A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON CONNOTATIONS OF NUMBERS BETWEEN CHINESE AND ENGLISH CULTURES

【Abstract】：Numbers play an important role in the process of human development. Different nations have different cultural backgrounds， customs， religion belief and national psychology， so they have different numerical cultures. Numbers are an indispensable part in all languages. Numbers are not only a direct reflection of the cultural backgrounds， but also have been deeply influenced by culture.Although there are lots of similarities between the denotation and connotation of Chinese and English numerical expressions， differences also exist. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze their differences and find the hidden reasons through the phenomenon.and reduce conflicts and misunderstanding in the cross-cultural communication of Chinese and English numerical expressions.

【Key words】： number； cultural differences； cultural connotations

1. Different cultural implications between Chinese and English numbers

Regardless of any country or any type of culture， the numerical expression is always easy to find. The reason why there`re numerous numerical expressions is that in human’s common sense，the numerical expression has an important position， and the other reason is that calculating is the numerical expression’s basic function， which is necessary for any people. However， we can still find that especially in the cross-cultural communication， even those simple numerical expressions still carry some special cultural marks.

There are a large quantity of Chinese idioms and idiomatic usages with numbers， such as： “wu yan liu se” （五顏六色， rich and colorful）. In English culture， and also there are lots of idioms or idiomatic usages with numbers， such as three sheets in the wind，a nine days’ wonder and so forth. Despite the divergence in the social tradition and the diverseness in the numerical culture are universal， there exists a general worship of numbers between Chinese and English. So the first step of this paper is to find out those subtle differences.

1.1 Different taboo numbers between Chinese and English

In language， the number hasn’t the meaning of lucky or taboo， but as a result of Chinese and English traditional difference， which gives the number a different social cultural connotation. In fact， the nature of taboo figures is a kind of superstition. A same or different number in different nations， times， and areas can symbolize a holy， perfect， happy， ugly or unfortunate meaning. The digital taboo exists in various cultures， it is that both modern and ancient， Chinese and foreign all of these have the similarity， even though it is a superstition that also has become a kind of unique cultural phenomenon. The taboo figures penetrate into every aspects of the human civilization， and contain profound cultural background.

1.1.1 Different taboo numbers in Chinese

As a number， four is misfortune in modern China， because the number four has a similar sound with the Chinese character “ si ” （死）， representing death， so that his number has been related to misfortune.For example， this numerical information does not reject the number four， because this number not only can represent the meaning of death， but also has the homophone of the Chinese character “ shi” （是， is） or “shi” （世， life）. For young people， they do not relate these numbers to the taboo or not， which is not their focus. Generally speaking， there are many people who still dislike and reject the number four， and think that it means bad luck.

In English-speaking countries， they almost have no taboo about the number four. In contrast， in the western culture， number four is the symbol of stability， order and completion of justice. Number four is the symbol of the earth and mankind.

1.1.2 Different taboo numbers in English

In the western culture， the number thirteen is regarded as an evil number， standing for “misfortunes”. It is considered to be bad luck in the western culture to dine with 13 people at the table.In Tarot， 13 is the card of death，which shows the failure to move on to something better. Hence， in western countries， people like to avoid the number“13”in many aspects of life. People avoid a room with the number “13”， a seat in the 13th row of an airplane or renting a flat on the 13th floor. And they will not do the important thing in the day of 13th. The westerners use all kinds of methods to avoid the number “13”， so as not to violate the taboo， however， the Chinese are willing to accept and use the number thirteen， especially in the opera and folk ， they get used to regard thirteen as a rhyme.

1.2 Different preference numbers between Chinese and English

The meaning of the number is multilevel， which includes the conceptual meaning and connotation.The latter is the supplement and extension of the former. As a result of influencing by some historical events and religious purpose， some numbers have been given a special cultural connotation. Perhaps， this cultural implication is a general concept of quantity of the nation， but in the other nation which may have a special meaning. Therefore， the preference of the figure for people also shows a great difference， which has a distinct national character. It is also an inevitable result of the two ethnic groups in the long historical development. So next you will find this difference through these numbers as follows.

1.2.1 Different preference numbers in Chinese

Due to the impact of Cantonese， eight in modern Chinese has gotten a special attention by people. Number eight is a very lucky number in China， because eight is the homonym for prosperity. In any case， the number“8” always can bring pleasure for people. Of course， a double eight， as in 88， is said to bring double joy. In the minds of Chinese people， eight is their favorite number.Many wedding beauty or corporate businessmen prefer the 8 as the wedding date， and the day of celebration of the auspicious opening.

1.2.2 Different preference numbers in English

In westerner’s mind， they think that the number \"8\" is also a lucky number， because the erection of \"8\"means happiness， falling down \"8\" means the infinity in maths. When combined， they mean that people are happy endlessly. And also they think the number \"11\" is not a lucky number， because it represents that people can win money in gambling.

