文化差异与英汉习语误译.docx

文化差异与英汉习语误译.docx

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文化差异与英汉习语误译

毕业论文

题目：

文化差异与英汉习语误译

Title:

CulturalDifferencesandMistranslationofIdioms

2009年5月20日

Acknowledgements

Firstandforemost,Iamgratefultomykindparentsandmywiseandfarsightedbrother.SinceIstarttowritethispaper,theysupportmeineveryfieldsandencouragemeatanytime.Mybrotheralsogivesmesomeusefuladviceandinformation.Theirloveandsupportencouragemetotrymybesttodoitwell.

Then,Iwouldliketoexpressheartfeltthankstoallotherteachersespeciallymysupervisor,ZhangQian.Withtheirhelp,Ihavebenefitedsomuchnotonlyfromtheircoursesbutalsofromtheirrolemodelswhichletmeknowhowtokeepafootholdinthesociety.Formysupervisor,sheletmeknowhowtolookforinformation,howtowritethethesisandhowtofinishalltherelevantthings.

Finally,Iwanttothankalltheauthorswhoseessayshaveinspiredmeandhelpedmewithmypaper.

Abstract

Englishidiomsbeartheweightofnationallanguagecharacteristicsandinformation.Ithasthedeepestcultureintension.Therefore,studyingtheoriginofEnglishidiomsandtheculturalgapofitisofgreatimportancetoEnglishlearnersandtranslators.Idiomsusuallyincludeidioms,proverbs,colloquialisms,slangexpressionsandallusions.Largeinquantity,longinhistoryandrichinculturalinformation,bothEnglishandChineseIdiomsaredeeplyrootedinourdailylife.Idiomsrepresentthesocialphenomenonandnaturalrulesaccuratelyintheformoflivelyandplainword.Asfarastheirunderlyingculturalinformationisconcerned,someidiomsarecompletelyorpartiallyequivalentbothinChineseandinEnglishwhilesomeothershavenothingincommonatall.Inordertoconveytheirculturalinformationfully,faithfullyandeffectively,wecantranslatetheseidiomswordforword,givenotesoraddextrawords.Inthispaper,IexploretheculturaldifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglishidioms,discusstheinfluencesofculturaldifferencesontheidiomsandgivesometranslationmethodsofChineseandEnglishidioms,suchasliteraltranslation,liberaltranslation,etc.

Keywords:

Idioms；Culturaldifference;Translation

摘要

英汉习语承载着民族的语言和信息,有着深厚的文化底蕴和内涵.因此,研究习语的起源及英汉习语的文化差异,对英语学习者以及英语翻译人员至关重要.通常情况下,习语包括成语、谚语、俗语、俚语和典故.无论是在数量、历史背景还是在丰富的文化信息下,英汉习语已经在我们的日常生活中根深蒂固.习语准确的描述了社会现象、自然法则,阐述了人文习俗和思想感情.由于受历史背景、地理环境、宗教习俗、生活习俗等方面的文化差异的影响,英汉习语中有些文化信息完全对应,有些部分对应,有些毫无对应关系.为了充分、真实、有效的传递其中的文化信息,在翻译这些习语时,应当充分了解英汉习语中所包括的文化内涵,视具体情况,我们可以逐字翻译,或者英汉对译,或者文外加注,或者另添文字.在这篇论文中,我从多方面比较了英汉习语中所体现的文化差异,也列举了英汉习语在翻译中常用的方法,例如,直译、意译等.

