A Comparative Analysis and Translation of the Associative Meanings of Chinese and English Animal Words

Both human beings and animals are the products of the natural evolution, but it is the language that distinguishes human beings from animals, and the animal words in the human languages will bear the deep sociocultural imprints in the course of being used long by the human beings because language is the vehicle by which culture is carried, so the use and interpretation of animal word's meaning depends on the ethnic culture in a particular context and the natural features of animals. Through the comparative study of Chinese and English animal words in their connotation, the author attempts to find out the rule governing the semantic similarities and dissimilarities between Chinese and English animal words, namely, the associative correspondence, the associative conflict and the associative gap. He has also investigated the sociocultural psychology leading to the semantic changes and their influence on the translation.