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The zodiac animal of China's coming Lunar New Year has caused much confusion in the English world, as its translation results in at least two candidates: sheep or goat. 中国农历新年即将到来，但今年的生肖却让英语国家的人们感到非常困惑，因为它至少有两种英文翻译：绵羊或山羊。 Chinese folklorists say the animal symbol can be either a sheep or a goat but more likely goat, given the latter's popularity as a farm animal among Han Chinese. 中国民俗学家表示，羊年生肖的象征物既可能是绵羊，也可能是山羊，但山羊的可能性更大，因为在汉族地区山羊作为家畜更为常见。 The Chinese lunar calendar assigns an animal symbol to each year in every 12-year cycle. Yet the Chinese character for the eighth zodiac animal is "Yang", which can refer to either of the two ruminants when used without attributes. 中国农历以十二年为周期，每年以一种动物作为象征。十二生肖中的第八个生肖是“羊”，而这个字在没有修饰限定语的情况下可指绵羊或山羊任意一种反刍动物。 Huang Yang, a prominent researcher on the role of sheep/goats in Chinese culture, says tracing the origin of the zodiacal Yang could be difficult, as the Chinese zodiac first appeared after the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BC), when the Chinese people did not differentiate between sheep and goats in language or in sacrificial offering. | 
