Comparison And Translation Of English And Chinese Color Words, An Intercultural Perspective

The world is colored by all kinds of colors, so are the languages. People of different languages share the same recognition of the physical features of colors. However, people of different cultural backgrounds usually associate color words with different things and connotations due to the differences of geographic environment, religious beliefs, social practices, and history. With the advance of times and the rapid development of technologies and the world economy, cross-cultural communications and penetrations among different cultural communities are being quickened. Therefore cultural difference becomes an important topic in translation studies. Aimed at a reveal of the connotations and implications of basic color words, this paper compares and analyzes the usage of them in English and Chinese. By this way, this thesis is intended to find out possible principles on the translation of English and Chinese color words. Beginning with the general discussion on basic cultural concepts and the relationships between culture and language, culture and translation, it reveals the social and national psychology features of English and Chinese color words. And then based on the connotations and implications of English and Chinese color words, it points out some specific methods in translation of them. Reviewing and analyzing the SL culture-oriented principle and the TL culture-oriented principle, this thesis tentatively proposes adopting Vermeer's skopos theory to serve as a solution to the employment of translation strategies --- assimilation and alienation in the process of color word translation. Furthermore, it emphasizes that assimilation and alienation are not contradictory to each other; what is important is that translators should have deep cultural sense in the course of translation.