Abstract

There is a close relationship between language and culture. Cultural connotation is reflected by vocabulary of the language system. Color words, an important part of vocabulary, have their own particular cultural connotation. This dissertation is based on the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and many current theories,  expounds the similar and dissimilar cultural connotations of color words in English and Chinese and also probes into the causes of these differences by examples. In addition, it points out some problems that exist in the current teaching of color words and gives some suggestions on these problems. The aim of this thesis is to improve people’s understanding of color words and promote a better cross-culture communication between China and Western countries.

Keywords : English and Chinese; color words; cultural connotation; comparative study

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Literature review-1

3. The colors words in English and Chinese cultures-3

3.1 Cultural Connotations of Red-3

3.1.1 The similarities-3

3.1.2 The differences-4

3.2 Cultural Connotations of Black-5

3.2.1 The similarities-5

3.2.2 The differences-5

3.3 Cultural Connotations of White-6

3.3.1 The similarities-6

3.3.2 The differences-6

3.4 Cultural Connotations of Yellow-7

3.4.1 The similarities-7

3.4.2 The differences-7

3.5 Cultural Connotations of Green-8

3.5.1 The similarities-8

3.5.2 The differences-9

3.6 Cultural Connotations of Blue-9

3.6.1 The similarities-9

3.6.2 The differences-10

4. Causes of Similarities and Differences of English and Chinese Color 

  Words-10

4.1 Natural environment-10

4.2 Religious culture-11

4.3 Social customs-13

5. Pedagogical implications-13

6. Conclusion-14

References-16