英语论文网

stricted by culture, for instance, Chinese people are greatly influenced by Confucianism, so obvious proprieties can be seen in Chinese names. “English people believe Christian and religious sense can be found in their names”.[3] P51 On the other hand, as a kind of social reality, personal names exert its influence and action on societies and cultures. For example, the taboo on using the personal names of emperors was formed under the influence of feudal hierardy culture. Once it had been formed it began to restrict every aspect of people’s life. In short, personal names and culture influence restrict each other and act on each other. From personal names, people can see the cultural similarity and difference in different society. 3. Comparative study between the two name systems Every nation has its own history, during which it has shaped its own particular characteristics. As a special social and linguistic phenomenon, names relate to cultures extensively and profoundly. When we learn a foreign language and try to make effective communication, we must understand its culture and need to know about names and naming, just as when we study a language we need to know its vocabulary and its grammar. In this section, we are going to make a comparative study on these aspects between Chinese and English name systems. 3.1 Similarities between the Two Systems 3.1.1 Totemism “At beginning, the basic of personal name is totemism. Totemism may be animals, plants or unliving things. The group often takes some totem as their ancestor, and then used it as their own names”.[4] P51 “In ancient times, the human beings were not only afraid of natural power, but also respect it. Therefore, both in Chinese and English personal names, we can find lots of names from place, animal, plant, unliving things in nature or natural phenomenon”.[5] P82 For example, in Chinese names, Yan Emperor（炎帝, one ancestor of Chinese people）lived near Jiang Water（姜水, a name of a river）, so his tribe used jiang (姜) as their tribe name, Huang Emperor (黄帝, another ancestor of Chinese people) lived near Ji Water (姬水, a name of a river) and used ji (姬) as the tribe’s name, and yao (姚) came from the place called yao xu (姚墟) where Shun (舜, an ancestor of Chinese people) lived. In English, people used the natural phenomenon as family names, such as Frost, Rain, and Snow etc. And some names come from animal names, for example, Bird, Bull, Lion, Fox, Wolf and so on. Some come from plant names, for instance, Flower, Apple, Lily, Rose. This phenomenon reflects similar cultural connotation that names are associated with primitive totemism. 3.1.2 Consciousness of root-seeking In Chinese and English names, we can find names taken from their birth-place names, such as Liu Zongyuan (柳宗元), a famous poet in Tang Dynasty, was born at He Dong, so he has another name Liu Hedong (柳河东). In China, nowadays, we also have names like Wang Changcheng (王长城), Li Changjiang(李长江), etc. These names are closely connected with Chinese places. In English people also take places as their personal names. “For example, Washington(华盛顿)，Brook(溪流), Well (泉), Wood (林木) and so on”.[6] P81 These similarities show, as human being, they all have the consciousness of root-seeking. 3.1.3 Specializing character Most names in literary works have special meaning. “They symbolize some connotations that go far beyond their literary meanings. They become some general terms indicating certain meaning, symbolizing certain peo