论英语典故与习语的来源与翻译论文4文档格式.docx
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Englishallusionandidiom;
translation;
origin;
approaches
摘要
习语和典故是语言不可缺少的一部分,是语言文化的淀积。
本文重点讨论英语典故与习语的来源以及如何把英语习语翻译成中文。
虽然英语习语的形式简单生动,但是它的来源却很广泛。
正是由于这些因素,导致了人们对英语习语理解上的困难。
本文试图通过阐述英语习语的来源来讨论他正确的翻译方法,那就是翻译者必须尽力传达英语习语的字面意思,保留其隐喻性形象和内涵意义。
本文旨在帮助人们正确理解和翻译英语习语。
关键词:
英语典故与习语;
翻译;
来源;
方法
1.Introduction
Languageisacarrierofculture,allusionandidiomplayimportantrolesinlanguageandasaspecificformoflanguage,idiomsarehabituallyusedbypeople.Idiomscontainabundantinformationofcultureandtheycanreflectculture.Theyareformedthroughalongtime,andhavetheiruniquestyleandimpliedmeaning.Duetothesecharacteristics,it’shardforustounderstandthem.InordertounderstandEnglishidiomsthoroughlyandusethemcorrectly,wehavetoknowtheiroriginsandfeatures.
IfwewanttohavearightideaofEnglishidioms,whatweshoulddoatfirstistograspwhatEnglishidiomsare.Therefore,thethesisgivesthedefinitionoftheEnglishidiomsandtheircommonfeatures,suchasstructuralfeatureandsemanticfeature.Then,sincetherearemanysourcesofEnglishallusionandidiom,thepaperlistsfourmainorigins,dailylife,Bible,mythsandtales,livingenvironmentandliteraryworks.Fromthesefoursources,manyallusionsareformed.Soallusionsaresomethingtypicalfromkindsofaspectsinourlife,theyfurtherdevelopintolinguisticidiomsgradually.ThepaperstudiesmanyEnglishidiomsfromfouroriginsofallusionswhicharegoodforunderstanding.Besides,basedontheoriginsofEnglishidioms,thepapercomesupwithsomeapproachesandadviceofEnglishidiomstranslation,forexample,equalreplacementtranslation,freetranslationandsoon.WeshoulduseliteraltranslationasfaraspossibleandkeeptheoriginalandnationalculturecharacteristicsofEnglishidioms.ThesuccessfultranslationofEnglishidiomsshouldcombinedifferentmethodsreasonablyandrespecttheiroriginalculture.
2.TheResearchBackground
BasedonthestudyofEnglishallusionandidiom,culturalfactorsinfiltratedidiomtranslation.Manyscholarsandprofessorshavemadeeffortsonthestudyofidiomtranslation.Therearemainlythreedirections.First,manyscholarshaveconductedthestudyonthemethodsofidiomtranslationwithlittleconcernaboutthedifferencesofcultures.Second,somestudiesonlyfocusontheculturalfactorsofidiomtranslation.Third,somescholarsinspectandanalyzeidiomsonlyfromonespecificaspectofculture.ThispaperbasedontheoriginsandfeaturestofindsomesuitablewaystotranslatetheEnglishidioms.
2.1ResearchesofEnglishAllusionsandIdiomsinWesternCountries
ShokoohandMohammad(2012)usedfourstrategiesfortranslatingidioms,suchasusinganidiomofsimilarmeaningandform,usinganidiomofsimilarmeaningbutdissimilarform,translationbyparaphrase,andtranslationbyomission.Theywantedtofindoutwhichstrategywasthemostfrequentlyusedstrategyandwhethertherewereanysignificantdifferencesamongtheusingofthesestrategies.Conductingadescriptivestatisticalanalysis,ithasbeen...concludedthat“paraphrase”and“usinganidiomofsimilarmeaningandform”werethemostandtheleastcommonstrategiesrespectively.Onthebasisofthefindingsofthisresearch,itisrecommendedthat,inadditionofhavingenoughknowledgeintermsofthetheoreticaltranslationissuesandthetranslationstrategiessuggestedbydifferentscholars,atranslatorshouldhaveagoodcommandoftheidiomaticexpressions.
Idiomsarethegemsofalanguage,saidChenLinli(2010),translatingidiomsisnotaneasytaskbecausenotallEnglishidiomshaveequivalentsinChineseidiomsduetolinguistic,especiallyculturaldifferences.HeindicatesthattherearesixtranslationtacticsintranslatingEnglishidiomsintoChinese:
literaltranslation,freetranslation,compensatorytranslation,explanationaltranslation,borrowing,integratedapproach.Obviously,areasonablechoiceandthequalityoftranslationaredecidedbythetranslator’sculturalawarenessandcreativity.
