中英习语中有关数字的翻译研究Word文件下载.docx

中英习语中有关数字的翻译研究Word文件下载.docx

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oftheRequirementsfortheDegreeof

BachelorofArts

by

XueMiao

May，2011

Acknowledgements

Thisthesiswouldnothavebeencompletedwithoutmuchgenerousassistance.Firstandforemost,forencouragement,support,andfrankcriticismatvariousstagesofthedevelopmentofthisthesis,IdeeplyappreciateAssociateProfessorLiuXue,mysupervisor,whohasaffordedmevaluablescholarlyadviceandcorrectedmypaperpatiently.

ManyheartfeltthanksalsogotoalltheprofessorsinEnglishDepartmentofYulinCollege,whohavegreatlybenefitedmyintellectualgrowththroughtheirinspiringlectures.

Iamgratefultomyclassmates,withoutwhosecareandsupportIcouldnothavecompletedthisthesis.

Abstract:

Idiomshavebeenstudiedbymanypeoplefrommanyrespects.Thisthesisnumbers, 

and 

to 

discuss 

the 

translation 

strategies. 

As 

is 

known, 

numeral 

idioms 

are 

formed 

on 

basis 

of 

a 

nation’s 

history, 

economy, 

culture, 

tradition 

custom. 

Their 

meanings 

beyond 

simple 

sum 

each 

word 

in 

idioms, 

much 

more 

profound 

than 

that 

single 

number. 

To 

correctly 

comprehend 

properly 

translate 

calls 

for 

wide 

range 

background 

knowledge 

concerning 

culturalelementsin 

both 

source 

language 

target 

language.ThisthesisstudiestheoriginofChineseandEnglishidiomsrelatedtonumbersanddiscussesthestrategiesoftranslatingChineseandEnglishidiomsrelatedtonumberssothatpeoplefromtwocountiescanunderstandandcommunicatewell.

Keywords:

idioms;

numbers;

translationstrategies

摘要：

习语已经被很多人从不同方面研究过。

本文主要研究中英习语中的数字以及它们的翻译技巧。

众所周知，有关数字的习语是在一个国家历史、经济、文化、传统、习俗的基础上形成的,所以,习语中数字的意思要比一个单独的数字的意思要深刻。

为了能够准确地理解并恰当的翻译中英习语中的数字习语，需要对原语言和目的语言的背景做充分的了解。

本文通过对中英数字习语的来源以及它们四种翻译技巧的研究，让人们更准确地翻译中英数字习语，从而使中英两国人民能有更好的理解及交流。

关键词：

习语数字翻译

TableofContents

Acknowledgementsi

AbstractinEnglishii

AbstractinChineseiii

1Introduction1

1.1DefinitionofChineseandEnglishidioms1

1.2TheoriginofChineseandEnglishidiomsrelatedtonumbers1.2.1Fromhistoryperspective……………………………..

1.2.2Fromcustomperspective

2ChineseandEnglishidiomsrelatedtonumbers...................

2.1ChineseandEnglishidiomsrelatedtonumbers

2.2ComparisonofChineseandEnglishidiomsrelatedto

numbers.

2.3ConnotationsofChineseandEnglishidiomsrelatedto

numbers

3StrategiesforthetranslationsofChineseandEnglishidiomsrelatedtonumbers9

3.1LiteralTranslation

3.2FreeTranslation

3.3Replacementofnumerals

3.4Accessionoromissionofnumerals

4SomeproblemsexistinginthetranslationsofChineseandEnglishidiomsrelatedtonumbersandtheirsolutions

4.1SimilarCounterpartintheTargetLanguagewithDifferentUseinContext

4.2HardtoMaintainNationalFlavorofNumericalIdioms

5Conclusions

References22

ChineseandEnglishIdiomsRelatedtoNumberandTheirTranslations

1Introduction

Thisthesisconsistsoffourparts.First,itstudiestheconceptofidioms,andalsothemainoriginandunderstandingsofChineseandEnglishidiomsrelatedtonumbers.Second,itgivesthecomparisonandcontrastofChineseandEnglishidiomsrelatedtonumbersandtheirculturalconnotations.Thethirdpartisthebodyofthethesis.Itlistssomepracticalexamplesandanalyzesthespecifictranslatingskills.FinallyitdemonstratessomedifficultiesandproblemsinthetranslationofChineseandEnglishidiomsrelatedtonumbersandtheirsolutions. 

.

1.1DefinitionofChineseandEnglishidioms

1.1.1DefinitionofChineseandEnglishidioms

Manydefinitionsofidiomsaregivenindifferentdictionaries.ItisfoundthatthedefinitionfromMerriam-Webster’sCollegiateDictionary（TenthEdition）ismorereasonableandauthoritative,whichgoeslikethis:

Idiomis”anexpressionintheusageofalanguagethatispeculiartoitselfeithergrammaticallyorinhavingameaningthatcannotbederivedfromtheconjoinedmeaningsofitselements.”

Fromthisdefinition,somecharacteristicofidiomscanbesummarized:

Oneisthatanexpressioncanrefertoeitheraphraseorasentence.Thenextisthattheexpressionusedinalanguagemustbepeculiartoitselfeitheringrammarorinmeaning.Andthelastoneisthatitsmeaningisnotclearfromthemeaningofitsindividualwordsandmustbelearntasawholeunit.

Thetypicalidiomsare“胸有成竹”and“spillthebeans”,whichcannotbeunderstoodfromtheindividualwords.

