英汉动物谚语的对比研究.docx

英汉动物谚语的对比研究.docx

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英汉动物谚语的对比研究

AComparativeStudyofEnglishandChineseAnimal

Proverbs

I.Introduction

InLongmanModernEnglishDictionary,proverbis“abrieffamiliarmaximoffolkwisdom,usuallycompressedinform,ofteninvolvingaboldimageandfrequentlyajinglethatcatchesthememory.”Aproverb,whichsuccinctlysumsuphumanexperienceandobservationoftheworld,statesageneraltruthandgivesadviceorwarning.Aproverb,ofteninvolvingaboldimage,musicalrhythmandcompressedform,canbringvividnesstothereadersandsotheyareeasytorememberandspread.Proverbsaresummingupoffolkwisdom,theyareusuallypithy,andhaveuniversalappeals.Peoplelovetopickupproverbswhentheytrytoreasonthingsoutandtheproperuseofproverbscanmaketheirviewsmoreconvincing.Proverbsarethecrystalofthenationalwisdom.Theyareanimportantpartofanationallanguageandtheyappropriatelyreflecttherelationbetweencultureandlanguage.Theyhavebeenconnectedcloselywiththenationalcharacteristicseversincetheircomingintobeingandintheirdevelopment.Itisgenerallyacknowledgedthatdifferentpeopleshavegreatdifferencesintheircultures.Butsincedifferentpeoplesliveonthesameearthwithroughlysimilarneedsandsomeofthemhaveevenexperiencedsimilarsocialdevelopmentstage,theirexperiences,emotionalreflectionandobservationoftheworldareinmanyaspectssimilar.Thisshowsthatdifferentpeoplesmayhaveculturalgeneralitybesidesculturaldifference.Proverbs,asthecreamofalanguage,inevitablycarrytheimprintofculturaldifferenceandgenerality.ThedifferenceandgeneralityrespectivelyleadtothedissimilaritiesandsimilaritiesbetweenEnglishandChineseanimalproverbsandmakingacomparativestudyofthemisofgreatsignificance.

II.AnimalsProverbswithIdenticalMeanings

SomeanimalproverbsinEnglishandChineseareidenticalinmeaning.Theproverbsinthiscategoryarelimitedinnumber.Theyaretheresultofeithercoincidenceortranslationloansfromonelanguagetoanother.Theseproverbsarenothinderedbynationalboundariesorculturebarriers,insteadtheyhavetakeonuniversalsignificance.Thefollowingaresomeexamples.

1.English:

Anassisknownbyhisears./Chinese:

见耳识驴，听话知愚。

2.English:

Itisasadhousewherethehencrowslouderthanthecock.

Chinese:

牝鸡司晨，家之不详。

ManyfactorshavecontributedtotheemergenceoffullycorrespondingpairsinEnglishandChineseproverbs.

Firstly,althoughdifferentnationsliveinvariednaturalenvironmentsanddiversifiedgeographicconditions,theystillsharequitealotincommon.Theyhavemoreorlessthesamespeciesofanimals.Andthecommongroundofhumanculturesislargerthantheindividualfeatureofeachculture.Although,people’sconcretewaysoflifearevariedindifferentplaces,thefundamentalwaysoflivingandthinkingarethesameforthewholehumanrace.

Secondly,owingtocultureexchange,translationloansareborrowedfromeachother,whicharenotlimitedtotherootideasbutsometimesincludethe“clothingoftheidea”.Asaresult,someproverbswithidenticalanimalimagecomeintoexistenceindifferentlanguage,forinstance,“Hewhoridesatigerisafraidtodismount”and“骑虎难下”.

III.AnimalImageswithDifferentMeaningsinProverbs

SomeEnglishandChineseproverbssharethesameimages,andpeopletakeitforgrantedthattheyshouldhavethesameconnotation,butactually,theycontaindifferentorevenoppositemeanings.Forexample,“Itisagoodhorsethatneverstumbles.”and“好马不失蹄”.

Inthisexample,theEnglishproverb“It’sagoodhorsethatneverstumbles”,iseasytobetranslatedintoChinese“好马不失蹄”.Infact,theEnglishproverbmeansevenagoodhorsewillstumble,sotherighttranslationshouldbe“好马也有失蹄时”.Inthefollowingpart,thereasonsformisunderstandingsandthedifferentchoiceofanimalimageswillbeclarified.

A.Reasonsformisunderstandings

Firstly,sometimes,theolduseofgrammarremainsintheproverbs,anditmaymisleadourcomprehension.Thepreservationoftheoldgrammaticalstructure“it’s...that...”issimilartothemodernstructureinform,butoppositeinmeaning.ThemisunderstandingoftheEnglishproverb“It’sagoodhorsethatneverstumbles”asChineseproverb“好马不失蹄”isduetothisoldgrammaticalstructure.

Secondly,whenpeopleholddifferentviewsandattitudestoanimals,andtheirdifferentworldviewstowardthesamesituations,thesameanimalimagesmayhavedifferentorevenoppositemeaningsindifferentculture,andproverbscontainingthesameanimalimageswillpossiblyhavedifferentmeanings.TheseeminglycorrespondingEnglishandChineseproverbsmayhavedifferentconnotations.Forexample:

“Dogeatsdog”and“狗咬狗”.“Dogeatsdog”isalwaysregardedas“狗咬狗”.Butactually“Dogeatsdog”referstothephenomenonthatpeoplehurtthoseofthesamegroup,while“狗咬狗”meansbadpeoplefightwithbadpeople,sothetwoproverbsmeandifferently.

