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1、A Brief Analysis of the Cultural Differences in Numbers of Chinese and EnglishA Thesis Submittedto Faculty of International Studies of Henan Normal Universityin Partial Fulfillment of the Requirementsfor the Degree of Bachelor of ArtsByNameSupervisor：NameOn May , 2016AcknowledgementsThis topic talks
2、 about the differences of the numeral culture between Chinese and English from the perspective of number analyze. The idea for the topic heads from some books I read and various lectures that my teachers and professors give in XinLian College of Henan Normal University. I am in bet to the professor
3、Zhao Wenjing, one of my teachers, who has a great deal of exciting thinking in this field that helped shape my view. She has evoked my interest in the numeral culture, as a result, I have collected many data about it during my college time .This thesis would not come into being without the encouragi
4、ng guidance and patient and efficient support of professor Zhao.My hearted gratitude also goes to all the other teachers in my college, the completion of this thesis will be a castle in the air if I didnt get their help. Especially I shall appreciate the help of Ma Zhaoqian, the teacher who has help
5、ed me all the time.All of you have given me a constant source of enlightenment, encouragement and confidence.摘要数字是一种特殊的语言符号，不论在东方还是西方，数字都有着悠久的历史。它是语言的重要组成部分，对人类社会的发展起着重要作用。在历史发展过程中，由于种种因素的影响，人们赋予数字不同的含义，以此形成了数字文化。这种数字文化又呈现出东西方的差异，其差异不只体现在形式上，也体现于内涵上。本文以数字为切入点，对比分析了东西方部分数字本身意义及它们蕴含的文化因素的差异，然后从宗教信仰，价值
6、取向，心理因素及历史背景和当地习俗几个角度分析了这些差异产生的原因。整篇文章分为五章：第一章解释了数字与人类文明的密切关系，让读者了解当今的数字。第二章根据东西方人们对数字的偏好列出了部分数字，并以此比较其在东西方数字文化中的差异。第三章展示了中英数字文化所蕴含的不同意义, 使读者在了解数字本身含义的基础上理解数字在汉语与英文中承载的文化内涵，体会其差别。第四章从宗教信仰，价值取向，心理因素及历史背景和当地习俗几个角度分析了这些差异产生的原因，使读者不仅知道哪里不同，更明白为什么不同。第五章是基于全文的总结, 并指明了解中西方数字文化差异及其原因在跨文化交流中的重要性。关键词：英汉数字；内涵意
7、义；数字文化AbstractNumeral is a special symbol of language, whether in the east or the other place of the world, it has a long history and is the necessary part of language, number plays an important role in the development of human society. With the growth of history, a unique numeral culture phenomenon
8、 has been formed due to different kinds of factors, and the numeral culture presents differences between Chinese and English. The differences show not only in form but also in content.This paper talks about the differences of numeral culture of Chinese and English from the perspective of number anal
9、yze, analyses comparatively the differences of themselves and their cultural factors in numbers of Chinese and English, and from the perspective of religious belief, value orientation, psychological factors and the historical background and local customs indicates the cause of these differences. The
10、 paper could be divided into five parts. The first part expounds the intimate relationship between human and numbers, let readers fully understand number in nowadays. The second part lists some numbers according to humans preference, and then use them to compare the differences of numeral culture be
11、tween Chinese and English. The third part shows the different meaning that numbers carry in Chinese and English, enable readers to understand the numerals that carry culture connotation in Chinese and English based on understanding the meaning of numbers themselves, and then understand the differenc
12、es. The fourth part from the perspective of religious belief, value orientation, psychological factors and the historical background and local customs indicates the cause of these differences, so that readers can not only know where they are different, but also understand why they are different. The
13、 last part is the conclusion on the basis of the article, and points out the importance of understanding the numeral differences between Chinese and English and causes in cross cultural communication.Key Words: Figure in English and Chinese; Implied Meaning; Numeral Culture Table of ContentsAcknowle
14、dgementsI摘要IIAbstractIIITable of ContentsIVChapter One Introduction11.1Research Background11.2Motivations and Objectives1Chapter Two Different Meanings and Expressions of Numbers in English and Chinese22.1 One22.2 Two32.3Three32.4 Four42.5 Five42.6 Six52.7 Seven52.8 Eight62.9 Nine72.10 Eleven72.11 T
15、hirteen8Chapter Three Cultural Differences in Numbers between Chinese and English93.1Difference of Expression Habits93.2The Fuzzy Semantic Pragmatic Differences93.3The Difference of Taboos and Preference103.4The Difference of Homophonic Association11Chapter Four Analysis of Reasons for Culture Diffe
16、rences in Numbers124.1 Religious Belief124.2 Value Orientation134.3 Psychological Factors134.4 The Historical Background and Local Customs13Chapter Five Conclusion14Bibliography15 V 16Chapter One Introduction1.1 Research BackgroundIn terms of the relationship between elements of language and culture
