英汉成语的文化差异与翻译.docx

英汉成语的文化差异与翻译.docx

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英汉成语的文化差异与翻译

英汉成语的文化差异与翻译

摘要

英国哲学家弗朗西斯·培根说：

“Geniuswitandspiritofanationarediscoveredbytheiridioms．”（一个民族的天赋、智慧和精神都从他们的习语中表现出来）。

成语是习语的一种，它来源于生活，是人们在长期使用语言的过程中形成的固定的词组或短语,是劳动人民智慧的结晶,具有浓厚的民族色彩。

由于地理、历史、宗教信仰、生活习俗等方面的差异，英汉成语承载着不同的民族文化特色和文化信息，它们与文化传统紧密相连，不可分割。

然而对英汉成语的互译一直是翻译工作中的难点与重点。

本文通过对英汉成语在文化中体现出的几方面差异的叙述，介绍在翻译过程中可以运用的原则，这其中包括直译法，意译法，借用法，注释法等，并且提醒译者在翻译成语中应注意的几个问题，帮助译者解决因文化差异给英汉成语互译过程中带来的困难，从而发掘其中的真正含义，起到文化传真的作用。

关键字：

文化差异，成语，翻译原则

CulturalDifferencesbetweenEnglishandChineseSetphraseandTranslation

Author:

LiuHongwei

Tutor:

HanShujun

Abstract

TheBritishphilosopherFrancisBaconsaid:

“Geniuswitandspiritofanationarediscoveredbytheiridioms.".Setphraseistheessenceoflanguage,originatesfromlife，withitsrichcolorsanddistinctethnicandculturalconnotation.Itisfixedphrasesetorshortlanguageformedinthelanguageuseprocessbyhumanbeings.Becauseofthedifferencesingeography,history,religionandlifecustom,idiomscarrynationalculturalcharacteristicsandculturalinformation.Anditisinseparablewithculture.ThetranslationofEnglish-Chinesephrasesisthekeypointandthedifficultpointintranslation.Thisthesisshowstheculturedifferencesreflectedinthephrases,theprinciplesavailable,suchasliteral-translatingmethod,meaning-translationmethod,borrowingmethod，bothliteralandmeaningandnoting.Whatismore,italertsthereadertopotentialproblemsandhelpsavoidthem,solvetranslationdifficultiescausedbytheculturedifference,findthetruemeaning,playtheroleofculturaltransmission.

Keywords:

Culturaldifference，Setphrase,Translationprinciple

Contents

AbstractinChinese……………………………………………I

AbstractinEnglish……………………………………………II

1Introduction………………………………………………1

2.EnglishandChineseSetPhraseReflectCultureDifference…………………………………………………………4

2.1FigureDifference………………………………………4

2.2CustomDifference……………………………………5

2.3HistoricalBackgroundDifference……………………7

2.4HistoricalReferencesDifference………………………8

2.5ReligionDifference……………………………………9

3.TranslationPrinciple……………………………………7

3.1literal-translating………………………………………7

3.2Meaning-translation……………………………………8

3.3Borrowing……………………………………………12

3.4Bothliteralandmeaning………………………………14

3.5Noting…………………………………………………14

4.PotentialProblems.……………………………………15

4.1DifferenceContextDifferentMethod…………………16

4.2MaintaintheFeaturesofOriginalText………………16

4.3SpecialNounsNeedNottoTranslate…………………17

4.4Donottranslatewithoutrealunderstanding…………17

4.5CommendatoryandDerogatory………………………18

4.6SimpleandSmooth……………………………………18

4.7AddandCut…………………………………………19

4.8FaithfultotheOriginalVersion………………………20

5.Conclusion……………………………………………21

Bibliography…………………………………………………23

CulturalDifferencesbetweenEnglishandChineseSetphraseandTranslation

1Introduction

Culturesarecreatedbyman，buthumansurvivalanddevelopmentdifferfromdifferentgeographicalandethnic.Everycultureshowsitsownforms;includeitsownculturecharacter.BothEnglishandChinesesetphrasesembodyrichanddeepideologicalmeaningsandstrongculturalcharacter.Thatiswhysetphraseisoneofthemostessentialpartsoflanguage.ThedifferencesbetweenChineseandwesternculturesofteninfluenceChinese-Englishsetphrasetranslation,andbringdifficultiesinthecomprehensionandexpression.Tosolvethetranslationdifficultieswillpromotetheexchangesofeastandwestcultures.

