Abstract:During cross-cultural communication, colors have the same visual effects on Chinese and Westerners，but they also reflect the view of value and the aesthetic standard of people. Colors play a very important part in culture and language. They have the special linguistic functions and cultural implications. They reflect the consciousness of color in each nation and its traditional culture. Understanding of color is an important part in recognizing the outside world and learning experiences of human beings. There is no language without colors. Colors are closely related to human life.
With the continuous development of human civilization, colors have been continuously enriched accordingly. They have derived many new meanings from the original meanings and make human language become richer and more colorful.
This dissertation first of all provides the definition of colors. Then it compares the cultural differences of colors from different angles: psychology, history tradition, religious beliefs, customs and emotions. After that, this thesis probes into their influences on languages and culture, pointing out the similarities and differences between Chinese and English. Finally, it discusses a bit color’s impact on clothing. Historically, the color of costume often plays a distinguishable role in different social strata. It is a mirror that reflects the history and culture between east and west.
Key words: colors；cultural differences；taboo
摘要:在跨文化交际中,颜色对中英民族来说,具有相同的视觉效果, 但在某种程度上也会体现不同的价值观和审美观。颜色是每一个民族文化和语言中不可缺少的重要部分，它有独特的语言功能和文化象征意义，反映着一个民族独到的色彩意义和文化传统。人类对颜色的认识是人类对外部世界认知和经验的重要组成部分。世界上还未发现一种完全没有颜色的语言。
随着人类文明的不断发展，表示颜色的词汇也相应地不断得到丰富，其意义也从原来表示某种单纯的颜色而派生出许多新的意义，从而使得人类的语言变得更加生动形象、丰富多彩。
本文作者在文章开头陈述颜色的定义，接着，从英汉两民族在民族心理、历史传统、宗教信仰、生活习惯、情感色彩等方面来分析颜色及颜色词在不同文化中所存在的差异性，然后就文化差异对语言的影响做了比较详细的探讨，指出颜色在中英文化中的共性与差异性，并对差异性进行了重点阐述。
最后，作者将列举颜色对服饰方面的影响。历史上，服饰的色彩往往起到区别不同阶层的作用，它各方面的习俗更成为反映东西方历史文化的一面镜子。
关键词：颜色；文化差异；禁忌
