毕业论文英语专业
Acknowledgements
I am deeply indebted to Jiang Zhaozi, my supervisor, who not only has given me constant and valuable advice during my writing of this thesis, but also has gone over my drafts meticulously and offered critical comments on them. Without his help, the thesis could never have reached its present form. My sincere gratitude also goes to my teachers who have given me lectures and help, which are indispensable to the completion of this thesis. I give my hearty thanks to my classmates who have offered help and suggestions in the process of writing this thesis.
Finally, I would like to thank those critics and writers whose essays and works have provided valuable information concerning the subject of my thesis.
Abstract
Proverb is a traditional product of cultures in different countries, which can create unexpected effect in communication. With the rapid development of linguistic study, increasingly numbers of scholars begin to focus on the special field such as animal in order to get better research on human language. Dog, one of the most favorite animals all over the world is the intimate pet or friend of human beings and produces unique culture especially on proverbs. But proverbs about dogs from different countries usually convey various information and connotation. Therefore, this thesis is trying to make a comparative study of English and Chinese proverbs about dogs including the different meanings of the proverbs, some similarities and differences between the two kinds of proverbs and the reasons. From my study I find that the difference is not so much. Chinese proverbs containing dogs lay stress on the loyalty to his host. But English proverbs containing dogs emphasize on the friendship. The author thinks that Chinese proverbs containing dogs lay stress on the loyalty to their host because of the inequality status of Chinese society. English proverbs containing dogs regard dogs as friends because they emphasize on the concept of equality and democracy.
Key words: dogs; proverbs; comparative study
摘要
谚语是不同国家的一种传统文化产物，在交际中能够产生意想不到的效果。随着语言学研究的迅速发展，大量学者开始放眼于特殊领域的研究，比如动物，以求可以更好的进行人类的调查研究。狗作为全世界最受宠爱的动物，是人类亲密的宠物或者说是朋友，尤其在谚语方面产生了独特的文化。但是来自不同国家的关于狗的谚语通常传达多样化的信息和内涵。因此，这篇文章致力于比较研究英汉语言中关于狗的谚语，包括：此类谚语的不同含义，异同以及产生异同的原因。通过研究发现汉语与英语对狗的分歧并不是那么大，汉语中强调狗的忠诚而英语中更多强调的是友谊。笔者认为汉语对狗忠实的强调反映了汉语长时间对人地位不平等，而英语一般强调平等，故视狗为朋友。
关键字：狗; 谚语; 对比研究
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements i
Abstract ii
摘要 iii
Table of Contents iv
Introduction 2
Chapter One Proverbs Containing Dogs and Previous Studies on It 3
1.1 The Roles of Dog and Proverbs Containing Dogs 3
1.2 Previous Studies on Proverbs Containing Dogs 3
Chapter Two Methods and Materials 5
2.1 Methods 5
2.2 Materials 5
2.2.1 Chinese Proverbs containing Dogs 5
2.2.2 English Proverbs containing Dogs 7
Chapter Three Major Findings 11
3.2 Factors Affecting Cultural Connotation of Animal Words in English
and Chinese Proverbs 12
Chapter Four Conclusion 14
References 15
Introduction
Proverb is a culturally significant pithy saying with a moral or practical message. Simple and brief proverbs can achieve profound insignificance and produce humorous wit. In various cultures, most proverbs are connected to animals. And we can find the different attitudes toward animals from the proverbs of their culture. Among all the animals, dogs apparently play an important role in our daily life since ancient time. Therefore, during the development of culture a great many proverbs containing dogs are produced. In common views, dogs are treated as the symbol of loyalty, inferiority and snobbery, which in fact are related to dogs’ character. And in most cases, people tend to criticize people by the description of dogs. It is seemingly to talk about dogs, but the real purpose is to express human principles with the aids of rhetoric devices like metaphor, irony or euphemism. I am interested in the proverbs containing dogs and I want to use this aspect as an entry point to understand the similarities and differences between American and Chinese culture better. More importantly, through the comparative study on these proverbs, we can observe various social phenomena.