AccordingtoMichael(2006),Englishidiomscommonlyappeartoexhibitrelativelyfixedprosodicpatterns,anddeparturefromtheexpectedprosodicpatterncangiverisetohumorousandbizarreeffects.Asidiomsaregenerallysupposedtorequirephrasalentriesinthementallexicon,thereissomeinitialplausibilityintheproposalthatsuchentriesmightincludearbitraryprosodicoraccentualproperties.Variouscategoriesofidiomcanbedistinguished,accordingtowhichaspectsoftheprosodicpatternseemtobefixed,andtherelationshipthepatternbearstothosewhichwouldbeexpectedoncorrespondingliteralexpressions.
2.2ResearchesofEnglishAllusionsandIdiomsinChina
Theidiomisfixedsentencesorphrases,whichiswidelyusedbypeopleinoral,soasaspecialformoflanguage,ithasdifferentcharacteristicsfromthegeneralformofwords,suchasnationality,folkandfigurativeness,LiXin(2013)said.ThistopicwasalsotalkedboutbyShenGang(2012),herepresentstheunityofsemanticandthestabilityofstructuraloftheEnglishidioms.
ZhouJun(2015)saidthatlanguageisacarrierofculture,EnglishidiomsreflectstheculturalcharacteristicsoftheAngloAmericancountriesintheprocessofformation.Forexample,Americanhegemonism,inclusiveculture,richreligiousvaluesandAmericandreamandsoon.ThefundamentalstrategyoftheUnitedStatestodealwiththeweakercountriesishegemonism.TheUnitedStatesisauniqueimmigrantcountry,anditsculturepresentsdiversity,openandcontainment.
ItwasbecausethatAmericareceivedreligiouscultureandcustomsfromotherregionssuchasEurope,Africa,AsiaandLatinAmerica,throughalongtimemelting,itcreateditsownunique“newculture”.TherearealotofidiomsfromtheloanwordsinEnglish,like“tofu”,whichisliteraltranslationtotranslateChinesefood.Besides,inthemindsofAmericans,everyoneisfreeandhasequalopportunity,nomatterhowpoorapersonis,howlowsocialstatusthepersonhas,aslongasyouworkhard,thereisalwaysadaywillachievetheirambitions,evenaspresident.
TheoriginsofEnglishidiomarevarious,ShenDonghuan(2012)classifieditsoriginsfromhistoricalperspective,mythologicalperspective,religiousperspective,lifeperspectiveandliteralperspective.Andinhistoricalperspective,shefurtherclassifiedthatEnglishidiomsinfluencedbyRomanconquest,NormaninvasionandEnglishCivilWar.SosheemphasizedthatEnglishidiomsrelatedtocertainhistoricaleventsorfiguresusuallyhaveextendedmeaningfarbeyondtheiroriginalones,whicharemarkedbythetracesofhistory.Fromthemythologicalperspective,Englishidiomscamefromtwosources,oneisGreekandRomanmythologies,andtheotherisAesop’sfables.FromalltheabovetracecomeEnglishidiomsintermsofculture,shesaidthatthecharmofEnglishidiomissogreatthatitisimpossibletolearnEnglishwithoutadeepunderstandingofitshiddenmeaning.ThevariousoriginsoftheEnglishidiomcontributetoitsabundance.
InthelearningofEnglishidioms,themostimportantistranslation.JiangRuyan(2005)listedtwotypicalmistranslationsaccordingtoherteachingexperience,thefirsttypeiswordbywordtranslation,andthesecondtypeishavingwordstooliterally.DongYingwu(2012)gaveasuggestionaboutthetranslationofEnglishidiomsthattranslatorsshouldhaveagoodknowledgeofculturaldifferencesbetweenEnglishandChineseidioms,suchasthedifferencesinnaturalenvironments,incustoms,inreligiousbeliefsandsoon.
InordertotranslateEnglishidiomscorrectly,SuTianlan(2012)cameupwiththreeprinciples:
first,thetranslationshouldgiveacompleteideasoftheoriginalwords,second,
thestyleandmannerofwritingshouldbeconsistentwiththeoriginalwords,third,thetranslationshouldbeassmoothastheoriginalwords.What’smore,WangQian(2014)putforwardsomemethodsoftranslationaccordingtothecharacteristicsandoriginsofEnglishidioms,forinstance,equalreplacementtranslation,freetranslationandliteraltranslation.
3.TheDefinitionandFeaturesofEnglishidioms
IntheOxfordAdvancedLearner'
sDictionary(Huo,1989),idiomisexplainedas"
phraseorsentencewhosemeaningisnotobviousthroughknowledgeoftheindividualmeaningoftheconstituentwords,butwhichmustbelearntasawhole”.AnEnglishidiom,whichisasentenceorphrase,usuallyisofaspecialmeaningdifferentfromthemeaningofitsconstituentwords.Idiomsareusuallysemanticallydifficulttounderstand.Therefore,themeaningofanidiomcannotbedefinedonlyfromtheliteralmeaningoftheconstituentwords.IfwewanttounderstandthemeaningoftheEnglishidiomsexactly,weshouldhaveagoodknowledgeofthefeaturesofthem.Ingeneral,Englishidiomscontaintwofeaturesmainly:
structuralfeatureandsemanticfeature.
3.1TheDefinitionofEnglishIdioms
AnEnglishidiom,which