A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Animal Proverbs 英汉动物谚语的对比研究.docVIP

A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Animal Proverbs Introduction In Longman Modern English Dictionary, proverb is “a brief familiar maxim of folk wisdom, usually compressed in form, often involving a bold image and frequently a jingle that catches the memory.” A proverb, which succinctly sums up human experience and observation of the world, states a general truth and gives advice or warning. A proverb, often involving a bold image, musical rhythm and compressed form, can bring vividness to the readers and so they are easy to remember and spread. Proverbs are summing up of folk wisdom, they are usually pithy, and have universal appeals. People love to pick up proverbs when they try to reason things out and the proper use of proverbs can make their views more convincing. Proverbs are the crystal of the national wisdom. They are an important part of a national language and they appropriately reflect the relation between culture and language. They have been connected closely with the national characteristics ever since their coming into being and in their development. It is generally acknowledged that different peoples have great differences in their cultures. But since different peoples live on the same earth with roughly similar needs and some of them have even experienced similar social development stage, their experiences, emotional reflection and observation of the world are in many aspects similar. This shows that different peoples may have cultural generality besides cultural difference. Proverbs, as the cream of a language, inevitably carry the imprint of cultural difference and generality. The difference and generality respectively lead to the dissimilarities and similarities between English and Chinese animal proverbs and making a comparative study of them is of great significance. Animals Proverbs with Identical Meanings Some animal proverbs in English and Chinese are identical in meaning. The proverbs in this category are limited in number. They a