Translation of Chinese Culture Specific Words中国特色词汇的英译.doc

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1、Translation of Chinese Culture Specific Words中国特色词汇的英译ContentsAbstract.31.Introduction42.ChinaEnglish and Chinglish.42.1 The Traditional Definition ofChinaEnglish.42.1.1 The Characteristic ofChinaEnglish.42.2 The Definition of Chinglish.52.2.1 The Characteristic of Chinglish.52.3.The Relation betwee

2、nChinaEnglish and Chinglish.52.4 Based on Chinese culture, The personal Definition ofChinaEnglish.63. The Translation of Chinese Words with Chinese Culture 73.1 The Features of the Translation of Chinese Words.73.1.1 Hypo taxis and Parataxis.73.1.2 The Thinking Model and Linear Sequence83.2 The Clas

3、sification of the Translation of Chinese Words.93.2.1 The One Borrowing of The Translation-Transliteration.93.2.2 The Other Borrowing of The Translation-Loan translation104. Literal Translation & Free translation.104.1 Literal Translation.104.1.1 The Feather of Literal Translation,104.1.2 The practi

4、cal usage of literal translation.,104.2 Free Translation.115. Conclusion.12Bibliography.13Translation of Chinese Culture Specific WordsAbstractthe appearance of the concept of “Englishes” reflects the reality that English is no longer what is used to be. British English and American English are not

5、considered as the only two existing standard Englishes but just as the two English varieties used in the two different countries. People in different regions or countries have their specific expressions. Apart from British English and American English, there are other Englishes such as Canadian Engl

6、ish, Australian English, Indian English, Japanese English, Pakistan English, China English and so on. China English is an English variety used by the native Chinese people for communication under the specific language environment. China English is very different from chinglish which is misused by Ch

7、inese people. This paper, on the basis of the comprehensive analysis on the differences between China English and Chinglish, introduces a new definition of China English and presents the features of the English translation of Chinese words with traditional Chinese culture. The Chinese features shown

8、 in Chinese words translation are helpful to spread Chinese civilization and culture.KeywordsChina English &ChinglishHypo taxis& parataxisLiteral translation & free translation论中国特色词汇的英译摘要随着英语作为“世界语”这个概念的出现就在一定程度上反映了当今英语的变化，英国英语和美国英语不再被认为是仅有的两种标准英语，而只是在两个国家所适用的两种英语变体。不同地区和国家在不同地区和国家的文化基础上有其特有的英语表达方式

9、。除了英国英语和美国英语外，还有其他英语，比如加拿大英语、澳大利亚英语。中国英语的翻译与中国式英语的翻译截然不同，后者指的是中国人错误使用的一种畸形英语翻译现象。本文在分析中国英语翻译及中国式英语翻译区别的基础上结合了中国传统文化特色给出了中国英语翻译的新定义：中国特色英语的翻译，是以规范的英语为核心，中国人使用的一种英语变体，在词汇、句法以及语篇层面上表现出中国传统特色和文化特征，对中国英语的翻译研究不仅有助于纠正、规范中国英语实际运用中的错误现象和同中国式英语模糊不清现象，而且，中国英语翻译所表现出的中国特色有助于传播中华文明及中国文化。本文从对中国英语进行异化翻译的策略出发，并结合中国特

10、色文化以达到最正确、最适合的翻译效果。关键词中国英语中国式英语形合意合直译意译1IntroductionWith English as the world language, the definition of traditional English has been developed and it more or less reflects the usages trend on English.It reflects current change of English to a certain extent as “Esperanto the appearance of concept

11、with English, British English and American English are no longer considered to be two kinds of only standard English, and only two kinds of variants of English used in two countries. Different areas and country have its characterized English expression way on the basis of culture of different areas

12、and country. Besides, British English and American English, there are other English such as Canadas English , Australian English , Indian English , New Zealand English , African English , Japanese English and Chinese English ,etc.Chinese English is a kind of variant of English that people taking Chi

13、nese as native language used under the environment of its particular language on Chinese traditional cultures and foundations.2.ChinaEnglish and Chinglish2.1 The Traditional Definition ofChinaEnglishWang Rongpei(1994), in his article The Objective Existence of China English, holds that the definitio

