中西方修辞学对比分析

Contrastive study of figures of speech in English and Chinese

论文题目 : （英文)Contrastive study of figures of speech in English and Chinese

论文题目 : （中文)英汉修辞格对比研究

姓 名： 刘小红

学 号： 101001304

完 成 日 期： 2012年12月10日

Contents

1. Introduction ……………………………… 3

2. The general view of figures of speech.......3

2.1The definition of figures of speech... 4

2.2The appliances of figures speech.... 5

2.2.1.In the advertisement...... 5

2.2.2.In the literature.............. 6

3. Comparison between English and Chinese of figures of speech ……………… 7

3.1. The similarities of figures of speech in English and Chinese ……… 7

3.2The differences of figures of speech in English and Chinese… 8

3.3. The different reason behind … 8

4. Conclusion ……… 9 Reference………… 10

1.Introduction

In the information society ,language is playing an important role in communicating message as the cultural diversity arises especially the widespread English .How can we communicate with each other more efficiently but politely in written language or oral language? Figures of speech permeate in all kinds of occasions and types of writing ,which has become an indivisible part of the linguistics .As a kind of language phenomenon itself is endowed with a sense of sociality .For the role ,i personally think is mainly express one's ideas with a vivid image ,for example ,it is not easy to understand some abstract object ,such metaphor rhetoric method can help people intuitively know the meanings ,so that we can promote the communication between people .At the same time ,we can make it possible to facilitate the spread of some thought and theory through a series of rhetoric methods, to a certain extent ,which enables the human civilization to make great progress .However ,some differences may lead misunderstanding between different languages ,i will make a comparison of study of figures of speech in English and Chinese as follows:

2.The general view of figures of speech

2.1The definition of figures of

speech

"Figures of speech" redirects here. For the hip hop group, see Figures of Speech.A figure of speech is the use of a word or words diverging from its usual meaning. It can also be a special repetition, arrangement or omission of words with literal meaning, or a phrase with a specialized meaning not based on the literal meaning of the words in it, as in idiom, metaphor, simile, hyperbole, or personification. Figures of speech often provide emphasis, freshness of expression, or clarity. However, clarity may also suffer from their use, as any figure of speech introduces an ambiguity between literal and figurative interpretation. A figure of speech is sometimes called a rhetorical figure or a locution .Not all theories of meaning have a concept of "literal language" (see literal and figurative language). Under theories that do not, figure of speech is not an entirely coherent concept.Rhetoric originated as the study of the ways in which a source text can be transformed to suit the goals of the person reusing the

material. Figures of speech include mainly

simile,metaphor,analogy,personification,hyperbole,understatement,euphemism,metonymy,synecdoche,pun,syllepsis,zeugma,irony,sarcasm,paradox,oxymoron,antithesis,epithet,alliteration,etc in English ,while 排比、对比、比喻、通感、比拟、对偶、设问、反问etc belong to Chinese forms ,they are related closely with each other but different from each other.

2.2.The appliances of figures of speech

2.2.1.In the advertisement

In order to give customers a big feast for the eyes and attract them to buy the commodities ,the advertisers rock their brains to design good ads ,to make full use of the figures of speech is one of the best methods to create many wonderful ads no matter in China or English-speaking counties .For example ,there is a refined and catchy advertisement in a Britain's company ,it is designed for the ladies' swimsuit ,"Flash ,Dash ,Classic ,Splash!"(闪光、炫耀、经典的飞溅！translated into Chinese）,although it only includes four words ,the artistic conception that a beautiful woman dressed in an exquisite swimsuit is jumping gracefully into water appeals in people's minds once they skim the very simple sentence ,it's no wonder that the company enjoyed a big sale

in a short period .Such excellent ad does make sense in goods promotion ,because it applies the alliteration very well to make the ad more memorable and smooth which exerts a great psychological effect on women .Another example in China ,China Unicom as one of the most biggest communication company with its ad "情系中国结，联通四海心"enjoys great fame cross the country ,because the symbol of the company is a Chinese knot that stands for Chinese people's homeless and patriotic mentality ,which helps the company achieve itself but also the social value ,thus a good enterprise image is set up unconsciously in society ,needless to say ,the charm of ad lies in it ,so fantastic the Chinese is .The ad has used two kinds of figures of speech in Chinese-双关和对偶，Chinese characters are really great and profound ,aren't they?

