astudyofculture-loadedplantwordsbetweenenglishandchinese(编辑修改稿)

astudyofculture-loadedplantwordsbetweenenglishandchinese(编辑修改稿)内容摘要：

nnotative meaning. A denotative meaning indicates the referent or the thing to which the symbol refers. Connotative meaning represents the values and attitudes resulting from the use of words and expressions in discourses. Culturally loaded words and expressions carry culturally connotative meanings. Hu Wenzhong points out that cultureloaded words and expressions are loaded with specific national cultural information and indicate deep national culture, reflecting directly or indirectly the national culture in the structure of words and expressions. Classifications of Cultureloaded Words Culturalloaded words exist everywhere in a language. As two unrelated languages function in two distinct cultures with a long history, English and Chinese surely have a plenty of cultureloaded words. Scholars have put forward several kinds of classifications. For instance, Lian Shuneng gives a list of cultureloaded words and expressions, which include color words, animal words, plant words, political words, ４ euphemism, taboos, idioms, proverbs, allusions, etc. Guan Shijie argues that there are five types of the lexicons between two different languages. They are (1) culturally overlapping words。 (2) culturally parallel words。 (3) culturally blank words。 (4) culturally halfblank words。 (5) culturally conflicting words. The Relationship of Cultureloaded Words and Intercultural Communication Cultureloaded words are influenced by cultural factors, like the society, religious beliefs, history, ways of life, value systems, etc. They display the culture of a society and its people. Each culture places its own individual imprint on word symbols. As we all know, cultures in the world have similarities as well as differences. So discrepancies always exist between vocabulary in the two different langua ges and cultures. People who grow up in a certain background always carry their culture with them wherever they go, which influences how they respond to the people they meet. Therefore, in intercultural munication, no matter whether the participant realize or not, he/she always encodes or decodes linguistic messages according to his/her own culture. In that case, cultureloaded words often bee the barriers of appropriate understanding and use of foreign language. Sometimes, they even result in the breakdown or conflict in the course of munication. Based on similarities between cultures in the world, words in different languages can carry the same or similar meanings. For example, 好手 (a good hand) and老手 (an old hand) both appear in expressions of similar structure with similar meanings. Therefore, it will not cause misunderstanding in intercultural munication. Many words are vivid and expressive, they also will not create problems. For example, “to describe a hardworking person”, a Chinese may use 他像老 黄牛一样工作， while a Westerner might use work like a horse. Here, 老黄牛 and horse, though different in their images, they are functionally the same. However, it is very hard to find 仁，义，礼，智，信， an appropriate English equivalent respectively. Likewise, Chinese has no ５ satisfactory translations for hippies, cowboy and fair play, etc, especially for those relating to Christian. Furthermore, there are some troublesome cases in crossculture interpretation. For instance, 龙 and “dragon” are the same in designative meanings, but are pletely different in their associative meanings. Therefore, it is usually considered necessary to have a good mastery of such culturally conflicting words in the two languages. Having analyzed the importance of cultureloaded words in intercultural munication, we must keep clear that apart from acquiring the language skills, such as its words, sounds, and grammars, people must also have a good understanding of cultureloaded words. ６ Making Words Carrier of Culture The doctrines of Confucius and of Christianity are cherished heritages which have been handed down by many of the oriental nations and Western nations respectively from generation to generation by means of oral munication or written books. A major area of intercultural munication lies in the belief and value systems and world views, which are the source of many of the apparent cultural differences. Cultural differences are closely related to a people‟s history philosophical thinking, religion, mythology and folklore. There are vast differences between the English culture and the Chinese culture in these specific aspects. Consequently, discrepancies in the meanings of words always exist. The following parisons may well illustrate this point. Geographical Surroundings Due to the diverse geographical locations, different countries differ greatly in their natural environments, plants, animals, and so on. This is certainly reflected in the cultureloaded words. Chinese people favor 东风 in that it heralds the ing of spring in which everything es to life again and the whole world is full of vigor and loveliness. Therefore，东风 is defined as the wind in spring, figuratively indicating the revolutionary force, while the west wind, which is cold and dry, is not favorable. Following its ing, the whole world bees lifeless, the grass withering and the leaves falling. For this reason, 西风 represents the declining reactionary force. If only Westerners e to realize the distinctive Chinese feeling for 东风 and 西风， they will not find it difficult to understand the famous saying by Chairman Mao 东风压倒西风(the east wind is prevailing over the west wind, figuratively meaning the revolutionary forces have prevailed over the reactionary forces ). Likewise, Chinese readers will e to appreciate Ode to the West by P. E. Shellay, in which the west ７ wind is regarded as a token of hope and force, because just li。