Abstract：Location words, as a kind of special language phenomenon, carry profound cultural connotations in both Chinese and English. Misunderstanding can arise in intercultural communication due to cultural differences of location words. This paper attempts to make a contrastive study on Chinese and English location words in both linguistic and cultural contexts. Based on a great number of convincing examples, similarities and differences have been found between Chinese and English location words. This paper also probes into the causes for their different usages and connotations. It is found that different thinking modes, geographic features and religious beliefs contribute to the differences. Finally, four Chinese-English translation strategies are proposed for better understanding of different cultures and mutual communication between different language users.
Key Words：Location words; language; culture; translation
中文摘要：方位词是一种特殊的语言现象，在中英文中都带有丰富的文化内涵。在跨文化交际中，汉英方位词在文化层面上的不同经常会导致误解的产生。本文旨在对汉英方位词进行语言和文化的对比研究。通过大量汉英方位词实例的分析，本文探讨了汉英方位词的相同之处与不同之处，并挖掘出了导致汉英方位词用法与涵义不同的原因，即不同的思维模式、地理特征和宗教信仰等。最后，作者提出了方位词汉译英的四种翻译策略以加强不同语言使用者之间的交流和对不同文化的理解。
关键词：方位词；语言；文化；翻译
