双关语及其翻译.docx

双关语及其翻译.docx

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双关语及其翻译

双关语及其翻译

   [Abstract]Englishpunisoneoftheimportantfiguresofspeech,anditiswidelyusedinvariousliteraryworks,suchaspoems,novels,stories,advertisementsandriddles,etc.BasedonthedefinitionsofEnglishpun,thispaperpointsoutthathomonyms,homophones,andhomographsareavailabletoconstructpuns.Accordingtothecharacteristicsandfunctionsoftheirformation,LvXudividedEnglishpunintothreetypes,theyarehomophonicpuns,homographicpuns,punsonbothpronunciationandmeaning.Englishpuntakesadvantageofitsdistinctivefeaturesinnatureandtriestoproduceambiguityonpurposeinordertogettheeffectofaimingatapigeonandshootingatacrow.Englishpunscanachievemanyeffects:

humor,satire,vividexpressionofthecharacters’feelings,whichcanincreasethebeautyoflanguageandimprovereadabilityinordertoattractthereaders’interest.However,thetranslationofEnglishpunisalwaysconsideredtobeextremelydifficult.Manypeopleevenconsiderpunsas“untranslatable”.SincethereismuchdifferencebetweenChineseandEnglishinphonologyandmorphology,itisdifficulttofindequivalencebothinsoundandinmeaninginthetargetlanguageforatranslator.Butthereisnosourcetextthatisabsolutelyuntranslatable;thetranslationofpunsispossibletoacertainextent.Thispaperintroduces3maintypestotranslateEnglishpuns.Theyareliteraltranslation,freetranslation,andannotatedtranslation.

   [KeyWords]Englishpun;classification;characteristics;function;translation

   【摘要】英语双关语是重要的修辞格之一,这种修辞格广泛运用于各种文学作品,如诗歌、小说、故事、广告及谜语中。

本文在英语双关的定义基础上提出了同形同音异义词、同音异义词、同形异义词,这3种词可构成双关。

并根据其结构成分所起的作用,再仔细地探讨了吕煦把英语双关主要分为三类:

同音双关、同词双关、音义双关。

英语双关利用其特有的本质特点,故意造成歧义,来达到言在此而意在彼的特殊效果。

英语双关语的应用能起到一种诙谐幽默,冷嘲热讽,形象生动的作用并能充分体现人物的性格特征,加强语言的美感,提高该作品的可读性来引起读者的兴趣。

然而,英语双关语的翻译又是极其困难的,很多人甚至认为是不可译的,因为英汉两种语言的语音不同,两种语言的多义词并不能一一对应,但英语双关语还是存在一定的可译性。

本文主要介绍3种主要翻译方法:

直译法,意译法,注释法。

   【关键词】英语双关语;分类;本质特点;作用;翻译

   1.Introduction

   Inacertaincontext,awordorphrasethatisrelevanttotwoormoreconceptions,ideasorfeelingsisoftenemployedtomakeanexpressionmoreeffectiveorhumorous.Thisisachievedwhenthereexistsidentityorsimilaritybetweencertainwordsinsuchaspectsaspronunciation,formationormeaning.Thisidentityorsimilarityproducesdoublemeanings,whichenablespeopletoconnectnaturallytheliteralmeaningwiththeimpliedmeaning.Ofthesetwomeanings,theimpliedmeaningistheprincipalpart.

   Thisiswhatwecalltheuseofpun.“Theuseofpundatesbacktoancientdays.Shakespearefavoredpunparticularly.Itisestimatedthatthereareabout3000punsemployedinShakespeare’sworks[1].”TheemploymentofpuninEnglishnovels,poems,speeches,advertisementsandriddlesmakesthemhighlyreadableandpromptspeopletoappreciatethebeautyoflanguage.AndthetranslationofEnglishpunsintoChineseenhancesthecharmoftheoriginalworksandtheunderstandingoftheversion.

   2.Definitionandclassificationofpuns

   2.1Definitionofpuns

   Lookingatthesameissuefromdifferentperspectives,wemayoftencomeupwithdifferentdefinitionsofthethingunderdiscussion.And,notsurprisingly,puncanbethusdefinedinmanyways.Thereissuchahumorousexplanationaboutpun:

“punning–totortureonepoorwordtenthousandways（JohnDryden）”[2].

   InLongmanDictionaryofContemporaryEnglish,punisdefinedas“Anamusinguseofawordorphrasethathastwomeanings,orwordswiththesamesoundbutdifferentmeanings”[3].AccordingtoTheOxfordEnglishDictionary,punisdefinedas“theuseofwordinsuchawayastosuggesttwoormoremeaningsordifferentassociations,ortheuseoftwoormorewordsofthesameornearlythesamesoundwithdifferentmeanings,soastoproduceahumorouseffect”[4].InPrincetonEncyclopediaofPoetryandPoetics,punisdefinedas“Afigureofspeechdependinguponasimilarityofsoundandadisparityofmeaning”[5].

   Fromtheabovedefinitions,wecanseethathomonyms,homophones,andhomographsallareavailabletoconstructpunswith.

2.1.1Homonyms

   Ahomonymisawordthatisidenticaltoanotherwordinpronunciationandspellingbutnotinmeaning[6].

   Forexample:

（1）Can:

 n.&v.     Putsomethinginacontainer  

sp;Beableto

（2）Change:

 v.      Tobecomedifferent

   Change:

 n.      Moneyintheformofcoins

   （3）Bear:

 v.         Sustainresponsibility;enduredifficulty,etc

   Bear:

 n.        Akindofanimal,havingthickfurandwalkingonitssoles

   （4）Book:

 n.       Awrittenorprintedwork

   Book:

 v.        Engage（aseatetc.）inadvance;makeareservationof

   2.1.2Homophones

   Ahomophoneisawordthatisidenticaltoanotherwordinpronunciationbutnotinspellingandmeaning.

