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AComparativeStudyofEnglishandChineseAnimalProverbs1AComparativeStudyofEnglishandChineseAnimalProverbsI.IntroductionInLongmanModernEnglishDictionary,proverbis“abrieffamiliarmaximoffolkwisdom,usuallycompressedinform,ofteninvolvingaboldimageandfrequentlyajinglethatcatchesthememory.”Aproverb,whichsuccinctlysumsuphumanexperienceandobservationoftheworld,statesageneraltruthandgivesadviceorwarning.Aproverb,ofteninvolvingaboldimage,musicalrhythmandcompressedform,canbringvividnesstothereadersandsotheyareeasytorememberandspread.Proverbsaresummingupoffolkwisdom,theyareusuallypithy,andhaveuniversalappeals.Peoplelovetopickupproverbswhentheytrytoreasonthingsoutandtheproperuseofproverbscanmaketheirviewsmoreconvincing.Proverbsarethecrystalofthenationalwisdom.Theyareanimportantpartofanationallanguageandtheyappropriatelyreflecttherelationbetweencultureandlanguage.Theyhavebeenconnectedcloselywiththenationalcharacteristicseversincetheircomingintobeingandintheirdevelopment.Itisgenerallyacknowledgedthatdifferentpeopleshavegreatdifferencesintheircultures.Butsincedifferentpeoplesliveonthesameearthwithroughlysimilarneedsandsomeofthemhaveevenexperiencedsimilarsocialdevelopmentstage,theirexperiences,emotionalreflectionandobservationoftheworldareinmanyaspectssimilar.Thisshowsthatdifferentpeoplesmayhaveculturalgeneralitybesidesculturaldifference.Proverbs,asthecreamofalanguage,inevitablycarrytheimprintofculturaldifferenceandgenerality.ThedifferenceandgeneralityrespectivelyleadtothedissimilaritiesandsimilaritiesbetweenEnglishandChineseanimalproverbsandmakingacomparativestudyofthemisofgreatsignificance.AComparativeStudyofEnglishandChineseAnimalProverbs2II.AnimalsProverbswithIdenticalMeaningsSomeanimalproverbsinEnglishandChineseareidenticalinmeaning.Theproverbsinthiscategoryarelimitedinnumber.Theyaretheresultofeithercoincidenceortranslationloansfromonelanguagetoanother.Theseproverbsarenothinderedbynationalboundariesorculturebarriers,insteadtheyhavetakeonuniversalsignificance.Thefollowingaresomeexamples.1.English:Anassisknownbyhisears./Chinese:见耳识驴，听话知愚。2.English:Itisasadhousewherethehencrowslouderthanthecock.Chinese:牝鸡司晨，家之不详。ManyfactorshavecontributedtotheemergenceoffullycorrespondingpairsinEnglishandChineseproverbs.Firstly,althoughdifferentnationsliveinvariednaturalenvironmentsanddiversifiedgeographicconditions,theystillsharequitealotincommon.Theyhavemoreorlessthesamespeciesofanimals.Andthecommongroundofhumanculturesislargerthantheindividualfeatureofeachculture.Although,people’sconcretewaysoflifearevariedindifferentplaces,thefundamentalwaysoflivingandthinkingarethesameforthewholehumanrace.Secondly,owingtocultureexchange,translationloansareborrowedfromeachother,whicharenotlimitedtotherootideasbutsometimesincludethe“clothingoftheidea”.Asaresult,someproverbswithidenticalanimalimagecomeintoexistenceindifferentlanguage,forinstance,“Hewhoridesatigerisafraidtodismount”and“骑虎难下”.III.AnimalImageswithDifferentMeaningsinProverbsAComparativeStudyofEnglishandChineseAnimalProverbs3SomeEnglishandChineseproverbssharethesameimages,andpeopletakeitforgrantedthattheyshouldhavethesameconnotation,butactually,theycontaindifferentorevenoppositemeanings.Forexample,“Itisagoodhorsethatneverstumbles.”and“好马不失蹄”.Inthisexample,theEnglishproverb“It’sagoodhorsethatneverstumbles”,iseasytobetranslatedintoChinese“好马不失蹄”.Infact,theEnglishproverbmeansevenagoodhorsewillstumble,sotherighttranslationshouldbe“好马也有失蹄时”.Inthefollowingpart,thereasonsformisunderstandingsandthedifferentchoiceofanimalimageswillbeclarified.A.ReasonsformisunderstandingsFirstly,sometimes,theolduseofgrammarremainsintheproverbs,anditmaymisleadourcomprehension.Thepreservationoftheoldgrammaticalstructure“it’s...that...”issimilartothemodernstructureinform,butoppositeinmeaning.ThemisunderstandingoftheEnglishproverb“It’sagoodhorsethatneverstumbles”asChineseproverb“好马不失蹄”isduetothisoldgrammaticalstructure.Secondly,whenpeopleholddifferentviewsandattitudestoanimals,andtheirdifferentworldviewstowardthesamesituations,thesameanimalimagesmayhavedifferentorevenoppositemeaningsindifferentculture,andproverbscontainingthesameanimalimageswillpossiblyhavedifferentmeanings.TheseeminglycorrespondingEnglishandChineseproverbsmayhavedifferentconnotations.Forexample:“Dogeatsdog”and“狗咬狗”.“Dogeatsdog”isalwaysregardedas“狗咬狗”.Butactually“Dogeatsdog”referstothephenomenonthatpeoplehurtthoseofthesamegroup,while“狗咬狗”meansbadpeoplefightwithbadpeople,sothetwoproverbsmeandifferently.B.FactorsinfluencingthechoiceofanimalimagesinproverbsAComparativeStudyofEnglishandChineseAnimalProverbs4Thelanguageshavesomeuniversality,butmoreimportantly,theyhavetheirownculturallyspecificfeatures.Theculturallyspecificfeaturesarecloselyrelatedtotheirreligion,specialgeography,literatureandpsychology.1.DifferentreligiousbeliefsDifferentnationsusuallybelieveindifferentreligion.Thusproverbsofdiversenationssurelyexpressvariousreligiousbeliefs.Inthewest,BritainandAmericaareChristiancountrieswithalonghistory.AndChristianasthemainbeliefofthemhasalreadytakenrootsinthei