本科英语专业毕业论文(11)
English culture has been greatly influenced by Greek and Roman myths. In Roman myths, the power of god Jupiter comes from his three-pronged thunder stick, the prowess of god Neptune lies in his three-pronged spear, while god Pluto is a mighty three-headed dog. These three gods are in charge of the world. Therefore, the propitious and powerful connotations of “three” is well illustrated in western myths. “Nine” is also endowed with rich connotations from ancient Greek myths. According to the myths, there are altogether twelve Muses and the water snake has as many as nine heads. Westerners get accustomed to using “nine” to refer to a large number such as “a stitch in time saves nine” and “be dressed up to the nines”. “Thirteen” has become a “number one’’ taboo due to the ominous stories from ancient myths and the Bible. As stated by Scandinavian myths, once there were twelve gods to attend a feast in the Heaven which was served in honor of the soldiers who died in the action. During the feast, an unexpected demoniac god Rocky appeared and it was his arrival that brought death to the son of Autin (the head god). From then on, the gods never recovered from this setback. Partly because of this, westerners treat “thirteen” as evil and plague. There is no thirteenth floor or Room No. thirteen in the majority of buildings. There is no Line No. thirteen or Seat No. thirteen in planes, trains and theatres. Besides, thirteen people are considered improper for any pageant or feast, which can be seen from the idiom “thirteen at table”.
Based upon the above analysis, it can be safely concluded that numbers related to myths in English and Chinese culture have great influence on people’s attitudes toward these numbers. Out of these myths, some numbers are worshiped, while others feared by people.
4.3 Comparison of English and Chinese Numerical Idioms
Robert Lado, in his book Linguisacs across Cultures (1957) points out that the composing pattern of every culture has its own form, meaning and their distributions. These three elements constitute three levels of cultural comparison. They do not exist and take effect alone and interrelate with one another instead. Distribution does not only refer to the possible situation where certain words occur, but also means their use in the context. Cultural comparison can be conducted through the interrelationship between or among form, meaning and their distributions. The comparison between English and Chinese numerical idioms can be categorized as follows: numerical idioms identical in both form and meaning; numerical idioms different in form but identical in meaning; numerical idioms identical in form but different in meaning.