14、n of China English should include the following three aspects: 1) China English is used by Chinese people in Chinese native land. 2) China English should have the Standard English as its core. 3) China English has its unique features. Some authors challenge his definition of China English by publish

15、ing his article China English and Chinese English.Here are some arguments about the point: 1) the use of China English is not restricted to Chinese native land. Many English words from Chinese have entered English by means of transliteration and loan translation, for example, tea (茶), kowtow (叩头), G

16、reat Leap Forward (大跃进), Gang of Four (四人帮), and so on.(江晓红,2001:55) All these English words or phrases, be they used inChinaor abroad, are China English. He thinks that even such expressions as “Little Red Book” and “Communist China” might be considered as China English, which are coined by the wes

17、terners and are never used in the nativelandofChina. Furthermore, China English is now mainly for the international use, and its nasalization does not mean that it must be used in thelandofChina. 2) The wording of “Standard English” seems questionable. Considering the fact that neither British Engli

18、sh nor American English is regarded as the “Standard English,” but just as a variety of English, so-called “Standard English” ceases to exist and should be replaced by “Normative English” which complies with the general rules of the English language and can be accepted and understood by English-spea

19、king peoples.In other words, Chinglish refers to the “Sinicized English” which can be seen in sound, vocabulary and text due to the linguistic transfer or the rigid translation by Chinese people, thus it is not accepted by the native English-speaking people. Its composition and use scope are unstabl

20、e and limited; it can cause obstruction to foreign communication and culture exchange. With frequent communication and culture exchange betweenChinaand the western countries, this kind of unaccepted “English” will be less and less. In brief, although China English and Chinglish are interrelated in s

21、ome aspects, there is a fundamental distinction between them. The former is regarded as an accepted English variety that can enrich the English language, while the latter is unacceptable and will bring barriers and misunderstanding in international communication.2.2 The Definition of ChinglishWhat i

22、s Chinglish? Chinglish, or Chinese English, is a deformed English phenomenon misused by Chinese people, and it obviously violates the general English rules, culture and custom; its composition and use scope are unstable and limited; besides, it does great harm to international communication and the

23、spreading of Chinese civilization. Therefore, Chinglish is not accepted by native English speakers. Most sentences of Chinglish are produced by misunderstanding semantic meaning or logic relations, and some are even arranged in Chinese structures. The following sentences are good examples about Chin

24、glish: My stomach is hungry.“我的肚子饿了.”My age is very young.“我的年龄很轻.”His brain is clever.“他的脑子聪明.”All the English versions above are organized in Chinese structures and are publicly thought of as non-normative English. There are many Chinglish sentences directly translated from Chinese with the Chines

25、e terms, culture and taste; and all of them are Chinese-flavored English. The sentence below can well exemplify this point: Whatever men comrades can accomplish, women comrades can too.“凡是男同志能做到的,女同志也能做到.”The normative English sentence for it should be:“Women can also accomplish whatever men can do.

26、”2.3 The Relationship betweenChinaEnglish and Chinglish2.3.1 The Four Factors to Form theChinaEnglish with Chinese CultureHere, Chinese English words with Chinese culture can be regarded as China English, while, it is absolutely different with the concept of chinglish. Actually, that the English lan

27、guage is originally the language of English people. Other peoples who use English should follow the idiomatic and conventional ways of the English people.However, each nation has its specific culture. As inChina, there must be special Chinese culture and way of life to be expressed in English, that

28、is, China English is to express Chinese phenomena and ideas. Every country has its own situation.As forChina, be it old or new words, it has many things with Chinese characteristics that need to be expressed when they are translated in English. To support this idea, we can cites some examples as fol

29、lows: Hanlingyuan(翰林院)，Imperial examination(科举)，May Fourth Movement(五四运动)，Xiucai(秀才)，Eight-legged essay(八股文)，Baihuawen(白话文)，Two hundred policies(双百方针), Ideological remolding(思想改造)，Four modernization(四个现代化)，and so on. All these English versions with Chinese characteristics are correct English and sho

30、uld belong to China English. The relationship between China English and Chinglish China English and Chinglish are interrelated in some aspects: both of them are to express Chinese things and have Chinese features.Yet there is an essential distinction between them: China English is normative English