B.Factorsinfluencingthechoiceofanimalimagesinproverbs

Thelanguageshavesomeuniversality,butmoreimportantly,theyhavetheirownculturallyspecificfeatures.Theculturallyspecificfeaturesarecloselyrelatedtotheirreligion,specialgeography,literatureandpsychology.

1.Differentreligiousbeliefs

Differentnationsusuallybelieveindifferentreligion.Thusproverbsofdiversenationssurelyexpressvariousreligiousbeliefs.Inthewest,BritainandAmericaareChristiancountrieswithalonghistory.AndChristianasthemainbeliefofthemhasalreadytakenrootsintheirlivesforages.ChristiansbelieveintheGod.TheGodistheuniqueandsupremegod,whilepeoplearebornwithasin,andarethesameandequalinthefaceoftheGod,sothecommonpeoplerespectandworshiptheGod,butdisregardthemajesty.“Acatmaylookataking”reflectsthiskindofthought.

Furthermore,therearesomeanimalsendowedwithdifferentreligiousmeanings.InChristianitytheserpentisthesymbolofdevilandSatan,whilethelambisthesymboloftheGod’speopleandtimidity,andthedragonisthesymbolofevilanddanger.SerpententicedEvetostealfruitofTreeofconscienceandshethensharedwithAdam.IntheendtheytwowerekickedoutoftheGardenofEden.SoinEnglishproverbs,snakehasameaningofcunning.

InChina,Buddhismhasbeenspreadoveronethousandyears,andtheBuddhistculturehasbeenmeltintothedailylifeoftheChineseforalongtime.Asaresult,itisverycommonthatquiteanumberofChinesebelieveinBuddhism.SomeChineseproverbsareaboutBuddhism.Thereareproverbsaboutthestrictsocialclassesandroles.Herearesomeexamples.

狗肉烧酒穿肠过，佛在心中留。

（Buddhainheart,wineandmeatwillpassthroughintestines.）

狗咬吕洞宾，不识好人心。

（Don’tsnapandsnarlatmewhenI’mtryingtodomybestforyou.）

2.Differentgeographicconditions

GeographicallyEnglandislocatedintheWesternHemisphere,whileChinaliesintheEasternHemisphere,thusEnglandandChinahavedifferentclimate.Theyformdifferentlivingstyles.Englandisanislandcountry,somostEnglishmanmakelivingsbyfisheryornavigation.Chineseformedtheirlivingstyle----farmingandstockrising.Therefore,thereareagreatmanydifferentproverbs.

Firstly,therearesomeanimalproverbsaboutthespecialclimateinEngland.

Ifthecockcrowsongoingtobed,he’ssuretorisewithawateryhead.（公鸡傍晚叫，早晨有雨到。

）

Marchcomesinwithadderheads,andgoesoutwithpeacocktails.（三月来如猛狮，去如羔羊。

）

Furthermore,fisheryandnavigationareofgreatimportancetoEnglishpeopleanditisnowonderthatplentyofEnglishproverbsareonfisheryornavigation,andalotonfishes.ButinChina,thefishdoesnotcarrysomanynationalmeanings.ThefollowingaresomeEnglishfishproverbs.

Allisfishthatcomestohisnet.（进网都是鱼。

）

Fishbeginstostinkatthehead.（鱼烂头先臭。

）

3.Differentliterarybackgrounds

Differentnationshavedifferentliterature,whichmakesupparticularculturalbackgroundsofproverbs.Onthebasisofthis,agreatmanyproverbsareoftensimpleinstructurebutdeepinmeaning.Inordertograspandtranslatetheirdeepmeaningsaccurately,wemustbeclearabouttheliterature.InChinesetherearealotofanimalproverbsoriginatedfromvariousclassicalworks,suchas:

二者不可兼得，舍鱼而取熊掌.

Ontheotherhand,Englishproverbsalsotakeinthequintessenceofmanyliteralworksandareinfactthewell-knownremarksofsomefamouswriters,suchassomeproverbsofShakespeare:

Allcatslovefishbutfeartowettheirpaws.（欲吃龙肉，又怕下海。

）

Patienceperforceismedicineforamaddog.（不得已的忍耐是疯狗的药方。

）

Inbrief,bothChinaandEnglishhavetheirdiverseandcolorfulliterature,whichisvividlyreflectedintheirproverbsandaswellhaveconstitutedthehistoricalandculturalbackgroundsoftheirproverbs.Thuswheneverwetranslateproverbs,itishelpfulforustolookintohistoriesandoriginsoftheproverbsandmakeproperjudgmentsaccordingtothebackgrounds.

4.Differentpsychologies

Althoughmankindsharesmanylifeexperiencesandthoughts,anddifferentculturesoccasionallyhavesomeculturaloverlaps,yetonthewholedifferentcultureshavedifferentpsychology,andpeopleofdifferentculturesholddifferentattitudestothesameanimals.Herewewilltakeanimalsforexamplestoexplainthedifferentpsychologyinproverbsofdifferentnations.Withthedevelopmentofhumansociety,manyanimalsplayanimportantroleinhumanlifeandsomeofthemhavebecomeaparticularkindofsymbolisminpeople’smind,andanimalsinvariouscountriessymbolizediversemeaning.Theconnotationsofanimalsinproverbsofonelanguagedonotcoincidewiththoseinotherlanguages.Thedifferentconnotativemeaningswhichtheanimalwor