Comparisons of Animal Idioms in English and Chinese and Their Translation.docx

Comparisons of Animal Idioms in English and Chinese and Their Translation.docx

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ComparisonsofAnimalIdiomsinEnglishandChineseandTheirTranslation

ComparisonsofAnimalIdiomsinEnglishandChineseandTheirTranslation

by

WuWeiqing

ThesisAdvisor:

YangMin

SubmittedtotheB.A.Committeeinpartial

fulfillmentoftherequirementsoftheDegreeof

BachelorofArtsintheEnglishDepartmentof

ForeignLanguagesCollegeofLangfangTeachers

College.

5.21.2006

廊坊师范学院

本科生毕业论文

题　　目：

中英动物习语的对比与翻译

学生姓名：

　　　吴伟青

指导教师：

　　　杨　敏

二级学院：

　　　外国语学院

系　　别：

　　　英语系

专　　业：

　　　英　语

年　　级：

　　　2006届

学　　号：

　　　0403016180

完成日期:

　　　　2006年5月21日

Title:

ComparisonsofAnimalIdiomsinEnglishandChineseandTheirTranslation

Abstract:

BothEnglishandChinesearerichinanimalidioms.But,owingtothedifferentculturalbackgrounds,manycultural-loadedanimalimagesinthetwolanguagesarenotidentical.Theyshowthedistinctivenationalformsandnationalfeatures.Ontheonehand,someanimalimagesareidenticalintheconceptualmeaninginthetwolanguagesbutnotidentical,evenoppositeintheculturalconnotations.Ontheotherhand,someanimalimagesareabundantinculturalconnotationsinthesourcelanguagebutwithoutanyconnotationinthetargetlanguage.Thevalueofanimalidiomsisintheirculturalconnotations.Sotranslatormustconveytheculturalmeaningoftheidiomsintranslating.ThispaperaimstoexploretheanimalimagesinEnglishandChineseidiomsaccordingtothetheoryofthestudiesofthecultural-loadedwordsandattemptstofindtheeffectivetranslationmethodsofanimalidioms.Thus,itcanhelpthereadertoimprovetheircompetenceinunderstandingandexpressingculturalconnotations.Andalsoitcanhelpthepeopleavoidmistranslatingandimprovethequalityoftranslationinanimalidioms.

KeyWords:

animalidioms;animalimages;culturalconnotation

题目：

英汉动物习语的比较与翻译

摘要：

在英汉两种语言中，有诸多关于动物的习语。

但是，由于两种语言所产生的地理环境、风俗习惯、宗教信仰等文化背景不同，英汉动物习语呈现出不同的民族形式，渗透着不同的民族文化气息。

因此同一动物所承载的喻义也不尽相同。

一方面，指称意义相同的动物形象，其喻义在源语和译语中的语用含义相差甚远，甚至完全相悖。

另一方面，有些动物形象在源语中含有丰富的语用意义，而在译语中却没有。

动物习语的价值在其意。

翻译时，首先要保证原文习语的语用意义的传达。

本文将对不同类型的动物习语进行对比分析与研究，旨在提高读者对文化内涵的理解与表达，并有效地指导译者采用恰当的翻译方法以及翻译技巧，避免误译的产生，提高动物习语翻译的质量。

关键词:

动物习语；动物形象；文化内涵

Contents

Ⅰ.Introduction…………………………………………………………..1

Ⅱ.FactorsThatInfluencetheMakingoftheCulturalConnotationsofAnimalIdioms………………………………………………………2

A.DifferencesinNaturalEnvironments……………………………3

B.DifferencesinCustoms………………………………………….3

C.DifferencesinReligiousBeliefs………………………………...4

Ⅲ.ComparisonsofEnglishandChineseAnimalIdioms………………..5

A.SameAnimalImageswithSameCulturalConnotations……..…5

B.SameAnimalImageswithDifferentCulturalConnotations…………………………………………………….7

C.DifferentAnimalImageswithSimilarCulturalConnotations….9

D.SameAnimalImageswithoutCorrespondingCulturalConnotationsinEnglishandChinese………………………….10

