Comparison-between-Chinese-and-English-Animal-Idio

ComparisonbetweenChineseandEnglishAnimalIdiomsAnimals,theclosestcreaturestohumanbeings,naturallyappearfrequentlyinhuman’slanguage.Asoneimportantpartoflanguage,idiomcontainslotsofanimalimages.Somecanbeeasilyunderstoodfromtheirliteralmeanings,whileotherswillmakepeoplepuzzlesincetheywerecreatedforsomespecialandcomplexreasons.Animalidiomsnotonlyreflectpeople’sattitudeandtraditionalthoughttowardsanimalsbutalsoembodypeople’sculture.CompareanimalidiomsbetweenChineseandEnglishwillhelppeopleeasilydiscovertheconnectionsanddistinctionsofthesetwocultures.1DistinctionsinChineseandEnglishAnimalIdioms1.1DifferencesDespiteofsomesimilaritiesinChineseandEnglishanimalidioms,eachlanguagehasitsuniquefeatureswhichmakethelanguageoutofothers.Forvariousreasons,differencesareinthehighestflightwhencomparingculturesandlanguagesbetweentwonations.Fromthedifferencesofidioms,wediscoverthedistinctionsineachculture.Onanimalidioms’part,therearethreekindsofdifferences,namelyimagedifferences,meaningdifferencesandemotiondifferences.Theyareconnectedwitheachotherandatthesametimecomplementeachother.1.2GapsWiththeaccumulationofdifferencesandconnections,someanimalidiomsmightfindnosimilarexpressionsintheircounterpartlanguage.Thisisabigbarrierofcommunicationbetweentwonations.Becauseoftheblankincorrespondinglanguage,foreignersmayabsolutelyhavenoideaabouttheconnotationsofsuchidiomswithoutannotations.1.3ReasonsforDistinctionsRomewasnotbuiltinoneday,norwasitbuiltinonematerial.Throughtheevolutionofthousandsofyears,cultureshavebeeninfluencedbyallkindsofelementstopresentusitsdeepsignificancetoday.Thefollowingfourreasonscanberegardedasthemainfactorsinregardtothecontributionstotherichanimalidioms.1.3.1HistoricalFactorLanguageshapesintheprocessofhistoricaldevelopment.Animalidioms,animportantpartoflanguagesurelycameintobeingwithdeepprintofhistory.Differentcountriespossessdifferenthistorycultures,whichmainlycompriseallusion,myth,poems,ancientbooksandrecords,etc.Theculturalconnotationfromhistoryisthegemofhumanculturalheritage.KnowledgeofhistoricalbackgroundsofChineseandEnglishhelpsunderstandthoseuniqueanimalidiomseasier.Evidenceshowsthatasearlyas8000yearsago,totemofdragonhadexistedinChina.ItindicatestheincrediblylonghistoryoftherespecttodragonbyChinesepeople.InChina,dragonissupremeandChinesepeopleregardthemselvesastheoffspringofdragon.Withsuchalonghistoryofdragon-worship,itisnowonderthatnearlyallidiomsaboutdragonrefertoluck,dignityorauthority,suchas“龙凤呈祥”，“龙行虎步”。InBritain,ifsomeoneisconsideredfoolish,hewillbedescribedasagoose.IntheMiddleAge,SwedisharmyattackedaBritishtown.Allcitizensinthattownhunggeeseonthewalloftheirhousestoexpresstheirresistanceagainstanddisdaintothearmy.Ingreatanger,thekingcommandedtocookallgeeseinthetown,thusthewholetownwasburnt.Gradually,“cookone’sgoose”meanttodestroyone’splanorfuture.1.3.2GeographicFactor“Anyculturalcharacteristiccouldnotbeseparatedfromitsenvironment.Everyculturediffersfromeachotherbecauseofitsterrain,climateandsurroundings.”[1]Nomatterwhatpeopledo,theyhavetodependentonnature.Peoplenotonlymakelivingthroughnaturebutalsoseekforpsychicbackfromnature.Afteralongtimestayatsomeplace,peoplewillunconsciouslyintegrateintothatgeographicculture.Eventodayinthistechnological-advancedsocietynaturemakesagreatinfluenceonpeople’slife,letaloneonourancestorsalongtimeago.Infacewithsuchadecisiveelementtotheirlife,undoubtedlytheywouldtalkaboutthenatureinidioms.1.3.3ReligiousFactorReligionisamaincomponentofhumanculture.Itreflectsdifferentattitudesandvaluesofnations.Sincelanguageisakeywaytospreadtheideologyofreligions,throughidiomswecouldseemoreclearlyreligion’sinfluenceonculture.Chinesepeoplehaveexperiencedaninflectiveprocessaboutitsreligiousbelief.Manyidiomsaboutreligioncamedownandarewidelyusedtilltoday.Forexample,“来龙去脉”comesfromTaoism,inwhichthemountainiscomparedtodragonandwatertopulse.AccordingtoTaoism,thisidiommeansthatoneshouldmakecleartheoriginandtrendinordertoknowthegeomanticconditionofthatplace.However,nowadaysthemeaningofthisidiomhasbeenchangedtoillustratethecontextofsomematter.1.3.4ConventionalFactorTheuseofanimalidiomstosomeextentdependsonpeople’sopinionontheseanimals,andtheiropinionlargelydependsontheirconventionsincetheysettledonthelandtheylived.Duetodifferentconventions,peopleofdifferentnationswouldhavetheirowncodesofthinking,conceptsofvalueandaestheticstandards.Conventionistherealestreflectionofpeople’straditionallifeandtheirwaystodealwithdifficulties.Theconventionofacultureisthebasicknowledgeaswellasthebestapproachtounderstanditslanguageforforeignerswhowanttolearnit.Ibelieveitisconventionthatleadstothelargestgapbetweenculturesandlanguages.Becausetheylivewithdifferentconventions,theytreatpeoplewithdifferentmethodsandviewthingsindifferentangles.InChina,chookistheplainestpoultryincountryside.Beforetheinventionofclock,peoplewereinformedthebreakofthedaybythecrowofchooks,thuswegettheidiom“一唱雄鸡天下白”.Onceastudiouspersongotuptopracticemartialartassoonasheheardthecockheraldedthebreakoftheday.Hisstorywasspreadandconcludedasanidiom“闻鸡起舞”.Unlikeo