Comparison of Chinese and Western humor cultures

Differences between Chinese and Western cultures

Language differences

In the minds of Chinese people, "summer is hot" and "hot summer" means summer is always hot. Associated with intense summer heat. In one of Shakespeare's sonnets, there is this line: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?/Thou art more lovely and more temperate. , more lovely and beautiful than summer)

The poet compares lovers to summer, which is lovely and warm. The associations that "summer" brings to Chinese and British people are so different. The reason lies in its different geographical location. China is located in the Asian continent and has a continental climate with four distinct seasons. The most obvious feature of summer is the scorching sun and unbearable heat. The UK is located in the northern temperate zone and has a maritime climate, with bright, mild and pleasant summers. Of course, there are many examples of this. For example, in Chinese, "east wind" reminds people of warmth and warmth, while west wind reminds people of a biting cold wind. In the West it's the opposite. The reason is the same. The two places have different geographical locations and different feelings.

2. Production labor

There are many words related to aquatic products and ships in English, such as fish in the air, an odd fish, miss the boat ( missed opportunity) etc. There are far fewer such words in Chinese. The reason is that Britain is surrounded by water, and the aquatic fishing and navigation industries play an important role in its economic life, so there are many such words. In China, only fishermen build nets in coastal areas, so there are relatively few words of this type.

There are many verbs in Chinese that express "carrying things with physical strength", such as "carry, load, pick, bear, carry, carry, carry, bear, carry, carry", etc., each Each word has a certain amount of luck corresponding to it (such as carrying soil, carrying water, carrying a box), which is extremely detailed. In English, there is only one carry to refer to this action generally. The reason why Chinese distinguishes this verb in detail is probably because China has been an agricultural society for a long time and has a lot of manual labor.

In Chinese, we will encounter words such as "work like an old scalper" and "as strong as an ox". To express the same meaning in English, we would say work like a horse, as strong as a horse, flog a willing horse. Why does Chinese use "ox" but English uses horse? The answer is that the Chinese have always used cows to plow their fields, while the early British used horses to plow. In the production process, cows and horses were divided into good helpers for the two peoples, and they won people's favor, so the words were used in the same way.

3. Customs and habits

1. Titles and titles: When learning English, we find that there are much fewer titles and names in English than in Chinese. For example, the word cousin in English corresponds to cousin, cousin, cousin, cousin, etc. in Chinese. We have seen that Chinese distinguishes cousin relationships very strictly, not only to tell the gender, but also to tell the difference between cousins. It is not like English, which is just a word. The emergence of this language phenomenon is attributed to China's two to three thousand years of feudal rule. This kind of feudal society attaches great importance to blood relations, particularly emphasizes the differences between castes, and advocates the order of seniority and inferiority. Relative relationships vary widely, including age, gender, and so on. Rights and obligations also vary, so titles must be distinguished strictly and carefully. There are only a few titles in English. Except for a few titles such as dad, mum, grandpa, aunt, and uncle that are often used, almost none of them are used. In British and American countries, the way people call each other is unreasonable, impolite and uncultured in the eyes of the Chinese.

For example: Children do not call grandparents grandpa and grandma, but call them by their first names. This approach is appropriate, cordial and common. When young people call elderly people, they only add Mr, Mrs or before their last names. Miss. Their practices reflect Westerners' pursuit of equality for all. In their eyes, the title itself means inequality.

2. Honorific words and modest words: Like titles, the number of honorific words and modest words in English is far less than that in Chinese. In English, no matter how old the other person is or how high his status is, you are you and I is I. There is no need to use many honorifics such as "you, director, engineer" like in Chinese. One of the reasons for this phenomenon in Chinese is the strict hierarchical patriarchal system of China's feudal society. It requires people to use honorifics when speaking to their elders, superiors, or even peers. Otherwise, it will be considered inappropriate and rude, and may even appear arrogant. When talking about yourself, you must use humble words. If you do not use them, you will be considered disrespectful. polite. Another reason is the influence of thousands of years of traditional thinking on the Chinese people, who are unwilling to highlight themselves and always believe that "humility" is a virtue. There are two reasons why there are fewer such words in English:

First, Westerners like to pursue equality, and second, they have long respected personal values, are willing to express themselves, and emphasize cultivating personal self-confidence. Dominated by the above concepts, the reactions of Chinese and Western people when receiving praise and congratulations are obviously very different. Chinese people will say modest words after hearing such words, while Westerners will say without hesitation: "Thank you." I once saw such a joke in the newspaper. At a dance, a An American praised a Chinese lady and said: "You look very beautiful today." The Chinese lady quickly said humbly: Where, where." And the American felt very It was strange, so I had to say: " everywhere (everywhere)"

According to Westerners' habits, when they praise others, they always hope that others will respond by saying thank you or accepting it readily, otherwise they will misunderstand it. The other person expresses doubt about his or her own judgment. Dongfang, on the other hand, is more modest and cautious. Even if he is very happy, he will not readily agree with or accept the other person's praise.

Another example is the title of a document or paper published in an academic journal. In addition to describing the content of the article, the titles of Chinese articles often contain words that express modesty. Such as "A brief discussion...", "A tentative discussion of...", ", "A preliminary study of...", etc. The titles of English articles are often straightforward without any modification, such as Science and Linguistics ("Science and Language").

