毕业论文英文论中西方文化差异

Cultural Differences of English and Chinese Idioms and

Their Translation

Abstract

Idioms include set phrases, sayings, proverbs and allusions. They are important,

peculiar

and

indispensable

part

of

a

language.

They

are

special

linguistic

units,

for

they are mainly characterized by their structural stability, semantic unity and contain

various kinds of rhetorical devices and thus acquire a figurative meaning. Idioms play

an

important

role

in

human

communication,

and

they

are

also

the

most

part

of

the

culture. They have strong national characteristics as well as specific linguistic features.

The

production,

variation,

and

development

of

idioms

all

include

much

and

complicated

culture

information.

So

translating

English

idioms

into

Chinese

or

translating

Chinese

idioms

into

English

can

’

t

be

the

word

to

word

translation

but

concerning the influence of culture factors. The accurate translation of idioms should

reflect

the

cultural

background.

The

thesis

mainly

discusses

the

importance

of

understanding

the

cultural

differences;

expresses

the

views

on

geographical

environment,

background

of

history,

customs

and

religion

and

belief

and

then

suggests the principles that may be applied in the translation of English idioms and

also offers some points for attention.

Key words:

cultural differences; idioms; translation principles

1

英汉习语的文化差异与翻译

摘要

习语 主要包括成语、谚语、歇后语、典故等，它是语言中较为重要而且不可

或缺的一部分。习 语是一种特殊的语言单位，因为它具有结构稳定、

语意连贯的

特 点；而且习语善于运用多样化的修辞手法，

从而具有了隐含的 比喻意义。习

语是人类交际中的普遍现象，

同时又是文化的重要 组成部分。

它具有强烈的民族

特色和本土的语言特征。习语的产 生、变异和发展都包含着丰富、

复杂的文化信

息。因此，要准确 的翻译习语，就要深入了解原语和目的语的文化背景。正确把

握英汉文化的差异，

对于提高翻译质量大为有益。

本文论述了英汉习语在地理环

历史背景、风俗习惯以及宗教信仰方面的差异，进而提出英语习语翻译 中潜

在的原则和注意事项。

关键词：

文化差异；习语；翻译；原则

2

Cultural Differences of English and Chinese Idioms and

Their Translation

Thesis statement:

Idiom

is

an

important,

peculiar

and

indispensable

part

of

a

language.

This

paper

mainly

discusses

the

importance

of

understanding

the

cultural

differences

between

English and Chinese and suggests the principles that may be applied in the translation

of English idioms and also offers some points for attention.

Outline:

I.

Introduction

II.

Cultural differences between the Eastern and Western countries

A.

Geographical environment

B. Historical background

C. Custom

D. Religion and belief

III.

The principles for the translation of English idioms

A.

Keeping the cultural flavor of the original work

B.

The implied meaning and the literal meaning

C.

The translation in conformity with the context

D.

Keeping the translation higher quality

IV.

Some points for attention in the translation of English idioms

A.

Avoiding word- for-word translation

B.

Avoiding blindly substituting culture- bound idioms

V.

Conclusion

3

Cultural Differences of English and Chinese Idioms and

Their Translation

Ⅰ

. Introduction:

According

to

Webster

’

s

New

World

Dictionary

of

the

American

Language

(second college edition, 1972), an idiom refers to an accepted phrase, construction, or

expression contrary to the usual patterns of the language or having meaning different

from

the

literal.

That

is,

an

idiom

must

be

well

established

and

accepted

through

common

practice

and

an

idiom

usually

has

an

implied

meaning.

In

general,

no

elements

in

the

idiom

can

be

changed

without

destroying

the

sense

as

a

whole

and

also it cannot be interpreted only according to its literal meaning.

In

a

broad

sense,

English

idioms

include

set

phrases,

proverbs,

sayings,

colloquialisms, allusions and slangs. Idioms are important, peculiar and indispensable

part of a language. They are special linguistic units, for they are mainly characterized

by

their

structural

stability,

semantic

unity

and

contain

various

kinds

of

rhetorical

devices

and

thus

acquire

a

figurative

meaning.

