浅析汉语中数字七的文化含义及其英译策略.docx

浅析汉语中数字七的文化含义及其英译策略.docx

《浅析汉语中数字七的文化含义及其英译策略.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《浅析汉语中数字七的文化含义及其英译策略.docx（20页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

浅析汉语中数字七的文化含义及其英译策略

题目：

（中文）浅析汉语中数字“七”的文化含义及其英译策略

（英文）ATentativeStudyontheCulturalConnotationsofNumber“Seven”andtheTranslationStrategies

摘　要

【摘要】语言反映了传统和民族文化的特色，数字是语言系统中特殊的一种，在人类发展过程和人们的日常生活中起着重要的作用。

成语蕴含了丰富的文化涵义而且使用频繁，数字成语又在中国的成语中发挥着举足轻重的作用。

由于历史、文化以及语言的不同，我们在进行英汉对译时不一定总能找到相对应的译法。

本文重点探讨带数字“七”的汉语词组的译法。

我们首先分析这类词组的文化含义,然后采用奈达“功能对等”的翻译理论，进行分析、分类和总结翻译策略，从归化和异化的角度探讨合适的翻译方法。

本文的探讨可帮助人们更好地克服文化差异，避免文化冲突和增强跨文化交流。

【关键字】汉语词组；数字文化；七；功能对等；归化；异化

ATentativeStudyontheCulturalConnotationsofNumber“Seven”andtheTranslationStrategies

Abstract

【ABSTRACT】Languagereflectsthetraditionsandcharacteristicsofanationalculture.Numeralisaspecialkindoflanguagesystem,andhasplayedanimportantroleinthedevelopmentofhumancivilizationandinpeople’sdailylife.Thesetphrasesareculture-boundandfrequentlyusedbypeople.ThesetphrasescontainingnumeralsconstitutethemajorsectionoftheChinesesetphrases.Duetohistorical,culturalandlinguisticdifferences,dynamicequivalencetranslationsbetweenChineseandEnglisharenoteasytoobtain.ThispaperfocusesontheChinesephrasesinvolvingnumber“seven”andpenetratestheculturalconnotationsofthiskindofphrases.GuidedbyNida’s“dynamicequivalence”theory,wearegoingtoanalyze,categorizeandconcludeitstranslationmethod,andprobeintotheappropriatetranslationstrategiesofnumeralphrases,especiallytheseven-involvedphrases,fromtheperspectivesofnaturalizationandforeignization.Throughourstudy,wemayhelppeopletoovercomeculturaldifferences,eliminateculturalconflictsandenhancepeople’sinter-culturalcommunication.

【KEYWORDS】Chinesephrases;numeralculture;seven;dynamicequivalence;naturalization;foreignization

Contents

AbstractIII

1.Introduction.....1

2.Abriefsurveyoftheculturalconnotationsofnumbers..........2

2.1Abriefcontrastiveexplicationofsomesinglenumbersacrosscultures..................................3

2.1.1Reviewonothernumbersinculturesbothhomeandabroad………………….……………….3

2.1.2Theculturalconnotationsofnumber“seven”……………………………….………………..5

2.2Areviewonnumber“seven”inChineseidiomsandphrases…………......…………….....…..5

2.3Areviewontheinfluenceofnumber“seven”inWesterncountry…….………….....……..6

3.Nida’stranslationtheory—dynamicequivalenceandtworelatedtranslationstrategies….……………….6

3.1Dynamicequivalence………………………………………………………………....………………6

3.2Twotranslationstrategies:

naturalizationandforeignization.............................................................7

3.3Differentviewsofnaturalizationandforeignization………………………………………………...8

4.Translationstrategiesofseven-involvedChinesephrases..............................................................................8

4.1Literalseven-involvedChinesePhrases………….............................................................................9

4.2Cultural-boundseven-involvedChinesephrases............................................................................10

4.2.1Non-figurativeseven-involvedterms……............................................................................10

4.2.2Seven-involvedfigurativesetphrases.........................................................................12

5.Conclusion…………......................………………………………………………………………………..15

References…………….............................…………………………………………………………………16

Acknowledgements.……………...........……………………..…………......………………………………17

ATentativeStudyontheCulturalConnotationsofNumber“Seven”andtheTranslationStrategies

1.Introduction

Languageisnotonlyapartofsociety,butalsoakindofculturephenomenon.Bothasalinguisticandculturalphenomenon,itisworthstudying.Anylanguage,withoutexception,reflectsthetraditionsandcharacteristicsofanationalculture,andisfullofthespiritofthatculture,abletorepresenttheworldviewofthatnation.Numeralisaspecialkindoflanguagesystemandplaysanimportantroleinthedevelopmentofhumancivilizationandinpeople’sdailylife.Thisthesisismainlyabouttheculturalconnotationsofnumbers,especiallythenumber“seven”.GuidedbyNida’s“dynamicequivalence”theory,thisthesisdiscussestheappropriatetranslationstrategiesoftheseven-involvedphrasesinChinese.

Therearelotsofarticlesdiscussingabouttheculturalconnotationsofnumbersindifferentculturesbothhomeandabroad,includingthesesofsomepostgraduates.Someacademicjournalscarryarticlesthatareaboutthetranslationmethodsofnumber-involvedphrases.Therearemanykindsofdifferentdictionariesthathavespeciallexicalentitiesofnumber-involvedexpressions.Bycategorizingandanalyzingthesematerials,wecanhelppeopleknowtheculturaldifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglish,thereforeovercomeculturalconflictsandimprovepeople’sinter-culturalcommunication.

