摘要

我们生活在一个五彩缤纷的世界，颜色渗透到我们生活的每个角落，用来表示这些颜色的颜色词更是数不胜数。虽然在不同语言中基本颜色词的数量不尽相同，但他们几乎是所有语言的词汇组成部分。英语和汉语中都有着丰富的颜色词，随着中西方文化交流的不断加深，具有深刻文化内涵的基本颜色词不可避免成为了跨文化交际中的一个障碍。本文主要采用了对比研究的方法，通过对汉英两种语言中的某些颜色词进行对比分析，探究中英基本颜色词的文化内涵差异。

颜色语不仅反映了色彩的物理属性，而且反映了社会属性和时代特征，在文学作品中表现得尤为突出。中西文化的差异决定了不同色彩内涵之间的巨大距离。从颜色词的内涵中，我们可以发现两个不同民族的民族心理是相同的还是不同的。因为文化是人类生存的环境，它影响着人类生活的方方面面。因此，了解和掌握中英文颜色词的不同内涵，有助于英语学习者更好地理解跨文化现象。

关键词：基本颜色词,对比研究,文化内涵,文化差异

Abstract

We live in a colorful world,color permeates into every corner of our life, and the color terms used to express these colors are numerous. Although the number of basic color terms varies in different languages, they are almost a part of vocabulary in all languages. There are abundant color terms in English and Chinese.With the deepening of cultural exchanges between China and the west,basic color terms with profound cultural connotations inevitably become an obstacle in cross-cultural communication. This article mainly adopts the method of comparative study,through the comparative analysis of some color terms in Chinese and English, to explore the Cultural Connotation Differences between Chinese and English basic color terms.

Colors terms not only reflect the physical properties of colors but also reflect the properties of society and the characteristics of time, and it shows a lot in literature works. Different cultures in China and western countries determine the great distance between the connotations of different colors. From the connotations of words on colors,we can find the same or different national psychology of the two different nations. Because culture is the environment of human living, it affects all aspects of human life.Therefore, it is necessary to know and master different connotations of words on colors both in Chinese and English so as to make English learners better understand the cross- culture phenomenon.

Key words: Basic color terms; Contrastive study; Cultural connotation; Cultural difference

Contents

Introduction 1

1 A Brief Introduction to Colors 2

1.1 Color and Color Terms 2

1.2 The Study History of Color Terms 2

1.2.1 Studies on Color Terms in West 3

1.2.2 Studies on Color Terms in China 4

2 Semantic Comparison of Basic Color Terms Between Chinese and English 5

2.1 Basic Semantic Correspondence 6

2.2 Semantic Partial correspondence 6

2.3 Semantic Mismatch 8

2.4 Semantic Lacuna 9

3 Cultural Connotations of Basic Color Terms in Chinese and English 10

3.1 In National Psychology 10

3.2 In Politics 12

3.3 In Economy 13

3.4 In History 13

4 The Application of Color Terms in Literary Language 15

Conclusion 17

Bibliography 18

Acknowledgments 19