关键词：

习语；文化差异；翻译

Contents

Introduction………………………………………………………...1

.CulturalDifferencesleadtoMistranslation...…………………………2

1.1DifferentCulturalTraditions…………………………………………....2

1.2DifferentPatternsofThoughtsandCulturalValues………..................4

1.3DifferentLivingEnvironmentsandHabits…………………………...7

1.4LackofCulturalInformation…………………………………………..8

II.TheTranslationApproaches…………………………………………...9

2.1LiteralTranslation…………………………………………………..9

2.2LiberalTranslation……………………………………………...10

2.3ConclusiveTranslation………………………………………………10

2.4EquivalentReplacement……………………………………………...11

2.5Transference……………………………………………....………....11

Conclusion…………………………………………………………..12

Bibliography…………………………………………………………13

Introduction

Generallyspeaking,idiomsincludesetphrases,commonsayings,proverbsandslangsetc.Allofthemarephrasesorsentenceswhichisthekernelandessenceoflanguage.Idiomisthemostimportantpartofwords;theyarethephraseorsentencesfromourdailylife.Italsohasstrongnationalandculturalcharacteristics.Englishidiomsalsobeartheweightofdifferentculturalinformationduetotheinfluencesofhistory,religiousbelief,livingcustomandsoon.Ifwewanttounderstandtheseidiomswell,wemustpayattentiontothelanguageconnotation.

Inthispaper,Iwilltalksomethingaboutidiomsandanalysewhytherearesomanymistranslations.Iwouldliketodividethispaperintotwoparts:

inthefirstpart,Ilistmanyculturaldifferencewhichleadtomistranslationofidiomsinthesecondpart,Ijustanalyseseveraltranslationmethodswhichcanhelpusavoidmistranslation.

.Culturaldifferencesleadtomistranslation.

1.1Differentculturaltraditions.

1.1.1Differentancientmyths,legends,fablesorhistoryallusion.

Everynationhasitsownculturaltradition.Inthelonghistoryofitsdevelopment,agreatnumberofbeautifullegendsandmythswerecreatedandmanyidiomsbasedonthemwereproduced.GreekandRomanmythsalsogeneratecolorfulproverbs.

（1）Loveisblind.爱情是盲目的.

ThisproverbisfromRomanmyth.Cupid,theGodoflove,isaboywithtwowings.Hiseyesareblind-foldedandheisflyingintheskywithbowandarrowsinhand,shootinghisarrowoflove.Theonewhogetsthegoldenarrowwillwinhislove.Thisproverbimpliesthatloverscannotseeeachother’sweaknessandshortcomings.

（2）FeartheGreeks,evenwhenbringinggifts.

即使希腊人带来礼物,我也担心.

ThisproverbisfromtheGreekmythoftheTrojanWar;theGreektroopscouldnotbreachthecityofTroyforquitealongtime.Intheend,theypretendedtoretreat,leavingoutsidethecityofTroyahugewoodenhorse.“Trojanhorse”hasnowbecomeasymbolof“dangeranddeception”inWesternculture.

TherearealsomanyEnglishproverbsderivedfrom“TheFablesofAesop”.

（1）Weseenotwhatisinthewalletbehind.

人们总是看不见自己的缺点.

（2）Donotcountyourchickensbeforetheyarehatched.

鸡蛋尚未孵,别先数小鸡.

（3）Thefoxsaidthegrapesweresour.

狐狸吃不到葡萄,就说它是酸的.

SomeChineseproverbsarederivedfromancientChinesemyths,legendsorfablesandtheyhavestrongculturalcolors.

（1）孙悟空逃不出如来佛的手掌心.–Beunabletojumpoutofanother’sgrasp,howevercleverandcapableonemaybe.

ThisChineseproverbisfrom“ThePilgrimagetotheWest”.SunWukongisMonkeyKingwhomiscleverandcapable.RuLaifoisBuddhawhoisofgreatpower.Thisproverbimpliesthatacommonmancannotescapethecontrolfromapowerfulman.

（1）一人得道,鸡犬升天.–Whenamangetstothetop,allhisrelativesandfriendsgettherewithhim.

TheoriginalproverbisfromaChineselegend.Itmeansthatwhenonebecomesahighofficial,evenhisfowlsanddogswillgetpromoted.

1.1.2Differentliteratureclassics.

