英语语言学概论论文.doc

PAGE 1 On the Cultural Similarities and Differences in Chinese and English Proverbs of Animal Abstract Proverbs include many aspects from the sun, the moon, wind, rain, mountain, lake, flower, animal and so on. Among these, the most numerous quantities are proverbs of animal. On the one hand, with the development of the history, animals always connect with people tightly and give the strong affection on people’s life and development. Usually, people use some animals to express their feelings, so there are many proverbs which have the relationship between Chinese and English. On the other hand, because of the different cultures, these proverbs of animal are given the specific culture connotation in Chinese and English. Each language has its profound cultural background relative to its own physiology, convention, religious belief and so on. These differences are apparent in the English and Chinese proverbs of animal. Some animals may have certain associated characteristics in one culture but not in the other. Key Words proverbs of animal Chinese culture similarities Western culture differences I. Introduction Language cannot be viewed in isolation from other factors such as sociology and psychology. Social scientists tell us that cultures differ from one another, that each culture is unique. As cultures are diverse, languages are diverse. It is natural that with differences in cultures and differences in languages, difficulties often arise in communicating between cultures and across cultures. Understanding is not always easy. What needs to be stressed here is that two interact, and that understanding of one requires understanding of the other. Hudson said that as a part of language, proverb is characterized by their concise expressions, rich and vivid, involving place, history, and religious belief and living convention. It’s a kind of human crystallization of wisdom. Proverb is short saying of folk wisdom—of well-know facts or truths—expressed succinc