Cultural Differences Reflected in English and Chine Idioms
abstract：idioms can reflect a nation just like a mirror. as a special form of language, idioms carry a large amount of cultural information such as history, geography, religion, custom, nationality, psychology, etc., and therefore idioms are cloly related to culture. thus people can know much about culture by studying idioms and in turn get better understanding of idioms by learning the cultural background behind idioms. in order to communicate with each other fluently, the study of the relationship between the idiom and culture is significant and urgent. this paper analyzes the main caus of cultural differences in english and chine idioms and illustrates the manifestations of cultural differences. the aim of this thesis is to enhance language learners’ intercultural awareness of comprehending and utilizing idioms from different cultures precily and accurately.
key words: idioms; origin; cultural; differences
i. introduction
idioms can be considered as items of special collocation.famous linguist carter describes idioms as “restricted collocation which cannot normally be understood from the literal meaning of the words which make them up电动管道疏通机”我宣誓. furthermore, longman dictionary of contemporary english defines idioms as 职业探索“a fixed group of words with special meaning which is different from the meanings of the individual words”. despite their differences, there is one thing in common: a great number of idioms have a figurative n that cannot be derived from the understanding of component parts. unlike literal language, it is impossible to explain the idiom from the literal meaning of the parate words. it is an established form that has been accepted by traditional usage. as such, the component words, word order and meaning of each idiom should be learned as a whole.
ii. the history and the origins of idioms
i. from customs
one nation’s custom is formed through a long history and firmly rooted in people’s mind. it plays an important source of idioms. in different countries customs drastically differ in vari
ous aspects, so a lot of idioms turn out with different features.
take food habits for example, cake has been a common food in english, so it is understandable that they u “a piece of cake” denoting an easy-done task. however, in china, cake cannot be en until the last one hundred years, so it is impossible for the same idiom to appear in chine. on the other hand, dishes are very common in china, therefore a similar idiom “小菜一碟” turned out in chine to express the same meaning.
another example is related to the habitual way of working in the field. chine people were habituated to u the bull to plough the field before modernized agriculture was developed, while english people u a hor to plough. conquently chine say “力大如牛” to describe someone with great strength while english u “as strong as a hor” to describe it.
ii. from historic affairs
there are lots of idioms coming from historic affairs. the structure of them is very simple b
ut they have profound meaning, so people cannot translate and understand the idioms from the literal meaning. it is necessary for people to learn and understand the english allusion as well as the chine one. here are some examples as follows:
in the roman emperor caesar nt the order of burning out all his boats after his army pasd lupigen river, showing the determination to take an all-out war. that is the origin of the english idiom ‘burns one’s boat玫瑰花的简笔画’. incidentally, in general xiangyu (项羽) in china nt the similar order to smash all the boats after the army pasd river zhang in attempt to show his determination of winning the war, which produce the chine idiom 党员理想信念“破釜沉舟”. the two idioms are almost the same in form and meaning. another example is “meet one’s waterloo”. waterloo is a place where napoleon was ultimately beaten by wellington and blucher in 1815. the idiom means: be finally and crushingly defeated in a contest, especially after a period of success.
iii. from religion
religion exists in every country and affects much in people’s belief and lives. numerous idi
oms were generated from the fountain of religion. therefore some differences in idioms between chine and english can be traced back to the origin of religion.
buddhism has been transmitted to china for more than one thousand years. people believe that there is a “buddha” who can dominate the world and decide everybody’s destiny. for example, the idiom “道高一尺, 魔高一丈” is originally the warning in buddhism to warn buddhist disciples, and remind them of the hard prospect to overcome all difficulties. now it is ud to tell there is always at least one power stronger than the other.
in western countries，especially in britain，people believe in christianity. they think that god is omnipotent and sacred just like the buddhism in china. for example, the idiom “judas’s kiss” means a deceitful act of courtesy. (judas betrayed his master with a kiss.)
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