Abstract There are abundant plant words both in Chinese and English languages. Owing to the history, cultural background and traditional custom are different, not only do different plant words have different associative meanings, but also the associative meanings of the same plant words are different. This paper firstly describes the definitions of plant words and associative meaning. Then it mainly compares the associative meaning of plant words from two aspects: associative meaning of the same plant words and associative meaning of the different plant words. The associative meanings of the same plant words include the same and different associative meanings. The associative meanings of the different plant words also contain the same and different associative meanings. At the same time, this paper also discusses the semantic lap, that is, the associative meaning of plant words only in Chinese language or English language. At last, this paper draws a conclusion that through the comparative study of associative meaning of plant words in English and Chinese, learners can master and use the fixed expressions with plant words better and improve the application capabilities of intercultural communication.57590

Keywords: A comparative study; Plant words; Associative meaning; Intercultural communication

摘要英语和汉语中都有很丰富的植物词语。由于英汉历史、文化背景和传统习俗的不同，不仅不同植物词语有不同的联想意义，而且相同植物词语的联想意义也不同。本文首先分别阐述植物词语和联想意义的定义，然后主要从两方面比较英汉植物词语的联想意义：相同植物词语的联想意义和不同植物词语的联想意义。相同植物词语的联想意义包括相同的联想意义和不同的联想意义；不同植物词语的联想意义也包括相同的联想意义和不同的联想意义。同时，本文也讨论了语义空缺，即：仅存英语中或汉语中的植物词语的联想意义。最后得出结论：通过英汉植物词语联想意义的对比研究，可以使学习者更好的掌握和运用含有英语植物词语的各种固定表达，提高跨文化交际的应用能力。

毕业论文关键词：对比研究；英汉植物词语；联想意义；跨文化交际

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 2

3. Associative Meaning and Plant Words 2

3.1 Definition of Associative Meaning 2

3.2 Cognition of Plant Words 3

3.3 Cognition of Associative Meaning of Plant Words 4

4. Associative Meaning of the Same Plant Words in Chinese and English 5

4.1 The Same Associative Meaning and Causes 5

4.2 The Different Associative Meaning and Causes 7

5. Associative Meaning of the Different Plant Words in Chinese and English 10

5.1 The Same Associative Meaning and Cause 10

5.2 The Different Associative Meaning and Cause 11

6. Semantic Lap and Causes 12

6.1 Semantic Lap 12

6.2 Cause 14

7. Conclusion 14

Works Cited 16

1. Introduction 

     Language is the carrier and transmitter of culture. “Language is the archives of history”, Ralpah Waldo Emerson is telling us that “it is impossible to separate our use of language from our culture because language is not only a form of preserving culture but also a means of sharing culture. Language is an organized, generally agreed-upon and learned symbol system that is used to represent the experiences within a cultural community (Dai Weidong, 2009: 7).” Vocabulary is the most basic, sensitive and active part of the language. Vocabulary, as the most fundamental part of culture, is influenced inevitably by culture. Vocabulary is loaded with specific language and culture, and culture can be reflected in the vocabulary. There are lots of plant words in English and Chinese languages such as grass, apple, pine, rose, peach and willow. These plant words may have the same or different associative meanings (Liu Yongjuan, 2007: 177). The associative meaning is the additional or underlying meaning of the word. Associative meaning is a semantic world built by people who use the psychological method like symbolization and analogy based on the conceptual meaning in their long-term practices in language. Associative meaning is engendered when people impose the connotative meaning like safety and danger, kindness and evil and beauty and ugliness to the words in a specific cultural context where they summarize their perceptual knowledge and emotional experience in external world. The associative meaning of word is a general term. It is produced by the language users who are affected by the national culture and traditional edification. Being porced from the specific cultural background, this association may not exist or mutate (Yang Yuangang, 2002: 74).”