中英文化中数字比较

　中英文化中的数字比较

　论文导读：本文介绍了数字与文化之间的关系。数字是文化的重要组成部分。随着人类文明的发展，在不同的民族和国家中，数字有着不同的内涵和特点。从对“量”、“特定事物”和“比例”的表达上可以看出中西文化的不同。本篇集中介绍了中英文化中的模式数字。关键词：数字，文化，模式数字，禁忌数字，跨文化交际

　1. Theexpression of “quantity” 1.1 The similaritiesbetween Chinese and English expression In Chinese, thereare “成百上千，成千上万”，and in English, there are “hundreds of, thousands of”, they are used to express the abundance. When expressthe few, in Chinese, there are “一文不值”，“三三两两”; in English,there are “ten a penny”, “in ones and twos, in twos and threes”. These are thesimilarities between Chinese and English expression. 1.2 Thedifferences between Chinese and English expression There aredifferences in the expression of “many, few”. In English, it is common toexpress “many” by putting “one” behind a number, for example, “a hundred andone, thousand and one”. Besides, “fifty” also means numerous. In the Bible,“seventy times seven” means a large amount. In American slang, there is“forty-’leven(eleven)”, also means a large amount of. But in Chinese,besides “万，千”，“三，九”can represent “many”. “九”is used most often. “生人之措辞，凡一二所不能尽者，则约之以三，以

　见其多；三之不能尽者，则约之以九，以见其极多。”“岭树重遮千里目，江流曲以九回肠。”“公输盘九设攻城事机变，子墨子九拒之。”“抟扶摇而上者九万里。免费论文。”As for “three”, Confucius once said: 余音绕梁，三日不绝，thisis used to express the long time. “石人三缄其口”meansdon’t answer although have been asked manytimes. From these examples, we could find the specific understanding of numbersin ancient Chinese culture. Why is “nine” usedto represent “many”? From “zero” to “nine”, “nine” is the largest number. Anynumber which is larger than “nine” should carry a number. For example, “ten”,its Arabic form is “10”, the first number of “10” is “1”, in “9000”, the first number is “9”. The first number one of any number is from “1” to “9”. When our ancestors wanted to express the large amount, they would like to use “nine”, in order to express in a simple way. 2. Theexpression of specific things 2.1 The Englishexpression In English, yearscan represent the event. “Forty-five” means James Rebellion in 1745.“Forty-five” means in 1849, many people went to California for gold finding andrealizing the dream of being rich. Numbers can represent people. “Fourhundred”, in American English means distinguished personages, high society.” Itwas said that the dancing hall of Mrs JJ.Astor can just hold four hundredpeople, and it was reported,

　“The four hundred people are well-known in NewYork” (Lin Mingjin Huo Jingen, 2003). “Eighty-niner” means the people whohave got land and settled down in Oklahoma from 1889. “Hundred percenter” meansthe twelve apostles of Jesus. One number mayhave several meanings. Taking “five” for example. When it is used as a noun inmodern American English, it represents a basketball team. Because everybasketball team has five players in a match. But when “five” is used as a verbin slang, for example, “Five it!” It equals to “ I reject to response.” InAmerican English, “fifth” means “The Fifth Amendment” (Hu Wenzhong, 2000).