Thisthesisfocusesonstudyingtheconnotationsofdifferentnumbers,withspecialreferencetothenumber“seven”.Beforeundertakingtheenterpriseofdiscussingnumber“seven”andthetranslationmethodsrelatedtoseven-involvedphrases,theauthorwillpresentatentativereviewontheChineseseven-involvedphrase.ThedataarefromtheNewCenturyChinese-EnglishDictionaryeditedbyHuiYu（HuiYu2005）.Duringthethedatacollectionperiod,theauthorfoundthatalthoughtherearemanyarticlesaboutnumeralculture,fewaredevotedtothediscussionofnumber“seven”andtheirspecifictranslationstrategiesbasedondifferentsituations,letaloneacomprehensivestudyofnumbersevenandthepropertranslationmethods.Asaresult,thisthesiswillaimatathoroughprobeintothisproblem.Thetheoryisdynamicequivalenceandtheconcretemethodsarenaturalizationandforeignization.

2.ABriefSurveyoftheCulturalConnotationsofNumbers

ChineseandEnglishculturesarequitedifferentfromeachother,thedifferencesarereflectedintherespectivelanguagesandgetexpressedbymeansofwords,phrase,sayingsandsoon.Thus,thetwolanguageshavebecomethecarrierandcontainerofthetwocultures.Atthesametime,thetwoculturesarethesoilthatthetwolanguagesexistin.Inotherwords,therewouldbenolanguageiftherewerenoculture.

TheinterrelatednessoflanguageandcultureareperfectlyreflectedinNida'swords:

...Themeaningofverbalsymbolsonanyandeveryleveldependsonthecultureofthelanguagecommunity.Languageisapartofculture,andinfactitisthemostcomplexsetofhabitsthatanycultureexhibits.Languagereflectstheculture,providesaccesstotheculture,andinmanyrespectsconstitutesamodelofculture（qtd.MaHuijun,75）.

However,whateverkindofcultureitmaybe,onceitbeginstocomeintoexistence,itmustbespread,exchanged,continuedanddeveloped.

Numbers,asweusuallyknow,couldalsobeviewedasapartoflanguageandarefrequentlyappliedinthescientificfieldwithitsnatureofexactness.Nowadaysnumbersareusedbythewholehumanity,sothatcultureofnumbershascomeintobeing.AsfarasChinesecultureisconcerned,itbearsthesimilaritytotheworldculture,butChinesecultureattachesimportancetothewideuseofculturalelements.Numbersevenissuchaculturalelement.ItisrootedinancientChinesecultureandhasaccumulatedabundantconnotationinthedevelopmentofChineseculture.

Intermsofapplication,numeralcultureisfoundinmanyfields:

politics,economy,history,geography,astronomy,marriage,religion,etc.Whyarenumberssowidelyused?

Sincenumbersareendowedwithdifferentkindsofmysteriousandexoticmeanings,andnumeralsetphrasesusedinourdailylifecanalsoconveysomephilosophicalandculturalconnotations.

Peopleindifferentculturalbackgroundsowndifferentviewsonnumbers.Forinstance,Chinesehasmoreuseofnumbersandricheraccumulationofsetnumberphrases,idioms,proverbsandsayings.Englishhasfeweruseofnumber.Whatunderliesthedifferenceisstillunknownandawaitsexploration.

2.1ABriefExplicationofSomeSingleNumbersinDifferentCultures

2.1.1ReviewonOtherNumbersinCulturesBothHomeandAbroad

Inhuman’sinterculturalactivity,allparticipativepartiesnotonlyneedtobefamiliarwithnationallanguageandculture,butalsomustfullyunderstandthelanguageandcultureoftheoppositeparty,speciallythedifferencebetweenone'snationalcultureandother’sculture.Onlyholdingthisopinioncanonemakethehumancommunicationworksmoothly.（ZhouZhipei2003:

480）（Translationoftheoriginalbytheauthor）.Inthissection,thegeneralculturerelatedtodifferentnumbersaresurveyed.

Thenumber“three”isusedwidelyinChina.“Three”iswrittenas“三”inChinesecharacter,inwhichthefirstlineisconsideredtorepresentthesky,themiddlelinesymbolizeshumanbeing,andthelastlinerepresentstheearth（ZhaoXiang2005:

90）.Inthehistory,humangraduallyrecognizedthattimeisdividedintothreeparts:

thepast,thepresent,thefuture;spacehastop,middle,bottom.Undersuchacognitionoftimeandspace,“three”isendowedwithlotsofmeaningsinChinesecultureandalsoconsequentlywidelyusedinvariousfields:

thenavy,thearmy,theairforcearecalled“threeArmedForce”（三军）;cattle,sheepandpigsarenamed“threedomesticanimals”（三牲）;DragonBoatFestival,theMid-autumnFestivalandtheSpringFestivalconstitute“threefestival”（三节）（HuiYu2005）.Thenumber“three”isalsorespectedbyWesternpeople.Theyholdtheideathattheworldconsistsofthreeelements,theearth,theoceansandthesky.Thenatureisconstitutedofthreeelements:

animals,plantsandminerals（DuanPing2006:

208）;theChristiansthinktherearetheFather,theSonandtheHolySp