英汉互译中颜色词的非对应翻译策略研究.docx

英汉互译中颜色词的非对应翻译策略研究.docx

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英汉互译中颜色词的非对应翻译策略研究

AStudyofE-CColorTermCorrespondingTranslationStrategies

英汉互译中颜色词的非对应翻译策略研究

AbstractandKeyWords

Abstract:

Languageisthereflectionofculture.EnglishandChineseexistintwodifferentcultures,andhasitsownhistoryandsociety,livingenvironmentandexperiences,customsandreligions,andsoon.However,allofthesefactorsresultinthedifferentassociativemeaningsinsamevocabularyordifferentwords,inotherwords,theculture-loadedwords.InwesternandChinesesocieties,therearemanywordsorphraseswithsamewordmeaningbutdifferentassociativemeaningswhichcausedbyculturaldifferences.Infact,thedifferencesinassociativemeaningisactuallythegapbetweenculturalinformation.Aspeopleliveindifferentenvironmentswithdifferentculturalbackgroundandcustoms,forthesameobjectorthing,theyusuallyhavedifferentassociations.Thispaperanalyzestheinfluenceofculturaldifferenceoncolorassociativemeaningsanditstranslationfromperspectiveofvocabulary,throughcomparativeanalysisonassociativemeaningdifferencesinChineseandwesternculturesandtheinfluencesintranslation,thispaperpointsouttheimportanceofculturaldifferencesinassociativemeaningsandtranslationandthusputforwardsometranslationmethodsforsolvingtheseproblemsinculture-loadedwordtranslation.

Keywords:

comparativeanalysis;basiccolorterms;culturalconnotations;differences;reasons　　

摘要：

语言是文化的反映。

英汉两种语言存在于两种文化之中，因此它们有着各自的历史、社会、生活环境、生活经历、习俗和宗教等。

而这一切就导致了英汉两种语言中相同的词汇具有不同的联想意义，即文化负载词。

在西方社会和中国，有许多词汇或短语有着相同的字面意思，但却因为不同的文化而具有不同的联想意义.其实，联想意义的不同就是文化信息的鸿沟。

人们由于生活在不同的环境，有着不同的文化背景和习俗，对同一个事物通常都会有不同的联想。

本文通过对比分析不同文化间颜色词汇联想意义的差异，及这些差异对词汇翻译造成的影响，指出了注重这种差异的重要性，提出了解决由这些差异给翻译带来的问题的一些解决办法。

关键词：

比较研究；基本颜色词；文化内涵；差异；成因

CONTENTS

4.1GeographyLivingEnvironment......................................................................5

5.StrategiesforColorTranslationbetweenEnglishandChinese

AStudyofE-CColorTermCorrespondingTranslationStrategies

1.Introduction

Theworldisfullofcolors.Therearebluesky,whitecloud,greentrees,redsunandsoon.Ourworldissoconnectedwithcolorsthatcolorsplayanimportantroleinourlife.Makeanexampleofthefollowingsentences:

"Mr.Whiteisaverywhiteman.Hewaslookingrathergreentheotherday.Hehasbeenfeelingbluelater.WhenIsawhim,hewasinabrownstudy.Ihopehewillbethepinkagain."ThisisaclassicdescriptioninEnglishusedtoexpresssensationsbyusingcolorterms.

Asapartoflanguage,colortermscarryalargeamountofculturalinformation,suchashistory,religion,andcustoms.Theyarerelatedtoalmostallaspectsofsociallivesandplayanimportantroleinculturalcommunications.Inthisthesis,theauthorintendstomakeacomparativeanalysisofcolortermsbetweenEnglishandChinese,findingtheirsimilaritiesanddifferencesinculture.Inthisway,culturalunderstandingandcommunicationwillberealized.

2.DefinitionofColorandBasicColorTerms

2.1DefinitionofColor

Indictionary,Coloristheelementofartthatisproducedwhenlight,strikinganobject,isreflectedbacktotheeye.Therearethreepropertiestocolor.Firstishue,whichsimplymeansthenamewegivetoacolor（red,yellow,blue,etc.）.Thesecondpropertyisintensity,whichreferstothestrengthandvividnessofthecolor.Forexample,wemaydescribethecolorblueas"royal"（bright,rich,vibrant）or"dull"（grayed）.Thethirdpropertyofcolorisitsvalue,meaningitslightnessordarkness.Thetermsshadeandtintareinreferencetovaluechangesincolors.

2.2DefinitionofBasicColorTerms

Accordingtothesurvey,oureyesareabletodistinguishsevenmilliondifferentcolors,andformostofthecolorswedonothaveanylinguisticexpressionsavailableatall.However,itisestimatedthatthereareoverthreethousandcolortermsinEnglishandmoreinChinese.Tocategorizeallthecolortermsisimpossible.Butgenerallyspeaking,colortermscanbedividedintotwocategories:

basiccolortermsandobjectcolorterms.Itisimpossibletodiscussthemonebyone,thusinthisthesis,thediscussionwilltakesomeofthebasiccolortermsas"black,white,red,yellow,greenandblue".

3.ComparativeAnalysisofBasicColorTermsbetweenEnglishandChinese

3.1BlackandWhite

Becauseofthespecialmaterialnature,blackmakespeoplethinkofdepressionandfreight.“Black”黑色hastheassociativemeaningof“EvilandBad”inbothEnglishandChinesecultures;InChina,sinceancienttimes,itmetaphorstheferocioussituationandcrueldominanceas乌云、黑暗、黑夜andsoon,forpeoplewhocannottelltherightandwrongorgoodpeoplesufferdamageis颠倒黑白;blackalsomakepeoplethinkofevil.Forinstance,inChineseculture,peoplecallsthecriminalgroupinto黑社会.Atthesametime,inEnglish,blackalsosymbolize痛苦、灾难bitteranddisasteranditisconnectedwithbadnessandevil.Forexample,ablackdayreferstoanunluckyday倒霉的一天.Black-heartedshows黑心的,blackmarketmeanstheexchangeofgoodsorsothatisforbiddenbygovernment.Blackgroundmeanspeoplewhosaysdirtywordsormeanandbullshit.黑钱referstomoneywhichcomesfromunclearwayswithoutpayingtaxtothegovernment.

