中西思维差异对翻译的影响.docx
《中西思维差异对翻译的影响.docx》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《中西思维差异对翻译的影响.docx(15页珍藏版)》请在冰豆网上搜索。
中西思维差异对翻译的影响
毕业论文
题目:
中西思维差异对翻译的影响Title:
AProbeintotheInfluenceson
Translation——Exertedby
DifferentThinkingPatterns
2009年5月25日
Acknowledgements
Firstandforemost,myappreciationgoestomyaffectionateparents,andtherestofmyfamily.Throughoutthedevelopmentofthispaper,theyhavebeentherealwaysgivingmecontinuoussupport,encouragementandunderstanding.Theirloveandsupportencouragemetopursueprogressallthetime.
Iwouldalsoliketoextendmysincerethankstoallotherteacherswhogavemelecturesduringthepastfouracademicyears.Ihavebenefitedsomuchnotonlyfromtheircoursesandlecturesbutalsofromtheirconstantencouragement.
Finally,mydeepestgratitudeandrespectgoestomysupervisor,YangYing.Itisforherconstantencouragement,criticalinstructions,hergreatcareandpreciousadvicethatthispaperappearsinthepresentform.
Abstract
Translationisnotonlyakindoflanguageactivity,butalsoakindofthinkingactivity.Itinvolvesthetransformationbetweenthesourcelanguageandtargetlanguage.Languageisthetoolandresultofthinkingwhichisthebasisoftranslationactivity,languageandthinkingarecloselyinterrelated.However,thedifferencesinculture,geographyandhistoryleadtothediscrepanciesoftheChineseandEnglishmodeofthinkinganddifferenceinlanguageexpressions.Thispaperstartswiththerelationsbetweenlanguageandthinking,thenfocusesonthedifferencesofthinkingpatterns,discussingtheinfluencesontranslationexertedbythedifferencebetweenEnglishthinkingandChinesethinking.Itaimstodrawthetranslators’attentiontotheinfluencesofthinkingdifferenceandreducethecommunicationimpedimentoftwopeoples.
KeyWords:
language;influence;translation;differentwaysofthinking;EnglishpeopleandChinesepeople
摘要
翻译不仅是一种语言活动,而且还是一种思维活动,它是把一种语言所表达的信息用另一种语言传达出来的过程。
语言既是思维的工具,又是思维的结果,而思维是翻译活动的基础。
语言和思维紧密相关。
但是由于中西方地域上相隔较远,各自相对独立,文化历史发展的轨迹相去甚远,因而中西思维方式存在着很大的差异,英汉两种语言对同一主题的表达方式也各异。
本文从语言与思维的关系出发,从思维方式差异入手,探讨英汉思维差异对翻译的影响,以使译者重视英汉思维差异对翻译的影响,从而减少两民族的交流障碍。
关键词:
语言;影响;翻译;思维差异;英汉民族
Contents
Introduction1
I.LanguageandThinking1
II.DifferentThinkingPatterns2
2.1Figurativethinkingvs.abstractthinking2
2.2Integratedthinkingvs.analyticthinking4
2.3Spiralthinkingmodevs.linearthinkingMode6
2.4Subject-centeredthinkingvs.object-centeredthinking7
III.SpecificExpressioninTranslation8
3.1Impactonvocabulary9
3.2Impactonwordorder10
3.3Impactonsentencestructure10
3.4Impactonparagraphstructure12
Conclusion12
Bibliography14
Introduction
ThefamousWhorfhypothesisthinksthatlanguageshavedeterminingeffectsonthinking.Thinkingasakindofcognitiveactivitydominatedbybrainisadeepmechanismoflanguage’sproductionanddevelopment.Languageasatoolusedforthinkingisacomponentofthinking.Thinkingmustbeexpressedinlanguage.
Althoughthinkingisuniversal,whichmeandifferentnationalpeoplecanhavecommonrecognitiontowardthesamething.However,growingupindifferentnationalcultures,peopleindifferentnationshavetheirowncharacteristics,thustheirmodesofthinkingvarygreatly.Therefore,thediscrepanciesofdifferentthinkingpatternscausedlanguageexpressions’variety.AsatoolforcommunicationthebasicattributeofEnglishandChinesearethesame,sotherearemanysimilaritiesduringthedescriptionandthinkingwiththetwolanguages.Butbecauseoftheinfluenceoftheirowncultures,therearemanydifferencesbetweenthetwolanguages.
Differentnationshavenotonlydifferentculturesbutalsodifferentthinkingways,thinkingfeatures,thinkingstyles,thesearethedifferencesbetweenthinking.EnglishbelongstoIndo-EuropeanwhileChinesebelongstoSino-TibetanLanguages.ChineseisspokenbymorepeoplewhileEnglishismorewidelydistributed.Asexchangesbetweenthetwopeoplesarebecomingmoreandmorefrequent,differencesbetweenthetwonations’thinkinghavebroughtaboutmanyproblemsaffectingthetwointer-ethnicdialogue.Translationasatransferenceactivityfromonelanguagetoanotherlanguage,inessence,isnotonlyalanguageactivity,butalsoathinkingactivity.ThethesisaimstostudytherelationshipbetweenlanguageandthinkingthroughthemanifestationsinthinkingdifferencestorevealthedifferencesbetweenEnglishandChinesethinkingontranslation.
