On Translating English Color Words英语颜色词的翻译.docx

On Translating English Color Words英语颜色词的翻译.docx

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OnTranslatingEnglishColorWords英语颜色词的翻译

毕业论文

题目OnTranslatingEnglishColorWords

学生姓名：

___________________

指导教师：

_____________

外语系英语专业班

2010年6月13日

毕业论文任务书

专业英语班级061姓名下发日期2009年12月19日

题目

OnTranslatingEnglishColorWords

专题

翻译

主

要

内

容

及

要

求

文章主体阐述了英汉语言中基本色彩词的文化内涵，以及造成相同性和不同性的文化缘由,归纳了翻译方法以帮助译者取得原文与译文的对等并举出了详实的英汉翻译的实例。

主

要

技

术

参

数

进

度

及

完

成

日

期

2009年12月19日下发毕业论文任务书

2010年4月18日交开题报告和论文提纲

2010年5月9日交论文初稿

2010年5月30日交论文二稿

2010年6月13日交论文定稿

系主任

签字

日期

教研室主任签字

日期

指导教师签字

日期

摘要

色彩与人类生活息息相关，是人类认识世界的一个重要领域。

色彩不仅具有物理属性，还蕴含着丰富的文化内涵和延伸意义。

作为一种视觉效果，人们对于颜色词的感知应该是一致的。

然而，基于世界各民族的语言表达受到地理环境，民族风情，思维方式，宗教信仰，社会制度，文化艺术及生活方式差异的影响，不同民族表达颜色的含义又有所不同，颜色词也表现出不同民族的独特“个性”，因此，恰当地使用颜色词能使语言生辉添色，剖析中西方对于颜色词的异同点及其翻译同时，也会使人们在实际的语言运用中更好的掌握其本质含义，从而达到不同语言之间相互交流，相互裨益的效果。

本文旨在以颜色词为载体，就造成中英颜色词异同的原因举例进行研究，综合众多因素，总结并分析英语颜色词翻译的方法，力求能够通过更为合适的翻译方法，将中英颜色词所承载的信息和深层次的社会文化意义真实地呈现，以达到交流的目的。

关键词：

颜色词，异同点，翻译方法

ABSTRACT

Asamajordomaintoknowtheworld,colorgoeshandinhandwiththeavailabilityofhumanbeings'life.Ithassomephysicalproperties.Besides,itcontainsplentifulculturalconnotationsandextendedmeaning.Peopleshouldhavethesameperceptionofcolorforwhatasakindofvisualeffects.However,basedonthevariousgeographicalenvironments,ethniccustoms,waysofthinking,religions,socialsystems,cultures,artsandlifestylesofthenationsallovertheworld,theimplicationsofcolorwordsareaffectedbythediversitiesaswellasshowsomeidiographiccharacteristics.Thatiswhytheycanmaketheexpressionsmorevividiftheyareusedinanappropriateway.WhenpeopleareanalyzingthedifferencesbetweenChineseandwesterncultures,theywillgrasptheessentialimplicationbetterintheactualuseoflanguage,andmaketheeffectiveofcommunicationandmutualbenefitbetweendifferentlanguages.ThispapertriestousecolorwordsasthecarriertostudythefactorsresultinginsimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglishcolorwords,summarizeandanalyzethetranslationmethodsofcolorwordsthroughintegratinganumberoffactors.Itishopedthatmoreappropriatetranslationmethodscanfacilitatetheexchangeofcoloritemsinthecross-culturecommunication.

KEYWORDS:

colorwords,similaritiesanddifferences,translationmethods

Contents

Introduction.................................................................................................................（9）

ChapterOneSynopsisofColorWords......................................................................（10）

1.1Definition......................................................................................................（10）

1.2Categories.....................................................................................................（10）

1.3Functions......................................................................................................（11）

1.3.1Descriptivefunction...........................................................................（11）

1.3.2Symbolicfunction..............................................................................（12）

ChapterTwoFactorsResultinginSimilaritiesandDifferencesBetweenEnglishandChineseColorWords..........................................................................（14）

2.1Historicalculture.........................................................................................（14）

2.1.1Literarytradition................................................................................（14）

2.1.2Religion..............................................................................................（15）

2.1.3Historicalevents.................................................................................（16）

2.2Geographicalculture....................................................................................（17）

2.3Politicsandeconomics................................................................................（18）

ChapterThreeTranslationMethodsofEnglishColorWords...................................（19）

4.1Literaltranslation.........................................................................................（19）

4.2Freetranslation............................................................................................（21）

4.3Substitution..................................................................................................（23）

4.4Explanation..................................................................................................（24）

Conclusion.................................................................................................................（26）

Acknowledgements...................................................................................................（27）

Bibliography..............................................................................................................（28）

Introduction

“Vocabularyisthemostactivefactorinthelanguage.Colorwordsarenotarbitrarilyinventedbylinguists,butextractedoutfromlifebyhumanbeingsinordertomeettheirownexpressiveneeds.Themoreexpressionshumanbeingsneed,themoremeaningsofcolorwordswillbegifted”（Yuan1997：

48）.

