A Study Of Differences Between Chinese Numerical Idioms And English Numerical Idioms

This study is intended to explore the differences between Chinese and English numerical idioms, to be more specific, phonological differences, structural differences, semantic differences, and cultural differences. The reasons for this study are that numerical idioms are the beautiful rarity of the human culture, which reveal the colorful traditions and features of the national culture. Though studying Chinese and English numerical idioms, we can have a better understanding of differences between the two languages and cultures. In addition, it is found that the studies related to this domain are relatively scarce, most of which are made just from one aspect.The theoretical framework of this study is based on the comparative study proposed by Yang Zijian (1990) and the intercultural communication put forward by Guan Shijie (1995).This study generated the following major findings:There are many phonological differences between Chinese and English numerical idioms. Chinese numerical idioms mainly use four tones to transmit phonological beauty, whereas English numerical idioms employ repetition, alliteration, assonance, consonance, and stressed syllables to display phonological beauty. This is because Chinese is a tone language and English is an intonation language.As to the structural differences, many Chinese numerical idioms are composed of four characters and English numerical idioms do not have this restriction on the number of words used. The major reason is that Han nationality favors symmetrical beauty, while the people from English-speaking countries do not.With regard to the semantic differences, Chinese and English numerical idioms have either non-correspondence or partial correspondence. Their differences mainly lie in that the Han nationality has preference for image thinking, while the British and American nationality favors the logical thinking. The cultural differences between Chinese and English numerical idioms lie in religious beliefs, aesthetic perceptions, historical events, classical works, mythologies, and social customs and living conditions. These differences stem from their national characteristics and unique thinking patterns.The present study has two limitations:First, some of the interpretations for the differences between Chinese and English numerical idioms are a little superficial due to the researcher's limited knowledge.Second, the comparatively scarce literature and insufficient materials of English numerical idioms have restricted the choice of some English examples.