However, proverbs from different countries usually convey special and different messages and connotation. For example, in Chinese, the proverbs about dog mostly express derogatory sense while in English, the proverbs show commendatory sense, which is resulted from different culture about dogs and the attitude towards dogs. In China, dogs are considered to be the watchdogs, which evidently will decide the tragic fate and image of dogs in our minds. On the contrary, in the western countries, dogs are always regarded as lovely and intimate pet or companion especially for the elders. Sometimes, dogs can even be treated as the family members, which
undoubtedly make the western dogs own a totally different life and status. By focusing on "culturally loaded" aspects of the words or phrases which people from another country use require our special attention, which would help us do smoothly and properly in intercultural communication.
The article will discuss the proverbs about dogs mainly from four aspects. Chapter one is to give a brief introduction to the roles of dog and the various proverbs containing dogs and previous studies on proverbs containing dogs. Chapter two is to show the methods and materials of comparative study of English and Chinese
proverbs containing dogs. Chapter three is to show the major findings .Through the detailed analysis of Chinese and English for examples, we can get a good understanding of the expressive effect of the proverbs containing dogs and the differences and similarities between the two language’s proverbs. And we will know that there was a bit of misconception about the common concept Chinese and English proverbs containing dogs. After analyzed the data reflected from two tables and charts. I try to explore the reasons that cause the difference and similarities including the influence of the culture difference, from which we can thoroughly comprehend the proverbs containing dogs. Chapter four is the conclusion of this thesis.
Chapter One Proverbs Containing Dogs and
Previous Studies on It
1.1 The Roles of Dog and Proverbs Containing Dogs
The role of dogs with humans is different in different periods. In their early roles, wolves, their dog descendants, would have derived significant benefits from living in human camps—more safety, more reliable food, lesser caloric needs, and more chance to breed. Humans would also have derived enormous benefit from the dogs associated with their camps. For example, dogs would have improved sanitation by cleaning up food scraps. The relationship between the presence of a dog and success in the hunt is one of the primary reasons for the domestication of the wolf. "The most widespread form of interspecies bonding occurs between humans and dogs" and the keeping of dogs as companions, particularly by elites, it has a long history. They have earned the unique nickname, "man's best friend" because they have lived and worked with humans in so many roles. People often enter their dogs in competitions such as breed-conformation shows or sports, including racing, sledding and agility competitions. The scientific evidence is mixed as to whether companionship of a dog can enhance human physical health and psychological wellbeing. There are many differences between dog and cats or any other animals. Have you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face he will get mad at you? And he will stick his head out the window if you take it for a ride in the car. Cats
are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow. Dogs come out in both Chinese and English proverbs.
1.2 Previous Studies on Proverbs Containing Dogs
In the graduation thesis of A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Proverbs Containing Animal and Plant Words written by Feng Xiaohui. The reason why different peoples can create different metaphorical proverbs about the same idea has discussed in detail. He made a comparative study on the Rhetoric Level and on the cultural Level. He tried to find connections between language and culture. And he had noticed the effect of different living environments, different living styles,different religious beliefs, studies of different values on proverbs containing animals including dogs.
In the thesis of English "DOG" and Chinese "GOU":Comparison on English and Chinese Cultural Connotations in Terms of Animal Words written by Yang Jing. He found that the words or phrase people use and the culture in which people live are closely related. Connotations of the words or phrases are in general closely related to the culture they are rooted in. we should be aware that the words or phrases we choose to use may lead to misinterpretations and misunderstandings. And in the thesis of The Comparison in the ”Dog” image in the Idioms Between English and Chinese written by Dong Xiaojin, he said that dog is humble in Chinese. It is a curse if one uses it to describe human beings. However dog for British and American people, both can be used to guard, hunting; it can also be seen as partner and love. In the thesis of A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Idioms Containing Animals written by Dong tao. In ancient times, people around the world lived on farming; there should be some animals in common, such as cows, horses, rabbits, cats, dogs so on. The functions of these animals are quite similar all over the world. Thus, there is no doubt that
some of the animals have same meaning between different cultures. For instance: “ Dog eat dog” 狗咬狗. Dogs are representing of loyalty both in English-speaking countries and China. To the English-speaking people, dogs are often regarded as one of the best friend of human beings. Dogs can be kept not only as watchdog but also as pets. They are kept because they are intelligent, loyal, dependable and being able to make good companions. Therefore, the dog is usually associated with positive qualities in the West.“Every dog has his day”, in this proverb his way does not mean common but mean the day when someone became success. We can translate it as 风水轮流转. “To put the dog”, It means that someone doesn’t t have lots of money in pocket when he or her makes the first appointment with lover he is also not dressed so brightly. And he or she borrows some money and clothes from their friends for the appointment. We can translate it as 充门面摆阔气. In chapter 3 named learning methods of animal proverbs; he proposed the theory of learning the cultural background of the animal idioms including dog idioms.