   Forexample:

   （5）Bale:

 n.        Alargebundle

   Bail:

 v.        Toremovewaterfromaboat

   （6）Knew:

 v.       Pastofknow

   New:

 adj.      Ofrecentoriginorarrival

   （7）Soul:

 n.        Spiritualorimmaterialpartofman,heldtosurvivedeath

   Sole:

 n.        Lowersurfaceofhumanorotherfoot

   （8）Pair:

 n.        Asetoftwopersonsorthingsusedtogetherorregardedasaunit

   Pear:

 n.      Ayellowishorbrownish-greenfleshyfruit,taperingtowardsthestalk

   2.1.3Homographs

   Ahomographisawordthatisidenticaltoanotherwordinspellingbutnotinpronunciationandmeaning.

   Forexample:

   （9）Minute:

 n.       Sixtiethpartofanhour

   Minute:

 adj.     Verysmall;trifling

   （10）Digest:

 v.      Tochangefoodinthestomachintoaformyourbodycanuse

   Digest:

 n.      Ashortpieceofwritingthatgivesthemostimportantfactsfromabook,reportetc

   （11）Lead:

 v.        Guidebythehand,directmovementsof

   Lead:

 n.       Akindofmetal

   （12）Wind:

 n.       Airinmoreorlessrapidnaturalmotion

   Wind:

 v.       Goincircular,spiralcourse

   2.2ClassificationofEnglishpuns

   Concerningtheclassificationofpuns,differentlinguistshavedifferentstandpoints.AsHeShanfenstatesin“ContrastiveStudiesofEnglishandChinese-Languages”,punscanberoughlydividedintothreekinds.Theyarenamedantalaclasis,paronomasiaandsyllepsis[7].Heretheauthorusestwoexamplestoexplainthefirsttwoparts.

   Antalaclasisreferstoawordusedtwiceormore,buteachtimewithadifferentmeaning.Forexample:

   （13）ToEnglandwillIstealandthereI’llsteal.

   Thefirst“steal”means“togotoEnglandsecretlywithoutbeingnoticed”,whilethesecond“steal”isusedinitsmostcommonlyusedmeaning.

   Paronomasiaistheuseoftwowords,whicharesimilarinpronunciationbutdifferentinmeaning.Forexample:

   （14）CatchtheRaincheetahsandcheattherain.

   Here“raincheetahs”isthebrandnameoftheproduct.Itispronouncedsimilarlyto“raincheater”whichechoesto“cheattherain”.

   In“EnglishWritingandRhetoric”writtenbyProf.WenJun,amorespecificmeansofclassificationbringsaboutfivecategoriesofpuns[8]:

homophonicpun,

   paronomasia,antalaclasis,Sylleticpunandasteimus.

   However,accordingtoLiXinhua,inhiswork,“ADetailedStudyofFiguresof

   SpeechinEnglish”,hepointsthatthosefivecategoriesclassifiedbyProf.Wenjunareclearbutover-elaborate.Insummary,itisclearertodivideintothesetwotypes:

oneishomophonicpun,theotherishomographicpun.Healsopointsoutthat,inthosefivecategories,No1andNo2belongtothehomophonicpun;theothersbelongtothehomographicpun,whichisthewaytobringcomplicationintosimplicity.Anditiseasiertomasterthecharacteristicsoffigureofspeech.However,asLvXustatesin“PracticalEnglishRhetoric”,accordingtothecharacteristicsandfunctionsoftheirformation,punscanbedividedintothreetypes[9]:

homophonicpuns,homographicpuns,punsonbothpronunciationandmeaning.

   2.2.1Homophonicpuns

   Itistheuseofwordswiththesameorsimilarpronunciationbutdifferentspellingsandmeanings.Italsocalledphoneticpuns,andphoneticpunisthebasicformofEnglishpun.Inourdailycommunication,phoneticisthecarrieroftransferringinformation.Accordingtopsycholinguistics,speechcommunicationisaprocessofpsychologicalactivitiesfromencodingtodecoding.Whenspeakersemploytheorderof‘thinking-meaning-voice’totransmitoutside,itiscalledencoding;whenlistenersemploytheorderof‘voice-meaning-thinking’toprocessandtrytounderstand,itiscalleddecoding.Theinter-processingonlyreliesonhearing,lackingvisualsense,anditwillcauseambiguityinunderstanding.

   Forexample:

   （15）“Howisbreadmade?

”

   “Iknowthat!

”Alicecriedeagerly.“Youtakesomeflour…”

   “Wheredoyoupicktheflower?

”ThewhiteQueenasked.“Inagardenorinthehedges?

”

   “Well,itisn’tpickedatall.”Aliceexplained.“It’sground…”

   “Howmanyacresofground?

”saidthewhiteQueen.[10]

   （LewisCarrol:

Alice’sAdventuresinWonderland）

   Inthisexample,“flower”and“flour”havethesamepronunciationbutquitedifferentinmeaning.Theadoptionofthehomophonicpunmakesthedialoguemorevivid,humorous.Moreover,“ground”canbeunderstoodas“solidsurfaceoftheearth”,andalsocanbeunderstoodas“thepastofgrind”.

   （16）Drunkdriversoftenputthequartbeforethehearse.

   Here,“quart”issimilarto“cart”insound,while“hearse”issimilarto“horse”.Thissentencecanconstructhomophonicpunbyborrowingfromtheidiom“putthecartbeforethehorse”,whichmeans“putorsaythingsinthewrongorder”.Thispunisdrivingatwarningtheaddictingdriversthat