquest.1. English Idioms and Roman Conquest