Chapter Two Methods and Materials
2.1 Methods
Document analysis and comparative method are adopted in the research. I spent much time searching proverbs containing dogs on the internet and read the books I borrowed from our library. Through the extensive data collection, I classified these data to three parts: positive, neutral, negative two table, and two charts came out.
Document analysis is mainly used on the basis of the previous studies, different Chinese and English proverbs containing dogs and the achievements by other scholars.Document analysis method is used to set the research content or the research object.
It is clear that the research deals with the contrastive analysis of proverbs containing dogs between Chinese and English. Many other methods are also used with the comparative method, such as the statistical method, categorization, and exemplification. In the process of collecting the relevant proverbs the methods are used. From two chat and tables we can see both in Chinese and English the negative account for the most part about 45 percent. In Chinese proverbs containing dogs, positive only account for 4 percent. But in English its account for 15 percent.
In the part of data analysis appeared in the next chapter, methods of categorization and exemplification are adopted. I classified these data to three parts: positive, neutral, negative.
2.2 Materials
2.2.1 Chinese Proverbs Containing Dogs
In China dogs are often used to watch over its master's house. Many proverbs containing dogs in Chinese is negative they try to express the bad quality of dogs. There are also many proverbs containing dogs try to express the loyalty to their host.
Positive：
1. 子不嫌母丑，狗不嫌家贫
Neutral:
2. 猫捉老鼠狗看门：本分事
3. 好狗不跳，好猫不叫。
4. 好狗不咬鸡，好汉不打妻。
5. 绊人的桩，不一定高；咬人的狗，不一定叫。
6. 狗咬人，有药治；人咬人，没药医。
7. 爱叫的狗不咬人;咬人的狗不露齿。
8. 闷头狗，暗下口。
Negative:
9. 肉包子打狗：一去不回头。
10. 街上的疯狗：乱咬人。
11. 见狗扔骨头：投其所好。
12. 要饭的打狗：穷横。
13. 疯狗咬月亮：狂妄。
14. 苍蝇嘴巴狗鼻子：真灵。
15. 狗拿耗子，多管闲事。
16. 牛眼看人高，狗眼看人低。
17. 狗仗人势，雪仗风势。
18. 人怕没理，狗怕夹尾。
19. 画人难画手，画树难画柳，画马难画走，画兽难画狗。
20. 虎父无犬子。
21. 画虎不成反类犬。
22. 狡兔死，良狗亨:高鸟尽，良弓履。
Most proverbs on dog in Chinese is negative. From“虎父无犬子”、 “牛眼看人高，狗眼看人低”、“狗仗人势，学长风势”or other proverbs we can see that sometimes dog is used to express bad image. However many proverbs on dog is used to express the neutral habit of dog such as “人怕没理，狗怕夹尾巴”、 “好狗不咬鸡，好汉不打妻子”. Dogs in Chinese proverbs sometimes be used to contrast to human beings in the proverbs “狗咬人，有药医。人咬人，没药医。”.
2.2.2 English Proverbs Containing Dogs
Dog is considered as the best friend of human in most English-speaking countries. Many proverbs containing dogs in English is positive. From the examples of “Love me, love my dog”; If the “old dog barks, he gives counsel” and “lucky dog”, we can see that dog comes out as a positive image in many English proverbs. The word dog in English generally conveys complimentary or neutral meaning in English culture as the phrase "treat someone like a dog"(虐待某人). They also use the image of dog in proverbs to express the feeling of human being like “Dogs wag their tails not so much in love to you as your bread.”, “Old dogs will learn no new tricks” and so on. Positive：
1. E: Every dog has his day.
C: 人人皆有得意时。
2. E: Love me, love my dog.
C: 爱屋及乌。
3. E：The more I see of men, the more I love dog
C：我愈观察人，我愈爱慕狗。
4. E：If the old dog barks, he gives counsel.
C：老狗叫是忠告。
5. E：Better to be the head of dog than the tail of a lion.
C: 宁为鸡头不当凤尾。
6. E：Help the dog over the stile.
C：助人度过难关。
7. E：He is a lucky dog.
C：他是个幸运儿。
Neutral:
8. E: Barking dogs seldom bite.
C: 咬人的狗不露齿。
9. E：Dogs cannot change eating excrement.
C：狗改不了吃屎。
10. E：While the dog gnaws bone, companions would be none.
C：狗啃骨头无需伴。
11. E：Dogs that bark at a distance bite not at hand.
C：远处狗就叫，近身不会咬。
12. E：In every country dogs bite.
C：是狗就会叫。
13. E: An old dog cannot alter its way of barking.
C:老狗难改常吠声。
14. E：An old dog bites sore.
C：老狗咬得很。
15. E：like a dog with two tails
C：高兴得跟什么似的
16. E：Old dogs will learn no new tricks.
C：老年人很难学会新事物。
Negative:
17. E: When a dog is drowning every one offers him drink.
C: 救了落水狗反咬你一口。
18. E: Let sleeping dogs lie.
C：不要惹事生非
19. E: Every dog is a lion at home.
C: 狗在家门口就成了狮子。
20. E ：Out of a dog's mouth will never come ivory tusks.
C: 狗嘴里吐不出象牙。
21. E：Don’t snap and snarl at me when I'm trying to do my best for you.
C：狗咬吕洞宾不识好人心。
22. E：Dogs wag their tails not so much in love to you as your bread.
C：醉翁之意不在酒。
23. E：Give a dog a bad name and hang him.
C: 给人加个坏名声，他就永远洗不清。
24. E：Despair gives courage to a coward.
C：人急造反，狗急跳墙。
25. E：He that lies down with dogs must rise up with fleas.
C：近朱者赤，近墨者黑。
26. E：Two dogs strive for a bone, and a third runs away with it.
C：鹬蚌相争渔翁得利。
27. E: What does the moon care if the dogs bark at her?
C: 月亮不理狗的狂吠。
28. E: Into the mouth of a bad dog often falls a good bone.
C: 好骨头常常含在坏狗的嘴里。
29. E：The cat and dog may kiss, yet are none the better friends.
C：猫狗虽相吻，总难成好友。
30. E：Hungry dogs will eat dirty puddings.
C：饥不择食。
31. E：Dogs wag their tails not so much in love to you as your bread. C：狗儿把尾摇，爱的是面包。
32. E：Every dog has his day.
C：片瓦也有翻身之日;人人都有得意时。
33. E：Give a dog a bad name and hang him.
C:欲加之罪，何患无辞。
34. E: He who has a mind to beat his dog will easily find a stick.
C:有心打狗好找棍;欲加之罪，何患无辞。
35. E: When a dog is drowning, every one offers him drink.
C:待到狗溺水，众人给水喝。
36. E：lead a dog's life
C：过着猪狗不如的生活。
37. E: not have dog's chance
C:毫无机会。
38. E:a lazy dog
C: 懒汉。
39. E: a dirty dog
C:下流坯。
40. E：like a dog at a whistle
C：呼之即来。
41. E：a dog in the manger
C：占马槽的狗;占着茅坑不拉屎。
42. E：Beware of a silent dog and still water.
C：提防不吠的狗, 小心静止的水。
43. E：a cat-and-dog life
C：争争吵吵的日子。
44. E：hand-dog look
C：愁眉苦脸。
45. E: dog it
C:拈轻怕重，逃避工作。
46 E: Dog eats dog.
C: 狗咬狗。
Most proverbs containing dogs in English is also negative such as “Dog eat dog”, “dog it”, “a dirty dog” and so on. There is not so much difference with Chinese proverbs in this aspect. But from the listed proverbs containing dogs above, we can find the positive aspect in English is much higher than in Chinese.
Chapter Three Major Findings
3.1 Data Analysis
After analyzing from the proverbs above, two tables and charts come out as follows:
Chart one Chinese proverbs containing dogs：
positive negative neutral total
114722
Chart two English proverbs containing dogs：
positive negative neutral total
730946
From the two tables and charts, we can see both in Chinese and English the negative account for the most part. In Chinese proverbs containing dogs, positive only account for 4 percent. But in English its account for 15 percent. To most of us, most image of dog in Chinese is humble and most image of dog in English is noble. But from the two charts, this opinion might have a departure. From the two charts we can see, in both Chinese and English proverbs negative use of the image of dogs account for the most part. There are also many proverbs to describe the neutral aspect of dogs. But the number of positive in English proverbs is a little higher than in Chinese proverbs.