On translation of the Chinese symbolic animals from the perspective of cultural connotation.doc

on translation of the chinese symbolic animals from the perspective of cultural connotation十二生肖动物词汇的文化内涵以及翻译abstractthis thesis discusses the cultural connotation of the chinese symbolic animals and the proper translation of animal words.chinese symbolic animals are part of chinese culture. therefore, the meanings of chinese symbolic animals in sino-western cultures reflect the similarities and differences in the two cultures. because of the different geographical environment, customs and habits, religion, etc, different nations treat the animal words in different ways. among these chinese symbolic animals, some animal words may have totally different cultural connotations in english and chinese, some have similar culture connotations, and some different animals may have the same connotation in the two cultures. various cultural obstacles often exist in cross cultural translation.therefore, cultural connotations should be taken into consideration in order to produce a successful translation, and a successful translation also needs the proper use of different translation methods. so in the process of translating some animal idioms, the author also talked about three different translation methods: literal translation, free translation and substitution.in this study, chinese symbolic animals are illustrated to analyse the different cultures between english and chinese. the thesis also concludes that a successful translation of animal words results from the correct understanding of the cultural connotations of the animal words.key words: chinese symbolic animals; cultural connotations; translation中文摘要本文探讨了十二生肖动物词汇的文化内涵以及它们适当的翻译。十二生肖是中国文化的组成部分，因此，这十二种动物的比喻意义反映了中西文化的异同。由于地理环境、风俗习惯、宗教等因素的不同，各国对动物词汇的理解并不相同。在这十二种动物中，一些动物词在中西方有着完全不同的文化内涵，一些则是相似的，还有些不同的动物在两种文化中有着相似的文化内涵。在跨文化翻译中往往存在各种文化障碍。因此，要实现成功的翻译，必须要把动物词的文化内涵考虑进去, 同时成功的翻译也需要运用恰当的翻译方法。所以作者在动物习语的翻译中也谈到了三种翻译方法：直译法，意译法和替代法。本文通过对十二生肖动物词汇的翻译，分析了中西文化的差异。可以断定对文化内涵的正确理解是成功翻译动物词汇的前提。关键词：十二生肖；文化内涵；翻译contentsacknowledgementsiabstractii中文摘要iiichapter one introduction1chapter two literature review32.1 relevant studies32.2 definition of culture32.3 definition of cultural connotation42.4 definition of language42.5 definition of translation52.6 relationship between culture, language and translation5chapter three cultural connotation of the twelve animals63.1 the same animal with different cultural connotations in two languages63.2 the same animal with similar cultural connotations in two languages73.3 different animals with similar cultural connotations in two languages83.4 the same animal with or without cultural connotations in two languages9chapter four translation of the twelve animals114.1 difficulties in translating the twelve animals114.2 correct translation of these animals114.3 translation methods concerning the twelve animals idioms124.3.1 literal translation124.3.2 free translation134.3.3 substitution15chapter five conclusion17references1820chapter one introductionthis thesis studies on translation of the chinese symbolic animals from the perspective of cultural connotation.throughout the history of social evolution, man comes into contact with animals frequently, which results in an interdependent relationship between man and animals. the images of animals root in the everyday life of all nations, forming unique animal culture of each nation. chinese symbolic animals have a long history, and they are chinese traditional culture, and used to calculate years. they have a great influence on our social activities, not only in the ancient times, but also in the modern times. now we still use chinese symbolic animals in our daily life. the twelve animals are: mouse, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, and pig. however, due to the different historic backgrounds, customs, religious beliefs and some other elements, the westerners simply have different understanding of the cultural connotations of the animal words from us; and the images of the animals have much more difference in different countries, which affects translation. so understanding the cultural connotations of these animal words plays an essential role in the process of translation.here is a piece of news which i read in a newspaper several years ago:a chinese manufacturer exported their products “white elephant” brand batteries of good quality. however, what the seller got in return was nothing but cold shoulders of consumers abroad.in chinese, “white elephant” means a kind of valuable and precious thing; however, in english it refers to something which is useless but expensive. that is why they did not buy any.therefore, we can see the misunderstanding caused by cultural differences and we all know that animals have a great influence on the development of society, so there are many people both at home and abroad who do many researches on animal words. the culture of chinese symbolic animals is exclusive in china; however, there are comparatively few people who do research on them (especially all the twelve animals included).this thesis consists of five chapters:chapter one is the introduction, which shows some background information about chinese symbolic animals and gives the outline of this paper.chapter two is a literature review, which offers some definitions concerning language, culture, cultural connotation and translation. the relationship between them is also discussed.chapter three mainly deals with the cultural connotations of the twelve animals both in english and in chinese and the comparison between them.chapter four dwells on the translation of the animals and their idioms and analyses the use of three translation methods: literal translation, free translation and substitution.chapter five is the conclusion, which sums up the main idea of this study.this study is intended for people who have frequent contact with native english speakers, and who must use english frequently. the research done here is far from exhaustive. therefore, it is still necessary for other people to continue the study, concerning the translation of chinese symbolic animals so that contributions can be made to international cultural exchange. therefore, there is still a long way to go on.chapter two literature review2.1 relevant studiesas i mentioned above in chapter one there are comparatively less people do researches on chinese symbolic animals. since it is a particular cultural phenomenon in china, some scholars have already made some research in this aspect. for example, 罗丽莉 studies the flexible application of literal translation, free translation and substitutive approach in animal idioms translation (2006). 