AftertheBible,Shakespeare’splaysare,aswemightexpect,therichestliterarysourcesofEnglishproverbs.WilliamShakespearewasthegreatestdramatistandpoetinEnglishduringtheRenaissance.Heemployedmorethan1,oooproverbsinhisworksincluding37plays,154sonnetsandtwolongpoems.Someofhiscoinagesintheirdailyspeechandwritingoftenwithnodefiniteconsciousnessoftheirorigins.

（1）Tooswiftarrivesastardyastooslow.—RomeoandJuliet

欲速则不达

（2）Itisawisefatherthatknowshisownchild.—MerchantofVenice

无论怎样聪明的父亲也不见得知道他自己的儿子.

（3）Thecourseoftrueloveneverdidrunsmooth.—AMid-SummerNight’sDream

爱情道路多崎岖.

（4）Allthatlivesmustdie.—Hamlet

有生必有死.

EnglishproverbsfromShakespeareareplentifulandtheyhavealreadybeenabsorbedintotheEnglishlanguageandbecomeanorganicpartofit.

ThefollowingquotationsfromtheChineseclassicsareoftenusedasproverbs.

（1）言必行,行必果.—“论语.子路”

Promisesmustbekeptandactionmustberesolute.—ConfuciusAnalects

（2）谁言寸草心,抱得三春晖.–孟郊“游子吟”

Thatsuchkindnessasyounggrassreceivesfromthewarmsuncan’tberepaid.—MenJiao“SongofaRoamer”

1.1.3Differentreligiousbelieves.

Languagereflectspeople’slifeanditcomesfrompeople’slife.Livingcustomsgreatlyinfluenceandrestrictthesystemoflanguageexpression.Everylanguageischaracterizedbyitsbrandsofdifferentlivingcustoms.

（1）Unkissed,unkind.

不接吻,不友善.

ThisproverbreflectstheWesterncustomofkissingeachotherasfriendlygreetings.WhileinChina,persondoesnottakekissingasawidelyacceptedcustomofgreeting.KissingeachotherinChinainthemodernageisstillsomethingparentsdototheirchildrenorloversdoinarelativelyprivateplace.Thisisadistinctivefeatureshowingthedifferencesbetweentheexpressionsofonelanguageandthoseofanotherandisalsothetypicalexampleoftheso-called“exoticflavors”.

1.2Differentpatternsofthoughtsandculturalvalues.

Thankstotheculturaldifferences,peoplehavefounddifferentpatternsofthoughtsandculturalvalues.Theymayhavequitedifferentorevenoppositeopinionsofthesamematter.

1.2.1Differentfeelingstowardscolors.

Weliveinacolorfulworld,andwordsdenotingcolorsformpartofthenuclearvocabularyofalmosteverylanguage.Butdifferentlanguagesmayhavedifferentnumberofcolorterms.InChinese赤,橙,黄,绿,青,蓝,紫,thesevencolorsintherainbow,arethoughttobethebasiccolors.However,inEnglishitisusuallyconsideredthereareelevenbasiccolors,namelywhite,black,grey,brown,red,green,yellow,blue,purple,orangeandpink.TheChinese绿,青,蓝arethreecolors,buttheircorrespondingwordsinEnglishareonlytwo:

“green”and“blue”.

InChina,yellowstandsfortheemperor,butinwesterncounties,purpleisthesymbolofhonorable;inChina,thejoyouscolorisred,butinwestern,theirweddingcoloriswhite.TherearemanyobviousdifferentbetweenEnglishandChineseoncolors.

（1）Red

InChina,redstandforluckyandjoyous.Whenredmeanspeople’semotionitdeputyangry、shyandsoon.ThisisthesameofEnglish,恼羞成怒is“beredwithangry”.Butmanyidiomshassomecolorfulwordinit,wecan’ttranslatethesefromthesurface.Suchas,“topaintthetownred”means狂欢,notmeans将全城刷成红色.“Wavingaredflag”means惹别人生气,notmeans挥舞红旗.

（2）Black

Itisoppositered.It’smeaninginEnglishorinChinesearenearlythesame.黑色andblacka