Usages of the Animal Words in English

于菁華 李佰鴻

【摘要】在英語學(xué)習(xí)中，我們會遇到許多表示動物的詞語。其中一些詞語隨著語言本身的不斷發(fā)展變化其意義已經(jīng)并不局限于僅指某一種動物，而賦有了更多的引申意義；并且其用法也不單單拘泥于名詞，而常常被用作動詞，形容詞，或某種固定搭配。本文即基于文化背景的基礎(chǔ)，結(jié)合其引申意義，闡述了英語中動物詞語的使用方法。

【Abstract】In every language，there are many animal words，among them some have been endowed the analogical meanings beyond the original meanings with the development of the language itself.Further more，these words are sometimes been used as a verb or a fixed phrase as well as a noun.This article just discusses the usages of the animal words in English based on the cultural background，with the analogical meaning of the words.

【中圖分類號】H319 【文獻(xiàn)標(biāo)識碼】A 【文章編號】2095-3089（2017）23-0047-02

In our living circumstances there are all sorts of animals，which have quite close relations with our human being.Consequently，with the development of the language，many animal words with or without analogical meanings have come into the languages under the different cultural backgrounds.Therefore how to understand them and how to use them are sometimes became

complicated to the foreign language learners.The following is some usages of the animal words in English.

Ⅰ.Many animal words can be used in the form of metaphors or similes，because of the similarities between mankind and animals.Thus，the language will appear vivid and dynamic.

Lets analyze some of these usages as follow：

1）Used in a noun form

E.g.（1）as bold ＼brave as a lion

（2）as free as a bird

（3）as mischievous as a monkey

（4）as hungry as a hawk ＼bear ＼wolf

（5）The wolf and the pig struggled together in his face.（a description of greedy countenance）

（6）Isnt that a duck （cuteness）of a kitchen？

2）Used in a verb form

E.g.（1）to fish in trouble water

（2）He wormed （creep）into our confidence.

（3）Dont monkey （fiddle＼tease）with the new radio.

（4）Misfortune dogged （follow）him at every turn.

（5）Jack snaked （wind）his way through the crowd.

Other usages

to fox ─to cheat to mouse ─ to peek

to wolf ─ to devour to ostrich ─ to cheat oneself

to peacock ─ to flaunt to crab ─ to rampage

to ape ─ to imitate to pig ─ to crowd

3）Used in an adjectival form

E.g.（1）It is a lamb （thin）excuse.

（2）We all dislike his bearish （clumsy）manner.

（3）She turned to me with a sheepish （shy）smile.

（4）A snaky （scheming）look came to his face.

4）Some animal words are used in a fixed sentence or phrase，which has a certain moral，such as proverbs and idioms as follows.

E.g.（1）A leopard never changes his spots.

─ The basic character or human nature of a person can not change

（2）You cannot turn geese into swans.

─ Can't exaggerate excessively

（3）to put the cart before horse

─ to do something in disorder

（4）One must howl with the wolves.

─ Do at Rome as the Romans do.

Ⅱ.Some animal words are also used in the form of metonymy.Some animals may have certain relation with some kind of people or objects，and gradually，these animals just used to refer to these people or objects.

E.g.（1）the Swan of Avon ─ Shakespeare

（2）rain cats and dogs ─ heavy rain （ in English people deem that the wizard who make rain can transform himself into cat； the dog is considered the emissary of wind-god.）

（3）butterfly ─ a beauty who is good at flirt in public occasion

（4）kangaroo ─ Australian

Ⅲ.In English there are many onomatopoeias of animals sounds.

E.g.The bird twitters＼tills.The dog barks.

The bull＼elephant bellows.The sheep bleats.

The bee buzzes.The snake hisses.

The cat purrs.The duck quacks.

Some of them used to symbolize the similar human voices or behaviors.

E.g.cackle （of goose）─ foolish and useless talk

screech（of owl）─ sharp note of terror or pain

jabber（of monkey）─ quick and unclear speech

gobble（of turkey）─ frankly speaking

Ⅳ.Many phrases of animals organs also used as fixed phrases.Some of them have analogical meanings； some just represent certain objects.

1）The organ words with analogical meanings

E.g.eagle＼hawk-eyed ─ sharp-eyed

hen-hearted ─ timid

lion's mouth ─ a dangerous place

cat's paw ─ a person controlled by others

dog-eye ─ a blame or plea countenance

horseback ─ doing something without contemplate

horse feathers ─ nonsense； worthless things

2）The organ words referring to certain objects

E.g.cock eye ─斗雞眼

cock-tail─雞尾酒

cat's-eye ─貓眼石

rabbit-ears ─兔耳形室內(nèi)天線

Ⅴ.Some animal words seem very unfamiliar to us because they came from foreign languages，for example，Taurus and Pisces of the zodiac.Taurus，in Latin means bull，so bullfighting

also called tauromachy.Many chemistry words also use it，such as taurochollicacid （牛磺膽酸）Pisces also from Latin is the plural form of fish.Words like pisciculture（養(yǎng)魚術(shù)），poscovorous（吃魚的），piscary（漁場），etc.are all formed according to this word Language is the spirit of the culture.Animal words in English seem simple but sometimes it is difficult to understand them properly.Even a simple-looked word may have complex usages.If we want to use a language exactly and perfectly，above all，we must comprehend its history，culture，customs，mentality and religions well.

參考文獻(xiàn)：

[1]《英語詞源趣談》.莊和誠.上海外語教育出版社，1998年版.

[2]《英語語源說》.莊和誠汕頭大學(xué)出版社1994年版.

[3]《朗文現(xiàn)代英漢雙解詞典》現(xiàn)代出版社.朗文出版有限公司.合作出版，1996年9月版.

[4]《淺談英語中動物名詞的動化現(xiàn)象》.央泉《大學(xué)英語》，1998年9期.