I.Thinking,LanguageandTranslation
Thinkingisacognitivefunctionofthehumanbrain,bymeansofwhichmancognizestheworld.Itisanintangibleprocessthatcannotbeheard,seenortouched,thereforeitmusttakelanguageasitsform.Languageisthemostimportanttoolorphysicalshellforthinking.Itisalsotheorganizerofhumanthinkingandrecognition.Asthearbitrarysystemofsignsusedbyhumanbeingstoexpresstheirfeelingsandaspirationsandtoexchangetheirideas,languageprovidesthebestinstrumentfortheexpressionandcommunicationofthinking.Allinall,thinkingisthebasisoflanguageandlanguagehastodependonthinkingforitscontent;Languageandthinkingintricatelyintertwine.
Translation,theprocessofwhichbeginsfromlanguageandendsatitaswell,isnotonlyalinguisticact,butalsoanactofthinking.Itisbasedonthecommonnessofthinking.Intheprocessoftranslation,thesuccessfulcommunicationbetweenthesourcelanguageandthetargetlanguageisachievedthroughthesharedcontentsandrulesofthinking.However,thethinkingstylesofdifferentnations,thoughhavealotincommon,areuniqueinspecificcharactersowningtothedifferenceintermsofhistory,geographicallocation,ecology,religion,customs,etc.,asaresult,peopleofdifferentnationsmightperceivethesameobjectindifferentperspectives.Deeplyrootedthinkinghabits,makeitimpossibleforustoescapetheimpactofourthinkinguponourlanguage,suchastherange,thestructureandtheformofourlanguage.Forexample,weChinesesay“一举两得”or“一箭双雕”toexpressthemeaningof“gettwosidesofbenefitsfromdoingonething(做一件事情行到两方面好处)”.WhereasinEnglish,itsequivalentis“tokilltwobirdswithonestone(一石双鸟)”.
II.DifferentThinkingPatterns
2.1Figurativethinkingvs.abstractthinking
Duetohistoricalandculturalreasons,differentnationsmightbeprominentofonestyleofthinking.Generallyspeaking,traditionalChinesecultureisfeaturedbyconcretestyleofthinkingincontrasttoabstractthinkinginWesternculture.
Chinesepeopleareideographic,usingimagery-focusedlanguage,theyaresensitivetoimageandthemeaningshiddeninlanguage,namely,“theimplication”.Theyaregoodatusingimagerythinkingaswellasfigurativelanguagetoexpressabstractmeaning,withspecificandvividpicturesformedintheirmind.TraditionalChinesephilosopher’sfavorinusingliteratureformstostatetheirextensiveandprofoundphilosophyisgoodevidenceofthisfigurativeandimagerymodesofthinking.
AnalogyhasbecomeatrendasaresultofChineseconcretepatternofthought.TheapplicationofanalogyhasmadeintuitionanimportantelementinChineseconcretepatternofthoughtasaresulttheyareopttouseintuitioninsteadoflogicintheirthought.
Insharpcontrast,Englishbelongstoalphabeticwritingsystem,whichissymbolicsignsregulatedrationallybypeopleratherthanpurelyimitationofnaturalphenomenonwithitsmeaningdecidedbysoundcombination.Foritbasedonpeople’sanalytic,summarizingandabstractability,logictendencyofthislanguagewasformed.
Thetwodifferentthinkingstylesaredirectlyreflectedonsentenceandvocabulary.InChinese,moreconcretenounsareused,butthecaseisquitedifferentinEnglish,wheremoreabstractnounsarefound.Therefore,duringtranslation,greateffortshouldbemadetoalternatebetweenabstractnoun,impersonalsubjectwordsinEnglishandspecific,figurative,personalsubjectwordsinChinese.
E.g.:
1.Inlinewithlatesttrendsinfashion,afewdressdesignershavebeensacrificingelegancetoaudacity.
有些时装设计师为了起时髦,舍弃了优雅别致的式样,而一味追求袒胸露体的奇装异服。
2.Wisdompreparesfortheworst;butfollyleavestheworstforthedayitcomes.
聪明人防患于未然,愚蠢者临渴掘井。
Theunderlinedabstractnounsareallgenericterms,whichareconciseandexplicittoEnglishreaders,buttheymighthavetoberenderedintomoreconcretenounsforChinesereaders.
2.2Integratedthinkingvs.analyticthinking
Chineseeconomicform,small-scalefarmingbyindividualowners,leadstoanintegratedworldwithmanandnature,andpeople’sintegratedmodeofthinking.Inunderdevelopedsocialcircumstances,the“integrationofheavenandhuman”,“integrationofcognitionandbehavior”,and“integrationoffeelingandsetting”weregraduallyformed,theyconsiderpeopleandnature,peopleandcosmos,individualandsocietyasanindivisible,correspondingorganicwhole.Whenanalyzingtherelationbetweensubjectandobject,humanandnature,spiritandsubstance,thoughtandexistence,soulandbody,phenomenonandessence,theyputmuchattentionontheintegralbalanceofthings.TheChineseintegralpatternofthoughtproducesageneral-particularorderintheChineselanguage.
OccidentalanalyticmodeofthinkingisoriginatedinPlato’stheory“dichotomyofsubjectandobject”.Theydistinguishsubjectandobject,humanandnature,etc.clearly.Asaresult,theyarefondofmakingresearchesonthisdualityworldrespectivelyandanalyzingontwolevels:
independentandnotisolated;dynamicandnotstatic—adialecticalwayofanalyzing.TheWesternanalyticalpatternofthoughtproducesaparticular-generalorderintheEnglishlanguage.
ThedifferenceofChinesegeneral-particularorderandEnglishparticu