从习语翻译看中西文化差异.docx

从习语翻译看中西文化差异.docx

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从习语翻译看中西文化差异

从文化差异看英汉习语互译

中文摘要:

世界上每一种语言都包含有丰富的习语,而作为习语,既有某些共同的特征,也有因文化背景的不同而存在的必然差异。

中西民族文化传统的迥异,决定了其习语文化特征的显明区别.习语形式简洁而意思精辟，使语言更加凝练，更具有表现力。

习语如果翻译处理得当，不仅能忠实地表达原作品的精神和思想，为读者所理解与接受，而且能开拓文化视野，丰富汉语与英语的词汇。

然而，习语无论在语法结构、固定搭配、或是在含义上都是特殊的，使用时一般不能随意改变其结构和含义。

且习语丰富多彩的来源使其具有强烈的民族文化色彩。

中英两国各自的历史发展、地理环境、风俗习惯、宗教信仰、寓言神话、文学艺术以及体育娱乐等都产生了大量的习语。

两个民族各自的生活习惯，思维观念，无不反映在生动、形象、活泼的习语中。

这些都给习语翻译增加了障碍和难度..本篇论文主要是从文化差异性入手,从大量的中英文习语实例分析翻译的原则和方法,在吸取前辈大量的经验和成果的基础上,进一步深化对习语翻译的理解和运用.

中文关键词:

习语;文化差异;翻译;方法;原则.

OnTranslatingEnglishandChineseIdioms:

FromCultureDifferencesRespective

Abstract:

Eachlanguageintheworldcontainsalargenumberofidiomsthatnotonlysharesomecommonfeaturesbutalsobearsomedifferencesinaccordancewiththedifferencesofculturalbackground.ThedifferencesbetweentheChineseandwesternculturedecidetheobviousdifferentiation.Thestyleofidiomsissimplebutitcontainsrichmeanings.Ifwetranslatetheidiomscorrectlyandunadulteratedly,theidiomsnotonlyshowsthereaderarealspritoftheworksandalsocanenlargetheChineseandEnglishvocabulary.However,theidiomsarespecialinthegrammarstructure、fixedmatchandthemeaning.Wecannotatchangethestructureandmeaningatourwillwhenweusethem.Also,theidiomshaveastrongspiritofanation.TheidiomscameintobeingoftheChineseandEnglishhistorydevelopment,geographyenvironment,Customhabits,religion,faith,literature,sportsandsoon.Sotherearemanydifficultiesfortheforeignerstounderstandtheidiomsinothercountries.ThispapermainlytalksthetranslationbetweenChineseandEnglishidiomsanddiscussestheprincipleandwaysfromtheprojectiveofculturedifferences.

Keywords：

idioms;culturedifferences;translation;ways;principles.

OnTranslatingChineseandEnglishIdioms:

FromtheCultureDifferencesAspect.

1Introduction

Theidiomisafixedmodeofpresentationofacertainlanguage,whichisformedintheprocessofusing.Itisakindofphraseorsentencewhosemeaningisnotclearfromthemeaningofitsindividualwordsandwhichmustbelearntasawholeunit.Theidiomsbeingdiscussedinthepaperincludephrasecommonsayings,proverbs,allusions,maximsandtheallegoricalsayings.ThereisaquitelonghistoryinChineseandEnglish.Becauseofthedifferencesingeography,history,religionbelief,lifestyleetc,itishardforustounderstandandlearntheEnglishidioms.andthesametotheforeigners.Differentlanguagesreflectdifferentcultures;differentculturesentaildifferentlanguageexpression_s.SowecouldnotlearnEnglishidiomswithouttheknowledgeofculturedifferences.Inthisprocess,translation,asthebridgeofthetwolanguages,playsanimportantrole.Therefore,thispaperwilltalktheculturedifferencesfirst,andthenanalyzethetranslationbetweenthetwokindsofidioms.