31、and a member of the world English; its composition and use scope are much richer and wider than Chinglish. China English, with its increasing publicity to the world, will exert a great influence on the English language. However, Chinglish is a deformed language with the unstable composition and narr

32、ow use scope; it can cause barriers inChinas international communication and culture spreading. Some Chinglish sentences have entered English, for instance，the sentence“Long time no see.”(好久不见了。) originally is a pidgin English, but now it is uttered by many native English speakers. Nevertheless, suc

33、h cases are very rare. It should be noted that there is a great deal of pragmatic errors in the materials publicized to overseas countries and areas. According to the statistic data made by Duan Liancheng (1990), by the end of 1990, there had been over 2000 sorts of booklets to foreign countries jus

34、t in Shandong Province of China. The correct use of China English is a good solution to the difficult translation problem. Therefore, the scientific study of China English is of great importance to both linguistic theories and social reality.2.4 Based in Chinese Culture, Personal Definition ofChinaE

35、nglishAnyway, how to definite China English? I think that the above definitions of China English have a concentration on the following four points: The first is about the “standard English”, which doesnt exist at all since neither British English nor American one is regarded as a “standard” English,

36、 but each of them as an English variety.However, we may refer to such English as British English, American English, Australian English and Singapore English as “normative” English which conform to the general rules of English language and can be understood by the native English speakers. The second

37、concerns the scope of China English, that is, whether it has a restrict use in native Chinese land. Modern sociolinguists divide English varieties into two kinds international and intranational in terms of their purpose and function (Sun Li 1989). This division clearly indicates that any English var

38、iety can be used beyond its native land and enter international use.China English is mainly an international variety. We take Chinese borrowings for instance. From seventeenth to twentieth century, many Chinese borrowings directly entered English through transliteration such as tea (茶), kowtow（叩头）,

39、yamen（衙门）, Great Leap Forward（大跃进）, Great Cultural Revolution（文化大革命）, Gang of Four（四人帮）, Four Modernizations（四个现代化）. All these English versions of course belong to China English no matter where they are used. The third is whether China English has the interference from Chinese. As is well known, the

40、 relation between language and thought is of dialectical unity. Language development can promote that of thought, and vice versa. An accomplished language acquisition marks the formation of a certain thinking mode. Ones English inevitably has Chinese features once he or she has acquired Chinese and

41、formed the way of Chinese thinking.Accordingly, the Chinese features of China English are unavoidably caused by the intrinsic thinking model specific to Chinese people and culture. China English does not exist without Chinese interference. When ones English proficiency is improved, ones Chinese inte

42、rference may be less, but it can never disappear completely. This is even so for an expert in English. So long as one has Chinese as ones native language and thinks in Chinese way, ones English is definitely characteristic of Chinese flavors. The fourth is on the scope of the features of China Engli

43、sh, that is, whether China English has the features at the level of phonology.3. The Translation of Chinese Words with Chinese Culture3.1 The Features of the Translation of Chinese Words3.1.1 Hypo taxis and Parataxis (形合和意合)So far as the features of the translation of Chinese words, firstly, we may

44、consider the concepts of Hypo taxis and parataxis. Hypo taxis is the meaning of the dependent or subordinate relationship of clauses with connectives(Christiane, Nord.1988:128), while, the concept of parataxis means that the juxtaposition of clauses or phrases without the use of coordinating or subo

45、rdinating conjunctions.The main difference in sentence structure between English and Chinese is that English is a language of Hypo taxis while Chinese is a language of parataxis. Therefore, English words or sentences are well knitted, and Chinese ones are terse and lucid. Some shortened sentence for

46、ms are adopted in Chinese so as to make words or sentences concise. Consequently, this features of Chinese sentence translation is reflected in China English consisting of many short sentences forms, the following translation examples can well illustrate this point:(1) Life is above and service is f

47、irst. Chinese version is that生命至上，服务第一。(2) Safety is first and prevention is most. Chinese version is that安全第一，预防为主。(3) The higher authorities have polices and the localities have their counter-measures. Chinese version is that上有政策，下有对策。（4）Ten thousand years are too long, seize the day, and seize the hour. Chinese version is that一万年太久，只争朝夕。(李文中, 1993:53)All these English translation versions mentioned above are close to the structure and style of the original Chinese, and every phrase conforms to English syntax. A s