A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Symbolic Meanings of Color

跨文化分析顏色的象徵意涵

于惠之(Hui-Chih Yu)

顏色 ； 要素 ； 言外之意 ； 象徵 ； 神話 ； Color ； Element ； Connotation ； Symbolism ； Mythology

長庚人文社會學報

7卷1期（2014 / 04 / 01）

49 - 74

英文

本文係嘗試開拓英語教學新領域，從而經由顏色詞的運用，擴大英文知識範圍，以期激發學生學習興趣。色彩以美麗粉飾世界並啟發學生的幻想力，增加生活情趣。長久以來，顏色用作溝通的工具。顏色的傳達可從自然和心理的關聯來說明。顏色是大自然的一種現象，具有普遍性與持久性；顏色在人類心理上卻產生某些聯想，其象徵意義與文化、神話、歷史、宗教、政治或語言相關聯。顏色的象徵意義表達出豐富的文化內涵，包括正面與負面的意義。本文剖析顏色的認知和來源，分析不同文化中色彩所代表的意義；也闡釋顏色用於溝通意義的方式和原因，且提出一種比較方法，教導學生在不同情境下如何運用中、英文顏色詞。

The main purpose of this paper is to extend the scope of English knowledge about color so as to arouse the interest of students in learning English through the use of color terms. Color not only fills our world with beauty but provides a source of inspirations, which would stimulate the fancy of students to increase the interest of their life. Color serves as a means of communication. The communicative qualities of a color can be defined in terms of natural and psychological associations. Occurrences of colors in nature are universal and timeless. However, color may generate another level of meaning in the mind. This color symbolism arises from cultural, mythical, historical, religious, political, and linguistic associations. The symbolic meanings of color words reveal wide-ranging connotations in cultures including positive and negative meanings. The paper will examine human cognition of colors, explore the origin of primary colors, and analyze the meaning of color in different cultures. The awareness of how and why colors communicate meaning will be explained. Finally, an approach to teaching students how to use color terms in different situations will be presented.

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