1.1                1.1DefinitionofChineseandEnglishidioms

Chineseidiomswetalkalwaysmeansthecollectionofsetphrase,quotation,commonsaying,two-partallegoricalsaying,dialectetc.Englishidiomsoftenreferstosomeproverb,saying,colloquialphrase,allusion,slangandsoon.

1.2                 1.2TheuniversalityofChineseandEnglishidioms

Idiomsinonelanguagedifferfromthoseinotherlanguagesasaresultofdifferencesinbackgroundinformationofhistory,economiclife,geographicalenvironment,customs,religiousbeliefs,livingenvironment,socialconventionsandliteraturetraditionetc.Theidiomisamirrorthatcanreflectclearlynationalorculturalcharacteristics.Idiomsaredifficulttotranslatebecausetheyareoftenofparticularculturalorigins.Eachlanguagehasitscharacters,andtheidiomisthemostobvioussymbol.

2         CulturedifferencesreflectedinChineseandEnglishidioms

2.1Differencesinlivingenvironment

Languagecameintobeingduringtheprocesshumanbeing’sworkandlife.Britainisanislandcountry.Itsnavigationusedtobethenumberoneintheworld.ButtheChinesepeoplehavebeenlivedonlandfromtheverybeginning.So,always,ifwewanttosaysomeonewhowastesmoney,wewillsay:

挥金如土（throwgoldaboutlikedirt）,buttheBritishwillsay:

spendmoneylikewater.Also,theBritishpeople’slovefortheseacanbefoundinthefollowingexamples:

“whenone’sshipcomeshome”translatedinto（当某人发财时）.“tokeepone’sheadoverwater”means“勉强过日子”inChineseand“tosinkorswim”istranslatedinto“不论成败”andtorestonone’soars（暂时歇一歇）,keepone’sheadabovewate（奋力图存）,allatsea（茫然不知所措）etc.JustliketheBritishcannotlivewithoutsea,theChinesecannotlivewithoutearth,soinChinesewehave“面朝黄土背朝天”todescribetheChinesefarmers’toilinthefieldand“泥菩萨过江,自身难保”（Likeaclayidelcrossingariver）meansthatoneishardlyabletosaveoneself,letaloneassistothers）todescribethosewhocannotevenprotectthemselvesatcertaincircumstance.

InChineseliterature,eastwindis“thewindinspring”,alwayswetalksummerandhottogether.Forexample,wedescribesummeras“withthescorchingsundirectlyoverhead”（骄阳似火）,“burningsun”（烈日炎炎）.ButBritainliesinthewesternHemisphere,they’dliketodescribespringby“westwind”.ThesummerinBritainiswarmandcomfortablewhichisquitedifferentfromChina.Andsummeralwaysissaidby“lovely,beautiful,gentle”.Shakespearcompareshisloverassummerinoneofhissonnet,“shallIcomparetheetoasummer’sday?

Thouartmorelovelyandmoretemperate.”

Differencesincustom.

2.2.1Differencesinanimals.

Duetotheculturedifferencesofthetwokindsoflanguages,peopleviewtheanimalsfromdifferentsides.Dogisoneoftheimportantsymbol.InChina,therearemanyidiomsdescribingthebadthingswithdog.Suchas:

狼心狗肺（rapaciousasawolfandsavageasacur）,狗急跳墙（acornedbeastwillturnatbay）狗嘴吐不出象牙来（noivorycancomeoutofadog’smouth）,andalsoothers:

狐朋狗友,（evilassociates）狗仗人势,（likeadogthreateningpeopleonthestrengthofitsmaster’spower）狗眼看人（bedamnedsnobbish）狗拿耗子多管闲事（likedogtryingtocatchmice-pokeone’snoseintootherpeople’sbusiness）etc.ButinEnglish,exceptforafewwords,theidiomsaremostlypraisingdogs,suchas:

Youarealuckydog,Everydoghasitsday,Olddogwillnotlearnnewtricksandsoon.Becausetheytakethedogsastheirhonestfriends.Always,they’dliketodescribepeoplewith“dog”,theywouldsay“sickasadog”,if“tired”,wewouldsay:

“dogtire”.