TranslatingcolorwordsisoneofthemostimportantanddifficultpartsinEnglish-Chinesetranslation,thoughveryinterestingandmeaningful.Thesamecolorwordsmayindicatethesamemeaninginsomeareasaroundtheworld,whiletheymayrepresentdiscrepanciesindifferentlanguagesorcultures.Sometimes,eventhesamecolorwordsinoneliteraryworkcansymbolizedifferentthings,andperhapssomemaybeconflicting.Thesecolorwordsnotonlyreflectthebasicvisualeffectsonthesensory,butalsoabroadanddeepsocialandculturalsignificance.

Inordertopromotethecross-cultureexchanges,thispaperchoosessomebasiccolorswordstoanalyze,andtriestofindmoreappropriatetranslationmethodstodealwiththem.

Thispaperisdividedintothreeparts.Inthefirstchapter,ittalksaboutthesynopsisofcolorwordsfromdefinition,functions,andcategories.ChaptertwodiscusesthefactorsaffectingtheimplicationofEnglishandChinesecoloritems,includinghistoricalculture,geographicalculture,physiology,psychology,politicsandeconomics.Thefinalchapter,alsothefocalchapter,isaboutthemethodsofChinesetranslationofEnglishcolorwords,suchasliteraltranslation,freetranslation,borrowedtranslation,substitutionandexplanation.Andattheendofthispaper,aconclusionismadethataccordingtodifferentsituations,peopleshouldchoosethefittestmethodtotranslateEnglishcolorwords.

ChapterOneSynopsisofColorWords

Asoneofthepartsofhumanbeings’vocabulary,colorwordsplayanimportantrole,andhavedifferentfunctionsintermsofdifferentcategories.Thefollowingchapterwillgivethegeneralintroductiontothedefinition,categories,andfunctionsofcolorwords.

1.1Definition

Colorissaidtobeaparticularnatureoflightbesidestheheterogeneitiesofthespaceandtime,orakindoftheobserver’ssightcausedbystimulationsofretinafromopticalradiation.Colorisalsoregardedasvisualcharacteristicsexcludingimageswhicharecausedbythelightactingonthehumanbeings’eyes.Andcolorwordsaretheitemswhichdescribethecolors.

1.2Categories

Accordingtothecompositionsandbrightness,colorscanbeclassifiedintoseveralcategories,suchasoriginalcolorsandmixedcolors,brightcolorsanddarkcolors.Nevertheless,modernlanguagehasstablebasiccoloritemsthatcanbeusedastheroottoformitscore,thusgivingrisetoalargenumberofcolorwords,formingthecolorwordsgroupinlavishabundance.Basedontheaboveconstitutes,colorwordscanbedividedintomanycategoriesasfollows:

（1）Basiccoloritems.Thoughbasiccoloritems,whichusuallyarecalledself-reliantcoloritems,havethelimitedquantities,theyrepresentawiderangeofcolorsandaregeneral.Therefore,theyarefrequentlyused.Theyareusuallyverybrief,easytoremember,cometohandconveniently,andexpressthecolorsdirectlyinashortform.Forinstance,“red”（红色）,“yellow”（黄色）,“white”（白色）,“green”（绿色）,“black”（黑色）,andsoon.

Suchwordscanbeusedindependently,andtheywillturnintotheothersiftheattributesareadded.Forthepurposeofvividandaccurateexpressionsofcolors,humanbeingsalwaysuseitemswithmoreformstoshowcolors.Suchcolorwordsareusuallyintendedtoexpressthespecificdegreeofcolors.Forinstance,“brightred”（鲜红色）,“greyblue”（灰蓝色）,“darkbrown”（深褐色）,“greenishyellow”（黄绿色）,andsoon.Butnomatterhowprolificthesecolorwordsare,theyallcomefromthebasiccolorwordsastheextension.

（2）Objectivecolorwords.Theyarealsocalledrealcolorwords.Suchwordsalreadyexistinnaturewiththeoriginalmeaningsthatmostlyindicatethenamesofobjects.Theyareeasilytomakepeoplethinkofthecolorsoftheobjects.Gradually,thewordsdescribingtheobjectsbecomeintothecolorwordswhicharebecomeoneclassofcolorswords.Forexample,“silver”（银色）,“cherry”（樱桃红）,“bronze”（古铜色）,“emerald”（祖母绿）,“ruby”（宝石红）,“jade”（翡翠色）,“chocolate”（巧克力色）,“coffee”（咖啡色）,andsoon.

（3）Emotionalcolorwords.Fromancienttimes,colorwordshavecloselylinkedwithemotions.Theycanstandfordifferentemotionsandmoods;andpeoplecanexpressthedeepmeaningskillfullythroughcolorwords.Hence,theseemotionalcolorwordsarenotonlywidelyusedinliteraryworks,butalsoindailylife,andotherfields.Itisworthnotingthatthesamecolorwordshavedifferentmeaningsduetodifferentculturesfromdifferentcountries.

Inthewestcountries,redwillmakepeoplefeelbloodyandviolent,