語言文化論文-英漢諺語的比較AbstractProverbsarethecreamofalanguage.Theyreflecttherelationshipbetweenlanguageandculture.Humanbeingscommonsocialactivitiesareinmanyaspectssimilar,soEnglishandChineseproverbshavesimilarities.Becauseoftheculturaldifferences,EnglishandChineseproverbshavedifferencesintheirdetailedcontents.TheauthorcomparestheirsimilaritiesanddifferencesandalsoproposesthatEnglishandChineseproverbswillbreaktheboundaryandaccomplishinterfusion.EnglishandChineseproverbshavesimilaroriginandsimilarlinguisticcharacters.Theybothoriginatefromfolklife,mythology,literaryworksandfromotherlanguages.DifferencesbetweenEnglishandChineseproverbsalsoexist.Thatisdifferentgeography；differenthistorycustoms；differentreligionsanddifferentvalueconcepts.KeyWordsproverbs；similarities；differences；interfusion摘要諺語是語言的一個重要組成部分，是各國語言文學藝術寶庫中的一朵奇葩。諺語體現(xiàn)了語言與文化的關系。由于人類的普遍社會活動和心理思維過程有許多共同之處，因此英漢諺語也存在著相同之處。但由于各國具體歷史文化背景的不同，所以英漢諺語又存在著差異。本文分析了英漢諺語的相同點與不同點，并提出英漢諺語在跨文化交際中的滲透與融合。英漢諺語有著相同的起源和語言特點。都來自民間生活，神話傳說，文學作品和外來語。英漢諺語的語言具有簡煉和生動形象的特點。但從具體內(nèi)容來看，英漢諺語表現(xiàn)了不同的地理、歷史、宗教和文化價值觀念。最后指出隨著世界文化的交流，諺語逐漸打破國家和民族的界限，英漢諺語在互相滲透與融合。關鍵詞諺語；相同點；不同點；融合1.IntroductionThedefinitionofproverbbyOxfordAdvancedLearnersEnglish-ChineseDictionaryis“shortwell-knownsayingthatstatesageneraltruthorgivesadvice.”(精練的俗語，或為普遍道理或為勸誡語)WuZhankunsaidthatproverbsarethecrystalofnationalwisdomandexperience.Theyarefrequentlyusedorallyandhandeddownfromgenerationtogenerationandusuallygivepeopleinformationandspeakthetruth.Theyareshortsentenceswithcommonstyle,concisestructure,andvividlanguage.1WangQinsaidthatproverbsarethesummingupofpracticalexperiences.Theyaretheoralformsoflanguagethatgivepeopleexperience,adviceorwarning.2ThegreatEnglishphilosopherFrancisBacononcesaid:“Thegenius,witandspiritofanationarediscoveredinitsproverbs.”Fromthesedefinitions,wecanseecommoncharactersofproverbs.Proverbsarethecrystalofthenationalwisdomandexperience.Proverbsarecolloquial,sotheyareveryeasytoberememberedandhandeddown.Theyusuallygivepeopleadviceandwarning.Proverbsarethecreamofalanguage.Languageandculturearetightlyinteractedwitheachother；eachinfluencingandshapingtheother.Languageispartofculture.TheChineselanguageispartofChinacultureandEnglishlanguageispartofEnglishculture.Languageisthecarrierandcontainerofculture.Humanknowledgeandexperiencearedescribedandstoredinlanguage.3Asapartoflanguage,proverbscloselyintegratedwiththesocietyandculture.Proverbsreflectmanyaspectsofthenationsuchasgeography,history,religiousfaithandvalues.EnglishandChinesebelongtotwodifferentlanguagesystems,havinggreatdifferencesintheircultures.Buthumanbeingscommonsocialactivitiesandemotionalreflectionandobservationoftheworldareinmanyaspectssimilar.SonotonlydifferencesbutalsomanysimilaritiesexistinEnglishandChineseproverbs.Withthecommunicationofworld,EnglishandChineseproverbsarepermeatingandinterfusingeachother.2.SimilaritiesbetweenEnglishandChineseproverbsThesimilaritiesbetweenEnglishandChineseproverbsmainlylieintheiroriginsandlinguisticcharacters.2.1SimilaroriginsProverbsareconcise,vividandcommonshortsentenceswhichbeusedandpassedonorally.Theyarethesummingupoftheexperienceintheproductionstruggleandthesociallifeandthecrystalofwisdom.4AnEnglishproverbitselftellsusthat“Proverbsarethedaughterofexperience.”FromthesewecanfindthatEnglishandChineseproverbsenjoythesimilarorigin:theybothoriginatefrompeoplesdailylifeandexperience.Specificallyspeaking,theybothcomefromfolklife,mythology,literaryworksandfromotherlanguages.2.1.1OriginatingfromfolklifeProverbsarethesummaryofpeoplesdailylifeandexperience,andcloselyrelatedtothepracticeofpeopleslifeandwork,revealingauniversaltruthfromdetailssoastoenlightenpeople.Therearemanyproverbsoriginatedfromfolklife.Theyarecreatedbyworkingpeople,suchasfarmers,workmen,hunters,businessmen,army-menandsoon.Theyusefamiliartermsthatwereassociatedwiththeirownfields.E.g.:Farmerscreatedthefollowingproverbs:(1)Makehaywhilethesunshines.(2)Aprilrainyforcorn,Mayforgrass.(3)肥不過春雨,瘦不過秋霜。(4)春天不忙，秋后無糧。Workmencreatedthefollowingproverbs:(5)Strikewhiletheironishot.(6)Agoodanvildoesnotfearthehammer.(7)木匠怕漆匠，漆匠怕光亮。Hunterscreatedthefollowingproverbs:(8)Hethatisafraidofeverybushwillneverproveagoodhuntsman.(9)上山打虎心要狠，下海提龍心要齊。Businessmencreatedthefollowingproverbs:(10)Youpayyourmoneyandtakeyourchoice.(11)貨有高低三等價，客無遠近一樣待。Army-mencreatedthefollowingproverbs:(12)Agoodgeneralmakegoodmen.(13)養(yǎng)兵千日，用在一時。Thesewerefirstusedbyalimitedgroupofpeopleinthesamefields.Becausetheyarephilosophicalcolloquialism,latertheygraduallygainedwideacceptanceandpartlybecamepartofthecommoncornoflanguageandarenowusedinmanyothersituations.2.1.2OriginatingfrommythologyEachnationhasitsownmythology,fableandallusion.Chinesetraditionalculture,ancientGreekandRomancivilizationbequeathmanymythologiesandallusions.Theybecomeoneofthemajorsourcesofproverbs.ThestoriesandheroesinGreekMythology,TheFableofAesopandTheHomerleftalotofproverbs.E.g.:(14)IfeartheGreeks,evenwhenbringinggifts.(Fromthewell-knownstoryoftheTrojanhorsebywhichtheGreekstookthecityofTroy.)(15)YoucannotmakeaMercuryofeverydog.(FromRomanMythology.Itmeansthatnoteverymindwillanswerequallywelltobetrainedintoascholar).(16)Thefoxsaidthegrapesweresour.(FromTheFablesofAesop.Itmeansthatonesaidsomethingisbadwhenonecannotgetit.)Chineseculturecantracebacktoancienttimes.Thereweremanynaturalphenomenonsandourancestorcantexplainthesephenomenons.Theycreatedthemythologyandfabletoexplainthephenomenon.SomanyChineseproverbscomefrommythologyandfable.E.g.:(17)八仙過海，各顯神通。（from八仙過海）(18)過著牛郎織女的生活。