Explore_the_Cultural_Connotation___of_English_Idioms

To Explore the Cultural Connotation of English Idioms 1. Introduction and the definition and features of idiom 1. Introduction and the definition and features of idiom1 1.1 Introduction1 1.2 The definition and features of idiom2 2. The sources of English idioms and their cultural background3 2.1Originating from living environment4 2.1.1 Idioms from climate4 2.1.2 Idioms from navigation5 2.2 Originating from historical developments6 2.2.1 Idioms from history6 2.2.2 Idioms from wars8 2.3Originating from religion9 2.4 Originating from mythologies and allegories10 2.4.1 Idioms from Greek and Roman mythology11 2.4.2 Idioms from The Fables of Aesop11 2.5 Originating from literary works13 2.5.1 Idioms from William Shakespeare’s works13 2.5.2 Idioms from other famous writers’ works14 2.6 Originating from folk life15 2.6.1 Idioms from food16 2.6.2 Idioms from names17 2.6.3 Idioms from Horse Racing18 2.6.4 Idioms from playing cards19 2.6.5 Idioms from other folk practice and customs19 3. Conclusion20 References21 1.1 Introduction English idioms are usually widely and commonly used all over the world. They contain brief structures and profound meanings, which are also a group of words with the meaning different from the literal one. Thanks to them, language is more colorful and more alive. It is believed that as a mirror of culture, language is strongly influenced and shaped by culture, and reflects culture. As an essential part of the language, undoubtedly idioms relate closely to their own culture and convey different cultural features and attitudes and messages of their own nation. English idioms tell people to praise justice, to fight against the bully, and guide people to get along well with each other. For example, ‘Better die with honor than live with shame’; ‘Don’t have cloak to make when it begins to rain’. Moreover, English idioms summarize people’s knowledge in their daily life and they tell people what to do and how to do, which are just like an encyclopedia. From them, people can broaden their knowledge and outlook so as to avoid making mistakes. However, idioms are often difficult to understand and harder to use effectively. If one wants to have a better knowledge of English idioms and use them correctly, he should be familiar with the sources of them. 1.2 The definition and features of idiom When opening Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English 2004734, one can see such definition “Idiom n. phrase or sentence whose meaning is not clear from the meaning of its individual words and which must be learnt as a whole.” Longman Dictionary of English Idioms 2002754 explains it as “a fixed group of words with a special different meaning from the separate words.” Semantic unity, which can be seen from the definition of the idiom, is one of the features of idioms.Zhang Yunfei, 1987292 Though the various words which make up the idiom have their respective literal meanings, in the idioms they have lost their individual identity, i.e. their meaning are not often recognizable in the meaning of the whole idiom. Likewise, the part of speech of each element is no longer important. Quite often an idiom functions as one word. Zhang Yunfei, 1987294 Beside semantic unity, many English idioms are characterized by structural invariability. Their is often fixed. The words in idiomatic expressions cannot, as a rule, be deleted, added to, replaced by synonymous words, or put in a different order, without affecting or destroying the meaning. From the features mentioned above, we can find that the meaning of an idiom cannot be seen literarily and the meaning of it is not a complex of each word. If people learn idioms from every word of them, they can just get the meaning of each word, but they cannot comprehend the whole idiom. Therefore, people should not only know the structures of idioms but also the sources and the underlying culture of them. 2. The sources of English idioms and their cultural background The sources of idioms are the places where the idioms came from and the time when they were used for the first time. Zhuang Hecheng, 19989 From them, people know something about literary works, historical developments and folk life, etc. 2.1Originating from living environment Culture is inseparable from the particular living environment. In order to make use of and adapt to the living environment, people ed living habits, customs, culture, social structure and ideology. Different culture will be shaped in different living surroundings. Each kind of culture is specialized by the living areas, climate and surroundings. 2.1.1 Idioms from climate England is located on the middle latitude of the western European Continent, which is temperate zone maritime climate. Influenced by the Atlantic Ocean, this island possesses humid aid and a large amount of evenly distributed rainfall, and does not have much variation