The Translation of English Idioms and Proverbs.docx

The Translation of English Idioms and Proverbs.docx

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TheTranslationofEnglishIdiomsandProverbs

TheTranslationofEnglishIdiomsandProverbs

A.Thetheoriesoftranslation

Translationisakindofrecreatingforart.Itisverydifficulttotranslateasimpleforeignliteraturecorrectly.Furthermore,Idiomisalsoascientificandphilosophicalpoetrywithdeepmeaning,harmonictone,andimaginativeanalogy.Thosewillmakeidioms’translationmoredifficultly.Therefore,howtotranslatetheidiomscorrectlyandappropriately,whichmatchestheregulationofChineseandthecharacteristicsofnations,isthematternotonlyabouttherulesoftranslation,butalsothemethods.

TheidiomplaysaveryimportantroleinChinese-EnglishtranslationorEnglish-Chinesetranslation,thetranslator'staskliesinthecontentformoftheoriginalwork,asanentity,reproduceoutcompletelyinanotherkindoflanguage.So,theresultoftranslatingandusingtheexpressionskillfullyisthatidiomscanimprovethetranslatorsaccurately,andcontrasttheEnglish-Chineseidiomsofbothsides,compareandanalyzesomeabouttheseidioms,canfindsomelaws.Studytheselaws,canhelpustounderstandcorrectlyanddealwiththemappropriately.WecantakethefollowingfourmethodswhenconcretethetranslationofEnglishproverbChinese.

1.Literaltranslation

Theso-calledliteraltranslation,meansonthebasisofthestandardizationofthetranslation,onthepremiseofnotcausingwrongassociationormisunderstanding,keepthemetaphorofEnglishproverb,themethodsoftheimageandnationalincolor.Someoftheidiomsandproverbsarethesametotheformofexpressionandmeaning.Whentranslatethosekindofsentence,wecanusethesimilarChinesetotranslate.Notonlycanmakethereadereasytoacceptit,butalsoeasytounderstand.Forrecommendingtheseuniqueexpressionmethods,exoticflowersandrareherbsofforeigncountriestoChina,itonlytakestheliteraltranslationmethodtofinishthetask.ButsomeonemaintainthetranslationofEnglishtoChineseoftheidioms"oftenmustfreetranslation","abandonbyforeignlanguageidiomimagesalreadyexistingandlastimageknowingverywellclanortakeadvantageofexplain",andsayforexample:

"Amongtheblindtheone-eyedmanisking."thisproverbisinconformitywithtranslation,"Themonkeydominatesaking.Therearenotigersinthemountain"however,iftakefreetranslationasthecore,certainlywilllose"exoticatmosphere"and"gracefulbearing"ofalotoforiginalproverbs.Theangleiscometoreadfromnowon,literaltranslationshouldtakeprecedenceoverfreetranslation.LikefollowingEnglishproverbsthatcomeoverwithliteraltranslation,andplaythefunctionofabundanceofChinese.

Bloodisthickerthanwater.（血浓于水。

）

Knowledgeispower.（知识就是力量。

）

Hewholaughsbestlaughslast.（谁笑到最后，谁笑得最好。

）

AllroadsleadtoRome.（条条道路通罗马。

）

Theso-calledliteraltranslation,certainlymeansnottotranslatewordforwordaccordingtothewordingsignificances,or"hardlytranslates"or"diestranslates"irrevocably.Becausetherearedifferencesbetweenthetwolanguagesandtheproverbcharacteristics,whenweusetheliteraltranslation,someidiomsmusttransformthetypesofthesentence,thetransformationoftheorderofwordsorthelexicalcategory;someidiomsmustaddorreducewords,aswellasrhymeandsoon.Suchas:

Findearthwheregrowsnoweed,andyoumayfindaheartwheremoerrorgrows.（地无不长野草，人无不犯错误。

）Earlytobedandearlytorisemakesamanhealthywealthyandwise.（睡得早，起得早，聪明、富裕、身体好。

）

Thetranslations,whichareusedliteraltranslation,basicallyretainedtheimageandtheanalogyoftheoriginaltexts,retainedtheuniqueexpressiontechniquesoftheoriginaltexts,forfeelingclearandunique,ithasachievedthegoalofrichtranslationlanguagewellthroughthetranslation.Therefore,whenwetranslateEnglishproverbs,weusuallyusetheliteraltranslationlaw.

2.Freetranslation

Literaltranslationisamainmethodofinterpreter'sEnglishproverb,butnottheonlyone.IfitisverydifficulttobeunderstandthemeaningofsomeEnglishmetaphorproverbsspendorexpressionwaywithliteraltranslationbyChinesereaders,theresultisverybad,orbecausesomeanecdotesorlegendthattheproverbinvolvesunknownbyChinese,thenmustlastfootnoteornotetoexplainliteraltranslation,sothesituationshouldnotuseliteraltranslation,butthemethodoffreetranslation.3Theadvantageoffreetranslationliesinbeingsuccinctanddistinct,benefitthestyleofwriting,preventfromsomecasescausedbyliteraltranslationandmessily,taketotallyineffectivemeasures,evenhurtpurposeinword,causethedisadvantageofmisunderstandingetc.

