从文化角度论英语习语的翻译方法.doc

毕 业 论 文题 目：On Translation of English Idioms from Cultural Perspective院 系：专 业：姓 名：指导教师：完成日期：Abstract English is one of the most important languages in the world. So the translation is also significant. At the same time, English idioms play a key role in English language and culture, reflecting language and culture. These phrases dominate different cultural characteristics and information of culture. The practice of the rich idioms of English language is a mirror of a colorful Western culture. However, there is something different in the reappearance of the original language. In addition to strive in line with the original text literally, we should take cultural characteristics of the target language into account. Then art processing is necessary. As a result of that the real cross-cultural communication is come true. The paper is divided into four sections. The first section says definitions and forms of idiom. The second section says the relationship between idioms, culture and translation. The third section says how to understand idioms from a cultural context. The fourth section gets a further conclusion and makes some constructive suggestions which are practical in translating idioms.Key words: idioms； culture； the translation of idioms摘 要英语是最重要的国际语言之一，因此翻译就变得很重要。与此同时英语习语又是英语文化的重要体现，它反映了语言和文化特点。这些习语承载了不同的民族文化特色和文化信息。含义丰富的习语是多姿多彩的西方文化的一面镜子。然而源于的再现是困难的。为了再现原文的表现力，在翻译中，除了力求忠实原文，还应根据目的语的文化特点，对不同的源语言做相应的艺术加工，以真正实现跨文化交际。本文共分为四大部分，第一部分是介绍习语的定义及形式；第二部分介绍了习语，文化和翻译之间的关系；第三部分讲的是如何在上下文中理解习语；最后一部分是作进一步总结以及一些实用的建议。关键词:习语；文化；习语的翻译 CONTENTS Introduction 1Chapter One Definitions and forms of idiom 2I. The definitions of idiom2II. Forms of idioms 41. Set phrases 42. Allusions 4 3. Proverbs 5 4. Slangs 6Chapter Two Idioms, culture and translation7I. Idioms and culture 7II. The Relationship between Idioms and Culture 7III. Culture and translation 8Chapter Three Understanding idioms from a cultural context 11I. The original and national coloring 11II. The cultural loading 13Chapter Fourth Translation of Idioms15 I. Strategies for Idiom Translation-Domestication and Foreignization15 II. Dialectical Relationship between Domestication and Foreignization15 III. Translation methods of idioms17 1. The literal approach172. Literal translation plus annotation183. Image-shift translation204. The approach of addition and omission215. Free Translation-Replacement with Similar Chinese Idioms23IV. The Points for Attention in the Translation of English Idioms231. Avoiding Word-for-Word Translation232. Avoiding Substitution with a Highly Culture-bound Chinese Idiom 24Conclusion 26Bibliography 27Acknowledgements 28Introduction Cultural studies have recently been popular in the west. And discussing cultural studies has also become a mainstream in the circle of present Chinese culture and academia, especially in the field of literary theory and criticism. Consequently, in the wide scope of translation studies, there are some scholars both at home and abroad who have tried to proficiently use cultural translation studies in interpretation. Translation is considered to be a cross-cultural communication. It involves not only the transfer between languages, but also the transfer between cultures. However, the ways of thinking, beliefs, attitudes and values of different cultures both lead to failures or misunderstandings in cross-cultural communication and confuse translation theorists and translators.An idiom is a beautiful gem of a language. Yet it is very difficult to learn and be used in a foreign language. Generally speaking, they are rather hard to understand from the meaning of individual words. Chinese and English both abound with idioms, which have respective characteristics and far-reaching meaning. Especially many idioms be characterized with figures and strong cultural flavors. If they are translated appropriately, the original spirit and meanings can be precisely conveyed, simply understood and easily accepted by the target language readers. In addition, the Chinese and English vocabularies can provide a complete cultural vision. If the two languages are so different in backgrounds and cultures with each other, it is always complicated to translate idioms of one language into another. This paper explains the close relationship between idioms and culture translation, and the issue of idiom translation is studied from a cultural perspective.Chapter One Definitions and forms of idiomThe word “idiom” has several definitions. In “the Chinese idiom”, it may be defined as “the language of a people or a country”; or “a dialect” as in “Cantonese idiom”. It may possess another meaning, according to Oxford Advanced Learners English-Chinese Dictionary, “phrase or sentence whose meaning is not clear from the meaning of its individual words and which must be learnt as a whole unit”. This