从中西思维方式的不同看翻译需注意的问题

研究生课程论文

学年学 期：

2012-2013

学年第一学期

论文题目：

A Comparative Study of the Differences between Chinese and

Western Thinking Patterns and Its Interaction with Translation

课

程：语言学导论

任课教师：杨潮光

姓

名：连瑾

班

级：英语笔译

学

号：

2012204307

A Comparative Study of the Differences between Chinese and

Western Thinking Patterns and Its Interaction with Translation

【< /p>

Abstract

】

Different

modes

of

thinking

lead

to

diverse

language

expressive

forms.

Translation is not only a kind of linguistic activity but also a kind of thinking activity as well.

This paper mainly talks about the differences between Chinese and Western Thinking Patterns

from

four

aspects

and

brings

up

several

correspondent

points

that

should

be

noticed

in

translation.

【

Key Words

】

thinking pattern; difference; Chinese; English; translation

Studies have shown that language and thought are inseparable. On the one hand, language

is

the carrier and facilitator of thought,

and at

the same time, moulds our thinking to

some

extent.

On

the

other

hand,

thought

is

the

content

and

purpose

of

language.

Language

and

thought

interact

with

each

other

in

the

long

history

of

human

revolution.

And

it

is

this

interaction that has helped humans learn about the world better.

Chinese and Western cultures grow out of different natural environments with different

social systems and history, thus creating a divergence of thinking patterns between Chinese

people and Westerners. Chinese people, on the whole, adopt a holistic approach. They are

spiral and concrete in thinking and tend to seek sameness from things. Westerners, on the

contrary, behave in an analytical manner. They are linear and abstract in thinking and tend to

find difference between things. So Chinese and English, as embodiments of their respective

thinking modes, are also quite different.

According to

Eugene A. Nida & Charles R. Taber, ―Translating

consists in reproducing in

the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source language message, first in

terms of meaning and sec

ondly in terms of style.‖. In order to achieve an equivalent

translation, we should also take thought into consideration, because translation is not just a

reproduction in one language of what is written or said in another language, but also contains

the transformation from one thinking pattern to another. Just as Nida said in the Preface to the

book

The Theory and Practice of Translation

,

―Translating is

essentially a process of

communication and this means that a translator must go beyond the lexical structures to

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consider the manner in which an intended audience is likely to understand a text, because so

much depends on the underlying

presuppositions of the respective source and target cultures.‖

So during the translating process, translators should pay attention to the different thinking

patterns between Chinese people and Westerners. This paper, focusing on four aspects in

terms of different thinking modes, proposes several points that need to be noticed during the

translating process.

1. Holistic thinking VS Analytical thinking

The Chinese traditional philosophy pursues the mutual harmony between man and nature

and it treats Heaven, Earth, and Human as a unified whole. They usually take the unity of

Heaven and Human as their ideal state.

“天地虽大，其化均也，万物虽多，其始一也。

”

（

《庄子·天地篇》

）

Un der such influence, the Chinese people acquired a holistic thinking.

This kind of philosophical thought causes Chinese people to become used to observing the

features of the objective world on the whole and studying synthetically on their findings under

the overall situation.

In the opinion of ZhuangZi, the great ancient Chinese thinker, life would

disappear once there were some clear classifications in it. This is also a Chinese national

character. They are afraid of establishing a clear-cut definition of the world. Rather, they

would like to get a general comprehension of the matter, which resulted in ambiguity

sometimes.

In the West, Plato first proposed the thought of ―separation between subject and

object‖.

Since the latter half of the 15

th

century, the natural science has adopted the induction on the

basis of observing and experiments, and thus metaphysic thought took the dominant part. The

logic of Western pattern of thought puts emphasis on the research on appearance on the basis

of nature, which resulted from analyzing the whole things. They attach much importance to

seeing through the phenomena to grasp the essence and analyzing the things on the whole.

The analytical thought pattern of the English-speaking people has differentiated the subject

from the object, human from nature, spirit from material, thought from being, soul from body

and phenomenon from essence. The analytical thought pattern is used to dividing the whole

into many small parts and then classifying them, through the experiments and logical

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inference it comes to analyzing the essential factors of each part, and finds the essential laws

of things from the qualitative analysis to quantitative analysis. This kind of analytical thinking

pattern often leads to clarity.

As a result, Chinese has become a paratactic language focused on the unity of man and

nature while English has turned into a hypotactic one that tells subject and object apart. In

light of this difference, the following points should be noticed:

1.1

Chinese

is

a

paratactic

language

while

English

is

a

hypotactic language.

Parataxis is the arranging of clauses one after the other without connectives showing the

relation between them. Hypotaxis is the dependent or subordinate construction or relationship

of clauses with connectives. Compared with Chinese people, westerners like to adopt an

analytical approach towards a certain subject and use their rational thinking. So English is

more logical in its sentence structure, and often resorts to overt cohesion, frequently using

various cohesive ties such as relatives (who, whom, whose, that, which, what, when, where,

why, how), connectives (and, or, but, yet, so, however, while, as, since, unless), prepositions

and some others. So English is a hypotactic language. Chinese is a paratactic language that

has no morphological change and relies heavily on word order to express various meanings.

1.1.1 Omission

of

lexical

connectors

in

E-C

translation

and

addition in C-E translation

When translating English into Chinese, translators should avoid translatorese by omitting

the connectives of English. But they should also keep in mind that an analysis of the relation

between different clauses in Chinese is necessary when they are doing Chinese to English

translation. Let

’

s have a look at the following examples;

(1)

Even if

you go there it won

’

t do any good.

去了也是白去。

(2)

Whatever

you like to eat, just tell me.

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想吃什么，只管告诉我。

(3) All was cleared up some time later

when

news came

from

a distant place

that

an

earthquake was felt the very day the little copper ball fell.

过了一些时候，从远方传来了消 息：在小铜球坠落的当天，确实发生了地震。这一切

终于得到了澄清。

< br>

(4)

不叫你不要进来。

Don

’

t come in

until

I call you.

(5)

不吃苦中苦，哪知甜中甜。

Who

has never tasted bitter knows not

what

is sweet.

(6)

西洋人什么事都讲究按部就班的慢慢来，从来没有平底 登天的捷径，而我们中国

人专门走捷径，而走捷径的第一个法门，就是善吹牛。

While

Westerners go about whatever work they do methodically and patiently, never

dreaming of reaching great heights in one step, we Chinese are always given to seeking a

shortcut and regard the ability to boast

as

the master key to it.

1.1.2 Division

in

E-C

translation

and

combination

in

C-E

translation

As mentioned above, English is a hypotactic language that has overt cohesion in its

sentence structure. Subordination, the placing of certain elements in modifying roles, is

fundamental feature of English. English has comparatively longer and more complicated

sentences than Chinese which, on the other hand, is marked by its coordination, loose or

minor sentences, contracted sentences, elliptical sentences, run-on sentences and composite

sentences. So in E-C translation, translators should divide the long English sentences into

shorter or composite Chinese structures, and vice versa. Compare the following:

(7) Gentlemen

，

I am ashamed to see men embarked on so great and g1orious an

undertaking

，

as that of robbing the public, so foolishly and weakly dissenting among

themselves

诸位先生，有些人正在干着一番光荣而伟大的事业，那就是掠夺大众。这时候，他们

居然这么愚蠢，这么虚弱，在自己人中间发生内讧。对于这些，我真觉得丢脸。

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