长春理工大学学年论文.docx

长春理工大学学年论文.docx

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长春理工大学学年论文

学期论文

CulturalDifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglishIdioms

学生姓名

王嘉

专业

英语

班级学号

111011109

学院

外国语学院

Abstract

Idiomisatermusedtorefertoaspecialformoflanguageordialectofapeopleorarea,whichcanreflectitsowncultures.Idiomshowsthewisdomofthepeople,armedwithadistinctiveimage,takenastrongethniccolorandlocalcolorwhichshowingacolorfulimageoftheformandculture,reflectingthevariousaspectsofanationalculture,includingdailylife,socialcustoms,floraandfauna,andsoon.Withoutidiomslanguagewouldbecomedullanddry,whereasanappropriateuseoftheminspeechandwritingwilladdmuchtovarietystrengthandvividnessofthelanguage.Thereforeidiomsarewidelyusedinalmostallkindsofspeechesandwritings.Thusanadequatetranslationofidiomsisnotonlyhelpfulbutalsoessentialininterculturalcommunicationfortheimportantpositionthatidiomholdinlanguageuse.ThispaperattemptstomakeabriefcomparativestudyoftheculturesembodiedinChineseandEnglishidiomsandexplorestheroleofthecultureinunderstandingandrenderingofbothEnglishandChineseidioms.

Keywords：

idioms;culture;thetranslationsofidioms.

摘要

习语是一个国家或民族语言、方言的一种特殊形式，可以反映出该地区的生活条件和文化。

习语体现了人民的智慧，形象鲜明，具有浓厚的民族色彩和地方色彩，其形式多样，展现出丰富多彩的文化。

习语反映出了一个民族文化的各个方面，包括日常生活，社会习俗，动物和植物等等。

没有习语的话，语言将会变得枯燥无味，而在演讲和写作的时候正确地使用习语将能使语言更加生动、形象，更有说服力。

因此，习语翻译不仅有助于促进跨文化交流，同时在语言使用中占据着重要的地位。

本文将对中西方的习语文化做简要的对比研究，并探讨文化在英语和汉语习语理解和渲染的作用。

关键词:

习语；文化；习语翻译。

Content

AbstractI

摘要II

ContentIII

Ⅰ.Introduction1

Ⅱ.LiteratureReview1

Ⅲ.ABriefIntroductionAboutIdiom2

3.1Definitionsofidiom2

3.2CharacteristicsofIdioms2

3.3Formsofidioms2

Ⅳ.Understandingidiomsfromculturaldifferences4

4.1Differentoriginalandnationalcoloring4

4.2Differentlivingcondition4

4.3Differentreligiousbeliefs5

4.4Differentlifeexperienceofpeople5

Ⅴ.Translationmethodsofidioms6

5.1Theliteralapproach6

5.2Literaltranslationplusannotation6

5.3Image-shifttranslation7

5.4Theapproachofadditionandomission7

Ⅵ.Conclusion8

Reference9

Ⅰ.Introduction

Idiomsaretheessenceoflanguage,whichhavestrongnationalcolorsanddistinctiveculturalconnotation.TherearevariousidiomsbothinChineseandEnglish.Thedifferencesaresignificant.Themainreasonisthattheidiomsareculture-loaded.Languageisagreatpartofculture,andidiomsareconsideredasthecreamofalanguage.Thereforecultureisfullydisplayedintheimagesandemotionsofidioms.Hence,itisnecessarytohaveacomparativestudyofEnglishandChineseidiomsfromtheperspectiveofculturalsources.WhenexploringEnglishandChineseidioms,oneshouldpayattentiontotheculturalbackgroundofidioms.

Speakingofculture,it’saveryextensiveconceptandverydifficulttodefineitstrictlyandaccurately,becausecultureinvolvestoomuch.Itmixesupwiththematter,socialrelations,spirit,art,landsignandcustom.Everycountryhasitsownethnicgroups,geographicallocation,religiousbeliefs,values,politicalsystemsandsoon.Alltheseformthedifferencesofnationalculture,whicharealsocertainlyembodiedinlanguage.Theinfluenceofcultureonlanguagebringsdifficultiestotranslating.Thelackofculturalawarenessonthepartofthetranslatorsisoftenthecauseoferrorsordefectsofculturalnatureintranslating.

ChineseandEnglishhavedevelopedtheabundantandvarietyofidioms,whichmakethemselvesmorevivid,moresuccinctandmoreexpressive.Theymainlycomefromthelaboringpeople,fromancientlanguagesorforeignlanguages,inwhichliterature,history,religionandsportsetc,havegivenrisetomanysuchwonderfulphrasesandsentencesconcerned.Withcomplexityinculture,idiomstakemanydifferentformsorstructures,andconstituteobstaclestotheirtranslation.Thereforehowtosolvetheculturalfactorsinidiomsisatouchstoneofsuccessfulrenderingofidioms.

Ⅱ.LiteratureReview

Withthedevelopmentofidioms,theyhavebeenpaidattentiontobyanumberofresearchersinrealearnest.Alotofworksonidiomshaveappeared.InCommunicationBetweenCultures,LarryA.Samovar（Larry,2004）pointsoutthatthecloserelationshipbetweenlanguageandculture,andhealsoshowsclearlytheimportanceoflanguagetothestudyofinterculturalcommunication,whichisinaccordancewithKramsch’sideasinhisbookLanguageandCultural（Kramsch,2000）.Fernando（Fernando,2000）resortstoIdiomsandIdiomaticitytoexplainthefunctionsofidioms.

