On the Translation of English Idioms习语的翻译Word格式文档下载.docx

On the Translation of English Idioms习语的翻译Word格式文档下载.docx

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Inessence,theidiomwasoneofthemostimportantcomponentsoflanguage.Asthepithofthelanguage,idiomshavecomefrommanyoriginsanddifferentformations.Inotherwords,thefusionofmanydistinctivecultureshascrystallizedtheidiom,andithasmanynations’characteristicswhichwasbornwithandneverchanged.AndEnglishidiomswasonebranchofidiom.TheEnglishidiomshaveanextensivescope;

itwasformedfromregularphrasesorshortversesduringalongperioduse.Therefore,inviewofthesefeatures,forthesakeofunderstandingtheEnglishidiombetter,thetranslationofidiomsshouldnotjuststayinliteralmeaning,anditisveryimportanttotranslatetheidiomsfromtheircontextandcomprehensivemeaning.Andthisdissertationmainlydiscussesthemethodsofthetranslationofidioms.Whenwetranslatetheidioms,weshouldmakesurethatwenotonlygetagoodknowledgeofthecorrectmeaningofidiomsbutalsodoourbesttokeeptheoriginalstructureanduniquefeatureofidioms.

Keywords:

Englishidioms;

culture;

themethodsoftranslation

Introduction

TheBritainlinguist,JenniferSeidl,hadsaidintheprefaceofhisbooks“EnglishIdiomsandHowtoUseThem（1978）”,that“Idiomsarenotaseparatepartofthelanguagewhichonecanchoosetoeithertouseortoomit…”[1].So,ifwewanttolearnEnglishwell,wemustattachmoreimportancetoEnglishidioms.

Sincetheidiomwastheproductofthedevelopmentofdifferentnationalandregionalculture,soitintensivelyhasthespecialculturalfeaturesofsomenationsorregions.Andtheidiomwastheparticularformofthelanguage;

itisquiteobviousthattheidiomhasmanydistinguishcharacteristics,forexample,abundantconnotation,independentmeaning,andgrammaticallyirregular,permanentstructureandsoon.Thetranslationofidiomsisnotonlyincludinglinkuptwolanguages,butcommunicatewiththecultureinformationbetweentwolanguages.TheBritainwriter,John·

O·

Londo,saidthattheidealikeapixyplaysprankswithspeech，rejoicinginitsfreedomfromallconventionalities．Withouttheidiomtherecanbenovividcommunication.Therefore,thetranslationofEnglishidiomshasbeenbecomeanextremelyimportantproblem.

EnglishidiomsareonebranchofidiomsandtheessenceofEnglishlanguageandtheyhaveuniquestructural，semanticandculturalfeatures．Englishidiomshaveanextensivescope;

itwasformedfromregularphrasesorshortversesduringalongperioduse.Inabroadsense,Englishidiomsmainlyconsistofsetphases﹑idiomaticphases﹑idioms﹑sayings﹑proverbs﹑slang﹑maximect.Inanarrowsense,Englishidiomsrefertothosephasesorclausesthattheirliteralmeaningwasdifferentfromtheiractualmeaning,forexample:

“Iamallears”.Themeaningofthissentenceliterallytranslatesas“我浑身都是耳朵”,butthemeaningofthissentenceactuallyisclosetoChineseidioms“我洗耳恭听”.Fromthissentencewecanknowthatthedifferencesoftheculturaldiversityandthewayofexpression,andeventhelogicexplanationoftheliteralmeaningofonephraseorclauseisnotcorrecthaveaninfluenceonthetranslationofEnglishidioms.So,whatweshoulddonextistodoourbesttolearnmoreidioms,themorethebetter.OnlyinthiswaycanwetranslateEnglishidiomsmoreappropriately.AndthisdissertationmainlydiscussesthemethodsofthetranslationofEnglishidiomsfromsomedifferentpointsofview.Ingeneral,themainmethodsandskillsofthetranslationofEnglishidiomsjustasfollows:

ChapterOneLiteralTranslation

1.1Concept

WhenwetranslateEnglishidioms,wearehabituatedtousethismethodtotranslateEnglishidioms;

thisisaveryimportantandmostconvenientwaytotranslateEnglishidioms.Literaltranslationisequaltoforeignizationtosomeextent.LuXun,aChinesegreatwriter,hadsaidthat“竭力想保存原书的口吻,大底连语句的词语也不甚颠倒”.[2]Similarly,theprofessorofPekingUniversity，XuYuanchong（许渊冲），alsohaveexplainedtheliteraltranslationas“直译是把忠实于原文内容放在第一位,把忠实于原文形式放在第二位,把通顺的译文形式放在第三位的翻译方法”[3].AnditmeansthatthetranslationofidiomsmustpersisttothedistinguishfeaturesoftheEnglishidioms（suchasthemethodsofrhetoric﹑imagination﹑nationalcharacteristicsandtheruleofgrammar）undertheconditionthatitcannotdisobeytothestandardsoflanguageandleadtowrongorunnecessaryimaginationtowardsEnglishidioms.

Inasense,ifusethismethodstotranslatetheEnglishidiomsandtakefulladvantageofwesternidioms,itwillenrichtargetlanguageandstrengthlanguageperformance.Fromtheaspectofliteraltranslation,wemustclearthatwhatkindsofidiomsandunderwhatkindsofsituationneedweusethismethodstotranslate.

