A Contrastive Study of Color Words in Chinese and English and Their Translation
or woman. And to remain green forever means to keep fresh and vigorous forever, and also in the green; green also means fresh, such as keep a memory green, a green wound, green meat; and it means immature, inexperienced and easily fooled, such as a green hand, a green horn refers to a raw, simple and inexperienced person, easily fooled or parted from his money. In some certain phrases, green has different meanings. For example, green-light means give permission to go ahead with.
2.5 Yellow
\淡黄色的花朵).
\黄色\黄色\which is always used in imperial house and it is the symbol of \黄袍\黄冠\黄门\黄色\黄色网站\黄色书刊\扫黄\center of the Five Colors. So far, yellow is still the symbol of old China.黄袍 is the emperor's dress,黄屋 is his carriage,黄钺is his guard of honor, 黄榜 is the proclamation published by him. And 黄道吉日 means an auspicious day.However, yellow in modern China has negative meanings, such as 黄色书刊, 黄色录象.Here yellow has an extended meaning of obscene and pornographic, while in English are \blue video\\
In English, from the Bible, we know that Juda is in yellow when he betrays Jesus. And from that time, \is use to describe as \and \For example, \（卑鄙小人）and \（可鄙的胆小鬼）. Yellow in the west mostly has derogatory meanings. Here are some examples: yellow alert: alert in advance; a yellow dog: a contemptible person; yellow looks: suspicious looks; yellow streak: tending to be coward and chicken-hearted. In English, yellow has some particular meanings in certain texts that have no relationship with sentiment. For example, the yellow pages is the telephone dictionary, yellow boy is the golden coins.
2.6 Blue
In Chinese, \蓝色\蓝天白云\\蓝田玉生\比喻名门出贤弟子)and \蓝图\. It seems that blue is a favorable word to Chinese.The blue sky, can arouse us to yearn for a better future.
In English, \have varied of meanings. The Black Americans like singing \—a sorrowful music when they are forced to manual labor. As a result, \not only a color word of a clear sky or the sea, but to describes the feeling of sadness. For example, \Monday\(倒霉的星期一), \the blue\垂头丧气). Besides, blue means \色情片), \下流的言论) \jokes\黄色笑话) and so on. Of course, \like \blood\出身名门贵族), \stocking\才女) and \chip\绩优股). In these words, \
In Western culture, however, blue does not associate with happiness and imagination,
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A Contrastive Study of Color Words in Chinese and English and Their Translation
but gloom and depression. He is in a blue mood means he is sad or gloomy. Blue is also often associated with high social status or being aristocratic. He is a real blue blood means he is from an aristocratic family. In addition, in U.S., a book with the names of famous figures, especially top government officials, is called blue book. Blue film means erotic film while in Chinese we call it 黄色电影. Here are more examples: blue about the gills: in depression blue devils; depression and gloom once in a blue moon: not very often at all
blue in the face: look pasty blue murder; horrible screaming and shouts sing the blues: in low spirits; very depressed
out of the blue: happening in a way that is sudden and unexpected
III. The Translation Methods of Color Words
From the above contrastive study of color words in Chinese and English, we know that the same color word contains different cultural meanings, because of the different history background, national mentality, religion and cultural tradition. Therefore, when translating between Chinese and English, we should use some translating methods to make our words more appropriate.
3.1 Literal Translation
Some color words have the same meaning between Chinese and English. In this case, translators can translate literally. For example: ⑴他气得脸色发白。 He turned white with rage.
⑵The referee held up a red card. 裁判亮出了一张红牌。
⑶The murder took place in a cold, black night. 谋杀案发生在一个寒冷而漆黑的夜晚。 ⑷春风又绿江南岸，明月何时照我还？（王安石《泊船瓜洲》） Spring wind of itself turns the south shore green,
But what bright moon will light me home?(Tr.Burton Watson)
In example⑴, \meaning between Chinese and English.
In example⑵, \is the color of fresh blood. Example⑶is under the similar circumstance that \
In example⑷, in the Chinese line, the word of \绿\that the spring breeze blow gently, and the line express the emotion of the writer that he miss his hometown. The \绿\…green\also means \life\English. As we know, when in Christmas, westerns are always put charisma's trees in their house and decorate them.
3.2 Free Translation
As we all know, because Chinese and English have their own history backgrounds and national cultures, it is impossible to convey in the same way all the time. Similarly, the same color word may have different significance between Chinese and English. In this situation, translating literally may be unacceptable. For example:
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A Contrastive Study of Color Words in Chinese and English and Their Translation
⑸Neither of the two organizations uses public funds for direct support of abortions, but they do support groups which provide abortions with other funds a red flag for conservatives.
这两个组织都未动用公款直接资助堕胎，但他们所资助的团体却利用其他经费来资助堕胎，这就激怒了保守派人士。
⑹The competing interests groups confront each other with a show of passion and drama, sometimes over inconsequential matters or over a mere linguistic difference.利益冲突集团有时为了一些枝节问题或仅仅为了一个字眼而争得面红耳赤，剑拔弩张。 ⑺晓来谁染霜林醉，总是离人泪。（王实甫《西湘记》 Why like wine-flushed face is frosted forest red?
It’s dyed in tears the parting lovers shed. (Tr.Xu Yuanzhong) ⑻贾宝玉神游太虚境，警幻仙曲演红楼梦。 Jiao Baoyu visits the Land of Illusion;
And the fairy Disenchantment performs the Dream of Golden Days. ⑼贾宝玉品茶栊翠庵，刘姥姥醉窝怡红院。
Jia Baoyu tastes some superior tea at Green Bower Hermitage;
And Grannie Liu samples the sleeping accommodation at Green Delights.
In example⑸, it is wrong to translate \保守派人士的一面红旗\In Chinese, \flag\is the symbol of revolution. While in English, \waving a red flag in front of a bull\means something that is likely to make somebody very angry.
In example⑻and example⑼, the translator use \红楼梦\怡红院\but \
\means jealous and envious, like, green with envy, green as jealousy, green-eyed monster. \眼红\the American dolls are green, they use green to describe a person who is rich. For example:
In American political elections the candidates that win are usually the ones who have green power backing them.
在美国政治竞选中获胜的候选人通常都是些有财团支持的人物。
IV. Conclusion
A language can reflect the development of a nation's history and culture. The symbolic meanings of color words have great distinction in different cultures. They are shaped in the long-term development of the society. Translation is to change words into another language. Before translating, we need to contrast one language with another one, especially translating color words. At first, it seems simple to translate color words. But if you have a contrastive study of color words in Chinese and English, you will find that
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A Contrastive Study of Color Words in Chinese and English and Their Translation
there are many differences between them. The colors bring us a wonderful and splendid world, and color words make it easier to express our thoughts, and make our expression more apt and vivid. Correctly understanding colors and their deeper symbolic meanings will be a great help for people in different cultures to communicate. Of course, you can translate them literally when they have the same meanings. If not, you should be careful, look for the universality and individuality of the color words, and then translate them properly.
As the main reason to the similarities and individualities of color words between Chinese and English, we should pay more attention to the two different cultures. Color words as a code system have different uses and cultural backgrounds during cross-culture exchanges. Therefore, if we want to do a better job, we should have a comprehensive knowledge of them.
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A Contrastive Study of Color Words in Chinese and English and Their Translation
Notes
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