A Multi-Dimensional Comparative Study Of English And Chinese Names From A Contrastive Linguistics Perspective

Name study is a branch of linguistics. At the early stage, linguists treated it as a pure language phenomenon. This dissertation intends to break up the limitations from old traditions, employing the latest contrastive linguistics theories to make a multi-dimensional study on English names and Chinese names, covering a wide range of the origin, historical development, category, constitution, naming features, literature, culture and sexism.In this thesis, the author makes comparative studies on the similarities and differences in Chinese and English personal names and their cultural connotation. The comparisons are made in the structure of Chinese and English personal names, the origin of Chinese and English family names, naming customs of Chinese and English names and the cultural connotation reflected in the literary works. These reveal the influence of deep-going cultural connotation and different social cultures on Chinese and English names.The culture generality in Chinese and English culture leads to the similarities in the different name systems of Chinese and English, for example, worship of names, totems, consciousness of root-seeking, psychological suggestion, sex difference of culture.The different cultural connotation, for example, the ancestral idea, hierarchy, group orientation, the pursuit of aesthetic and the assimilation of Han culture are all reflected in Chinese names, while the religion, individualism orientation and emphasis of personality are also reflected in English names.The study of comparison of English and Chinese names and their cultural connotation can help us to have a better understanding of Chinese and English people and their cultures.