Comparative Research Based On Cultural Meaning Of Chinese And French Basic Color Words

Color words are not only an important part of cultural vocabulary, but also a kindof special culture medium of cross-cultural communication and teaching Chinese as aforeign language. The color words make the language expression vivid and specific aswell as contain rich cultural connotations which are difficult for foreign students tolearn. The teaching of color words should be deeply combined with the related cultureand on the basis that foreign students can virtually master the color words.In recent years, the results of domestic and foreign researches on color words havegradually mounted, some of which are studied by contrasting two class of color wordsof two languages in order to guide the teaching Chinese as a foreign language.However, in most of the comparative researches the studies into Chinese and Englishcolor words are dominant while those between Chinese and French color words arerare. China and France are keeping close diplomatic relations and French is one of theearliest countries to carry out Chinese teaching, but also the key areas of internationalpromotion of Chinese, in addition, therefore, we choose the French color words ascomparative object because of its representative in west culture. It is hoped that we canput forward some teaching suggestions for native French-speaking foreign students andoffer some help for the work of teaching Chinese as a foreign language through thecomparison of basic color words towards Chinese and French.This paper is divided into five parts. The first chapter is the introduction of thesisin which summarizes the situation of color words both at home and abroad as well asput forward the research purpose and significance. The second chapter gives anoverview of the color words, including expounds the cognitive and partition problemsof color words, important theories related to color words, and the relationship betweencolor words and culture. The third chapter mainly discusses the different connotationsof basic color words between Chinese and French, as well as the different culturalmeanings of six basic color words. The origins and classifications of color words are soperplexing that we explore the origin of Chinese and French color words at thebeginning. In the fourth chapter, it is found that different nations can use the samecolor words to represent same symbolic significance or otherwise and different nations can also use different color words to represent the same symbolic significance throughthe comparative analysis and research of symbolic significance of six basic colorwords in Chinese and French. According to the previous four chapters, the last chapter,combined with the actual situation, puts forward some teaching suggestions and someactual available improvement methods.