1.2Twosituationsofliteraltranslation

1.2.1Englishidiomsoftenhaveitsliteralmeaningowingtotheculturespread

Withtherapiddevelopingofscienceandtechnology,atthesametimetheinternationalcommunicationsbecomemoreandmorefrequently,somethingswithculturalcharacteristicshavingbeenunderstoodandacceptedbyothernationalitiesandcountries,andallofthatmaketheliteraltranslationbecomepossible.

Forexample,thankstothespreadofGreeceandRoman’slegend,wearenotunfamiliarwiththisEnglishidiom:

Pandora’sBox.Andweknowthisidiommeanstheoriginofdisastersorthebadthings.So,wecantranslatethisEnglishidiomliterallyas“潘多拉的盒子”.Andalsosuchas,likeabullinachinashop,wecantranslateitliterallyas“像闯进瓷器店的公牛”.Weallknowthatthechinawasoneofveryexquisiteanddelicatecraft,sowhenconsumersenterintothechinashoplookaroundandbuythechinatheywillbesocautiousthatavoiddestroyingthechina.Butifabullrushintochinashop,thesituationwillbeworse.Therefore,thisEnglishidiomalwaysreferstothemanwhoissorudeandeasytogetintotrouble,andevenhasnopatiencetoeverything.Inaddition,therealsohavemanytypicalexamplesofliteraltranslation,suchas:

TheTrojanhorse特洛伊木马

AllroadsleadtoRome条条大道通罗马。

todrawwaterinabamboobasket竹篮打水一场空

aneyeforaneye,atoothforatooth以牙还牙，以眼还眼

Runwiththetailbetweenthelegs.夹着尾巴逃跑。

asbusyasabee像蜜蜂一样忙

togivethegreenlightto为⋯开绿灯

Timeismoney．时间就是金钱

tohaveawell-oiledtongue油腔滑调

1.2.2TranslateEnglishidiomsliterallyonthebasisofcontext

Contextreferstothelanguageenvironmentsanditisthekeytounderstandthemeaningofsentencesorarticles.Similarly,contextisalsoveryimportancewhenwetranslateEnglishidiomsfromtheliteral.AnditiscommonthattheEnglishidiomoftenhasitsownliteralmeaning.Suchasthisparagraph:

MarkandJerryweretalkinganimportantthinginconfidential.Suddenly,theywereinterruptedbysomethingunknownandthenMarkmadesignswithhishandsandmovedhismouthsoundlesslytoshowthatwallshaveears.

马克和杰里正在秘密地讨论一件重要的事情。

突然，他们被莫名的东西打断了，接着马克打着手势，又努努嘴，以示隔墙有耳。

Besides,therealsohavemanyEnglishidiomsthattheirformalwaysaccordwithregularphrasesorshortversesandthemeaningoftheseidiomsisnotonlyrelatedtothecontextbutalsoconnectedwithsocialconventionandculturalbackground.Suchas:

adie-hard死硬派thinktank思想库

timeframe时间框架thehotline热线

papertiger纸老虎comfortwoman慰安妇

Bloodisthickerthanwater.血浓于水

Allinall,ononehand,theliteraltranslationreservedthefigureandformorcharacteristicsofEnglishidioms,andontheotherhand,itcanconveytheoriginalcultureorcivilizationtothereaderoftargetlanguage.But,whenweadoptthismethodtotranslateEnglishidioms,wemustconsiderthatthetranslationshouldbeappropriateforthethoughtoftargetreaders.Anditisthekeythatthetranslationwhethercanstirupthetargetreader’simaginationfromtheliteralandletthemunderstandtheinnermeaningofEnglishidiomsornot,anditisalsoessentialthatthetranslationshouldarousethesimilarresponsesofreadersbetweentargetlanguageandoriginallanguage.

ChapterTwoCorrespondingTranslation

2.1Theexplanationsofcorrespondingtranslation

TheCorrespondingTranslationisanotherimportantmethodofthetranslationofEnglishidioms.Itusuallyreferstothewaythatmakesuseofthesynonymousorcorrespondingidiomsofthetargetlanguagetosubstitutefortheidiomsoforiginallanguage.

Asweallknow,theconnotationandformatofsomeEnglishidiomsareoftencorrespondwithsomeChineseidioms,andbesides,theybothhavethesamemeaningorrhetoric.Consequently,ifweencounterwiththiskindofEnglishidioms,wemightusethecorrespondingtranslationdirectlyaswell.

2.2Takeadvantageofthecloseliteralmeaning﹑initialmeaningorconnotationofChineseidiomstocorrespondwithEnglishidioms

Withtherapiddevelopingofhumansociety,differentpeopleofdifferentculturebackgroundshavealreadygeneratedsomethingincommonduetotheirlongterm’scultureshockandsocialexperiences,andevenemotionalcommunication.Therefore,itisnotsurprisethattherearemanydifferentidiomswithdifferentlanguageshaveasimilarmeaningingeneral,especiallytheEnglishidiomsandtheChineseidioms.Andtheseidiomshavethesameliteralmeaning﹑initialmeaningorconnotation,andthiskindofidiomsalsoconveythesameculturalinformation.

Inviewofabovereasons,weshouldtakethismethodtotranslateEnglishidioms,andinthisway,thetargetreaderscanunderstandEnglishidiomsbetter.Forexample,wolfinsheep’sclothing（披着羊皮的狼）,andthisidiommeansthatapersonwhopretendstobegoodbutreallyisbad.Andforthese,“Topraisetotheskies”（捧上天去）or“Adropintheocean”（沧海一粟）andsoon.AsfarasIamconc