Abstract: Language is the carrier of the culture, and color is one part of the language. It can show the different world outlook and cultural connotations. Both English and Chinese have a long history of language. In their cultures, there are many basic color terms, and almost all of them carry their own particular connotation which result from different social cultures, historical processes, religious belief and geographic conditions. This thesis intends to discuss color terms from the following three aspects. Firstly, thesis explains the definition of color and the definition of the basic color terms. Secondly, the thesis chooses six basic color terms which are widely accepted by scholars: "black", "white", "red", "yellow", "green" and "blue" to show their different associative meanings in Chinese world and English world. Finally, the thesis is trying to show the reasons for those differences through comparing different living environment, religion, social conventions and historical backgrounds between Chinese and Westerners.
Key words: comparative analysis; basic color terms; cultural connotations; differences; reasons
摘要：语言是文化的载体。颜色作为语言的一部分，它反映一个民族的世界观和不同的名族文化内涵。英语和汉语都有着悠久的历史，他们都有着丰富的颜色词。但由于不同的社会、历史、宗教、地理等原因，英语和汉语的许多颜色词都有着不同的内涵。本文从以下三个方面对颜色词的文化内涵进行分析论述。首先，本文解释了"颜色"和"基本颜色词"；其次，本文选取了学者们普遍认可的黑、白、红、黄、绿、蓝这六个基本颜色词，分析了他们在两种文化中不同的联想意义。最后，本文试图从两种语言使用者所在的不同生存环境、宗教、社会习俗以及历史背景方面入手，探讨造成人们对相同颜色不同理解的原因。
关键词：比较研究；基本颜色词；文化内涵；差异；成因