paper deeply explores the second definition, for the second most suits the purpose of the paper. “习语” is equivalent for “Idiom” in Chinese, it also refers to a kind of a phrase or sentence formed by long usage. We can sum up two basic criteria from the above definitions . These are important to decide whether an expression is an idiom(or:习语) or not.I. The definitions of idiom Firstly, since idioms are established and made up by long practical usage, lexica components of an idiom is relatively steady to a high degree. There is little or no variation in form of an idiom under normal circumstances. Generally speaking, any change in the components will result in absurdities or even deprive the idioms of its original meaning. The following are absolutely cannot do by a speaker or writer who uses an idiom unless he or she is making a joke on purpose or attempting play on words:a. Change the order of the words in an idiom (e.g. “at sevens and sixes” instead of “at sixes and sevens”);b. Delete a word from an idiom (e.g. “a kettle of fish” instead of “a different kettle of fish”);c. Add a word to an idiom (e.g. “Few words are the best” instead of “Few words are best”);d. Casually replace a word with another (even with a synonymous word) (e.g. “a rotten horse” instead of “a rotten apple”)e. Change grammatical structure of an idiom (e.g. “fine birds are made by fine feathers” instead of “fine feathers make fine birds”). As usage of English idiom, in Chinese we can only say: “七上八下” not “八上七下” “无的放矢” not “无的放箭”, although “矢”and “箭” both mean “arrow”. However, in spite of what has been mentioned above, sometimes, for the sake of sarcasm, for the sense of humor or for the sake of style, we can create some new variants from the original idioms according to its structure. But these creative variants are makeshift, and may not be widely acknowledged by people as a whole:(1) “Wise men will be wise men” is from “fools will be fools” (2) “Be dressed to the teeth” is from “to be armed to the teeth”.Similarly in Chinese:(3) “一石三鸟”（ to achieve three aims at once）is an irregular variant of the set phrase “一石二鸟”（to achieve two aims at once）;Sometimes for rhetorical purpose, an idiom can be made brief with only the core word remained:(4) “His affair was the last straw.” In this sentence, “the last straw” is adapted from the idiom “the last straw that breaks the camels back” Now “the last straw” is equal to “the last straw that breaks the camels back”.(5) “Opportunities for starting your own business will never be better, so make hay and go and see your bank manager today.” Here, “make hay” is shorten from the idiom “Make hay while the sun shines”. Such abbreviation usually demand the familiarity of the idiom by the reader to know the real meaning.Secondly, usually the meanings of idioms cannot be extrapolated from their individual word. More often than not, it cannot be translated just literally. If it is translated according to its literal meaning, there will be ridiculous. Take the idiom “ in Dutch” for example: Instead of in the Netherlands (Holland), it means to be dated in trouble, as in “He has been getting in Dutch at school.” Then let us take another Chinese idiom for example: “放马后炮”(literally means to fire a firecracker after a horse. However, actually it means to do an action or make an advice after something has been done ). An idiom usually expresses an deep meaning, in another word, most idioms are metaphorical in meaning. The meaning of an idiom is not the total meanings of its constituent words, that is to say, idioms convey righter and deeper meaning as a whole than the individual words can carry separately. This theory can be completely illustrated by the following examples: when we the solo phrase” the man in the moon” is not an idiom. But in a figurative sense, “the man in the moon” refers to someone regarded as out of touch with real life. “The cats whiskers” dose not refer to a cats thick hair that grows near the mouth. It refers to an excellent person or thing. “black art” is not an art is black at all. And it means a technique or practice considered mysterious and sinister.II. Forms of idiomsBroadly speaking idioms have following forms: set phrases, proverbs, common sayings, colloquialisms, allusions and slangs. Here four most important forms are selected to explain.1. Set phrasesOne of the most important groups of idioms is set phrases whose form is fixed and many of them are not flexible and cannot be taken place by any other forms. There is an innumerable number of set phrases that play an important part in English language and culture. I would choose one of them with cultural traces. For example, the original meaning of “to kick the bucket” can be dated back to a religious ceremony of baptism in Christianity. Baptism is the religious rite of sprinkling water