（fromafolklegend）2.1.3OriginatingfromliteraryworksManyEnglishandChineseproverbscomefromliteraryworks.Anationsliterarylanguagesareitslanguagesginger.Theypromotethedevelopmentoflanguage.Someofbrilliantsentences,plotandherosnameinliteraryworksbecomeproverbs.5Therearemanygreatwritersinwesternsociety,suchasShakespeare,FrancisBacon,JohnMiltonandsoon.TheyhadmadedistinctivecontributionstothedevelopmentofEnglishliterature.TheirworkswereacceptedandpassedonbyEnglishpeoplefromgenerationtogeneration.ManysentencesbecometheEnglishproverbs.Shakespearesworksarethemostcolorfulliteratureoriginofproverbs.ManyEnglishproverbsarefromtheworksofShakespeare.E.g.:(19)“Thebiterissometimesbit.”isfromShakespearesHamlet.Ittellspeoplethatthosewhodobadthingstootherswillbringthemselvestrouble.(20)“Allisnotgoldthatglitters.”isfromShakespearesTheMerchantsofVenice.Itmeansthatthosewhohaveagoodappearancearenotnecessarilyprofoundorlearned.Someotherwriters,philosopherswordsalsobecomeproverbs.E.g.:(21)“Readingmakesafullman,conferenceareadyman,andwritinganexactman”isfromadistinguishedEnglishphilosopherandwriterBaconsOnReading.Ittellspeoplethatreading,conferenceandwritingcanmakeapersonlearned,sharpandprecise.And(22)“Thechildhoodshowstheman”isfromMiltonsParadiseRegained.ManyChineseproverbsarefromclassicChineseliteraryworks.Thefourgreatworks:ThePilgrimagetotheWest,TheThreeKingdoms,ADreamofRedMansionsandTheMarshRebellionarethemostpopularclassicsinChina.Suchas:(23)溫故而知新。(Bystudyingtheoldonelearnssomethingnew)-論語(SelectedReading)(24)三個臭皮匠頂個諸葛亮。(ThreecobblerswiththeirwitscombinedequalZhugeLiangthemaster-thewisdomofthemassesexceedsthatofthewisestindividual.)-三國演義(TheThreeKingdoms)(25)三十六計,走為上計。(Ofthethirty-sixstratagems,thebestisrunningaway.)-水滸傳(TheMarshRebellion)(26)謀事在人,成事在天。(Manproposes；Goddisposes.)-紅樓夢(ADreamofRedMansions)(27)說曹操,曹操到。(Talkofthedevilandheissuretoappear.)-三國演義(TheThreeKingdoms)Literature,asamirrorofsociallife,isanothersourceofproverbs.Manysentencesintheseliteraryworksarefullofwisdomandeasytoberemembered,sopeoplelikethemandusethemagainandagain.Atlast,theybecometheproverbsandarewidelyused.Wecansaythatproverbsarethecreamoftheliteraryworks.2.1.4OriginatingfromotherlanguagesWiththecommunicationofworld,nationsboundaryisbeingbroken.Moreandmorelanguagescontactedwitheachother.Becauseofthegeographyandhistory,Englishwasinfluencedandimpactedbyotherlanguagesinitsdevelopmentprocess.SoEnglishhaveabsorbedagreatnumberofexpressionsofothernationsculture.Sodoproverbs.ManyEnglishproverbsarefromLatin,Greek,FrenchandChinese.Asthereasonofhistory,mostoftheseloanedproverbsweretransferredintoEnglishandsomemaintaintheoriginallanguages.ManyEnglishproverbsoriginatefromLatin.E.g.:(28)Artislong,lifeisshort.(29)Thewishisfathertothethought.SomeLatinproverbsaretransferredintoEnglish.ForexampleEnglishpeoplehavegot(30)“Soonripe,soonrotten”from“Citomaturumcitoputridum”.ManyEnglishproverbscomefromFrench.Forexample,Englishpeoplehavegot(31)“Whenthefoxpreaches,takecareof