论英汉之间数字的翻译英语论文

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2.1.1 Hyperbole

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2.1.2 Splitting of numbers

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2.1.3 Metaphor and metonymy

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2.2 Functions achieved by the use of numbers

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Chapter III

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The Translation of Numbers between English and Chinese

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3.1 Literally translation

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3.2 Literally translation with notes

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3.3 Liberally translation

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3.4 Omitting numbers

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Conclusion

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Bibliography

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XII

Introduction

From the perspective of linguistics, numbers are symbols that represent accurate

quantities. However, with the development of human society, more and more cultural

features are added to numbers and numbers have enriched human civilization at the

same

time.

From

ancient

time

on,

daily

life

can

hardly

go

on

without

numbers.

Besides their counting function, numbers play an important role in literary world. We

can find many idioms involving numbers, such as

“千载难逢”

(Such a thing only

happens once in a thousand years) and

“乱七八糟”

(at sixes ad sevens). In literary

works, numbers are always used as rhetoric devices, which make sentences difficult to

comprehend.

Consequently,

higher

requirement

are

proposed

in

the

translation

of

implied-meaning numbers.

There are three chapters in this thesis. Chapter One mainly discussed culture and

numbers

and

put

forward

some

points

of

similarities

and

differences

of

implied-meaning

numbers

on

the

basis

of

comparing

Chinese

and

English

cultures.

The second chapter is a superficial introduction of the rhetorical usage of numbers in

literary

world,

which

not

only

attracts

the

foreign

readers’

strong

interests,

but

also

greatly reveals the abundant Chinese traditional culture. Correspondingly, this leads to

more

accurate

requirements

in

translation.

Thus

the

last

chapter

put

forward

four

kinds of tentative translation on the basis of former researches methods applied. They

are

respectively

called

literally

translation,

literally

translation

with

notes,

liberally

translation

and

omitting

numbers

in

translation.

Literally

translation

is

chose

in

the

situation where numbers have almost the same meaning in two cultures, mostly are

real meanings. Literally translation with notes is usually used when numbers are hard

to understand because of cultural implications. Liberally translation is applied in order

to

suit

to

the

target

cultural

conventions

by

reducing

or

enlarging

the

quantity.

Translation

by

omitting

numbers

can

be

used

in

translating

some

numbers

without

concrete

meanings,

so

that

the

original

messages

can

be

expressed

without

using

numbers. Finally, an overall conclusion comes to summarize the thesis.

13

Chapter I

Numbers and Cultures

Culture and language depend on each other. Language exists in the soil of culture,

and

culture

is

reflected

in

the

form

of

language.

Numerals

as

an

important

part

of

language have vivid cultural allusions. In different languages, numerals are restrained

by their own cultural environment, as a result of which readers from different cultures

can not easily get the same literary images. The reason lies in that both Chinese and

English

have

a

large

quantity

of

cultural

connotations.

Without

knowing

them,

one

can not understand the writers

’ dee

p meaning, let alone appreciate the original beauty

of

literature

and

art.

Thus

we

have

to

get

the

knowledge

of

cultural

background

of

numbers in order to make intercultural communication more effective an efficient.

1.1 Chinese culture about numbers

From

ancient

time

on,

numbers

have

always

been

used

as

measurement

units.

However,

with

the

development

of

human

society

and

culture,

they

are

gradually

given

more

and

more

other

connotations

besides

their

original

meanings.

Consequently, some numbers are

favorable, while some others are

considered to

be

unlucky. Some of them even become magic numbers in different languages. With the

influence of its abundant culture, Chinese numerals have their unique connotations.

In

the following the culture background behind the numbers will be elaborated.

One,

besides

its

calculating

function,

also

has

implicit

meanings

or

sometimes

called

fuzzy

meanings

such

as

“

< br>unique

”

,

“

every

”

,

“< /p>

whole

”

in

Chinese.

In

Chinese

traditional Taoism

“one”

is usually used to designate Tao, the beginning of the world, the original

unity at the basis of creation, from which everything is generated. That is

“ 道生一，一生二，

二生三，三生万物”

( Tao gave birth to the one, the one gave birth to the two, two

gave birth to three, and three gave birth to ten thousand things. ) in

Daode Jing

(

《道

德经》

).

One is a quite symbolic number, meaning

“total”

and

“

single- mindedness

”

.

This

is

the reason

why it

is

often quoted in

Chinese

idioms and commonly used in

14

famous sayings and proverbs. For example

，

“一帆风顺”

( plain sailing ),

“一箭双

雕”

( to kill two birds with one stone ), < /p>

“

吃一堑，

长一智”

( a fall into the pit, a gain

in your wit ),

“一朝被蛇咬，十年怕井绳”

( once bit, twice shy ).

Even

numbers

are

regarded

as

beauty

and

luck

in

Chinese

culture

because

philosophy

in

China

is

Dualistic

philosophy

which

believes

that

“

Yin

”

and

“

Yang

”

together form the world. Due to this, Chinese people are in favor of even numbers.