Furthermore,

being

heavily

loaded

with

cultural

elements,

they

best

reflect

the

culture

of

a

nation.

Consequently,

they

have

been

described

as

the

essence

of

language

and

the

concentrated

culture.

An

appropriate use of them will add to the strength and vividness of our language. Men of

letters,

in

modern

or

ancient

times,

in

China

or

England,

all

excel

in

using

idioms.

English

and

Chinese,

as

languages,

both

have

a

long

history.

They

contain

a

large

number

of

idioms

with

different

flavors,

which

offer

human

a

kind

of

beautiful

enjoyment, that is, deserved but humorous, strict but elegant, brief and to the point,

vivid and full of beauty and significance. English and Chinese idioms connect closely

with

cultural

tradition

and

carry

different

national

cultural

features

and

different

cultural

information,

because

of

different

geographical

environments,

historical

backgrounds, customs and religion believes and so on.

As

American

philosophy

professor

H.P.

Grice

said

in

his

Meaning

that

the

meaning of langue can be divided into natural meaning and non-natural meaning, and

4

the latter means the meaning human intend to express, that is, the implied meaning the

communicator

intend

to

express

in

particular

occasions.

This

is

the

base

of

Grice

’

s

conversational implication. As a result of the differences of the cultural backgrounds

of

English

and

Chinese,

the

discourse

and

article

may

have

completely

different

implied meaning, which are usually the right meanings the speaker or author wants to

express.

Ⅱ

.

Cultural differences between the Eastern and western countries

A. Geographical environment

People living in different geographical environments have different geographical

cultures. People who live in a certain environment for a long history will have their

own cultural tradition related to their unique living condition. Thus varied idioms are

generated. Different places of the same country even have different, misunderstanding

idioms

because

of

different

geographical

environments.

Therefore,

the

idioms

collected from the eastern and western countries are certainly having different cultural

implied meanings. In China, the direction south is often put in front of north when in

Chinese set phrases, such as

从南到北，

南来北往，< /p>

南辕北辙

and so on. However, in

English,

“

from north to south

”

is used to express the set phrase

“

从南到北

< br>”

. Besides,

England is an island rounded by water and its navigation once led the world, while the

Chinese people live in the Asian Continent. Therefore, there must be a large number

of English idioms about water and ship but Chinese idioms about land. For example,

while representing someone wasting of money, we say

“

spend money like water

”

in

English, but in Chinese we say

< br>“

挥金如土

”

. Other examples,

“

as weak as water(

弱不

禁风

)

”

,

“

to miss the bo at(

错失良机

)

”

< br>,

“

to rest on one

’

s oars(

暂时歇一歇< /p>

)

”

,

“

to keep

one

’

s head above water(

奋力图存

)

”

“

all at sea(

< br>不知所措

)

”

, etc.

In

the

Chinese

cultural

atmosphere,

“

east

wind

”

means

“

the

wind

of

spring

”

,

which

is

usually

used

to

symbolize

the

warm

of

spring.

Therefore,

Chinese

people

seem to have a preference for east wind. A poem of Lan Mao in Ming Dynasty said:

“

东风破早梅，向暖一支开”

.

However,

England

lies

in

the

western

Hemisphere,

being oceanic climate and the west wind is always the reporter of spring. Ode to the

West Wind, a poem of British poet Shelley, is the right example of praising the spring.

5

Another British poet Alfred Tennyson had a poem about west wind, that is:

S

weet and low, sweet and low./

Wind of the west sea, /

Low, low, breathe and blow,/

Wind of the western sea

!

Summer in China is often linked with heat and hot, but in Britain, this season is

quite comfortable and is often related to words like cute, soft and wonderful. In one of

Shakespeare’

s sonnet he compared his beloved to summer:

“S

hall I compare thee to a

summer

’

s day? / Thou art more lovely and more temperate.