Ⅳ.TranslationofEnglishandChineseAnimalIdioms………………...12

A.RetainingtheOriginalImagebyLiteralTranslation…………..12

B.DroppingorAddingtheImagebyFreeTranslation…………...14

C.Image–shiftTranslation………………………….……………15

Ⅴ.Conclusion…….………………………………………………….....16

WorksCited………………………………………………………….….18

I.Introduction

Duringthelongperiodofthedevelopmentandprogressofhumansociety,mancontactswithanimalsfrequently,whichareeithertamedtobecomedomesticanimalsservingpeople,orstillliveinwildaspeople’snaturalfriend,orhavebecomepeople’spet.Thatistosayanimalshavealreadybecomepartofpeople’slife.Itisthiskindofintimaterelationshipthatcausespeopleassociatingtheirfeelingsandemotions,evenhappeningsandnaturalphenomenawithvariousanimals.Therefore,manyanimalshavebecomeakindofsymbolisminpeople’sthinking,andthissymbolismisreflectedinthelanguage.Sotherearelotsofwordsdenotinganimals,especially,therearealargenumberofidiomscontaininganimalsasthevehiclesbothinEnglishandChinese.Thesekindsofidiomsareusedfrequently,whichmakesEnglishandChinesevividinimages,plainincharactersandrichinflavors.

Animalidiomsdiscussedinthispaperareinabroadsense,includingsetphrases,literaryquotations,slang,colloquialism,proverbandsoon.Itisbelievedthatidiomsarethemostculturallyloadedelementinanylanguage’svocabulary.Theyareusuallyhighlyspecializedinmeaningandcloselytiedtodistinctiveculturalfeaturesandculturalattitudes.Sinceeachcultureisunique,andhasabodyofinformationthatisnotsharedbyallhumansocieties,thevastdifferencesexistbetweenEnglishandChinesecultureandthesedifferencesoccurinEnglishandChineseanimalidioms,too.SotheconnotationsofanimalidiomsinEnglishdonotalwayscoincidewiththoseinChinese.Sometimespeoplewillusedifferentanimaltoexpressthesamefeelingsorfigurativemeanings.Whileonsomeoccasions,peoplewillgivedifferentfigurativemeaningsandconnotativemeaningstothesameanimal.Thesemetaphoricalidiomsofanimalsareyieldedfromcertainculturalsettings.AndthepragmaticmeaningsofthemdependontheunderstandingoftheculturesbothofEnglishandChinese.ThisthesismainlyfocusesonthedifferencesandsimilaritiesoftheculturalconnotationsandtranslationofanimalidiomsinEnglishandChinese.

Ⅱ.FactorsthatInfluencetheMakingoftheCulturalConnotationofAnimalIdioms

Languageisoneofthetoolsthatmanhasevercreated,whichrecordstheprocessofthesocialcivilization.Soanylanguageisbasedoncertainparticularculturalsettingsandreflectstheparticularculture,justasEugeneA.NidainhisLanguage,Culture,andTranslatinghaswrote,

Sincecultureisdefinedsuccinctlyas“thetotalityofbeliefsandpracticesofasociety,”nothingisofgreaterstrategicimportancethanthelanguagethroughwhichitsbeliefsareexpressedandtransmittedandbywhichitsmostinteractionofitsmembertakeplace（105）.

TheBritishandChinesenationsdifferinculturalcontext,likenaturalenvironments,customsandreligiousbeliefs,whichmakepeopleassociatedifferentemotionsandmetaphoricalmeaningstotheanimalimages.