Forexample,Don’tputyourfingerinthepie（不要多管闲事）IfwetranslatethissentenceintoChineseas“不要把你手指放进馅饼”,Chinesereaderswon’tunderstanditatall..Don’tputyourfingerinthepie，itreflectstheindividualismwalkphilosophywhichwaspursuedbyEnglishandAmericansociety,itwarmspeopledon'tmeddleinmattersthatdon'tconcernyou,andcareaboutone'sownmattersisbestpolicy.AnditdifferentfromChinesewalksphilosophyandChinesepursuecollectivism.3.MechanicalapplicationofthesynonymousChineseproverbs

ThoughtherearewidelydifferencesbetweenthetwolanguagesofEnglishandChinese,yettherearemanycommunicatingproverbs,theyandallaccordwithinthecontentinform,i.e.modeofthinkingandresulttoacertainconcreteproblem,andconcreteexpressionform,oftenhavethetendencytohappentocoincidewith,andtheonethatplayedthesametuneondifferentmusicalinstrumentsiswonderful.Inthiscase,translatingtheChineseproverbthatmightaswellapplythesynonymmechanicallyinChineseofEnglishproverb.Suchas,

Strikewhiletheironishot.（趁热打铁。

）

Whenwineisintruthisout.（酒后吐真言。

）

Habitisasecondnature.（习惯成自然。

）

Practicemakesperfect.（熟能生巧。

）

Forgiveothersbutnotyourself.（责己严，则人宽。

）

Wallshaveears.（隔墙有耳。

）

Englishproverbsaremultitudinous,thereisonlyoccupyasmallparteventuallywhichcorrespondswithChineseproverbs,whentranslation,weshouldnotchasecorrespondingviewsofthestriptoseektwolanguages,thatisnotonlyafutileeffort,moreovercanappearfarfetched,nondescript.Whentherearenotonlythesamesignificancesandhidesrighteousnessinthetwolanguages,moreoversameorthemoreorlessthesameimageandtheanalogy,orthesamewaysofexpressionreasons,EnglishproverbtoChinesetranslationcanadoptapplymechanicallythesynonymyChineseproverb.

4.Literaltranslationandfreetranslation

Sometimesinordertoexpresstheoriginalmeaningmoreprecise,moreeffectively,remedyitinsomecases,theweaknessnotveryobviousyetofmeaningafterliteraltranslation,wecanadopttheliteraltranslationandfreetranslationmethodtotranslateEnglishproverbs.Afterliteraltranslation,translatemeaningout,itisinthehopeofachievingtheresultofthecrucialtouch.Suchas,

Everybirdlikesitsownnest.（鸟爱自己的巢，人爱自己的家。

）

Letsleepingdogslie.（睡狗莫愁，麻烦莫招。

）

Insummary,thetranslationofEnglishproverbsmustmanifestitsbrightnationalcharacteristic,theprofoundthoughtandexcellentartisticthesethreemajorcharacteristics,moreoverpayattentiontoitsculturalconnotation,therefore,intranslation,wemustdeliberaterepeatedly,thewordsmustbeconcise,thesentencesmustbesuccinct,andpayattentiontothesound,forachievingtoreadsmoothly,byadvantageousforthememory.SotranslatingEnglishproverbswellcanhaveaverybighelptoenhanceourEnglishaccomplishmentandtheexpressionabilitywithoutdoubt.

B.Pointsoftranslation

1.Theliteraltranslationofproverbsprohibited.

Generallyspeaking,theproverbtobesupposedconciseandtobeeasytounderstand,thiscausesusmakinganinterpretliterallymistakeeasilywhenwetranslateproverbs.Infactproverbisrichofcontent,theconstitutioniscomplex,hasprofoundimplications,andoftendeliberatescarefully.Suchas,

“Finefeathersmakefinebirds.”Itisalwaysunderstoodas“Buddhawantsthegoldplating,thehumanwantstheclothing.”Butitsdeeplymeaningis“Itissaidofanoverdressedpersonwhodoesnotreallyuptohisorherclothes.”

Anotherexample,“Honeyisnotfortheass’smouth.”Indictionary,theproverbmeansfor“Tigerisn’tsuitableforchoicefood”,butitsmeaningitselfis“Persuasionwillnotpersuadefools.\Thegentlewordswillnotdiverttheangeroftheunreasonable.”

Somuchformistakesoftheseexamplesabove,arecausedbyinterpretationliterally.

2.Thetranslationofproverbstokeeptheoriginaltextstyle

Weshouldpayattentiontothetranslationofsameidioms,butthatdon’thaveanychange.Whereasaccordingtothetext,andhaveasuitabletreat.suchas”谋事在人,成事在天”alwaystranslatedinto:

”Manproposes,Goddisposes.”butinsomesentence,itcan’tchange.

Forexample:

rackone’sbraincudgelone’sbrain.indifferentChinese.uponthetext.itcantranslatedinto:

绞尽脑汁,挖空心思,苦思冥想,费劲心机,煞费苦心,搜索枯肠,殚思极虑andsoon.

方案一公布,大家就七嘴八舌的议论开了.Publicationofthedraftplantouchedoffalivelydiscussionwitheverybodyeagertoputinaword..Inthelastsentence,itcan’taddto“withsevenmouthsandtongues”.theforeignercouldn’tunderstand.

It’snotmeaningthatallproverbscanbetranslatedclearly,sometimes,fewoldproverbsfromtheBibleoroldfamouswritescanbetranslatedliterally,theywillmatchtheappearanceoforiginaltexts.Forexample,“Asoftanswerturnedawaywrath.”isfromtheBible,wecantranslateitas“不妨可以释怒”.“Tooswiftarrivesastardyastooslow.”isfromRomeoandJulietofShakespeare,wecantranslateitas“欲速则不达”.

3.Thetranslationofproverbstonoticethenational