Abstract

As the special form of vocabularies, the color terms are not only used to describe the color, but also have the deep cultural connotation. In many cases, the same color terms will have the different meanings in China and the West. We must not only observe the basic meanings of them, but also have to pay attention to the deep symbolic meaning of culture. This paper will analyze the differences of color terms red, white, yellow, black, blue, green and purple in details and use the methods of “changing colors”, “adding colors” and “reducing colors” to show how to translate the color terms in order to have the idiomatic translation. Understanding and mastering these differences of color terms will be helpful for us to reduce the conflicts between eastern and western cultural. What’s more, it will benefit the communication between China and the West.

Key words: color; color terms; culture differences; translation methods

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1.Introduction.1

2.Definitions of the Basic Concepts2

2.1 Basic color terms..2

2.2 Real object terms3

3.A Comparative Analysis of Cultural Connotations of Color Term.3

3.1 Red and 红.3

3.2 White and 白..4

3.3 Yellow and 黄..5

3.4 Black and 黑6

3.5 Blue and 蓝8

3.6 Green and 绿9

3.7 Purple and 紫..10

4.Translation Methods11

4.1 Changing color.11

4.2 Adding color.12

4.3 Reducing color.13

5. Conclusion15

References.17