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1、Unit4LanguageandCultureSomeIdeasRelatedtolanguageandculture1.InterrelationshipbetweencultureandlanguageEachculturehasitsownpeculiaritiesandthrowsspecialinfluenceonthelanguagesystem.Forexample,referringtothesamecommondomesticanimal,Englishchoosestheword“dog”,whileChinese
2、hasitsowncharacter“狗”;Chinesehasthephrase“走狗”whileEnglishhastheexpression“runningdog”,butthemeaningsattributedtothetwoexpressionsarecompletelydifferentaccordingtoChinesecultureandWesternculturerespectively.ToWesterners,“runningdog”hasapositivemeaningsincetheword“dog”,in
3、mostcases,isassociatedwithanimageofananimalpet－thefavoritefriend,thustheyhavethephrases“luckydog”(幸运儿),“topdog”(胜利者),“olddog”(老手),“gaydog”(快乐的人),anditisusuallyusedtodescribeeverydaylifeandbehavior,asin“Loveme,lovemydog”(爱屋及乌)，“Everydoghasitsday”(凡人皆有得意日).ButinChinese“走狗
4、”referstoalackey,anobsequiousperson.SinceChineseassociatesderogatorymeaningtothecharacter“狗”dependingontheculturaldifference,Chinesehassuchexpressionsas“狗东西”，“狗腿子”，“狗仗人势”，“狗胆包天”，“狗嘴里吐不出象牙”，“狼心狗肺”，“痛打落水狗”，“狗急跳墙”. Wecanobviouslyseethatthemeaningattributedtolanguageiscultu
5、ral-specific.Agreatdealofcross-culturalmisunderstandingoccurswhenthe“meanings”ofwordsintwolanguagesareassumedtobethesame,butactuallyreflectdifferentculturalpatterns.SomearehumorousaswhenaTurkishvisitortotheU.S.refusedtoeatahotdogbecauseitwasagainsthisbeliefstoeatdogmeat
6、.SomearemuchmoreseriousaswhenaFrenchcoupleonatriptoChinatooktheirpetpoodleintoarestaurantandrequestedsomedogfood.Thedogwascookedandreturnedtotheirtableonaplatter! Wecansummarizetherelationshipbetweencultureandlanguageasthefollowing:languageisakeycomponentofculture.Itist
7、heprimarymediumfortransmittingmuchofculture.Withoutlanguage,culturewouldnotbepossible.Childrenlearningtheirnativelanguagearelearningtheirownculture;learningasecondlanguagealsoinvolveslearningasecondculturetovaryingdegrees.Ontheotherhand,languageisinfluencedandshapedbycu
8、lture.Itreflectsculture.Culturaldifferencesarethemostseriousareascausingmisunderstanding,unpleasantnessandeven