InbothChineseandEnglish,blackisnotagoodword,becauseitisoftenassociatedwithdarkness.InChinese,wehavesuchexpressionsas"黑暗,黑压压,黑灯瞎火,黑漆漆",whileinEnglishsuchexpressionsas"blackfutureandblackout"."Blackfuture"referstotheslimhopeinthefuture.And"Blackout"referstoaperiodofdarknesscausedbyafailureoftheelectricitysupply.Allofthemareconnectedwith"darkness".

Inbothlanguages,"black"isacolorfullofsorrow,peoplehavethecustomofwearingblackclothesforperson'sdeath.Inthe14thcentury,therewasadeadlybubonicplagueinEurope,peoplenamedittheBlackDeath.Asaresult,theEnglishpeopleusingblackasthesymbolofdeathanddisaster.Inaddition,blackisalsoassociatedwithsadnessandmisfortune."Ablackdog"meansasadpersonand"inablackmood"meanslowspirited."Blackhumor"and"blackcomedy"alsocomefromthisconnotation,andtheyrefertoastoryoraplaythatisfunny,butshowtheunhappinessoflife.What'smore,"BlackFriday"referstoanunluckyday,becausetotheChristian,thisistheCrucifixion.InChinese,wearealsousingblackinthissense,suchas"黑色七月","黑色的心情".

InChinese,thecolorterm"黑"hassomespecialmeaning."黑"isusedtosymbolize"loyalty,impartiality".Forinstance,"黑脸包公"refersto"beingloyalandimpartial".InBeijingopera,blackfacialmakeupisthesymbolofcharacterswhoareuprightandimpartial,suchas"BaoZheng（包拯）,LiKui（李逵）".

InEnglish,thereisanexpressionwith"black"expressingacommendatorysense.InbusinessEnglish,"intheblack"hasagoodmeaningofrunningabusinessprofitably.Theoppositeofitis"inthered",meaningrunningabusinessataloss.Thesetermscomefromthecoloroftheinkusedinkeepingaccounts;deficitisrecordedinredinkwhilesurpluswritteninblackink.

WhitehassomesimilarconnotationsinbothChineseandEnglish:

purity,brightnessandinnocence.WhiteisthesacredcolorinChristianism,becauseJesusandhisangelswearwhitedressinthebelief.InChinese,therearemanyphrasesof"white"connectedwithpurity,suchas"洁白,白璧无瑕".Nursesarealsocalled"白衣战士"becausetheirwhiteuniformslookslikeangels."white"and"白"alsohavethemeaningofinnocence.Ifsomeoneissaidtobe"white-handed",heorsheishonestorinnocent."Markone'snamewhiteagain"meansmakingsomebodyinnocent.Meanwhile,"清白,不白之冤"containsthesamemeaning."White"and"白"alsomeans"failure".Inawar,thelosingpartywillhanga"whiteflag"or"白旗"asasignofacceptingtheirfailure.

InChinese,"白"refersto"reaction".Forexample,"白色政权"meansthereactionarygovernment;"白军"referstothereactionaryarmy."白"isalsoreflectedinthetheatricalmakeupofBeijingopera,andsymbolizesthepersonwhoaresinister,craftyandevil,suchasZhaoGao（赵高）andCaocao（曹操）.Inaddition,therearesomeexpressionssuchas"百搭,白费,白干",whichhasthemeaningofbearingnoresults.

InEnglish,"white"isconnectedwithpoliticsandgovernment,suchas"TheWhiteHouse"isthesymboloftheUSand"theWhiteHall"isastreetfullofgovernmentorganizationsand"whitepaper"referstothepaperissuedbywesterngovernments.What’smore,someexpressionswith"white"inEnglishhavetheirspecificmeanings.Forexample,"white"means"uselessness"in"whiteelephant".

3.2RedandGreen

Redisthecolorofblood,aswellasthesunandfire.Itisthesunandfirethatmadelifeeasierintheearlyperiodofhumanhistory.Thus,inbothEnglishandChinese,"red"and"红"areassociatedwith"dignity,love,beauty,happiness",andsoon.

"红"isthefavoritecolorinChina.IthasbecometherepresentativecolorofChinainthephrase"中国红".InChinese,"红喜事"referstowedding,birthandbirthdayandintheinternationalsportsgames,theChineseteamisusuallydressedinred.Thefollowingphrasesarerelatedtotheaboveconnotations:

"满堂红"referstothesituationofapersonachievinggoodresultsinallaspect;"红运"meansgoodluck;"红粉佳人"referstoabeautifulandyoungwoman.InEnglish,"red"isoftenconnectedwithsuccessandimportance.Thephrase"givesomebodyaredcarpetofreception"meansmakingawarmwelcometosomeimportantperson.

AsaresultofdifferencesofEnglishandChinese,"red"hassomespecialmeaninginEnglish,suchasin"redman"（北美印第安人）,"redneck"（美国南部乡巴佬）,"red-blooded"（沾满鲜血的）and"redeye"（便宜的威士忌）.However,"红光满面"inChinesedoesnotmean"one’sfaceisveryred"or"heisembarrassed",ins