Language and Culture

green house�a warming house

give the green light to somebody�allow someone to do something

a green old age�bear one’s age well

green power�mighty power

green revolution�agriculture-related reform

green room�the drawing room for actors and actresses

go to the green wood�to be the hero in the wood

2.6 Yellow

Yellow appears in such Chinese expressions as黄色书刊，黄色电影，黄色音乐. Should they be translated as yellow books, yellow movies, yellow music? Of course not. We can replace 黄色 with filthy, obscene, or vulgar. In English, we have the phrase yellow journalism which lays too much emphasis on scandals or exaggerates the ordinary news to a sensational degree, sometimes even with distortion.

Similarly, we have Yellow Pages(黄页) both in Chinese and English.　　This is a book with the telephone numbers of different shops, businesses, organizations, etc., arranged in the order of different categories. Yellow Pages is a very useful handbook whose pages are yellow, but the content is not yellow in the Chinese sense.

Generally speaking, yellow is to some extent derogatory that carries the connotations of cowardice, jealousy, suspicion and contemptibility. Here is the proof.

yellow alert�alert in advance

yellow boy�gold coin

a yellow dog�a contemptible person

a yellow dog contract�a contract signed in the precondition that the employee will not join in the labor union

the sear and yellow leaf�an old age

yellow looks�suspicious looks

yellow streak�tending to be coward and chicken-hearted

2.7 Purple

In English, purple shares the same connotation as that in Chinese language. In the eye of Westerners, purple is the symbol of emperor and power. In particular, the purple refers to the throne of the emperor or the pope. “to be born in the purple” means “to be born in a royal family”; “to be raised to the purple” means “to be promoted to the position as a pope”; “purple passages” means “too florid words”, etc. In Chinese, we have 红得发紫, meaning popular to the extreme. Here, purple indicates the degree of popularity (红).

Here is more:

marry into the purple�marry into a family of high social position

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purple patches�pompous passages

turn purple with rage�fly into a fury

Purple Heart�(US)an insignia awarded to those wounded in the battle

2.8 Grey

Grey is often used to suggest darkness, sullen weather, blue mood or gloomy outlook. For instances, He looks grey and tired. The prospect of the market is grey. He is a grey-haired man now.

Grey also suggests wisdom and tact, as in the following expressions: grey wisdom, grey matter, and graybeard.

Other colors have some connotations as well, but will not be discussed here.

Chapter 3

According to the above comparison and analysis, we can see that there are distinct differences between the color words in Chinese and English. Sometimes, Chinese may not use the color words when they are used in English expressions and vice versa. Let us see a few examples containing the Chinese character－红.

红人�a favorite with somebody in power

红榜�honor roll

红利�bonus; extra dividend

红运�good luck

红光满面�one’s face glowing with health

脸红�blush

红茶�black tea

红绿灯�traffic light

I believe the above-mentioned examples amply illustrate the point. On many occasions, it is not the basic meaning of the color that functions, but the profound cultural associations related to the color that functions. That is to say, the differences in using color words between Chinese and English stand out when the color words themselves don’t play an important part. Two factors may help to illustrate. First is the language itself. There are many differences in the characteristics of both languages. English words are characterized by flexibility. One word is likely to have different meanings in different contexts. Comparatively speaking, the meaning of Chinese words remains fixed. Chinese is featured by standard, rigor and preciseness in choosing

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