2.2.2.In the literature

Since the different culture between eastern and western counties ,the diction ,writing style ,figures of speech in literature are almost different .For instance ,the culture in China is usually high-context ,so euphemism is used in many essays .Dreams in the Red Mansion ,as one of the Four Classics in China has adopted this kind of figure of speech when describing the main heroin Dai yu Lin in the first chapter ."Her

dusky arched eyebrows were knitted and yet not frowning ,her speaking eyes held both merriment and sorrow ;her very frailty had charm .Her eyes sparked with tears ;her breath was soft and faint .In repose she was like a lovely flower mirrored in the water ;in motion ,a pliant willow swaying in the wind .She looked more sensitive than Pi Kan ,more delicate than Hsi Shih."(杨宪益，戴乃迭合译) One American friend made an comment on this paragraph :i can hardly see, through this passage ,a beauty before my eyes ,the overwhelming impression being that the young woman is frail and pale .When we say somebody's breath is soft and faint ,we do believe that she or he is fatally sick and should be hospitalized as soon as possible .In the perspective of Chinese people ,that is the beauty of obscureness . However ,majority of English-speaking countries are low-context culture ,the ways they think ,speak ,write tend to be direct

http://parison between English and Chinese of figures of speech

3.1.The similarities of figures of speech in English and Chinese

All the languages in the world serve as a tool to help

our human express ideas ,thoughts ,the uses of figures of speech in dialogues make our sentences more vivid and clear both in English and Chinese ,because the two share common traits in some aspect although their different linguistics definitions .Fox example ,simile and 明喻(in Chinese) are almost the same ,their ontology and metaphor shows in a sentence at the same time ,adopting one object to compare to another .The indicator of resemblance in English is like or as...as ,while 好像、仿佛...in Chinese ."They are like streetcars running contentedly on their rails.( 这些人犹如街上的有轨电车， 满足于在自己的轨道上运行。)"Whether in English or Chinese ,the meaning and artistic conception of this sentence is the same.

3.2.The differences of figures of speech in English and Chinese Different cultures will reproduce different language habits and conceptions inevitably .Metaphor(暗喻in Chinese),one of the very commonly-used figures of speech both in English and Chinese ,however ,there will be misunderstanding and puzzles if you are not a wise reader .Of course, the analogy image is often at the various national unique cultural brand, some English metaphors image will make

Chinese readers at sea, such as English as wise as a man of Gotham(像戈丹人一样明智).In fact ,Gotham is a village in England ,according to legend the people there is the most stupid, so this parable means "stupid matchless'' .Similar examples are as thick as thieves亲密无间 （不是"像贼一样厚"）, as old as the hills 古老 （不是"像山一样老"）,but if you do in Rome as the Romans do when reading ,you will make it.

3.3.The different reasons behind China is a typical feudal monarch country dominated by the Confucianism for a long history because of the semi-enclosed mainland ,which shaped the Chinese people's own thoughts-conservative and euphemistic .What we attach more importance to is not the natural curiosity but the so-called the ethics and morals .Many great Chinese works is famous for its euphemism. While western culture originated from blue ocean ,which caused people's inspiration to explore the nature and astronomy ,besides ,the Renaissance brought them a thought liberation movement ,so the western people is characterized by freedom ,democracy and opening ,forming gradually a spirit of humanism .They pursue adventurism and boldness in the life as well as the literature .All in all ,different modes of thinking ,outlooks on life and value orientations make the

different language habits.

4.Conclusion

One of the major characteristics identifying us as human is our ability to use language. Language plays a very important role in people’s daily life; it enables people communicate with each other and understand others' feelings. Language has close relations with culture. It is impossible to separate language from culture. As the essence of language, figures of speech also have close relations with culture. The contents of them range from society, history, psychology to customs and other various social phenomena. So, in the process of translation, translators should pay more attention to the cultural factors, in doing this, he can dig up the implicit meanings. (Conclusion of research) Only the cultural factors are concerned, translators can have a satisfactory translation. Besides, people should get acquaintances with the cultural background when using figures of speech to avoid embarrassment in communication. (Suggestions)

Reference

1.Lixin

Zheng,Juquan Wang,Language and

Culture:Contrastive Studies between English and Chinese.Shanghai:Shanghai

Press.1995-2003.p482. Foreign Language Education

2.张尚信，《英汉语言美的对比研究》，湖南大学出版社，2008.8 p254.

3.曾毅平，《修辞与社会语用论稿》，中国社会科学出版社，2005 p73.