The Cultural Connotations of English Idioms and Their Translation.doc

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1、英语习语的文化内涵及其翻译The Cultural Connotations of English Idioms and Their TranslationContentsChapter1:1.1 11.1.1 11.1.2 51.1.3 121.2 23 1.3 26Chapter 2 402.1.1402.1.2 422.2 442.3 47Chapter 3 523.1 533.2 60Chapter 4 66Conclusion 71Acknowledgements74Bibliography75英语习语文化的文化内涵和它的翻译 摘要 论文以习语来源分析文化对成语的影响，并对英语习语的

2、翻译进行了分析和阐述。 习语是语言的艺术，是语言的一种特殊表达方式。首先，习语是文化的特征，表现形式多种多样，并且富含各种修辞，习语本身也是一种修辞：除了持久的生命力，习语还有着语义整体性和结构稳定性的特征。从他的来源来看，习语与文化有着紧密的联系，有的习语来源于人们的生活，风俗习惯和地理环境，另外一些习语来源于宗教信仰，历史，寓言和神话故事，或文学作品，有的习语甚至来源于外来语的借用。 蕴含着丰富文化特质的习语给翻译工作带来很大的挑战。在阅读了大量的有关习语的翻译作品后，作者在论文中对习语不同的翻译方法进行了深入的分析和探讨。习语不是由组成它的词语的单个意义的简单相加，一些习语的语言不符合语

3、法逻辑，不能按常理来理解他。不同的文化背景的人对同一句话有不同的理解，因为他们对目标文化了解的很少。所以，学习中国和西方国家文化的不同是必要的。这本论文中，作者以文化的一部分-习语作为例子来探讨英语的翻译。除了这些，作者介绍了两种和四种英语成语的翻译方法。译者应该根据具体的语境来采用不同的方法。 关键词：成语 来源 文化 翻译The Cultural Connotations of English Idiom and Its TranslationAbstract: On the basis of analysis of source of idiom,this thesis mainly p

4、robes into the translation of English idiom.idiom is a special kind of expressing way of language,or a kind of art of human language.the first,as well as most important feature of idiom is that it is a mirror of culture.the second is that English are rich in figures,which have plentiful varied expre

5、ssing styles,and idiom itself is a kind of figure too.the semantic unity and structural stability are the third and forth features of English idioms;the final one is long-lasting vitality.Idiom are very close with culture,which can be testified by its origins,some idioms are originated form peoples

6、lives,custom and environment while other idioms are originated from religious belief,history,allegoric and mythical story,or literal works,still others originated from the foreign borrowing.From the origins of English idioms,we know idiom,the culture-specific item,would like to challenge the transla

7、tors proficiency owing to the rich cultural connotation of idiom,there are always some difficulties to make a sensible translation.after reading numerous translation works of English idiom,the thesis goes deep into the different translation versions of English idiom,and explores the problems occurri

8、ng in the existing translation works.idioms meaning is not a simple combination of that of each constituent word.some idioms are not logical grammatically,cannot be understood by common sense.People from different cultures may have different understandings of the same sentence because they know litt

9、le about the target cultures. Thus, it is necessary for us to study the cultural differences between China and Western countries. In this thesis, the author takes idioma part of culture as an example to study English translation.Besides, the author introduces two methods and four skills of English i

10、diom translation. Translators should adopt different methods and skills according to specific conditions.Key words: Idiom, Origin,Culture,TranslationIntroductionTranslation is not only one kind of simple correspondence switching process between two languages, but is one kind of cultural exchange and

11、 transmission.Therefore, translating idioms is a concrete operating process.The translators must fully understand the intrinsic meaning of the Chinese idioms and they should utilize several different translation methods,this thesis analyse the definition of idiom and his region of idiom,let the read

12、er know more about the idiom and his relationship with culture.Beside those,author introducte some methods and skills to leach how to translate English idiom.reader get a deep understanding with the help of some examples.it is useful for the English learner.Chapter 1 Definition of Idiom1.1.Idiom is

13、originated form Greek;it means a special kind of expressing way of human language ,or a kind of art of human language.its form can be a few words,phrase,clause or short sentence.Oxford advanced learners English-Chinese dictionary defines idiom as:phrase or sentence whose meaning is not clear from th

