论英语典故与习语的来源与翻译论文4文档格式.docx

1、 English allusion and idiom; translation; origin; approaches摘 要习语和典故是语言不可缺少的一部分,是语言文化的淀积。本文重点讨论英语典故与习语的来源以及如何把英语习语翻译成中文。虽然英语习语的形式简单生动,但是它的来源却很广泛。正是由于这些因素，导致了人们对英语习语理解上的困难。本文试图通过阐述英语习语的来源来讨论他正确的翻译方法，那就是翻译者必须尽力传达英语习语的字面意思,保留其隐喻性形象和内涵意义。本文旨在帮助人们正确理解和翻译英语习语。关键词：英语典故与习语；翻译；来源；方法1. IntroductionLanguage is

2、 a carrier of culture, allusion and idiom play important roles in language and as a specific form of language, idioms are habitually used by people. Idioms contain abundant information of culture and they can reflect culture. They are formed through a long time, and have their unique style and impli

3、ed meaning. Due to these characteristics, its hard for us to understand them. In order to understand English idioms thoroughly and use them correctly, we have to know their origins and features.If we want to have a right idea of English idioms, what we should do at first is to grasp what English idi

4、oms are. Therefore, the thesis gives the definition of the English idioms and their common features, such as structural feature and semantic feature. Then, since there are many sources of English allusion and idiom, the paper lists four main origins, daily life, Bible, myths and tales, living enviro

5、nment and literary works. From these four sources, many allusions are formed. So allusions are something typical from kinds of aspects in our life, they further develop into linguistic idioms gradually. The paper studies many English idioms from four origins of allusions which are good for understan

6、ding. Besides, based on the origins of English idioms, the paper comes up with some approaches and advice of English idioms translation, for example, equal replacement translation, free translation and so on. We should use literal translation as far as possible and keep the original and national cul

7、ture characteristics of English idioms. The successful translation of English idioms should combine different methods reasonably and respect their original culture.2. The Research BackgroundBased on the study of English allusion and idiom, cultural factors infiltrated idiom translation. Many scholar

8、s and professors have made efforts on the study of idiom translation. There are mainly three directions. First, many scholars have conducted the study on the methods of idiom translation with little concern about the differences of cultures. Second, some studies only focus on the cultural factors of

9、 idiom translation. Third, some scholars inspect and analyze idioms only from one specific aspect of culture. This paper based on the origins and features to find some suitable ways to translate the English idioms. 2.1 Researches of English Allusions and Idioms in Western CountriesShokooh and Mohamm

10、ad （2012） used four strategies for translating idioms, such as using an idiom of similar meaning and form, using an idiom of similar meaning but dissimilar form, translation by paraphrase, and translation by omission. They wanted to find out which strategy was the most frequently used strategy and w

11、hether there were any significant differences among the using of these strategies. Conducting a descriptive statistical analysis, it has been. concluded that “paraphrase” and “using an idiom of similar meaning and form” were the most and the least common strategies respectively. On the basis of the

12、findings of this research, it is recommended that, in addition of having enough knowledge in terms of the theoretical translation issues and the translation strategies suggested by different scholars, a translator should have a good command of the idiomatic expressions.Idioms are the gems of a langu

13、age, said Chen Linli （2010）, translating idioms is not an easy task because not all English idioms have equivalents in Chinese idioms due to linguistic, especially cultural differences. He indicates that there are six translation tactics in translating English idioms into Chinese: literal translatio

14、n, free translation, compensatory translation, explanational translation, borrowing, integrated approach. Obviously, a reasonable choice and the quality of translation are decided by the translators cultural awareness and creativity.According to Michael （2006）, English idioms commonly appear to exhi

15、bit relatively fixed prosodic patterns, and departure from the expected prosodic pattern can give rise to humorous and bizarre effects. As idioms are generally supposed to require phrasal entries in the mental lexicon, there is some initial plausibility in the proposal that such entries might includ

16、e arbitrary prosodic or accentual properties. Various categories of idiom can be distinguished, according to which aspects of the prosodic pattern seem to be fixed, and the relationship the pattern bears to those which would be expected on corresponding literal expressions.2.2 Researches of English

17、Allusions and Idioms in ChinaThe idiom is fixed sentences or phrases, which is widely used by people in oral, so as a special form of language, it has different characteristics from the general form of words, such as nationality, folk and figurativeness, Li Xin （2013） said. This topic was also talke

18、d bout by Shen Gang （2012）, he represents the unity of semantic and the stability of structural of the English idioms.Zhou Jun （2015） said that language is a carrier of culture, English idioms reflects the cultural characteristics of the Anglo American countries in the process of formation. For exam

19、ple, American hegemonism, inclusive culture, rich religious values and American dream and so on. The fundamental strategy of the United States to deal with the weaker countries is hegemonism. The United States is a unique immigrant country, and its culture presents diversity, open and containment.It

20、 was because that America received religious culture and customs from other regions such as Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America, through a long time melting, it created its own unique “new culture”. There are a lot of idioms from the loan words in English, like “tofu”, which is literal translatio

21、n to translate Chinese food. Besides, in the minds of Americans, everyone is free and has equal opportunity, no matter how poor a person is, how low social status the person has, as long as you work hard, there is always a day will achieve their ambitions, even as president. The origins of English i

22、diom are various, Shen Donghuan （2012） classified its origins from historical perspective, mythological perspective, religious perspective, life perspective and literal perspective. And in historical perspective, she further classified that English idioms influenced by Roman conquest, Norman invasio

23、n and English Civil War. So she emphasized that English idioms related to certain historical events or figures usually have extended meaning far beyond their original ones, which are marked by the traces of history. From the mythological perspective, English idioms came from two sources, one is Gree

24、k and Roman mythologies, and the other is Aesops fables. From all the above trace come English idioms in terms of culture, she said that the charm of English idiom is so great that it is impossible to learn English without a deep understanding of its hidden meaning. The various origins of the Englis

25、h idiom contribute to its abundance.In the learning of English idioms, the most important is translation. Jiang Ruyan （2005） listed two typical mistranslations according to her teaching experience, the first type is word by word translation, and the second type is having words too literally. Dong Yi

26、ngwu （2012） gave a suggestion about the translation of English idioms that translators should have a good knowledge of cultural differences between English and Chinese idioms, such as the differences in natural environments, in customs, in religious beliefs and so on.In order to translate English id

27、ioms correctly, Su Tianlan （2012） came up with three principles: first, the translation should give a complete ideas of the original words, second,the style and manner of writing should be consistent with the original words, third, the translation should be as smooth as the original words. Whats mor

28、e, Wang Qian （2014） put forward some methods of translation according to the characteristics and origins of English idioms, for instance, equal replacement translation, free translation and literal translation.3. The Definition and Features of English idiomsIn the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary

29、 （Huo, 1989）, idiom is explained as phrase or sentence whose meaning is not obvious through knowledge of the individual meaning of the constituent words, but which must be learnt as a whole”. An English idiom, which is a sentence or phrase, usually is of a special meaning different from the meaning

30、of its constituent words. Idioms are usually semantically difficult to understand. Therefore, the meaning of an idiom cannot be defined only from the literal meaning of the constituent words. If we want to understand the meaning of the English idioms exactly, we should have a good knowledge of the features of them. In general, English idioms contain two features mainly: structural feature and semantic feature.3.1 The Definition of English IdiomsAn English idiom, which