摘 要

习语是语言中最为重要的部分，是语言在发展及使用过程中积累下来的一些独特的固定的表达方式，是经过人们长时间的使用而提炼出来的固定短语或短句。英汉两种语言都有着悠久的历史，拥有大量的习语，这些习语多数都承载着不同的民族文化特色和文化信息，反映了英汉两国在地理环境、生活习惯、思考方式、宗教信仰、历史文化等方面的差异。

随着时代和经济的发展，国内外的来往越来越密切，跨文化交流也更加深入。中英习语存在的文化差异对中英跨文化交流造成一定的障碍。本论文探讨了中英习语文化差异的成因，该研究成果分析了产生差异的四个方面的原因，即地理 、历史、宗教和习俗，将有助于消除跨文化交际中的因习语的理解所造成的障碍。

本文由三个部分构成。第一部分，对习语和文化的关系进行分析。第二部分阐述了中英习语的差异以及分析了产生差异的原因。第三部分是对全文的总结。

关键词：语言；习语；文化差异

Contents

1. Introduction...............................................................................................................1
2. Demonstration...........................................................................................................2

2.1 Culture and idioms...................................................................................................2

2.1.1 Culture...................................................................................................................2

2.1.2 Idioms....................................................................................................................2

2.1.3 The relationship between culture and idioms........................................................3

2.2 Differences between English and Chinese idioms...................................................3

2.3 Causes of the differences between English and Chinese idioms..............................5

2.3.1 Geography.............................................................................................................5

2.3.2 History...................................................................................................................6

2.3.3 Religion.................................................................................................................7

2.3.4 Custom..................................................................................................................8

3. Conclusion.................................................................................................................9

Works Cited..................................................................................................................10

Bibliography.................................................................................................................11

A Study of Cultural Causes for the Differences Between Chinese and English Idioms

1. Introduction

Language is the most important tool for human communication. Idiom is regarded as the essence of a language. They are unique and fixed expressions with particular meanings. Idioms play a very important role in language and are the product of peoples’ intelligence.

Chinese and English are two kinds of highly developed languages and idioms are rich in these two languages. Most of these idioms carry different cultural connotations, which reflect the differences in the geographical environment, living habits, ways of thinking , religious beliefs and historical aspects.

As the world’s two most luxuriant culture, there are many differences in Chinese and English culture. However, with the development of times and economy, domestic and foreign exchanges are getting more and more frequent. Cultural differences between English and Chinese idioms may cause some problems to cross-cultural understanding. Understanding the cultural differences between Chinese and English in idioms and their causes will help to eliminate the obstacles in intercultural communication, which has attracted the attention of many experts and scholars. For instance, Wang Mei (2009) made a comparison of cultural differences between English and Chinese idioms, and found that the differences of geographical environment, historical development and literature have a great influence on English and Chinese idioms. Wang Shuang (2011) studied the differences in custom and geography between English and Chinese idioms, his study shows that the development of idioms is related to the development of national culture.

From the studies of scholars and experts, it can be found that most of them study the cultural differences between English and Chinese idioms in different aspects, such as geographical environment, historical development, literature and custom. Until now, there are not scholars and experts analyzing the cultural causes of the differences between English and Chinese idioms. Therefore, this paper will study the cultural causes of the differences between English and Chinese idioms from the perspective of geography, history, religion and custom.

2. Demonstration

2.1 Culture and Idioms