InChineseculture,thedragonisthesymbolofpower,butinEnglish,itisthesymbolofevil.InChinesewehave“龙飞凤舞”,（dragonsflyingandphoenixesdancing,orlivelyandvigorousflourishesincalligraphy.）Orwewillsay“望子成龙”“望女成凤”（longtoseeone’schildrensucceedinlife）.Butthewesternerswillneversaylikethis.

2.2.2Differencesintime.

Becauseoftheculturaldifferences,peoplesaytimedifferentlytoo.Thewesternpeoplehaveverystrongfeelingsonthelimitedtime,Wecanlearnitfromthefollowingexamples:

“Timeismoney”；“Timeflies”；“Timeandtidewaitfornoman”.AndtheAmericanbelievethatthemostpreciousthingistime.Theybelievethat“chasingtime”ismuchimportantthanmakingplansandcheckingregulations.SotheAmericanhas“Procrastinationisthethiefoftime”.Meanwhile,theBritishpointedtheimportanceofpunctualityintheproverb“Punctualityisthepolitenessofkings”.ButintheChinesesociety,cautiousplanismoreimportant.TheChinesepeoplebelievethatapersonshouldwaitforopportunitiestocomewithpatience,because“心急吃不了热豆腐”meaningonecouldnotbetooeagertodosomething.Similarly,“慢工出细活”isusedtomean“carefulworkmakesperfectresult”..

2.2.3Differencesinnumbers.

TheChinesepeoplelovethenumber[6],becauseinChinesewehave“六六大顺”,whichmeanseverythinggoeswell.Butifthereisa[6]inanEnglishproverb,themeaningusuallyistheopposite,e.g.atsixandsevenmeaning（乱七八糟），sixtoone,（相差悬殊），and“sixpenny”（不值钱）.TheChinesenumeral“四”[4]isatabooinChineseculturebecauseitsoundsthesameastheword“死”（si）isfordeathrecentyearsinChinese.JustasJudahwhosoldoutChristintheLastSuper,thewesternpeoplewhoareinfluencedbyChristianityconsider13sinisterbecauseJudah,thepersonwhoistheThirteenthtocome.

2.2.4Differenceinthemeaningofcolorword

Thereare7kindsofcolors:

red,orange,yellow,green,verdant,blue,andpurple.Infact,objectsthemselvesinnaturedonothavefixedcolorsasweseeinourdailylife.Wemankinddistinguishtheircolorsbyseeingthereflectedlightbeamsonthesurfaceoftheobjects.Thespecificcolorisdecidedbythereflectionofthelightandabsorptionoftheobjects.However，wehumanbeingsadded“color”toemotionsandmake“colors”haveemotionalvaluesandconceivingwondrousculturalmeanings.

Colorsdoexistinthenatureevenwithoutmankind’sinfluences.Onthecontrarythelifeofmankindhasacloserelationshipwithcolors.Weseecolorseverywhere;wewearclothesindifferentcolors;weeatvegetablesofvariouscolors.Inoneword,wehumanbeingsliveina“colorful”world.Therearedifferentcolorsinhumanlanguages;however,theyarevaryingfromracetorace,fromculturetoculture,fromsocialgrouptosocialgroup,mostlyowingtotheirdifferentrealizationsandrecognitionstowardscolors.Allthesereasonsmakehuman’simaginationofcolorsimmenselyrich.

Whiteandblackarethemostcommoncolorsintheworld.Theyarethesymbolsofdarknessandlightnessrespectivelysincehumanexistence.InBibledarknessstandsforevilanddemon.Inwesternculturewhiteusuallystandsforthegoodandright,blackforthebadandwrong.

WeChineseusestheidioms“清白无辜”foraninnocentpersonand“洁白无暇”forpurityaswell.Whitedovesarealwaysregardedasthesymbolofp