中英文化下颜色词的不同涵义-文献综述

1LiteratureReviewC10英语（1）张威Wearelivinginacolorfulworldwherethereisavarietyofcolorspermeatingeveryareaofourdailylife.ColoritselfisanabstractconceptandColortermsarethelabelsandbasiccolortermsaretheprototypesinthedifferentcolorcategories.Basiccolorterms,magicinexpression,aretheculturalcarriersofdifferentlanguages.Itisclearthateachprogressofresearchiscloselylinkedwithhumancivilization.Colortermsformaspecialgroupofglossaryandthespecialqualityofcolortermhasbeenattractingscholarsfromhomeandabroad.ResearchoncolortermsinforeigncountriescangobacktotheancientGreeceandmainlycenteredinphilosophy.Inthe17thcentury,withtheemergeofnaturalscience,peoplestudiedcolorandcolortermsinphysicsandoptics.Inthe18thcentury,thedevelopmentofphilosophygaverisetotheaestheticstudyofcolorwords.Inthe19thcentury,theriseofculturalstudylaidsolidfoundationforcontrastingandcomparingcolortermsfromacross-culturalperspective.Fromthelastcenturyuntilnow,thelinguists’participationmadethenotionsoftheuniversalityoflanguageprincipleshighlyvaluedandacceptedinthesystemofcolorterms.Intherecentthirtyyears,withthedevelopmentofneurology,biogenetics,cognitivescienceandcognitivepsychology,peopleareunveilingthecomplicatedrelationshipinthecolorterms’system,whichcontributestobetterunderstandingoftheinternalandexternalsystemsofcolorwordsandtofurtherthestudyoflinguisticcolorterms.1.StudiesonColorinDifferentFieldsinWesternCountriesBasicColorTerms:TheirUniversalityandEvolutionbyBerlinandKaysuggestthattheexpressionof“basiccolorterms”doesnothaveauniqueoperationaldefinition,yettheylayoutfourbasiccriteriatojudgewhetheracolorwordisbasicornot.Intheearly20thcentury,E.SapirandB.L.WholfputforwordLanguageRelativeTheory,thenBloomfieldcarriedoutCultureContactTheory,bothofwhichofferedafoundationforstudyingcolortermsintheframeoflanguageandculture.InfluencedbyBerlinandKay’spublication,2basiccolortermstheoryhasresultedingreatachievementsincross-disciplineresearches.BerlinandKayarguethatbasiccolortermsinalllanguagesaredrawnfromauniversalinventoryofjust11colorcategories.Accordingtotheirtheory,everylanguagehasbetween2and11basiccolortermsandtheypresentahierarchywhichspecifiesalimitednumberofevolutionarypathsthatalanguagecantakewhenaddingnewcolorcategories.Itpointsoutthatamongsomanycolorwords,weneedtofindoutbasiccolortermsanddoresearchonthesecolorterms.ThecrucialthingforustodoistostudythedifferencesbetweenbasiccolortermsinChineseandEnglishculture.TheStudyofColorsbyGoethe,thenotedliterarygiant,believesthatshadesofcolorinnaturearerelatedtothesensoryattitudesofhumanbeings.Then,hefindsthatcolorcategoriesareprocessedbythehumanmind(learned,remembered,denotedandevolvedinlanguages)intermsoftheirinternalstructure.Basedontheresultsofexperimentsandrelevantstudies,heclaimsthatdifferentpsychologicalstatesoffeelingcanbeactivatedbydifferentcolorsintermsofwarmnessandcoldness.Hethinksthecolorsontheplussideareyellow,red-yellow(orange),yellow-red(minimum,cinnabar).Thefeelingstheyexcitearequickly,lively.Thecolorsontheminussideareblue,red-blueandblue-red.Itisshowingthatknowingthedifferentmeaningsofcolorwordstendtobeknowledgeableinotherfield.Itmakesusconcernthingsinfullperspectiveswhichattributetomakethepaperconvectively.Cross-culturalInvestigationofColorTermsbyMagnusin1880,statesthatcolortermsfrominformantsrepresentingdifferentculturesinmanypartsoftheworld.Heholdsanassumptionthatcolortermsarelinguisticallyrelativeandsemanticallyculture-specific.Theevidenceforthisassumptioninlinguisticsorsemanticsisthefactthatthereisonlyafewnumberofbasiccolorterms,whicharebelievedtorepresentahigherdegreeofabstractionandgenerality.Thenewtheoreticaldisputesaboutcolorterminology,andsupporttheexistenceofanevolutionaryfeatureincolorwordsbysuggestingthatprimitivepeople,beinginalessdevelopedstagesoftheircolorvocabulary,andindustrializedpeopledonothaveanidenticalcolor-sense.3Itchangespeople’sviewoftherelationshipbetweencolorterminologiesandtheirphysiologicalfoundations,andsomehowpredictedthepossibilityoflinguisticuniversalityincolorterms.TheStudyoftheColorLexiconbyLakoffin1973,claimsthatwomenaremorelikelythanmentouse“fancy”orelaboratedcolorwordssuchasmauve,lavender,andbeigeinEnglish.Thesociolinguisticstudyofthecolorlexiconcanbefeasiblytakenasbeinginacomplimentarydistributionwiththecompletelyexaminedinthesensethatbothbasicandelaboratedcolortermsarestudied,andmostimportantofall,therelationshipsbetweenthesubjects’languageperformanceandpossiblesocialimplicationsaretakenintoaccount.Colorwordscannotonlydescribetheobjectiveviewandthething,italsohastheverystrongmoraleffect,givestheabstractthingsandcharacter,color,makeexpressionaddedimageofthefigurativemeaning.Thecolorofsimpletoadmiretheordersofthecharactersofsublimationtoconductimageexpressionisthelanguageoftheuniquefunctionofcolorwords.Especiallyincross-culturalcommunicationbecauseofdifferentnationalities,lifecharacteristics,psychologicalactivities,emotion,indifferentdegree,wasgiventheculturalinformationconnotation.Allmentionaboveaboutcolorabroadlaidasolidfoundationforfuturestudy.Meanwhile,they