摘要

谚语是一个国家人民日常工作经验概括与总结，其内容精辟，寓意深邃，具有广泛的感染力，从中折射出一个国家的地理，历史，社会制度，生活哲理，社会观点和态度及其丰富的文化内涵。作为一种语言形式，谚语的独特魅力在于它是民族文化的精邃。既反映了一个民族文化的共性又反映了其个性：受该民族的价值观念，宗教信仰，审美习惯，历史文化，社会制度和社会意识形态的影响。这篇文章将通过对比中西方谚语的异同，来展示中西方文化的差异与相似点，已达到了解并掌握跨文化交际中需要注意的问题。

关键词：谚语；文化内涵；文化相似点；文化差异。

Abstract

Proverbs is summarized from people’s daily work experiences. Its meaning have broad appeal and which reflects a country’s geography, history, social system, the life philosophy and social viewpoints. As a kind of forms of language, the proverb not only reflects a nation's culture in general but also reflects its individuality by the nation's concept of value, religious beliefs, aesthetic habit, historical culture, social system and the influence of social ideology. The thesis discuss the similarities and differences of cultures in Chinese and English proverbs to find better ways in intercultural communications.

Key words: proverb; similarities; differences.
 
1. Introduction

As a component of culture, language can be regarded as the obvious obstacle to intercultural communication. As the basic building blocks of communication, word is one of the sources that cause misunderstanding. However, a simple study of a language is far from being enough to learn the culture well. The meaning of a word is the product of a particular culture that passes on shared and appropriate meanings. Proverbs are the crystal of national wisdom and experience. They are frequently used orally and hanged down from generation to generation and usually give people information. They are short sentence with common style, concise structure, and vivid language. Proverbs are the summing up of practical experiences. They are the oral forms of language that give people advice and warning.