A Comparative Study of Plant Idioms Between English and Chinese

金潔

Abstract：In recent years， idioms have attracted more and more attention which have become the key point in cross-cultural communication. But the existing research on plant idioms involves less. Therefore， this thesis study from plant idioms in English and Chinese. This thesis analyzes the similarities and differences of plant idioms between English and Chinese and the causes of the similarities and differences. Thus English learners can fully understand the cultural connotation of English and Chinese idioms， and promote the smooth progress of cross-cultural communication.

Key words：PlantIdioms； Comparative Study ； Similarities； Differences

1. Introduction

In English and Chinese， idioms occupy a very important position. Seidel （1978） once said， "English is very rich in idiomatic expressions， in fact， it is difficult to speak or write English without idioms". This thesis will make a comparative study on plant idioms between English and Chinese.

2. Definition and Classification of Idioms in English and Chinese

Idioms are mostly defined as "the phrases can not be too literally" in English idiom dictionaries. In the Oxford English Dictionary， idioms are defined as "the specific character， property or genius of any language， the manner of expression which is natural or peculiar to it". In Chinese， idioms are generally understood as some phrase systems which contain set phrases， proverbs， two-part allegorical sayings， colloquialisms， slangs， allusions and idiomatic phrases.

In terms of their classification， Chinese idioms include set phrases， proverbs， allegorical sayings and so on. From the point of stylistics， English idioms are divided into proverbs， slangs， allusions and idiomatic phrases.

3. Similarities on Plant Idioms Between English and Chinese

Although English and Chinese are two different languages， there are some similarities on plant idioms between English and Chinese.

The similarities on plant idioms are mainly embodied in the same plants have same connotations. Take the flower as an example， "Let one thousand flowers bloom" has the same connotation with "百花齊放"； "A single flower does not make a spring" has the same connotation with "一花獨放不是春， 百花齊放春滿園"； The English proverb "The rose in her hand； the flavor in mine" namely "贈人玫瑰， 手有余香" in Chinese. In addition， it is a same phenomenon to use peach to describe beautiful woman in English and Chinese. Just like "As beautiful as a peach" and "人面桃花".

Moreover， there are also some same connotations of plant idioms related to tree in English and Chinese， such as "Tall trees catch much wind"（樹大招風）； "You cannot see the woods for the tree"（只見樹木不見森林）； "Great trees are good for nothing but shade"（大樹底下好乘涼）.

4. Differences in Plant Idioms Between English and Chinese

4.1 Same Connotations with Different Plants

English people use rose or lily to describe the same connotations， but Chinese people just use flower to describe. For example， "As red as rose" is same as "艷若桃李"； "Lilies and roses" is same as "花容月貌". Besides， "The fairest rose at last is withered" is same as "花無百日紅"； "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may" is same as "有花堪折直須折， 莫待無花空折枝".

4.2 Different Connotations with Same Plants

4.2.1 Idioms related to “Flower”

As an emotional language， flower reflect the obvious differences between the Chinese and Western culture. In English， there are many idioms related to flower， such as "Beauty is a fading flower"； "The handsome flower is not the sweetest".

In Chinese， this kind of idioms are more than English， for example， some set phrases like "花好月圓"， "花團錦簇"， "錦上添花"； some proverbs like "好花不常開，好景不常在"， "花有重開日，人老何曾再少年".

4.2.2 Idioms related to “Grass”

In English， "be at grass" means "have nothing to do"； "while the grass grows the horse starves" means "slow way can not solve the problem"； "not let the grass grow under one's feet" means "seize the opportunity". In Chinese， there are many idioms related to grass， such as "風吹草動"， "疾風勁草"， "好馬不吃回頭草".

4.2.3 Idioms related to “Tree”

There also exist many different connotations of idioms related to tree. In English， "As a tree falls， so shall it lie" means "Man are judged by what they do"； "Fields have eyes， and woods have ears" means "the walls have ears and be vigilant"； "Go up a tree" means "be in a dilemma". In Chinese， set phrases are more than the other types of idioms， such as "別樹一幟"， "枯樹生華"， "玉樹臨風".

4.3 Different Plant Idioms with Different Structures

4.3.1 Structures of Plant Idioms in English

English idioms are divided into phrase idioms and sentence idioms. Phrase idioms are divided into five type： Idioms Verbal in nature（Sprinkle the flowers， Paint the lily， Hear the grass grow）； Idioms Nominal in nature（The flower of sth， Potatoes and roses， Grass widow）； Idioms Adjectival in nature（White lily， Broken reed）； Idioms Adverbial in nature（As welcome as flowers in May， Like a hot house flower， As fresh as a daisy）； Idioms Prepositional in nature（In the flower of one's life）.