17、, the words contact most closely with the culture. And numbers which are an important part in language word have an informative function. Numbers are often the external form of organization of profound knowledge from the perspective of psychology. People are always holding a sense of the sacred, the
18、y believe that numbers are on behalf of the nature and law of things, in other words, numbers can dominate the fate of things. In the face of number, people can do nothing but convincing and awe, some of them are even willing to put the numbers with the destiny of their own: “66” must indicate every
19、thing will go well. “88” must stands for great wealth.Number is used to show the quantity of things, Chinese number has two forms: capital form and ordinary form. The concept of numeral comes from human observation and exploration of the world, it evolves along with the birth and development of huma
20、n civilization. We can even go further than that：Human civilization starts from characters, while the creation of characters origins from numbers.1.2 Motivations and ObjectivesChinese and English are geared to two different cultural systems. The numeral culture takes on different connotations in for
21、m, as well as in content. Chinese people and English people show different attitudes towards the same numbers, so the different cultural connotations and extensions exist between Chinese and English numbers. Study the numeral culture between Chinese and English would help us to grasp the differences
22、 of two cultures, whats more, it plays an important role in cross-cultural communication.Chapter Two Different Meanings and Expressions of Numbers in English and ChineseThe important content of numeral culture is numerical worship and numerical taboos. In ancient times, numbers, the language symbols
23、 that didnt have any mysterious, were endowed with infinite power by human who was confusion and fear of natural phenomena. Along with the prevalence of superstitious and the development of religion, people gradually developed a love and worship for some numbers in their life, at the same time, they
24、 hold the feeling of disgust and fear to other numbers. Generally speaking, numbers which as the symbols of lucky and propitious can bring people good luck and fortune in Chinese culture, and it also can show peoples emotional meaning to express their feeling or liven up the atmosphere. It is a comm
25、on phenomenon in the world that being worship or taboo to numbers, the feeling to numbers will be different due to different cultural background and way of thinking. Only a few miles of representative numbers are selected in this article to compare to reveal the differences of numeral culture betwee
26、n Chinese and English.2.1 OneIn Chinese culture, “1”is the start of numbers, as well as the original beginning point of all things .Lao Tzu, a philosopher who is the founder of Taoism in the Spring and Autumn Period, elaborated his thought in Tao Te Ching, he said : “一生二,二生三,三生万物。” （One gives the bi
27、rth to two, two derives three, and three brings everything ）.It is the beginning of numbers and everything in the world, thus everything contains the nature and elements of one. There is always a central theme throughout peoples understanding of objective things or phenomenon and thinkers theories.
28、Therefore, Confucius stressed that“吾道以一贯之” （One runs through my philosophical thought.）.（Huang, 2002）.“1” presents the origin of all things in English culture. Pythagoreans in ancient Greek thinks that the origin of all things is “1”, “1” gives the birth to “2”, so “2” belongs to the uncertain mater
29、ial of “1”, “1”is the reason. The perfect “1”and the indeterminable “2”produce a variety of digital, then the point appears from numbers, the next is the lines, the rest can be done in the same manner, resulting in the four elements: fire, water, earth and air, which transformed into each other in a
30、 variety ways. As a consequence, it created a round world with life and spirit, therefore, “1” is not only the start of numbers, but also the origin of the world, and the beginning of everything. （Schimmel & Endres, 1993）.2.2 TwoThe meaning of “2” is mixed in Chinese culture. Ancient poetries are pa
31、rticular about dual, the sentence “易有太极，是生两仪” expressed the philosophical thinking of Chinese, when mapped to daily life, it remind people of paying attention to things in pairs. Besides, the pronunciation of “二”（two） is similar to that of “爱”（love）,sometimes, it is used with other numbers to expres
32、s special meanings, such as “520”means “I love you” ,“131420”stands for “The forever love to you” .（Liu,2004）. But everything has its both sides, there are many derogatory statements about “2”, for example, “二心” indicates disloyalty. At present, many young people like using “2” to trash others, if s
