Abstract As we live in a colorful world, the persity of colors results in the persity of color words. The color words occupy a very important position both in Chinese and in English. The color words not only express the color, but also possess different associative and connotative meanings due to several factors like environment, religion, mode of thinking and social convention. In some momentous occasions, as the important expressions of customs, red and white reflect different cultural backgrounds. This paper takes red and white for examples to compare the connotative meanings of color words in Chinese and English, and tries to analyze some different reasons for the differences between their connotative meanings. Then this paper can highlight the importance of deep understanding of cultural connotations of color words in trans-cultural communication and promote cross-cultural communication.69702

Keywords: color words; cultural connotations; red; white

摘要我们生活在五彩缤纷的世界里，多种多样的色彩也带来了多种多样的颜色词。颜色词在中英两种语言中都占有非常重要的地位。它们不仅仅表示颜色，同时还因为环境、信仰、思考方式和社会习俗等因素拥有不同的联想意义和内涵意义。在中西方重大场合中，红白两色作为一种重要的习俗体现形式，体现了不同的文化背景。该文将以“红”、“白”为例比较中英颜色词的内涵，从不同方面入手分析存在差异的原因，凸显出在跨文化交际中深刻理解颜色词的文化内涵的重要性，从而促进跨文化交流。

毕业论文关键词：颜色词；文化内涵；红；白

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 1

3. The Color of “Bai” and “Hong” in Chinese culture 2

3.1 Images of “Bai” 2

3.2 Images of “Hong” 3

4. The Color of “White” and “Red” in Western Culture 4

4.1 Images of “White” 4

4.2 Images of “Red” 5

5. Comparison and Contrast of Color Words between Chinese and Western Cultures 6

5.1 The similarities of color words between Chinese and Western cultures 6

5.2 The differences of color words between Chinese and Western cultures 7

5.3 Reasons for the differences of color words between Chinese and Western cultures 8

6. Conclusion 12

Works Cited 14

1. Introduction

In daily life, people confront with various kinds of colors and describe the world with perse color words. Thus in this process two representative color words come into being to express the world in both English and Chinese, which have spiced up the vividness of both languages. However, the rapid evolution of economic globalization and the strengthening of economic integration have made the cultural exchanges between China and western countries more and more important. Besides, different environments, religion, mode of thinking, social conventions and other factors have also brought about their different views toward colors and the English usage of colors and color words differs from that of Chinese. So it is imperative to understand the differences and similarities of color words between English and Chinese and to use them appropriately in our practical life.论文网