不同的地理特征对汉英习语影响 [3]
论文作者:黄育群论文属性:短文 essay登出时间:2009-04-06编辑:黄丽樱点击率:9943
论文字数:4587论文编号:org200904061309096076语种:英语 English地区:中国价格:免费论文
关键词:geographyidiomsChineseEnglish地理习语汉语英语
griculture.
But the western culture is different. In the western countries, especially in the Greek –the mother of the western civilizations, there are many mountains and small land for tillage. They had to develop the business at sea. So in the English idioms, there are many idioms about the sea, the boat and the fish.
There is a typical example, which could explain this. In China ,we say “hui jin ru tu” (挥金如土), but in English ,they say “spend money like water”. These two are all describing that someone spend money very much, but in Chinese we use “tu”, while in English they use “water”.
3.1 The different images about the geographical words in Chinese and English idioms
No matter whether the idioms have the same meaning, or have the different meanings, their images are all about the geographical words. In Chinese idioms, many of the images are connected to the land. In English, many of the images are connected to the sea.
3.1.1 The Chinese geography idioms
The land is very important to the people’s live. Also the agriculture is the most important activity in the people’s common live. There are so many idioms use the geographical words to explain something. There are some example could show it.
(1) Juan tu chong lai (卷土重来)[19]
Stage a comeback
(2)Mian ru tu se (面如土色)[20]
Look ashen; look pale
e.g. turn pale with fright
(3) Yi bai tu di (一败涂地)[21]
Fail completely; suffer a crushing defeat; be routed.
e.g. We just can’t possibly fail completely, after all the preparation we’ve made.
(4) Hu tian qiang di (呼天抢地)[22]
Lament to heaven and knock one’s head on earth—utter cries of anguish.
From this group of idioms, we could see that the land is very important to the Chinese. So in the Chinese idioms, there are many idioms about the land. The Chinese culture belongs to the agriculture civilization.
3.1.2 The English geography idioms
In England, the sea is connected to the people’s life closely. England is an island country. In England, the field is less, the land is for stock breeding. The English people always make their living on the sea. So there are many idioms about the sea and the ship.
(1) At sea[23]
① On a ship, etc on the sea
e.g. spend three months at sea
② Not know what to do; confused
e.g. I’m all at sea ; I have no idea how to repair cars.
(2) Miss the boat[24]
Miss an opportunity; be too late to participate in something
e.g. She put her application in for her interview one day late. Unfortunately for her the university authorities could do nothing and she had missed the boat
(3) At bottom [25]
In reality; really basically
e.g. He seems aggressive but at bottom he is kind and good-natural
(4) Another kettle of fish (a different kettle of fish ) [26]
A completely different person or thing from the one previously mentioned
e.g. He is good at playing tennis in private, but playing in public is a different kettle of fish.
This group of idioms reflect that the sea、the boat、the fish are very important to the people’s lives. The English culture belongs to the sea civilization.
People live in the different geography environments will create different cultures. All the cultures could not be separated from their environments. Because of its region, climate and environment, every culture has its own character.[27]
The environment influences the culture deeply. The Chinese agriculture civilization makes the Chinese idioms use the geographical words as the images. And the Englis
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