33、omeone says that you are too 2, he means you are very stupid.In British and American culture, “2” has the meaning of equivalence, opposite and negative in the eyes of westerner due to it is from the homophonic of “dice”, which is the plural of “die”.（Hurford,1987）. In the cognition of westerners, tw
34、o-faced is the expression of “double-dealer” or “hypocritical”, two-penny stands for “cheap” or “nothing of value”, two-penny -halfpenny means “nonsense” or “despicable”, two-time indicates “cheat” or “betrayal” .2.3ThreeFor ancient Chinese, “three” indicates the three parts of the universe: heaven,
35、 earth, and man. And it is said that the universe has three creators, who govern the earth and the fairyland. religions has been closely linked to the Chinese traditional culture, dominated in sum by philosophical Confucianism for more than 2000 years. And Confucianism has related tightly with Taois
36、m and Buddhism, whose thoughts bring a profound effect on the culture of Chinese numbers. In “Lao-tzu”老子), Laozi expressed that “one produces two, two produces three and three produces everything.(道生一,一生二,二生三,三生万物)”. Therefore, in Chinese three arise many idiomatic phrases, like三教九流,三思而后行,三人行必有我师焉,余
37、音绕梁,三日不绝,一日不见,如隔三秋, and so on. Number “three” stands for perfection and completeness. The idiom“三生有幸” shows that a person is fortunate all his life. Here“三生” indicates the previous life, present life and next life. (Tang & Cai, 2005).The widespread interest of number “three” also keeps in the wester
38、ners mind or thinking today. The number “three” are stamped with many things that are particularly complete in the areas like physics, mathematics, philosophy and so forth.it stands for perfect in the eyes of westerner.2.4 FourThe number “4” is regarded as an unlucky number in China, for the reason
39、that the word “四”（four） shares the same pronunciation with “死”（die）,as a result, people always keep away from “4” when they are choosing phone numbers, license plate numbers and so on. Young people are used to replacing “die” or “death” with “4” when cheating on the internet, such as“748”（go to hell
40、）. However, with the traditional culture gradually being forgotten, few people know that “4 meant “lucky” in ancient China, for example, people are particular about “四平八稳”（balance）when doing things, an excellent man must be “志在四方”（aspire to a great career）.“4” in English has a bad meaning in majorit
41、y, such as “4th” is euphemistic expressions of the toilet, “four-letter words” refers to the vulgar words, “44” is the nickname of prostitutes in American English, “54 ” is the nickname of prostitutes, the meaning of these associated with“4” is not available in Chinese. In addition, the “404” can be
42、 used to refer to people, it means that the person is confused or knows nothing, for example, He is a total of 44, do not talk to him. Guests on the Internet know the fact: if you did not find information on the Internet, the screen of your computer would appear “404 not found” (unsuccessful search)
43、. So we can see that the “4” in Chinese and in English both have a bad meaning, but the meaning is different. (Yang,2005).2.5 Five“5” in Chinese culture stands for both mysterious and elegant. “Metal ”,“wood ”, “water ”,“fire” and “earth” are called “five elements ”;the food with grain are called “f
44、ive cereals ”.And there are many idioms that composed of “five” in Chinese, such as “五福临门” (The five blessings have descended upon the house.), “五子登科” (five children later in life ), “五湖四海” (the five lakes and the four seas),all the idioms are the symbol of success, beautiful and vast.Five is not as
45、 good as it in Chinese when in English, Such as: five - fingers says “the third hand”, which refers to “thief ”; five o clock shadow sais “the shadow of five oclock ”, which indicates the mustache that is scraped off in the morning while it grows again in the evening; the fifth column expresses “tre
46、ason traitor ”; the original meaning of the fifth wheel is spare tire of the car , while its metaphorical meaning is superfluous people or things (Bultinck,2005). Friday is an unlucky day. One explanation is that the day is Jesuss Good Friday. There is also a saying that, according to the Bible reco
47、rds, Adam and Eve, humanitys ancestors, were expelled from the Garden of Eden on Friday. Therefore, the slave Friday of “Robinson Crusoe” has a tragic ending.2.6 SixChinese hold the view that the “6” is the most auspicious number. In ancient times of China, there was a traditional concept of “advoca
48、ting six”. In the pre-Qin Dynasty times, the six Confucian classics were named “the Six Channels” or “Six Arts”, official system was equipped with “Six Ministries of Joseon”, the royal troops generally called “Six Armies”, Queens palace called “Six Palaces”, the kindship is summed up as “the Six Relations”. 6th, 16th and 26th of every month in lunar calendar are considered as auspicious days of wedding. When choosing telephone number and license plate number, people especially prefer to use the number that use “