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1、A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Animal Proverbs 1A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Animal ProverbsI. IntroductionIn Longman Modern English Dictionary, proverb is “a brief familiar maxim of folk wisdom, usually compressed in form, often involving a bold image and frequently a jing
2、le that catches the memory.” A proverb, which succinctly sums up human experience and observation of the world, states a general truth and gives advice or warning. A proverb, often involving a bold image, musical rhythm and compressed form, can bring vividness to the readers and so they are easy to
3、remember and spread. Proverbs are summing up of folk wisdom, they are usually pithy, and have universal appeals. People love to pick up proverbs when they try to reason things out and the proper use of proverbs can make their views more convincing. Proverbs are the crystal of the national wisdom. Th
4、ey are an important part of a national language and they appropriately reflect the relation between culture and language. They have been connected closely with the national characteristics ever since their coming into being and in their development. It is generally acknowledged that different people
5、s have great differences in their cultures. But since different peoples live on the same earth with roughly similar needs and some of them have even experienced similar social development stage, their experiences, emotional reflection and observation of the world are in many aspects similar. This sh
6、ows that different peoples may have cultural generality besides cultural difference. Proverbs, as the cream of a language, inevitably carry the imprint of cultural difference and generality. The difference and generality respectively lead to the dissimilarities and similarities between English and C
7、hinese animal proverbs and making a comparative study of them is of great significance.II. Animals Proverbs with Identical MeaningsA Comparative Study of English and Chinese Animal Proverbs 2Some animal proverbs in English and Chinese are identical in meaning. The proverbs in this category are limit
8、ed in number. They are the result of either coincidence or translation loans from one language to another. These proverbs are not hindered by national boundaries or culture barriers, instead they have take on universal significance. The following are some examples.1. English: An ass is known by his
9、ears. / Chinese: 见耳识驴，听话知愚。2. English: It is a sad house where the hen crows louder than the cock. Chinese: 牝鸡司晨，家之不详。Many factors have contributed to the emergence of fully corresponding pairs in English and Chinese proverbs.Firstly, although different nations live in varied natural environments an
10、d diversified geographic conditions, they still share quite a lot in common. They have more or less the same species of animals. And the common ground of human cultures is larger than the individual feature of each culture. Although, peoples concrete ways of life are varied in different places, the
11、fundamental ways of living and thinking are the same for the whole human race.Secondly, owing to culture exchange, translation loans are borrowed from each other, which are not limited to the root ideas but sometimes include the “clothing of the idea”. As a result, some proverbs with identical anima
12、l image come into existence in different language, for instance, “He who rides a tiger is afraid to dismount” and “骑虎难下”.III. Animal Images with Different Meanings in ProverbsSome English and Chinese proverbs share the same images, and people take it for granted that they should have the same connot
13、ation, but actually, they contain A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Animal Proverbs 3different or even opposite meanings. For example, “It is a good horse that never stumbles.” and “好马不失蹄”.In this example, the English proverb “Its a good horse that never stumbles”, is easy to be translated
14、into Chinese “好马不失蹄”. In fact, the English proverb means even a good horse will stumble, so the right translation should be “好马也有失蹄时”. In the following part, the reasons for misunderstandings and the different choice of animal images will be clarified.A. Reasons for misunderstandings Firstly, someti
15、mes, the old use of grammar remains in the proverbs, and it may mislead our comprehension. The preservation of the old grammatical structure “its.that.” is similar to the modern structure in form, but opposite in meaning. The misunderstanding of the English proverb “Its a good horse that never stumb
16、les” as Chinese proverb “好马不失蹄” is due to this old grammatical structure.Secondly, when people hold different views and attitudes to animals, and their different worldviews toward the same situations, the same animal images may have different or even opposite meanings in different culture, and proverbs containing the same animal images will possibly have different meanings. The seemingly corresponding English and Chinese proverbs may have different connotations. For example