1.1.2Definitionofidiomsrelatedtonumbers

Onthebasisoftheabovedefinitionofidiom,numericalidiominthisstudyisdefinedastheidiomcontainingnumbers.Forinstance,耳目一新,二龙戏珠,三顾茅庐,四通八达,五谷丰登,六亲不认,onebyone,intwotwos,threecheers,givesomebodyfive,atsixesandsevens,haveninelivesandtentoone.

1.2TheoriginsofChineseandEnglishidiomsrelatedtonumbers

1.2.1Fromhistoryperspective

ThedifferenthistoricalbackgroundsoftheEnglishandChinesepeopleshaveprovidedrichandvariedmaterialsfortheirnumericalidioms,andconsequentlygiveanationalcolortothenumericalidiomsinthetwolanguages.

Chinesenumericalidioms

Inthefollowingidiomsitisevidentthatthehistoricaleventscontributemuchtotheirdistinctivenationalfeatures.

1）三个臭皮匠，顶个诸葛亮（ThreecobblerswiththeirwitscombinedequalZhugeliangthemastermind---thewisdomofthemassesexceedsthatofthewisestindividual）

InthePeriodofThreeKingdoms,ZhuGeliangwasPrimeMinisterofShuandverytalentedstatesmanandthenbecamethesymbolofwisdom.

2）三顾茅庐（tocallonsomebodythreetimestoshowone’ssincerity）

Thisidiomcomesfrom“RomanceoftheThreeKingdoms.”LiuBeimadethreepersonalcallsatthethatchedcottagewhereZhugeLiangwaslivingtosolicithishelptoconquerthecountryanditwasduringthelastcallthatZhugeLiangpromisedtohelphim.

Englishnumericalidioms

ComparedwithChinesehistoricalevents,English-speakingcountrieshavetheirownhistory,whichhasmuchtodowithEnglishnumericalidioms.Thefollowingaresomeexamplesregardingtheirowndistinctivehistory:

1）Romewasnotbuiltinoneday（ittakestime,patience,andhardworktodoadifficultorimportantjob）.

2）Sixofoneandhalfadozenoftheother

ThefirstEnglishnumericalidiomwascreatedinthePeriodofRomanConquest,whilethesecondonewasproducedafterDenmarkConqueredEngland.

ChinaandEnglish-speakingcountrieshavetheirownsocialcustoms,whichareverycrucialtotheformofnumericalidiomsinthesetwocountries.

1）三媒六证（throughthreenegotiatorsandthesendingofthesixkindsofbridalgifts---marriageaccordingtoallthetraditionalrules）

2）三从四德（TheThreeObedience’s,tofatherbeforemarriage,tohusbandaftermarriage,andtosonwhenwidowed,andtheFourVirtues,morality,properspeech,modestmanneranddiligentwork---spiritualfettersimposedonwomeninfeudalsociety）

Intheaboveexamples,thefirsttwoareaboutthesocialcustomsofChina,.

aninedays’wonder（apersonoreventthatattractsalotofnoticeandisthesubjectofmuchtalkforashorttimebutissoonforgotten）ThisidiomcomesoutofthecustomoftheancientRome.Romanregardedtheabnormalphenomenoninthenatureasthebadomen.Asaconsequence,inordertopreventmisfortune,theRomanCatholicChurchwouldholdanine-dayreligiousritualtoprayforgoodluck,whichwasalsoknownas“novena”.Butnoonewouldtalkaboutitaftertheendingofthenine-daypraying.

Fromtheexampleabove,itcanbeseenthatitiscloselyrelatedtothesocialcustoms.

2ChineseandEnglishidiomsrelatedtonumbers

2.1ComparisonofChineseandEnglishidiomsrelatedtonumbers

2.1.1SimilaritiesofEnglishandChineseNumericalIdioms

Astothecontainslang,rangeofEnglishandChinesenumericalidioms,bothofthesetwolanguagesproverbs

2.1.1.1Range

Slang

Slangisacolorful,alternativevocabulary.Itbristleswithhumor,vituperation.Soineverydayuse,itisnecessaryforthelearnertomasteracertainamountofslang,includingsomeslangwithnumbers.InChinese,slangisnotaspopularasinEnglish,thenumberofwhichisonlyafew,forexample:

（1）four-letterman一aslow-wittedman

（2）teno'

clockscholar一afloppystudent

（3）二百五住一aboldorstupidfellow

Proverbs

Humanexperiencesandobservationsoftheworldareinmanyrespectssimilar.InspiteofthedissimilarculturalbackgroundsoftheChineseandtheEnglish-speakingpeoples,thenumberusedinproverbswithnumbersinthetwolanguagesissurprisinglyapproximate.Considerthefollowing:

（4）百闻不如一见一SeeingisBelieving.

（5）一朝被蛇咬，十年怕井绳一

Oncebittenbyasnake,oneshiesatcoiledropefortenyears;

hethathasbeenbittenbyaserpentisafraidofrope.

2.1.2Differences

2.1.2.2Culturaldifferences

Thispartexplorestheculturaldifferencesincludingthefollowing6aspects:

religiousbeliefs,aestheticperceptions,historicalevents,classicalworks,mythologies,andsocialcustomsandlivingconditions.

Differentreligiousbeliefs

ReligionplaysaveryimportantroleinbothChineseandEnglishnumericalidioms.

Mostexpertsagreethatreligionhasendeavoredtoexplainthosenotionsaboutlifethatcouldnotbeunderstood.AccordingtoNanda（1994）,religion”dealswiththenatureoflifeanddeath,thecreationoftheuniverse,theoriginofsocietyandgroupswithinthe