14、e meaning if its individual word and which must be learnt as a whole unit,such asgive way,a change of heartetc.Thus,we can define that:English idiom is a set of phrases or one sentence,whose meaning is not obvious through knowledge of the individual meaning of the constituent words,but must be learn

15、t as a whole.it is a social phenomenon,which appeared during the long history of language development,in a broad sense,it includes idiom,proverb,allusion,allegorical saying,maxim and colloquialism.1.2.For instance, “to fall out” means “to quarrel”, but neither “fall” nor “out” has a sense of quarrel

16、. Another example is “a feather in ones cap”, which means “an honor or a success, of which one can be proud”. The meaning of this idiom is metaphorical. “Under the rose” is also very difficult to understand from the literal meanings of its component words. Its true meaning is “secretly”. “To have a

17、bee in ones bonnet” means “to have a strange fixed idea about something”. “To kick the bucket or to bite the dust” means “to die”. The figurative interpretation of “shoot the breeze” is “to talk without purpose”. Unlike literal language, it is impossible to explain idioms from the literal meaning of

18、 the individual words because they are a combination of two or more words, which function as a unit of meaning. Thus, English idioms are difficult to understand and acquire.1.3.For we Chinese students, English idioms are a stumbling block. It is very possible that they often not only feel at a loss

19、in understanding conversations because of a key idiom but also misuse idioms. In this paper, the author is going to make a study of the relationship between idioms and culture and how to translate English idioms.As we all know, language is closely related to culture and can be said as a part of cult

20、ure. From a dynamic view, language and culture interact with each other and shape each other. Language is the carrier of culture which in turn is the content of language. We can dig out cultural features from language and explain language phenomena with culture.Idioms as a special form of language e

21、xist in both of them and carry a large amount of cultural information such as history, geography, religion, custom, nationality psychology, thought pattern and etc, and therefore are closely related to culture. They are the heritage of history and product of cultural evolvement. Consequently, we can

22、 know much about culture through studying idioms and in turn get better understanding of idioms by learning the cultural background behind them.Chapter2. The origins of the idiomAfter we know the definition of idiom, it is better to talk about the origin of the idiom.Getting to the roots of idioms,

23、we can find that they originated from literary masterpieces, the Bible, Greek and Roman mythologies, ancient fables, historic events, anecdotes, customs, seafaring, agriculture, daily life, animal habitual behaviors, etc, which involved every aspect of life. That is why idioms are hard to understand

24、.The essential point of studying idioms well is to learn them through the background of the traditional culture, thought pattern, geography, religion, and custom.2.1. Literary masterpiecesMany popular western literary masterpieces have the classic words, phrases and sentences that attract people gre

25、atly. They are shaped to evolve the hidden meaning. For example:Screw up ones courage: to overcome ones fear; to stop oneself from being afraid.Man Friday: a faithful and willing attendant, ready to turn his hand to anything. The young savage found by Robinson Crusoe on a Friday, and kept as his ser

26、vant and companion on the desert island.To the manner born means be born to do. HamletPound of flesh: fair but unreasonable request. The Merchant of VeniceIf we do not read literary masterpieces, it is difficult for us to get the meaning of them. Guess is not a way to know them, reading more books i

27、s a best and only way to deal with the problem of understanding English idiom.2.2. The BibleIt is a firm concept of western people that God created people. They think that God is omnipotent and sacred. God, Christ, devil, Adam and some educational segments of the stories in the Bible are passed down

28、 because of peoples favor or even some historical and political causes. For example:Judass kiss: a deceitful act of courtesy. Judas betrayed his Master with a kiss. Matt.xxvi, 49Much cry and little wool: a proverbial saying expressive of contempt or derision for one who promises great things but nev

29、er fulfils the promises. Originally the proverb ran,” Great cry and little wool, as the Devil said when he sheared the hogs”; and it appears in this form in the ancient mystery of David and Abigail, in which Nabal is represented as shearing his sleep, and the Devil imitates the act by “shearing a ho

30、g”.Turn the other cheek: to take no action against the person who has hurt or harmed one, esp. to allow him to do it again. Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other alsoNew Testamente.g.: The murders have made me change my mind about capital