Almost in all eastern and western countries， three is respected， which is seen as a sacred， noble and auspicious symbol.In view of the Western tradition， it is considered that the world is constituted by earth， sea and air， nature is composed of animal， vegetable and mineral. Therefore， the grace of the Christianity contains three parts： faith， hope and charity. In western culture the “three” were given a holy meaning.

2. Causes of different cultural implications of Chinese and English numbers

In the aforementioned parts of this thesis， the phenomenon of the different cultural connotations of Chinese and English numerical expressions has been listed and shown. And there are many internal causes behind these interesting phenomena， which are closely connected to different cultural backgrounds. As Jin has said in the book Sociolinguistics and English learner，people who share same language and in the same cultural background are likely to have same views towards the world （2003）. And when we talk about cultural backgrounds， particularly， we will refer to historical and social factors， and the psychological presumptions formed by those factors.

2.1 Psychological basis

According to the traditional culture of China， heaven and earth produced everything by the interaction of two existential and powerful forces of the universe， yin and yang.Since numbers were considered to be a mystical part of the universe， the ancient Chinese regarded odd numbers as yang or masculine and even numbers as yin or famine.In the daily life， people always like to pursue the good in pairs ， double happiness， the couplet and dual of the literature.All of these show the people’s preference of the even number.In contrast，as for the English people， the odd numbers （excluding number 13） are regarded to be lucky and propitious symbols， which can bring people good luck and fortune. They prefer odd number to even ones， such as three and seven.

2.2 Origins of myths and religions

The impact of religious culture to digital is invisible， which restricts people's spiritual world. Taoism and Buddhism have a far-reaching influence of the cultural implication of numerical expression. The first person who stated this kind of admiration is Lao Zi， in his book Tao Teh King （道德經） ， he declared “dao sheng yi ， yi sheng er， er sheng san， san sheng wan wu” （道生一， 一生二， 二生三， 三生萬物） . Affected by this thought， this number in the Chinese culture has become a very sacred and successful figure.

As we all know， in English speaking countries， the most influential religion is Christianity， and the stories and sayings from Bible have impact nearly on every aspect of westerners’ life， as far as on the meaning of numerical expressions.A typical example is the number “thirteen”， in the western culture， the number thirteen is a taboo which is regarded to bring bad luck. People from English speaking countries consider the number “thirteen” as plague， and avoid this number all the time. Why this number is undesirable in the daily life？ The reason is also from the story in the Bible. In short， from all of these we can see the numbers have a deep root in Chinese and English cultures.

2.3 Social culture and custom

When using the number to express a certain concept， it will have the differences between Chinese and English， and for the same number， the Chinese and English people will have different preferences， but why？ From the point of view of comparative analysis，the two nations have different phonetic and semantic systems， and the effect of the homophony is different. In Chinese culture， there are many homophonic phenomena especially in numerical idioms. Such as the number “four” and “eight” that we have mentioned in the first part.Not only the pronunciation of the number can arouse the people’s associations， and its writing also can cause the different associations for people.However， in Chinese people’ mind， the shape of the number “0” is similar to the egg， and the meaning of it is derogatory.

Conclusion

This thesis mainly focuses on the cultural implications of Chinese and English numerical expressions. It is considered that the cultural connotation is an important part of the meaning of numerical expression by illustrating with miscellaneous examples of the different implications of Chinese and English numerical expressions. The thesis has listed several specific examples to make clear of the different cultural implications of Chinese and English at first.After analyzing the phenomenon of different cultural implications of Chinese and English numerical expressions， then it turns to explore the deep reasons that influence it. And people find that these two different types of culture have distinctive root in their different implications of numerical idioms between Chinese and English，which can help people respect each other in cross-cultural communication， reduce the misunderstanding and conflict， and achieve the goal of having a friendly atmosphere.

Bibliography

Kluckhohn?F Strodtbeck?F Variations in Value Orientations Evanston [M]. IL：Row， Peterson ， 1961.

L.R.帕默爾著，李榮譯. 語言學概論[M].北京：商務印書館，1983.

戚焱.數字習語的漢英對比研究[J].西安外國語學院學報，1999（04）：12-16.

滕梅.英漢數詞的翻譯方法[J].解放軍外國語學院學報，2003（02）， 99-102.

吳顯友.漢英對比分析：數詞之語言與文化蘊意[J].山東外語教學，2002（02）， 26-28.

閆傳海，張梅娟.英漢詞匯文化對比研究[M]. 西安： 西安交通大學出版社，2008.6.

殷莉，韓曉玲.民族文化心理與英漢數字習語[J].外語與語教學， 2004（09）， 40-43.

張文娟. 論數字成語和習語的翻譯[J].語文學刊，2008 第10期：113-115.