on to a persons forehead. As far as a Christian is concerned, he or she has three important stages in his or her life that are birth, marriage and death. As for a Christian the three stages are closely connected with a religious ceremony: baptism. Every Christian should needs to receive baptism from a pastor as soon as he or she was born. Then when he or she grow up and is about to get married, the marry ceremony will be held in the church with blessings of a prestigious minister. He or she will be baptized again when he or she is going to die”. So the idiom “kick the bucket” is mild and roundabout that is called euphemism meaning “to die” , referring to the death of a Christian in the ceremony of being baptized.2. Allusions Allusions of idioms are actually origins and national characteristics of idioms. Allusions contained in idioms, which has stories. When we translate such idioms we should take the different social background, customs and religious into account. Some idioms are certain to have allusions about myth and legend, history and classic. Their meanings are much more different from their literal meanings. Without knowledge of the allusions contained in idioms we can hardly read among the context and understand what they imply, letting along interpret it. To understand the idioms of this kind, knowledge of the origin and allusions of idioms is absolutely necessary. It is said that only a small number of English idioms originate from the legend of Greece and Rome, most of them stem from the Bible.For example, “between Scylla and Charybdis” a phrase originating from Bible, is now metaphorically used to refer to “a situation involving two dangers in which an attempt to avoid one increases the risk from the other”, but why and how? Regarding these confusing questions, the readers have to refer to the Bible, an spiritual as well as an inspired book, which offers men and women promises and punishments from God. It not only generates the history of the west but also has an exceptionally rich heritage of culture. But now its influence has spread to most of the literary world, just as Confucian Analects the utterance of Confucianism has overwhelmingly prevailed in our Chinese spiritual life, the spirit of Bible also influences the values of people in the west and how they look at life. 3. Proverbs Proverb is a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth, based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. They are often metaphorical. Proverb is often considered as the wisdom of many and the wit of one, expounding some truth or for the purpose of giving wise advice to people. Proverbs are the wisdom of people, so it is ordinary people who have created a large number of proverbs which are pithy, informal, colorful and refined from real life through their practical work. Their varied proverbs are from varied aspects of common people life. Here are some typical ones as a mirror reflecting common peoples lives as follows:(6)“In a calm sea every man is a pilot.”(在平静的海洋上,人人都是领航员) This maybe said by a sailor,(7) “Such carpenters, such chips.”(什么木匠出什么活) This maybe said by a carpenter.(8) “The cobblers wife is the worst shod”. (鞋匠的老婆没鞋穿) This maybe said by a cobbler.4. SlangsSlang is a kind of language happening in casual and playful speech. Slang expressions are dialectic, vulgar and colloquial. Slangs footprint scattered all round every profession: business trade, sport, school, social group, etc. They derived from native peoples lives experiences or their customs. They are widely used in informal cases, speech and writing for instance drama, TV serials, movies, monologue in the novel. However, it is nearly hard to find them in formal contexts.Chapter TwoIdioms, culture and translationIdioms usually have designated meaning and are closely related to distinguishing cultural characteristics and cultural values. As the most important part and essence of a language, idioms are usually in company with the historical backgrounds, economic condition, geography, environment, customs and mental situations of the native or local speakers. As a matter of fact, idioms have been gradually accepted by people all over the world and as some national treasures to hand down to their descendant until the present day. The most important reason to be that is their universal value. If there are no idioms, language would lack color, vivid sense and become uninteresting and monotonous.I. Idioms and cultureLets take proverb as an example. Proverbs are products of daily experience. In almost every culture, proverbs offer an indispensable group of suggestions for members to follow. And we have to express thanks to the succession of these “words of wisdom”, each generation learns about what is the significant part in a culture. The followings are some proverbs from the United Sta