张殿恩 studies the figurative meaning of twelve symbolic animals in sino-western cultures (2006). 蒋红红 studies the mistaken translation of chinese symbolic animals (2004). the first two scholars discuss the translation methods used in some animal idioms and the cultural connotations of the animals, but they both did not give the translations about the twelve animal words. the last one gives some translations of the animals, but i did not agree with her in some of the animal translations. therefore, it is necessary to have a deeper research in cultural connotations and translations of chinese symbolic animal.the cultural images of animals have numerous differences in different countries, which affect translations.on one hand, due to the cultural uniqueness, the cultural connotations of these animal words in the chinese culture are different from those in the western culture. the same animals have different connotations in the two languages because of the different historic background, religious, customs and so on.on the other hand, the cultural universality is the reason why the same animal in different cultures may have similar connotations, and different animals may have the same cultural connotations in english and chinese.this thesis takes all the chinese symbolic animals as examples to explain the above points.2.2 definition of culturebefore going to discuss the cultural connotations of words in english and chinese, it is necessary to know the definition of culture first. however, culture is omnipresent; and it includes many aspects of life, so it is hard to define. as liu miqing says: “so far, there is no researcher who has ever offered a completely satisfactory definition for the word culture.” (1999:1)as culture is so abstract, an absolutely complete definition for it is almost impossible.here are some of the definitions of culture:in the oxford advanced learners english-chinese dictionary, culture is defined as “the customs and beliefs, art, way of life and social organization of a particular country or group.” (sally 2004:412)“culture may be defined as what a society does and thinks.” (sapir, 1921:233)“the way of life and its manifestations that is peculiar to a community that used a particular language as its means of expression.”(newmark, 1988:94)“culture consists of all the shared products of human society.” (robertson 1981) “this means not only such material things as cities, organizations and schools, but also non-material things such as ideas, customs, family patterns, and languages.”(邓炎昌, 刘润清, 1989:3)however, all the abovementioned definitions of the word “culture” are not comprehensive enough. so it can be seen that culture is influenced by many aspects, it is hard to understand, and cultural connotations is more complex for us to grasp.2.3 definition of cultural connotationto know what cultural connotation is, we should know the definition of connotation first.the oxford advanced learners english-chinese dictionary gives connotation the following definition: “an idea suggested by a word in addition to its main meaning.”(sally, 2004:352)the definition shows that the connotation of a word is different from its main meaning. a word should include not only its main meaning but also its connotation.the cultural connotation means the general meaning and connotative meaning of culture. it is related to many cultural circumstances, including the social backgrounds, emotions and attitudes of the people which exist in one culture.in the process of translation, a translator should express the cultural connotation, which is no easy job. it means people should understand the words as readers of the target language do.2.4 definition of languagewhat is language? it is “the system of communication in speech and writing that is used by people of a particular country.”(sally 2004:979) so language is a tool for us to communicate with each other, and it is used to reflect the society, express ideas and beliefs. it is very important in the intercultural communication, for without language, culture would be impossible. language is a cultural carrier; many cultural characters are expressed in the language. therefore, language plays a very important role in culture.2.5 definition of translationtranslation is “the process of changing something that is written or spoken into another language.” (sally 2004:1881) translation is also the bridge of cross-cultural communication. its very important in the cross-cultural communication; otherwise, culture exchange is impossible, the quick development of the world economy is also impossible.2.6 relationship between culture, language and translationfirst, the relationship between culture and language is inseparable; we can not separate them from each other, since language is part of the culture, and the main medium of culture. it is the tool to communicate, transfer and develop culture. so some scientists think that language is the basis of cultureno language, no culture. without language, culture can hardly be expressed. but in the other side, language