颜色词的文化与翻译

Color-related culture and its translation
• 1. colors and their relation with Chinese culture.
•(1).Five Elements (gold, wood, water, fire and earth) and their relation with colors (white, blue, black, red and yellow).
•五行中的金、木、水、火、土,其所对应的五脏为,木对肝和胆,颜色为青色或绿色;
金对肺,颜色为白色;水肾和膀胱,颜色为黑色;土对脾胃,颜色为黄色;火心脏和小肠,颜色为红色...
(2) particular colors associated with royal family.
•(3) particular colors reflected in the mural art.
•中国传统壁画色彩的装饰美体现了古人审美追求的自觉意识.这种审美趣味是在人文社会环境下形成的.它的发生与华夏民族巫术活动、传统儒道释思想有密切关系.它以色彩的装饰美,材料特质美的艺术表现,以及古人崇尚“五色”,“色”与“彩”基调的美、“人文象征”色彩美的寓意,折射出古代先人们色彩美学思想和审美趣味的文化品位.
•(4) colors and their meanings in Chinese paintings and Peking Opera.•(5) colors and Chinese ethnic costumes.
Classification of color terms • 1. cardinal color terms
•赤橙黄绿青蓝紫，
•谁持彩练当空舞？
•雨后复斜阳，关山阵阵苍。

•Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet----
•Who is dancing, waving this colored ribbon against the sky?
•The sun returns slanting after the rain,
•And hill and pass grow a deeper blue.
• 2. color words originated from real entities
•Gold, silver, orange, orange-red, blood-red, creamy, turkey-cock
• 3. colors differed in degree
•Cardinal, carmine, pink, Chinese-red, chrome red, scarlet, copper red, crimson
•朱红、绛红、嫣红、橘红、紫红、火红、桃红、血红、玫瑰红等等。

•红色：happiness, power, honor, passion •红糖、红茶、红榜、红豆、红运、红利、红颜、红闺•Red ruin, a red battle, red tape, red sky, red-letter-day •Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight,
•Red sky in the morning, shepherd’s warning.
• a fine old gentleman with a face as red as a rose •The maxim said when a married couple saw red lawyers saw green.
•青色
•（1）小麦青青大麦黄，原头日出天色凉。

•when the barley is ripe the wheat is green still, upon the field the sun rises dispersing the chill.
•(2) 座中泣下谁最多，江州司马青衫湿。

•the assistant prefect of Jiangzhou is so moved, that his blue coat is wet with tears.
•(3) 湘云却一把青丝，拖于枕畔。

•Hsiang-yen’s black hair had tumbled all over the pillow.
•绿水青山枉自多，华佗无奈小虫何！
•So many green streams and blue hills, but to what avail?
•This tiny creature left even Hua to powerless!
•红雨随心翻作浪，青山着意化为桥。

•Crimson rain swirls in waves under our will, •Green mountains turns to bridges at our wish.
•英语中的“green” 常表示”嫉妒、眼红”
•Green with envy
•Green-eyed monster
•Green power
•Greenhorn
•You cannot expect Mary to do business with such people.
She is only eighteen and as green as grass.
•Green old age
•戴绿帽
•To be a cuckold
•“白”does not necessarily correspond to “white” in English.
•白色中国文化中表示：
•（1）表示光明、明亮，词义引申表示明白、清楚；•（2）象征凶事，喻指悲哀
•（3）象征纯洁
•（4）象征反动、反革命
•（5）表示“徒劳”、“空”
•（6）“白衣”指没有功名的人
•皮肤白皙
•白熊白蚁白卷白切肉白搭白手起家坦白
•黄色：中国人习惯用黄色象征低级趣味、腐朽没落，那些内容庸俗猥亵，有严重色情倾向的作品被贬为黄色电影、黄色书刊等等，但这与英语中的“yellow” 不相干。

英语中对应此意的词是pornographic, filthy, vulgar, obscene, blue.
•“yellow” 在英文中表示“胆小的、卑怯的、卑鄙的”，如：
• 1. He is too yellow to stand up and fight.
• 2. you don’t want to fight, do you? You are yellow.•Yellow pages yellow boy
•蓝色：英汉语中的蓝色，都可以用来描述秋高气爽的天空色，给人一种辽远、宁静的感觉。

但汉语中“蓝色”的引申义很少，英语中蓝色的引申义很多，如：表示“情绪低落”、“忧愁苦闷”，乃至“倒霉”之意。

•You look blue today.
•In holiday blue
•It was a blue Monday.
•英语中的“blue”还表示下流的，如：
• A blue film
•To make a blue joke
Exercises
•1.Mr. Brown is a very white man. He was looking rather green the other day. He has been feeling blue lately. When I saw him he was in a brown study. I hope he will be in the pink again.
•Being desperate and furious, Mary nailed her colors to the mast and yelled at John, saying that she could no longer put up with him. John, being aware of the fact that his constant losing at gambling was like
a red rage to a bull, saw the red light to their marriage. He also knew
that he was already in the red and could not possibly go on without doing something about the situation. He tried to calm Mary down by saying it was his fault and expressed his determination to wash his hands off it when he got his money back. Yet, Mary was in a blue funk and screamed blue murder, insisting on their splitting up.
Seeing that things were looking black, John began to show a yellow streak because he still loved her and did not want to be in her black books and lose her. (broken bones well set become stronger)
•黑色：象征苦难、死亡、悲痛、不祥。

如：
•Black tidings
•The Black Friday
•黑色还象征气愤和恼怒。

如：
•Black in the face
•Look black at sb
•黑色在西方也象征着庄重、威严和尊贵。

•如：black suit black dress
•汉语中的“黑”往往与邪恶有关，如：
•黑心(evil-minded) 黑手(evil backstage manipulator) 黑幕(inside story) 黑道(evil way/means) 背黑锅？
•灰色表示“消沉、失望”的心情。

•1……心里早灰了一半。

•The hope has been dashed by ...•…melted her heart
•Her heart has already sunk.。