3. Personal privacy: For most Westerners, asking strangers or unfamiliar people how old are you? Topics such as income, marital status, religious beliefs, and family circumstances are personal privacy issues and are taboo to be asked by others. The most frequent topics of conversation among Westerners are weather conditions or forecasts, such as "It's fine, isn't it?" "It's raining hard, isn't it?", "Your dress is do nice!", etc. They never ask questions about other people's privacy when they meet for the first time or with people they don't know well to show their respect for each other. Respect. Greetings in Chinese sometimes also express concern for the other person.

For example, "You look bad today. Are you sick?" "Long time no see, you have gained weight again." " "You have lost weight again. You should pay attention to your health. "For example, if a Westerner hears you say: "You are fat" or "You are so thin", even if they are familiar with each other, they will feel embarrassed and find it difficult to answer, because this is impolite. And when Chinese people meet each other three times Once you are familiar with each other, within half an hour, you will have a clear understanding of the other person’s family situation and personal situation.

This is again due to the different cultural backgrounds of both parties. Westerners pay special attention to personal privacy. They believe that personal matters do not need to be known to others, and they do not want others to interfere. The Chinese have lived in the same village for thousands of years. They are close to each other and have much contact with each other. It is difficult for their personal lives or private affairs not to be known or interfered with. In addition, Chinese people are united and friendly, care for each other, and help each other. They believe that personal matters are family and even collective matters. Therefore, they are very willing to understand the ups and downs of others, and others are willing to tell them frankly. Of course, now in some developed or coastal cities, people have begun to accept Western views and do not casually touch each other's privacy when speaking.

4 Religious Religion

The number of words related to religion in Chinese and English is huge and spectacular. For example, "God", "Yin Yang", "Bodhisattva", etc. Language is a direct reflection of thought, and two completely different religious vocabulary are true reflections of the vastly different religious concepts of the two nations. Before the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Confucianism and Taoism were dominant in China. Words related to religion in Chinese are mostly related to this, such as "Tai Chi", "Tao", etc. Its spirit, such as respecting destiny, practicing filial piety, and obeying destiny, can also be seen in daily life. in language. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, a large amount of Buddhism was introduced, and a large number of Buddhist words followed. Its idea of ??reincarnation was accepted and digested by Confucianism and Taoism. In this way, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism occupy an absolutely dominant position in China. In Britain, Christianity is the main religion. The religion was introduced to England in 597. Over a long period of time, a large number of words related to this were gradually incorporated into the English language. There are words that penetrated into English from Latin in the Old English period, such as angel (angel), monk (monk), etc., as well as words borrowed from French in the Middle Ages, such as religion (religion), dean (priest), etc. There are a large number of words borrowed from other foreign languages ??in the modern English period. As a result, there are far more religious words in English than in other languages.

5. Historical Allusions

Using allusions is an important part of the daily conversation of every nation. People often unconsciously use allusions from their respective national cultural heritage, such as Chinese People will say, "What an afterthought", "It turned out to be an empty city plan!" Westerners will say That all Greek to me. (I know nothing about this.), He's a Shylock (He's a miser). When it comes to using allusions, most foreigners who don't know much about the other country's culture find it quite confusing. Obviously this is because each ethnic group has different cultural heritage. Chinese allusions mostly originate from the four ancient classics such as "A Dream of Red Mansions", folk legends and myths, and traditional Chinese sports and entertainment projects, such as chess and drama. The first two examples are from Chinese chess and the other from "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Westerners' allusions mostly come from Shakespeare's plays and many other characters or names in later British and American literature, Greek and Roman mythology, characters and events in the Bible, and traditional sports, such as American baseball and rugby. wait. The latter two English examples come from Shakespeare's plays.

6. Ways of thinking

English focuses on the use of various specific connection methods to achieve complete grammatical form. These sentences are well organized and well-organized, and their syntactic functions can be seen at a glance. For example, If winter comes, can spring be far behind? (Winter comes, can spring be far behind?) As soon as you see if, the logical relationship between the two sentences will be clear at a glance. Chinese, on the other hand, rarely uses connection means. The sentences look loose and confusing, the concepts, judgments, and reasoning are not rigorous, and the logical relationship between sentences is not easy to see from the outside. For example, "Fight if you can, and leave if you can't win. Are you afraid that there is nothing you can do?" There are no connecting elements between several sentences, as if a large number of verbs are piled up. The relationship between the sentences is not visible at all, but the meaning of the sentences is. Connect them. This is what people say that English emphasizes the combination of form and Chinese emphasizes the combination of meaning. These differences reflect the different ways of thinking between the English and Chinese nations. The British people value rationality and logical thinking. The Han people value understanding and dialectical thinking.

7. Individualistic Values ??

In Western culture, the concepts related to "self" can be said to be deep-rooted and ubiquitous. There are many self-centered words in English, such as "self-absorption (self-absorption), self-admiration (self-appreciation), self-cultivation (self-cultivation), self-image (self-image), etc. Therefore. "Individualism" is prevalent in Western society, which emphasizes personal freedom and freedom from external constraints. Chinese culture emphasizes that collective interests are higher than individual interests. The saying "put the country first, then the collective, then the individual, benefit the people first, then benefit yourself" can be seen everywhere. Two completely different cultures can be understood through simple words.

By understanding the differences between Chinese and Western cultures through language comparison, people will have a deeper understanding of both cultures, which in turn will help us master these two languages. When we learn English, we should understand its cultural background knowledge and social customs and habits, compare it with our mother tongue at any time, make ourselves consciously aware of the roots of irregular language and how to avoid it, and then enhance the awareness of using standardized language .