Two as the smallest even number is literarily called

“

双”

(shuang) and

“

两”

(liang)

in Chinese. Chinese people are longing for

“好事成双”

(happiness comes in pairs)

and

“两全其美”

(satisfy

both

parties),

which

is

exactly

the

reflection

of

its

connotations

of

goodliness

and

fortune.

At

the

same

time,

its

original

meaning

can

also be found in some idioms to show the opposition of one or lucky gains, such as

“一心不可二用”

(

one can’t

focus

one’s mind on two things at

the same time) and

“一石二鸟”

(kill two birds with one stone).

Three

is

the

number

implicating

success

and

nobleness

in

Chinese

traditional

culture. Chinese ancient philosophers divided the universe into the heavens, the earth

and

the

creatures

and

they

believed

that

everything

including

what

is

invisible

and

untouchable

in

the

universe

is

generated

by

three

(the

so

called

“三生万物”

in

Chinese). From nothing to something, or something to infinity,

“< /p>

three

”

plays a circle

role. Therefore, they sacrifice the heads of a pig, a bull and a goat as san sheng(

“三

牲”

) to God for great events in order to get bless and protect from mysterious strength.

In ancient times, the only light known by people is from the sun, the moon and the

star. So they are solemnly named as san guang(

“三光”

). Buddhism regards the last

life, this life and the other life as san sheng (

“三生”

). In feudal society, father, son

and grandson are the so-called san zu(

“三族”

). Apart from these, three has its fuzzy

meanings in some idioms such as

“三足鼎立”

(a situation of tripartite confrontation),

“三思而后行”

(think thrice before acting),

“三个臭皮匠赛过诸葛亮”

(two heads

are better than one).

Ancient

Chinese

people

view

the

sky

as

circle

and

the

ground

square.

Four

means the four directions of the

“

square

”

consisting the east, the south, the west and

the north, and four elements, water, fire, earth and air which make up the world. There

15

are

four

seasons

in

natural

world.

Thus

four

is

the

soul

of

the

universe.

There

are

many

four-character

idioms

containing

“

four

”

such

as

“四海升平”

(the

universal

prospect ), and

“名扬四海”

(well known all around the world). However, number

four

is

sometimes

regarded

as

unfortunate

in

China,

because

it

has

the

same

pronunciation with

“死”

(death) in Chinese, which is a taboo in China.

Five as the center of the numbers from one to nine is one of the most frequently

used

numbers.

Confucians

believe

that

five

implies

the

concept

of

“

the

mean.

”

Besides this, the five elements (metal, wood, water, fire, earth) provided a framework

for people at former times to classify natural phenomena. Five, in this way, becomes a

mark of harmony

and gets people’s favor. “

May the five fortunes approach your door

”

“五福临门”

in Chinese is assaying often seen at festive occasions. The five fortunes

are

long

life,

wealth,

health,

an

ethical

life,

and

a

peaceful

death.

A

great

many

of

idioms have occurred with

“

五”

(five) such as

“

五官端正”

(have regular features),

“五谷丰登”

(an abundant harvest of all crops),

“五光十色”

(all sorts and colors).

Six is usually used to sum up listed things.

“六合”

means east, west, south,

north and sky as well as earth.

“

六亲”

consists father, mother, elder brother, younger

brother,

wife

and

son.

“六畜”

means

the

horse,

the

bull,

the

goat,

the

pig,

the

chicken as well as the dog. On the other hand, six is always related with luck.

“六六

大顺”

(the

number

of

six

suggests

everything

goes

smoothly),

so

people

are

more

likely

to

select

number

six

when

they

choose

telephone

numbers

or

door

numbers.

168

is

often

the

head

of

hot

line

because

it

sounds

like

“一路发”

in

Chinese

meaning on the road to success full of fortunes.

According

to

informal

statistics,

not

many

people

take

seven

to

be

a

lucky

number.

According

to

the

old

text

Yu

Hsiao

Ling

Yin,

when

someone

first

dies

the

mourning period should be seven days.

“

Doing the sevens

”

(

“

做七”

) is the custom at

funerals. From the first seven days someone passes away to the seventh seven days,

all together 49 days, there are appropriate rituals for each. It is said that the seventh of

the

seventh

month

of

the

lunar

year

is

the

day

when

dead

people

get

together.

For

these reasons, Chinese people do not like number seven. Consequently, idioms with

16

seven are rarely found.

“七死八活”

(nearly dead),

“七拼八凑”

(scrape together),

“七零八落”

(throw to disorder) are some examples with passive meaning.

Eight

is

an

auspicious

number

with

the

similar

pronunciation

of

“发”

(fa),

meaning fortune, and wealth. People tend to choose a day with eight in it to open a

shop or to sign a contract because they believe that they will have good fortunes from

that day on. Idioms having eight include

“八面玲珑”

(worldly sophisticated),

“八

字没一撇”