rolled by the scabsIII. Similar Phenomenon and Coincidence of Color Words in Chinese and English Cultures
According to the comparison and analysis above, there are distinct difference of the color words in Chinese and English. Sometimes, Chinese may not use the color words when they are used in English expressions. At the same time, because of the cultural exchange, the color views have similar phenomenon and coincidence in the languages
A. Red and Black
Color exists in the nature, that is to say, it is unchanged in view of different language corresponding vocabularies. As Shakespeare said, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” No matter it is “红”、“黄”、“绿”、“蓝”、“白”、“黑”、“紫”in Chinese; or “red”, “yellow”, “green”, “blue”, “white”, ‘black”, “purple” in English; even “rouge”, “jaune”, “vert”, “bleu”, “blanc”, “noir”, “violet” in French, the colors being reflected on the color palette are absolutely the same. After all, the mankind lives in the same material world and shares common existence law and natural environment. So the meanings of color words have the same connotations. No matter in China or English countries, “red” comparatively has something relevant to celebrating. “Red” in Western culture is not so popularly welcomed as in China, but it still reveals happiness and luck on some special occasions. For instance, paint the town red, to roll out the red carpet for somebody, a red letter day etc. Generally speaking, red letter days mean Christmas Day or some other significant days, like May Day, because such important festivals in some Western countries are specially marked in red on the calendar. The Chinese people have a favor for the color “red”, and red stands for enthusiasm, happiness and joy. In both Chinese and English, there are various terms indicating that black often carries a negative meaning such as blackmail, blacklist, black-hearted, black market. In English, someone dead, the relative must wear black clothes. In China in the funerals the relative wear a mourning-band and so on.
Red is also associated with certain emotions. Let us see a few examples. He clenched his fist and went red. Her face turned red when bombarded with such an embarrassing question. I can see that he is red with anger. When he criticized my work, I really saw red. The mere mention of his enemy’s name is like waving a red flag to him.
In the sentences above, we can guess some meanings. There is a Chinese equivalent while the others are not so easy to understand by Chinese. For instance, in English, her face turned red or to become red-faced shows one’s embarrassment, as it does in Chinese “脸红”. But what is the meaning of see red and waving a red flag? Both suggest anger. The former means to become very angry while the latter means to cause quick anger in somebody by doing something offensive.
B. White
As the development of the cross-culture, in China when someone gets married he or she wears white weeding dress. It doesn’t been considered that it is unlucky. To most Chinese and Westerners, the color of white has some meanings in common. White suggests purity, innocence and honesty. For example, Mary is a white girl. (Pure and innocent) Tom is a very white boy. He never tells lies. (Honest) But in this sense, what does the term a white lie mean? Can a lie be pure and innocent? Actually, a white lie is a harmless one, intended not to hurt someone. For example, your mother bought a dress for you that she was very satisfied with, and
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