Althoughthosescholarsdomanyendeavorsinthestudyofidioms,however,mostofthemarefocusontranslationandfunctionsandfewofthemdiscussthedifferencesinidiomsclearly.Therefore,theauthorwantstoanalyzetheculturaldifferencesfromsomedetailedfactsinthispaper.Besides,theauthorhopesthisarticlecandrawpeople’sattentiontotheculturaldifferencesinidioms.

Ⅲ.ABriefIntroductionAboutIdiom

3.1Definitionsofidiom

Anidiomisaphrasewhichhasameaningthatiscommonlyunderstoodbyspeakersofthelanguage,butwhosemeaningisoftendifferentfromthenormalmeaningofthewords.

3.2CharacteristicsofIdioms

（1）Semanticunity；

1）idiomseachconsistsofmorethanoneword，buteachisasemanticunity.

2）Intheidiomwordshavelosttheirindividualidentity,i.e.theirmeanings,arenotoftenrecognizableinthemeaningofthewholeidiom.

3）Quiteoftentheidiomfunctionsasoneword.Forinstance,“tillthecowscomehome”means“foreverasanadverb”.

（2）Structuralstability.

1）Theconstituentsofidiomscannotbereplaced.Take“inabrownstudy”forexample.Usedasanidiom,itmeans“deepinthought”,thestructureisfixed.Inthesameway,“lipservice”whichmeans“supportonlyinwords,notinfact”isnottobechangedinto“mouthservice”.

2）Thewordordercannotbeinvertedorchanged.Forexample,“bytwosandthrees”and“titfortat”arenottobeturnedinto“bythreesandtwos”and“tatfortit”.

3）Theconstituentsofanidiomcannotbedeletedoraddedto,notevenanarticle.Forinstance,“outofthequestion”means“impossible”.Ifthearticle“the”isdeleted,theidiomaticwillbelostanditwillsignify“noquestion”instead.

3.3Formsofidioms

Idiomsusuallyincludesetphrases、allusions、proverbs、slang、sayings、colloquialismandsoon.

（1）Setphrases

Onemostimportantgroupofidiomsaresetphraseswhoseformissetandmanyofthemareratherrigidandcannotshowupinanyotherforms.ThereisaninexhaustiblestorehouseofsetphrasesthatplayanimportantroleinEnglishlanguage.Ishallselectoneofthemwithculturaltraces.Forexample,theoriginof“tokickthebucket”canbetracedbacktoareligiousceremonyofbaptisminChristianity.AsfarasaChristianisconcerned,his/herimportantthreestages,birth,marriageanddeath,arecloselyconnectedwithareligiousceremony:

baptism.AChristianneedstoreceivebaptismfromanadministratorwhenhe/shewasborn,getmarriedinthechurchwithblessingsofacertainministerandbebaptizedagainwhenhe/sheisgoingtodie”.Sotheidiom“kickthebucket”isaeuphemisticexpressionconnoting“todie”referringtothedeathofaChristianintheceremonyofbeingbaptized.

（2）Allusions

Allusionsofidiomsareactuallyoriginsandnationalcharacteristicsofidioms.Onaccountofthedifferentsocialbackground,customsandreligious,someidiomsaresuretohaveallusionstomythandlegend,historyandclassic.Theirmeaningsaremuchmoreremotefromtheirliteralsenses.Withoutknowledgeoftheallusionsmadeinidiomswecanhardlyreadbetweenthelinesandcatchwhattheyimply.Tounderstandtheidiomsofthiskind,knowledgeoftheetymologyofidiomsisindispensable.OnlyasmallpartofEnglishidioms,itissaid,drawonsourcesfromthelegendofGreeceandRome,mostofthemareofbiblicalorigin.

（3）Proverbs

Proverbisoftendefinedasthewisdomofmanyandthewitofone,statingcommonlyexperiencedorforthepurposeofgivingwiseadvicetoothers.Proverbsarethewisdomofpeople,soitiscommonpeoplewhohavecreatedagreatnumberofproverbsthatareterse,colloquial,andvividandchargedwithlifethroughtheirpracticalwork.Theirvariedproverbsarefromallwalksoflife.Herearesometypicalonesreflectiveofcommonpeople’slivesasfollows:

Sailorswillsay:

”Inacalmseaeverymanisapilot.”

Carpenterswillsay:

”Suchcarpenters,suchchips.”

Cobblersmaysay:

”Thecobbler’swifeistheworstshod”.

（4）Slang

Slangexpressionsaredialectic,vulgarandcolloquiallanguagedrawingnumeroussourcesfromtheshoptalkofeveryprofession:

trade,sport,school,socialgroup,etc.Theydrawonsourcefromlocalpeople’slifeexperiencesortheircustomsandarewidelyusedininformalspeechandwritingsuchasdrama,TVserials,movies,monologueinthenovelbutarerarelyusedinformalcontexts.

Ⅳ.Understandingidiomsfromculturaldifferences

4.1Differentoriginalandnationalcoloring

Theoriginsofidiomsarevaried,butthechiefsourcesarefromthespeechofthecommonpeople.Ordinarypeople,suchaspilots,hunters,farmers,workers,housewivesandcooks,createmanyidioms.Overalongperiodoftime,thesepeoplehavecreatedagreatnumberofidioms.Theseidiomsareterse,colloquial,andvividandchargedwithlife.Andbeforelongtheyacquireawideapplicationtoanalogoussituationsineverydaylife.Littlebylittlethemostvividandmostusefuloftheseidiomsmaketheirwayfrompopularspeechintothestandardlanguage,andfinallycometobeuniversallyunderstood.Sufficeittogiveafewexamplesbelow:

1）Astrawshowswhichwaythewindblows.

2）Asamanso