”

B. Historical background

There are a large number of English and Chinese idioms formed from historical

allusions. They have simple structures but profound meanings, thus it

’

s impossible to

understand

or

translate

them

just

from

their

literal

meanings.

In

Chinese

there

are

many idioms formed in this way, such as,

“

东施效颦

”

,

“

名落孙山叶公 好龙

”,

“

守株

待兔

”

，

“

三十六计走为上

”

,

etc.

Here

we

take

“

东施效颦

”

for

example,

it

’

s

easy

for

Chinese

people

to

understand

its

cultural

connotation,

while

as

for

a

foreigner

knowing little about Chinese historical culture would be puzzled on seeing the literal

translation

“

Tung

Shih

imitates

Hsi

Shih”

,

because

the

connotation

of

the

original

allusion has been lost. Therefore, in order to make this Chinese allusion understood by

the foreigner, it can be translated by adding a note:

“H

si Shih was a famous beauty in

the

ancient

kingdom

of

Yueh.

Tung

Shih

was

an

ugly

girl

who

tried

to

imitate

her

way.

”

In

English

there

are

also

some

idioms

with

historical

cultural

background,

for

example,

“

Homer sometimes nods

”

, which is usually translated into Chinese as

“

智者

千虑，必有一失

”

,instead

of

“

荷马有 时也打瞌睡

”

.

If

not,

many

people

may

be

puzzled because they can not image the reason why Homer, the ancient Greek poet, a

wisdom man is linked with sleepy nods. Similar examples,

“

Pandora’s Box

灾难的根

6

源

”

,

“Achilles’

heels< /p>

某人唯一的致命弱点

”

,

“

Hamlet

优柔寡断的代名词

< br>”

,

“

paint

the lily

画蛇添足，多此一举

”

,

“

meet one

’

s Waterloo

一败涂地

”

,

“Penelope’s

web

永< /p>

远完不成的工作

”

..

C. Customs

Language

comes

from

life.

Therefore,

to

a

large

extent,

customs

restrict

the

expression system of language. As for the attitude towards some animals, the cultural

connotations of Chinese and British people are absolutely different. Here take dog for

example, in Chinese dogs are generally associated with unpleasantness and dogs are

kept

because

they

are

useful,

not

because

they

make

good

companions.

Generally,

they

are

considered

a

necessary

evil,

to

be

tolerated

but

not

loved.

So

the

Chinese

idioms about dogs are almost derogatory, such as,

狗腿子，狼心狗肺，狗急跳墙，

狗仗人势，狐朋狗友

,

etc.

However,

dogs

are

considered

as

men

’

s

best

friends

in

western countries.

Most

English idioms

about

dogs are commendatory and they are

usually used to represent people

’

s behavior, for example,

“

You are a lucky dog. (

你是

一个幸运儿

)

”

，

“

Every dog has his day. (

凡人皆有得意日

)

”

，

“

Old dog will not

learn new tricks(

老人学不了新东西

)

”

，

“

Love me, love my dog(

爱屋及乌

)

”

，

“

a

clever dog(

聪明的小孩

)

”

,

“

top dog(

最重要的人物

)

”

.

Take the numeral

“

eight

”

for another example, it

’

s well-known that

“

eight

”

is the

favorite numeral in China because of its pronunciation which is quite similar with the

Chinese character

“

发

”

, catering to people

’

s desire for wealth and money. However, in

English

“

eight

”

is just the numeral eight, without any implied meaning.

D. Religion and belief

Religion and belief play an important part and affect a lot in people

’

s everyday

life,

from

which

lots

of

unique

idioms

are

formed.

As

for

the

eastern

and

western

countries, they have different

religion

and

believes and, therefore, the translation of

those

unique

idioms

would

certainly

be

affected.

In

Britain

and

other

western

countries

religionary

culture

mainly

comes

from

the

Christian,

considering

that

“

Beyond all is the power of God

”

. Therefore, there are a great many of English idioms

linked with Christian, for instance,

“

God helps those who help themselves(

天佑自救

7