A.DifferencesinNaturalEnvironments

Naturalenvironmentsaretheessentialconditionfortheexistenceofman,sodifferentlivingsurroundingsmayexertdifferentinfluencesonthecultureofanation.TheChineseandBritishnationslieindifferentnaturalenvironment.Geographically,Britainisanislandcountrysurroundedbywateronallsides,andhasalonghistoryofnavigationandfishery.Undoubtedly,theEnglishpeople’slifeiscloselylinkedwithsea.Sotherearealotofidiomsrelevanttoseaandocean,specificallyspeaking,containingfish.Herearesomeexamples:

Abigfish（averyimportantperson）;heeatsnotfish（heisanhonestmanandonetobetrusted）;crystinkingfish（speakingbadlyorunfavorablyofone’sownaffairsandcircumstancesinawaythatreflectunfavorablyononeself.）.Incontrast,landisthelifebloodoftheChinesepeople.Eventoday,theoverwhelmingmajoritiesofthepeoplestillliveintheruralareasandmakealivingbycultivatingland.SotheChineseusuallyhaveaprofoundattachmentforlandandsoilandusedtoploughwithoxen.Inthisway,therearelotsofidiomscontaining“牛”,suchas：

牛脾气，力大如牛，钻牛角尖.ItisevidentthattheChinesepeopleandBritishpeoplehavedifferentlifeexperiencesandtheanimalstheyseeandcontactwitharealmostnotidentical.Nowondertheyunderstandwordsindifferentwaysormodes.

B.DifferencesinCustoms

ThedifferenceincustomsisoneofthemostimportantaspectsinculturaldifferencesbetweenEnglishandChineseanimalidioms.Everynationhasitsowncustoms.Customsmeanpeculiarwaysofbehavior,whichareobservedbyindividualsandsocialgroupsbecausetheyhavebeenlongestablished.Itcentrallyembodiesthedifferentfigurativemeaningofthesamekindofanimalsinthetwolanguages.“Magpie”isexceptionallynoteworthy.InChinese,theanimalword“magpie”isconsideredasgoodluckbecause“magpie”inChineseispronounced“喜鹊（XiQue）”,“喜（xi）”inChinesemeansgoodandhappy.Sothereexistsuchidiomsas:

喜鹊叫，好事到（whenmagpiescalling,itmusthavegoodnews）.However,inBritain,ifamagpiefliesnearawindow,itisasymbolofbadluck.Furthermore,ifsomeonehappenstomeetamagpiehehastospitthreetimestoavoidbadluck.“Bat”isanotherexampleworthytonote.Inthewesternmyth,batisakindofuglyandevilanimal,whichisassociatedwithcrimeorbadeggs.Thevampirebatmakespeoplefrightened.Theidiomscontaining“bat”areobviouslyderogatory,suchas:

asblindasabat（有眼无珠）;crazyasbat（疯的像蝙蝠）；havebatsinthebelfry（发痴；异想天开）.ButinthetraditionalChineseculture,“蝙蝠”isregardedasasymbolofhappiness,because“蝠”and“福”arehomophonesinChinese.

C.DifferencesinReligiousBeliefs

Religion,themaincomponentofhumanculture,reflectsdifferentattitudestowardsadmirationandtabooofeachnationandhasprovidedthepeopleoftheworldwithadvice,values,andguidancesinceantiquity.Inaddition,religionistheeverydaypracticesofaculture,givesusinsightintothemembersofthatculture.Andreligiousculturewouldbeimperceptiblyfusedintoanationlanguage.Therefore,religiousculture,tosomeextent,canreflectandstandforthecultureofanation.Inturn,thecontentsofanationallanguagewouldpartlyembodythepeople’sreligiouslife.TheChinesepeopleandtheEnglishpeoplehavedifferentreligiousbeliefs.InChina,thefourdivineanimalsare“kylin”,“phoenix”,“dragon”,and“turtle”（theformerthreebeingimaginary）.Takethephoenixforexample,itisthekingofbirds,sothereisanidiom“百鸟朝凤”.Anditisalovelydeitywhobringspeoplehappinessandpeace.Inwesternculturethisbi