从身份名词词义看中西文化差异

摘要

《大学英语》里遇到这样一段课文：“…… Children as young as 5 or 6 were painting flowers, fish and animals with the skill and confidence of an aducalligraphers 9 and 10 years old were producing works that could have been displayed in a museum. In a visit to the homes of two of the young artists, …… we learned from their parents that they worked on perfecting their craft for several hours a day。”其中“calligrapher，artist”让大家感到很为难。开始时按照一般词典与教科书所示理解为“书法家，艺术家”，但从整个语篇或上下文的视角来看，这里的“calligrapher，artist”显然是指中国5、6岁及9、10岁学习绘画及书法的孩子们，而在中国文化环境里人们并不称这些学生为“书法家，艺术家”。