een the color words in Chinese and English. sometimes, Chinese may not use the color words when they are used in English expressions and vice versa. let us see a few examples containing the Chinese character－红. 红人�a favorite with somebody in power 红榜�honor roll 红利�bonus; extra dividend 红运�good luck 红光满面�one’s face glowing with health 脸红�blush 红茶�black tea 红绿灯�traffic light i believe the above-mentioned examples amply illustrate the point. on many occasions, it is not the basic meaning of the color that functions, but the profound cultural associations related to the color that functions. that is to say, the differences in using color words between Chinese and English stand out when the color words themselves don’t play an important part. two factors may help to illustrate. first is the language itself. there are many differences in the characteristics of both languages. English words are characterized by flexibility. one word is likely to have different meanings in different contexts. comparatively speaking, the meaning of Chinese words remains fixed. Chinese is featured by standard, rigor and preciseness in choosing the words. let’s take the word green for example. green gains certain new meaning when associated with the phrase green revolution and when it is used alone, it still carries that meaning. however, green in Chinese will lose the meaning unless it is combined with revolution or other words in similar. second is the factor beyond the language, which includes the cultural factors such as different customs, traditions and cultural background. wherever the above-mentioned differences exist, the using of the color words can not be the same. therefore, special attention should be paid in using the color words. ...
