Abstract:Meaning of words can be divided into conceptual meaning and associative meaning. Associative meaning is largely influenced by culture and gets enriched with the development of culture. Color terms in English and in Chinese have various associative meaning which may vary due to differences in history, culture, custom etc. Studying the similarities and differences of the associative meaning of color terms in English and in Chinese benefits in further understanding of the culture of English-speaking and Chinese-speaking countries, helps to avoid misusage and enhances cross-culture communication. This thesis compares the similarities and differences of the associative meaning of color terms in English and in Chinese from four aspects: associative meaning overlap, associative meaning correspondence, associative meaning conflict and associative meaning lack with the example of phrases with “red”. Furthermore, the causes of the differences will be discussed.

Key words: English and Chinese; red; associative meaning; color terms; culture difference

摘要：词汇的意义包括概念意义和联想意义。联想意义受文化的影响，随着文化的发展得到不断丰富。英汉两种语言的颜色词汇都具有丰富的联想意义，由于历史文化和民情风俗的不同，这些颜色词汇的联想意义不尽相同。研究这些颜色词汇的联想意义有助于了解中国和英语国家的文化差异，避免交际过程中对语言的误用，从而更好地进行跨文化交际。本文运用对比的手法，以红色词汇为例，从联想重合、联想对应、联想冲突、联想缺省四个方面分析英汉语言中颜色词汇联想意义的异同，并分析其形成的具体原因。

关键词: 英汉语言；红色；联想意义；颜色词汇；文化差异