Setphraseisonekindofidiomaticphrases,iscrystallizationofanation′swisdomwhichisdistilledinthelong-termusinglanguageandpractice.Italsomainlyreflectstherhetoricaldevicemostofthesetphrasesareshort,simple,vividandaccessiblethatallpeopleliketouse.BothEnglishandChineselanguageshavelonghistoriesduringthetimeoflanguageevolution;setphrasehasincreasedinnumber,promotedinquality.Normally,setphrasecomesfromclassicsofancient,famouspublication,historystoriesandfolklegends.Usually,setphraseshavedistinctiveimage,richethicalcolorandareacharacteristic.However,therearesomethingincommoninworldoflife,wayofthinkingandemotion.Therefore,allkind’scultureandlanguagehavecommongroundandcomparability.

InEnglish,theareaofidiomcouldeitherbebigorsmall,intoday'svariousdictionaries,theycalledidiombothidiomandsetphrase.Idiomsincludingabroadphrase,saying,XieHouyu,allusions,itcamefromthepublic,canreflectanation'sculturalidentity.Setphraseisthesecondparaphraseofidiom.Setphrasehasbeenusedforalongtimewithwholemeaningsandwell-structured.TheextentandmeaningofChineseandEnglishsetphrasearesame.Theyareallfixedcombinationthatexpressesthesameconcept.

Setphrasehastwoimportantcharacteristic:

oneissemanticunity,anotheroneisstructuralfixedness.Insemantics,setphrasecannotbedivided.Thewholemeaningcannotbeinferredwithsomeparts.Instructure,setphrasehassurvivedthepassageoftime.Anypartofsetphrasecannotbechangedormove.Forexample:

ablessingindisguise（因祸得福）,atsixesandsevens（乱七八糟），byandlarge（一般来说，整体而言）,fantheflames（火上浇油）,goDutch（各付各的钱）,oddsandends（七零八碎）.InChinese,出尔反尔（backandfill）,麻木不仁（insensitive）,差强人意（Barelysatisfactory）,黯然失色（Sufferaneclipse）,鹤立鸡群,（ATritonoftheminnows）,粉墨登场（Embarkuponapoliticalventure）,一鼓作气（Pressontothefinishwithoutletup）,韦编三绝（Studydiligently）,暗度陈仓（Doonethingundercoverofanother）,诲人不倦（Betirelessinteaching）,循循善诱（Begoodatteaching）andsoon,wecannotfindthetruemeaningfromeachsingleword.

Englishsetphrasebasedonawiderangeofcontent.

（1）Manyofthemcomefromthebible.Forexample:

tofallfromgrace（堕落犯罪）,atthelastgasp（奄奄一息）,handwritingonthewall（不祥之兆）,manproposes,goddisposes（谋事在人，成事在天）,godhelpthosewhohelpthemselves.（天助自助者）.

（2）Britainisanisland,fisheryandnavigationintheeconomyofalargeproportion,manyEnglishsetphrasescomefromnauticalterm.Forexample:

tosailbeforethewind（获得成功）,totrimthesailtothewind（见风使舵）.（3）Britishlikesportshowsothatbringalargenumbersetphrases.Suchastocomeoutthetop（占优势），toshowone’scard（摊牌）,toplayone’strumpcard（打出王牌）.（4）SomeEnglishsetphrasehaverelationshipwithanimal:

loveme,lovemydog（爱屋及乌）,tobetopdog（居于高位）,Birdsofafeatherflocktogether（物以类聚，人以群分）.（5）therealsosomephrasescomefrommythology,Homer'sepicandAesop:

Blowhotandcold（反复无常）.

