Abstract

A Dream of Red Mansions is one of the greatest novels in Chinese literature, which is also famous in the foreign countries. It can be found that plenty of color words are used in this famous work especially in clothing; it shows the writer’s outstanding achievements in literature. Color words are both rich in Chinese and English culture which show a great charm. Due to the great cultural differences between two nations, the study of color words should not only include the knowledge of the basic meaning, but also the understanding of the deep symbolical significance. In ancient China, clothing represents one’s social status. This paper will take the translation by Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang as an example to discuss the translation techniques of color words as well as the ways to translate color words accurately under the circumstances of great cultural differences. And it will explore the differences in conceptual meaning and associative meaning between two nations. Then, the classifications and translation methods of color words will be discussed. It also aims to make translators aware of the importance of these techniques and also put them into practice in the future. 

Key words: color words; A Dream of Red Mansions; translation

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1 Introduction-1

2 Color Words-2

2.1 A brief Introduction to color words-3

2.2 Differences between Chinese and Western culture in color words-4

2.2.1 Cultural differences in conceptual meaning-4

2.2.2 Cultural differences in associative meaning-5

3 Classifications and Translations of Color Words of Clothing in A Dream of Red Mansions-6

3.1 Classifications of color words of clothing in A Dream of Red Mansions-6

3.1.1 Basic color words-6

3.1.2 Combined color words-6

3.1.3 Object color words-6

3.2 Translation methods of color words-7

3.2.1 Literal translation-7

3.2.2 Free translation-8

3.2.3 Annotation-12

4 Conclusion-13

References-