31、 punishment. We should bring back hanging. It is time to stop turning the other cheek.The widows cruse: a small supply of anything that, by good management, is made to go a long way and to be apparently inexhaustible. In allusion to the miracle of the cruse of oil in 2 kings,So when we learn idioms

32、from Bible, we can read Bible, which will increase our knowledge and help us to be familiar with the features of western culture and have a clear understanding of the hidden meanings of idioms.2.3. Greek and Roman mythologiesMythologies are ancient stories that are based on popular beliefs or that e

33、xplains natural or historical events because the people of the primeval society were scared of the nature and longed for the nice future.Midas touch: the excellent skill of making money. Midas is a legendary king of Phrygia who requested of the gods that everything he touched might be turned into go

34、ld. His request was granted, but as his food became gold the moment he touched it, he prayed the gods to take their favor back. He was then ordered to bathe in the Pactolus, and the river ever after rolled over golden sands. Pandora s Box: a prolific source of troubles. In Greek mythology a box cont

35、aining all the evils of mankind and given by Zeus to the mythological Pandora, who opened it against the command of Zeus, thus, all the evils flew forth and they have ever since continued to afflict the world, only Hope remained in the bottom; something that produces many unforeseen difficultiesSphi

36、nxs riddle means the difficult riddle Sphinx is a monster of ancient mythology; The Grecian Sphinx was generally said to be a daughter of Typhon and Chimaera; she infested Thebes, setting the inhabitants a riddle and devouring all those who could not solve it. The riddle wasWhat goes on four feet, o

37、n two feet, and three. But the more feet it goes on the weaker it be?and it was at length solved with the answer that it was a man, who as an infant crawls upon all-fours, in manhood goes erect on his two feet, and in old age supports his tottering legs with a staff. On hearing this correct answer t

38、he Sphinx slew herself, and Thebes was delivered. 2.4. Ancient fablesthough short and refined, ancient fable stories teach people many philosophic and educational theories while being narrated. They are also parts of preliminary education of Chinese children. It is obvious that they are popular even

39、 among Chinese people. They, especially Aesops Fables are the favorites of Chinese people. For example, naked truth means the plain, unvarnished truth or the truth without trimmings. The fable says that Truth and Falsehood went bathing; Falsehood came first out of the water, and dressed herself in T

40、ruths garments. Truth, unwilling to take those of Falsehood, went naked.Sour grapes, disparage something that is beyond ones reach. The allusion is to Aesops well-known fable of the fox, which tried in vain to get at some grapes, but when he found they were beyond his reach, he went away saying, “I

41、see they are sour.” Bell the cat: risk ones own life to do something dangerous. The allusion is to the fable of a cunning old mouse, who suggested that they should hang a bell on the cats neck to give notice to all mice of her approach. Cats paw: the tool of another, the medium of doing anothers dir

42、ty work. The allusion is to the fable of the monkey who wanted to get some roasted chestnuts from the fire, and used the paw of his friend, the cat, for the purpose.The lions share: the largest part: all or nearly all. In Aesops Fables, several beasts joined the lion in a hunt; but, when the spoil w

43、as divided, the lion claimed one quarter in right of his prerogative, one for his superior courage, one for his dam and cubs, “and as for the fourth, let who will dispute it with me.” Awed by his frown, the other beasts yielded and silently withdrew.2.5. Historic affairsIn most languages, people emb

44、ellish their speech or writing with references to characters or events from their history, that is to say, idiomatic expressions are closely related to a countrys history. A lot of English idioms cannot find Chinese equivalents because the histories of the two countries are quite different. Many idi

45、oms are from their own history. The English language has much less idioms from historical events than the Chinese language because English just has a history of more than one thousand years during which less important historical events happened. For example, “to meet ones Waterloo” is from the defea

46、t of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815, which means to be completely defeated. 2.6. AnecdotesMan for all seasons: the person who is erudite and adaptable.Mickey Mouse: small, insignificant, or worthless person. From the name of a mouse-like cartoon character created by Walt Disney 1901-1966, US cartoonis

47、t2.7 CustomsIndian File: one after the other, singly. The American Indians, when they go on an expedition, march one by one. The one behind carefully steps in the footprints of the one before,and the last man of the file is supposed to obliterate the footprints. Thus, neither the track nor the number of invaders can be traced.A feather in ones cap: an honor; something to be proud of. The allusion is to the very general cust