ABSTRACT:In the long course of the development of human history, animals have a close relationship with human beings and play a big part in the human existence and development. There are so many words, idioms and expressions that are related to animals.
However, there exist great differences between different cultures. Due to the differences in social psychology, customs, religious beliefs，values and so on, animal words in English and Chinese carry their own connotations, which, could be generally divided into four categories: the same animal words with the same cultural connotations, the same animal words with the similar cultural connotations, the same animal words with the different cultural connotations and Semantic Lacuna (it refers to the phenomenon that some kind of animal words are of great importance in one culture, but in another, just plain and normal. )
It’s well known that language is the carrier of its culture. Through a comparative study of English and Chinese animal words, we will not only better master and use the animal words accurately, but also understand the eastern and western cultures, promoting the cross-cultural communication.
This paper tries to analyze the similarities and the differences between the cultural connotations carried by animal words in Chinese and English, discuss the causes of differences, and give some tips for translating those animal words in different culture background.
Key words: animal words, cultural connotations, cultural differences, translation
中文摘要:在人类发展的历史长河里，动物一直与人类保持着密切联系，并对人类生存和发展产生深刻的影响。因而汉语和英语中都出现了很多关于动物的词汇、习语与表达。
然而，英汉文化之间存在着巨大的差异。由于两者不同的社会心理、风俗习惯、宗教信仰、价值观念等等，动物词在英汉不同文化下也有着其各自独特的文化内涵。在我看来，可以大致分为四类：中西文化内涵基本相同的动物词，中西文化内涵部分相同的动物词，中西文化内涵不同或相反的动物词和语义空缺（即指在一种文化中具有丰富的文化内涵而在另一种文化中却平淡无奇，毫无文化意义的动物词）。
我们都知道语言包含并传递着丰富的文化信息。通过对英汉动物词文化内涵的对比分析,能够有效地帮助英汉语言学习者更为准确地理解和掌握这两种语言，认识中西方文化的异同,从而消除英汉互译和跨文化交际中的文化障碍，促进英汉不同文化之间人们的交流和往来。
本文旨在阐述英汉动物词的文化内涵的异同，找出产生异同的原因，并给出相应的翻译建议。
关键词：动物词，文化内涵，文化差异，翻译