Thereisabigdifferentbetweentheeasternandwesternculture,howcanthesetphrasesinthelanguagebesame.Itiseasytomakecomprehensiveconfusionorimproperusing,evenfailuretocommunicate.BothChineseidiomsandEnglishidiomsareideologicalcrystallizationthatextractedbyworkingpeopleintheprocessofcognitivetheworld.However，theyhavesomethingincommonalso:

timeismoney（一寸光阴一寸金）,practicemakeperfect（熟能生巧）,fishintroublewaters（浑水摸鱼）.Languageandculturalarecloselyconnected.Differentnationalitieshavedifferencesinculturalbackgrounds,geographic,customandreligion.Discrepanciesexistbetweentheirlanguages,somediscrepanciesreflectinsetphrases.

2.EnglishandChineseSetPhraseReflectCultureDifference

ThedefinitionofculturewasmadebyEdwardTylor,Britishanthropologist,forthefirsttime,inhisbookcalled“primitivecultures”.Itsaid:

acompletedsystemincludingknowledge,faith,art,law,morality,custom,andalltheabilitiesandhabitatsfromwhichasocialmemberwouldacquire.TheCulturalDifferencesofEnglishandChineseSetPhrasereflectonthefollowingareas.

2.1FigureDifference

Somesetphrasesaresimilartotheimages,buttheirmetaphorsaredifferent.Thatisbecauseoftheculturedifference.Chinesepeopleusuallyuse“雨后春笋”todescribethingsthatspringuporlargenumber.Britishwouldlikeuse“justlikemushrooms”.BamboosarenotindigenousplantofEngland,eventheword“bamboo”isaborrowingone.Therefore,theycannotpossiblyusebambootodescribe.Letusdosomecomparisonsbelow:

Killthegoosethatlaysgoldeneggs．杀鸡取蛋。

Lookforaneedleinahaystack.大海捞针

Likearatinahole．瓮中之鳖

Nosmokewithoutfire．无风不起浪。

Agoodconscienceisasoftpillow日间不做亏心事，夜半敲门心不惊。

Asdumbasoyster；assilentasthegraves；ascloseaswax守口如瓶

Aspoorasachurchmouse一贫如洗

Astimidasarabbit胆小如鼠

Likeaducktowater如鱼得水

Birdsofafeather一丘之貉

Nosmokewithoutfire无风不起浪

Lovemelovemydog爱屋及乌

Tocastpearlsbeforeswine打草惊蛇

Tohelpalamedogoverasite画蛇添足

2.2CustomDifference

Customdifferenceisoneimportantaspectofculturedifference.Manycustomdifferencesreflectinsetphrase,especiallyonzoomorphism.InEnglish,dogsarepeople’spets.Britishpeoplelovethedog.Manyfamilieshavedogs,therearelotsofsetphrasesaboutdogs:

loveme,lovemydog,topdog,everydoghasitsdayandsoon.However,mostChinesesetphrasesthataboutdogarehaveasenseofderogatory.Mostofthemdescribedoingevilthings.Forexample:

“beabullyundertheprotectionofapowerfulperson（狗仗人势）”,“beascruelasawolf（狼心狗肺）”,monstrousaudacity（狗胆包天）.IntraditionalChineseculturered

Infeudaltimes,dragonsymbolizestheemperorandpower;therearemanysetphrasesaboutdragonthatshowcommendatory.Forinstance:

“hopingchildrensucceed（望子成龙）”,“prosperitybroughtbythedragonandthephoenix（龙凤呈祥）”,“ahandsomeson-in-law（乘龙快婿）”.Englishpeopledescribedragonthathavewingswithscaleandlongtailwhatmakepeoplefeelafraid.Asearlyas700BC,SongofBeowulfwascalledEnglandnationalepic,toldastoryaboutBeowulffightswithdragonforthreedayandnight,killedthedragonatlast.Inwesterncountries,peo