is influenced by culture and reflected by culture. therefore, language and culture act on each other, to grasp language has to understand culture; on the contrary, to understand culture has to grasp language. nowadays, cross-cultural communication and language are united more tightly than before.second, in the process of cross-cultural communication, translation plays an important role, it involves not only two languages but also two cultures, so translation acts as a bridge between chinese culture and western culture. the communication of culture among nations and countries cannot exist without translation.three sentences written by bao huinan can best describe their relationships “language is the carrier of culture. culture is the soil of language. translation is the bridge of cross-cultural communication.” (2001)therefore, doing translation from one language to another not only involves linguistic meaning, but also cultural meaning. so the translation between two languages is also the exchange of two cultures. just as eugene a. nida says: “for truly successful translating, biculturalism is even more important than bilingualism, since words only have meanings in terms of the culture in which they function.”(nida 1993:110)chapter three cultural connotation of the twelve animals3.1 the same animal with different cultural connotations in two languagesamong these twelve animals, there are three animals which have different connotations in english and chinese:(1) mouse and 鼠in english, a mouse is a kind of a very cunning and lovely animal. it can be seen in many films, such as “mickey mouse and donald duck”, “stuart little” and “tom and jerry”. “tom and jerry” is a funny film in which tom is the cats name and jerry is the mouses name. these films show the mouses intelligence and boldness. so we can see that the mouse is loved by many people.however, in chinese, 鼠is hated by many people, because chinese people think it is cowardly and dirty, and it is harmful to the crops. moreover, it might bring diseases to people. it can be seen in many chinese set phrases such as 鼠目寸光 (be short-sighted; of limited knowledge)，鼠窃狗盗(play petty tricks on the sly).(中国社会科学院语言研究所词典编辑室，2002:1786)(2) dragon and 龙dragon culture exits in both english and chinese. in english, a dragon is a fabulous monster representing a gigantic, fire-breathing reptile having a lions claws, the tail of a serpent, huge bat wings, and a scaly skin. it would eat men and animals, so it usually stands for evil and bad luck.however, in chinese, a dragon has no wings, and has a long slender body and its color is golden yellow or some other. it symbolizes fortune and power, and the chinese people often consider themselves as “the descendants of the dragon.” in addition, instead of being hated, they are loved and worshipped.(3) dog and 狗both the chinese people and the english people share the custom of keeping pets, but they do not treat their pets in the same way. traditionally, in lots of chinese families, dogs play the role of guarding the door for their masters. the english people, however, treat their pets as their family members, friends or even their kids.there are many expressions about dogs in both english and chinese languages. generally speaking, the cultural connotation of dogs in an english-speaking country is different from that in china.in english, the word “dog” is often used in a neutral sense, and people always use dog to describe peoples activities and lives. for example, people use “sick as a dog” to describe a person who gets sick seriously. “you are a lucky dog” is an expression to describe a man with fortune. “a clever dog” refers to a clever person. “a top dog” means an important person. such examples are too numerous to count.in comparison with english culture, “dog” expressions are mostly used in the negative sense in the chinese culture. dogs are in an inferior status, because they take a rather derogatory image, and many idioms related to dogs are in the derogatory sense, such as “狗东西,狗腿子,走狗,狗仗人势，狗头军师” (all these are used to describe a person with very bad characters, and without conscience).3.2 the same animal with similar cultural connotations in two languagesthere are six animals have similar cultural connotation in these twelve animals.(1) snake and 蛇a snake (蛇) stands for evil in the “bible”, because he tempted eve to pick the forbidden fruit, so in the western culture the snake is always used to describe people who are nastily insincere and contemptible. if they use “a snake” to describe a person, they mean that he is a treacherous person. in china, the snake also symbolizes guile and blackness. there are many idioms which can explain this, such as “蛇蝎心肠”, which means a person who is very vicious. a story named “farmer and snake” also illustrates that the snake is ungrateful. (2) horse and 马horses (马) are loved both in china and english-speaking countries. in english, the horse is always related to “horsemanship” and “horserace”, because westerners like horserace. in english culture a horse has a meaning of “high-spirited” and “vigorous”. some idioms can explain this, such as “be on ones high horse”, and “dark horse”. in china, a horse is in a superior status, because it is the most important working tools and fighting force in ancient china. it used to indicate people with natural gift and experience. “千里马” in english is “winged horse” , which means a person of great talent. there are many other idioms to express the good characteristic of horse, such as “一马当先”(person who is in a leading position), “万马奔腾”(a very magnificent scene), “汗马功劳”(person who do great contribution to work), “马到成功”(a work that is just begins or a person is just comes, and quickly obtain achievements ) etc.(3) sheep and 羊a sheep (羊) stands for tameness, weakness and obedience both in chinese culture and english culture. for instance: a lo