In addition， sentence idioms are divided into three types as following： Simple Sentence（Many a flower is born to blush unseen， Everything will come up roses， You can not judge of a tree by its bark）； Compound Sentence（Oaks may fall when reeds stand the storm， There is no tree but bears some fruit）； Complex Sentence（Beauty whose action is no stronger than a flower； If you lie upon roses when young， you will lie upon thorns when old）.

4.3.2 Structures of Plant Idioms in Chinese

In Chinese， plant idioms are divided into four-character idioms， simple sentences and complex sentences. There are some four-character plant idioms， such as "花枝招展"， "出水芙蓉"， "寸草春暉"， "樹同拔異".

The allegorical sayings is the simple sentence， and this kind of idioms can be divided into these types： Subject-predicate Structure（懸崖上的鮮花——沒人采； 滿園的牡丹——討人愛）； Verb-object Structure（不栽果樹吃桃子——坐享其成）.

The proverbs related to plant is the complex sentence， and they can be divided into five types as following： Compound Sentence（年年月月花相似， 歲歲月月人不同； 山大無柴， 樹大空心）； Causality Sentence（蘭生幽谷， 不以無人而不芳； 雪壓青松松更翠， 霜打梅花花更艷）； Transitional Sentence（有心養花花不開， 無心插柳柳成蔭； 落花有意， 流水無情）； Conditional Sentence（好花不澆不盛開， 小樹不修不成才； 好種出好苗， 好樹結好桃）； Form of Multiple Clauses（桃花開， 燕子來， 準備谷種下田畈； 杏花敗， 桃花開， 梨花出來當奶奶）.

5. Causes of Similarities and Differences

In the English and Chinese language， plant idioms can produce similarities is because of there are similar cognitive basis in two nations. Nowadays， lots of plants are given specific significances and used in idioms， and people can use plants to express thoughts， find emotional support and express ideals.

Everything has its own characteristics. With the long development of human society， plants gradually have the profound culture implications and higher aesthetic values. The following section will analyze the causes of differences from religion， customs and aesthetic.

First， the English-speaking countries have been influenced by Christianity， Ancient Greek and Roman Culture for a long time， so a lot of English plant idioms are derived from Greek and Roman mythologies. For example， the English idiom "under the rose" is from the ancient Roman mythology； and the idiom "rest on one's laurels" comes from the ancient Greek mythology. In the western culture， the Bible is the best-known work， and it is called the two main sources with the ancient Greek mythology in European and American literatures. Thus， there are some English plant idioms derived from the Bible， such as proverb "as a tree falls， so shall it lie" comes from the Matthew of Bible； "wear the willow" comes from the Old Testament of Bible. In Chinese， people are deeply influenced by Buddhism， so there are many plant idioms from Buddhism like "借花獻佛"， "鏡花水月"， "天花亂墜"， "鐵樹開花"， "曇花一現".

Secondly， English plant idioms are mainly from people's daily life and social production， and they are more colloquial. For example， the slang "stop and smell the roses" means "to know how to enjoy life"； "cut one's own grass" means "to be independent"； "peaches and cream" means "everything is good"， because the Americans like eating a lot of foods with cream in their daily life and they think the combination of both has the meaning of great. In Chinese， plant idioms mostly come from literatures and poetries， and they are usually used in written language or formal occasions. For example， "桃花潭水" is from the Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai's Zeng WangLun； "桃李滿天下" is from Zi Zhi Tong Jian； "十年樹木，百年樹人" is from Guan Zi； "草長鶯飛" is from the writer Qiuchi's Yu Chen Bo ZhiShu.

Finally， each nation has its own aesthetic. Chinese people like to use plant as a metaphor， which makes the Chinese plant idioms with cultural semantics are more than the English plant idioms. English and American people tend to describe the symbolic significance of plants purely in the natural attributes. And they just use "rose"， "lily"， "peony" and "peach" to describe the beautiful woman， such as "lilies and roses"， "as beautiful as a peach"， "as fair as a lily" and "blush like a peony"， and there are no any associative meanings about morality. In Chinese， flower is the symbol of "beauty"， such as "笑靨如花"， "如花似玉"， "閉月羞花". In addition， flowers and trees have been anthropomorphized in Chinese culture， and Chinese people will use them to describe people's characters， spirits and moral qualities. For example， "蓮花開在污泥中， 人才出在貧寒家"， "鏡破不改光， 蘭死不改香"， "玉潔松貞"， "歲寒松柏".

6. Conclusion

Idioms are the indivisible part of culture and language. The natural plants provide people with the basic conditions of life in clothing， food， shelter， and transportation. To sum up， it is necessary for us to analyze a comparative study of plant idioms between English and Chinese， and this thesis would like to make sure that English learners can fully understand and use plant idioms better. Based on the understanding of culture differences between English and Chinese， and achieve success in cross-cultural communication.

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