动物隐喻在汉语和英语中的比较

动物隐喻在汉语和英语中的比较［Abstract］Animalmetaphor,asakindofmetaphor,referstoacognitiveprocessinwhichsomeaspectsofhumanbeingsareunderstoodorexperiencedthroughtheaspectsofanimals.Themeaningsofanimalmetaphorsaredeterminedbyculture.Becauseitisbasedonhuman’sexperience,therearemanysimilaritiesinEnglishandChineseanimalmetaphors.Butduetothedifferencesinculturalbackgroundswhichincludetheinfluenceofhistory,religion,geography,custom,andthewayofthinking,therearedifferentattitudestowardstheanimalmetaphors.TherearemanyfigurativeexpressionsinEnglishandChinesecultures,especiallyanimalmetaphors.AlthoughEnglishandChinesearerichinanimalwords,theybringsomeproblemsbecauseofthedifferentcultures.Becausehumanbeingsaccumulateexperienceandknowledgefromtheirpracticeandexpressthembylanguage,differentlanguagescontainandrepresentdifferentcultures.Thereforethecomparisonofanimalmetaphorsbecomesthemethodofgettingtoknowthedifferentcultures.［Keywords］animalmetaphor,communication,comparison,cultureI.IntroductionHumanbeingsandanimalsareboththeproductsofnaturalevolution,andtherehasexistedsomeinseparablerelationsbetweenmanandanimalssincehumanbeingscreatedlanguageswhicharethecarrierandcontainerofculturalinformation.Metaphor,asalinguisticandcognitivephenomenonisanimportantwayofunderstandinghumancognition.Animalmetaphor,asakindofmetaphor,referstoacognitiveprocessinwhichsomeaspectsofhumanbeingsareunderstoodorexperiencedthroughtheaspectsofanimals.Themeaningsofanimalmetaphorsaredeterminedbyculture.Becauseitisbasedonhuman’sexperience,therearemanysimilaritiesinEnglishandChineseanimalmetaphor.Butduetothedifferencesinculturalbackgroundswhichincludetheinfluenceofhistory,religion,geography,custom,andthewayofthinking,therearedifferentattitudestowardstheanimalmetaphor（Qin2010）.Thesedifferencesleadtothediversityoflanguagefinally.Thispaperattemptstoanalysistheanimalmetaphors’differencesandsimilaritiesandsomemethodstotranslatethemarealsoaddressed.Ⅱ.TheSimilarMeaningofSameAnimalinbothEnglishandChineseAsallhumanbeingsliveinthesimilarenvironment,thereissomesameknowledgeaboutanimals.Therefore,theyhavethesameorsimilarfigurativemeaningstoanimalwords.Forexample,inEnglishsomeonewouldsaypTheotheranimalthatthereissimilarmeaninginEnglishandChineseissheeporlambwhichisusuallyconsideredassweetandtame.Asaresult,itisusedtoshowthesweetandtamecharacter.Wecannotforgettheotheranimal,wolf.Onthecontrary,itreferstogreedyandcruel.SoinChinesethereexitsmanymetaphorstodescribeitscharacterssuchas“狼狈为奸”,“狼子野心”.InEnglishwecanfindthesimilarexamples:“awolfinasheep’sclothingorawolfinlamb’sskin”,“holdawolfbytheears”.Inaddition,assesareregardedasstupid,e.g.“assingrain(十足的大傻瓜)”;“anassinalion’sskin(fromAesop’sFables,冒充聪明人的傻瓜)”;“allasseswagtheirears(谚语：驴子摇耳朵，傻瓜装聪明)”.What’smore,beesareregardedasbusy,birdsareassociatedwithfreedomandnailsarerelatedtobeslow.Toparrotwhatotherssayandasgraceasaswanalsohavethesimilarmetaphormeanings.Pigreferstoagreedy,dirtyorbad-manneredpersonbothinChineseandEnglishforinstanceeatlikeapigandmakeapigofoneself.Theword“dove”inChineseandEnglishsharesthesamemeaning,andsymbolizesforpeace.Weregardthedoveas“peacedove”.Insomegrandcelebrations,weoftenseethesceneoftakingthedovesaway,standingforcherisheddesireforpeaceworldofallofus.WecanseethephenomenoninNationalDayinChina.Let’stakeourfamiliaranimalword“dog”forexample.Thedogiscloselyrelatedwithpeople.InChineseandEnglish,thedogbothhasthecommendatoryandderogatorysense.ComparedwithChinese,mostofthe“dog”expressionspossessacommendatorysenseoratleastaneutersenseinEnglish.Itcanbeusedtorefertocertainpeopleas“bigdog(重要人物)”,“topdog(优胜者)”,“luckydog(幸运儿)”,etc.inEnglish.“Tohelpalamedogoverthestile”means“tohelpsomeoneindifficulty”.“Everydoghasitsday,”means“everypersonwillsucceedorbecomefortunate.”ButinChinesethewordinmostChinesephrasesisassociatedwithsomederogatorymeanings,asthesayingslike“狗胆包天、狗头军师、狗腿子、狗血喷头、狼心狗肺、狗眼看人低”,etc.AlthoughmostChinesepeoplethinkthedogisman’sfaithfulfriend,itusuallyhasthederogatorymetaphor.Itseemsthatthisanimalisreallyverycloselyrelatedwithpeoplesothatpersonknowsitsfeatureandliketousethemetaphoraboutitnomatterwhatisgoodorbad.Becauseofthesimilarreason,insomecasesthewordmayhavederogatorysenseinEnglish,asisshowninthefollowingexamples:“yellowdog(卑鄙之人)”,“dirtydog(龌龊之人)”,“slydog(阴险之人)”,“deaddog(无用的人)”.Meanwhilesomevulgarlanguagesalsouseittoexpressthederogatorysense.Ⅲ.SpecialAnimalsinChineseandEnglish3.1MeaningfulinEnglishbutmeaninglessinChineseOstrichisakindoflargebirdwithalongneckandlonglegs,livingintheareaofAfricandeserts.Itcannotflybutrunveryfast.IntheEnglishculture,“ostrich”hassuchfigurativemeaningslikestupidevadingandhavingagoodappetite”.Itsfigurativemeaningwouldbereflectedinthefollowingexpression:“Ostrichbelief(鸵鸟信念)”.Thisbeliefisreferredtodeceptiveidea.“Toburyone’sheadostrich-likeinthesand”isapersonwhopreferstoignoreproblemsratherthangotohaveatryanddealwiththem.Inaddition,thereexistsanothersaying“havethedigestionofanostrich(胃口好如鸵鸟)”.Itjustshowsthemeaningofhavingagoodappetite.Withthedevelopmentofthesociety,Chinesealsousethismetaphorwhic