中文典故成语在英文中的翻译

1、首都师范大学科德学院本科生毕业设计（论文）中文典故成语在英文中的翻译学 院：国际商学院专 业：英语（应用英语方向）学 号：1070201416学 生：张三指 导 教 师：李四2011年5 月Study on the English Translation of Chinese IdiomsByZhang SanTutor: Li Si A thesissubmitted in partial fulfillmentof the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Artsin the International Business School,

2、Kede College ofCapital Normal UniversityMay, 2011诚信声明书本人郑重声明：在毕业设计（论文）工作中严格遵守学校有关规定，恪守学术规范；我所提交的毕业设计（论文）是本人在指导教师的指导下独立研究、撰写的成果，设计（论文）中所引用他人的文字、研究成果，均已在设计（论文）中加以说明；在本人的毕业设计（论文）中未剽窃、抄袭他人的学术观点、思想和成果，未篡改实验数据。本设计（论文）和资料若有不实之处，本人愿承担一切相关责任。论文作者 （签字） 时间： 年 月 日指导教师已阅 （签字） 时间： 年 月 日版权使用授权书本人完全了解首都师范大学科德学院关于收集

3、、保存、使用学位论文的规定，即：按照学校要求提交学位论文的印刷本和电子版本；学校有权保存学位论文的印刷本和电子版，并提供目录检索与阅览服务；学校可以采用影印、缩印、数字化或其它复制手段保存论文；在不以赢利为目的的前提下，学校可以将学位论文编入有关数据库，提供网上服务。（保密论文在解密后遵守此规定）论文作者 （签字） 时间： 年 月 日指导教师已阅 （签字） 时间： 年 月 日首都师范大学科德学院摘要众所周知，中文成语无论在构词上还是用法上均与英语习语大不相同。如何将中文成语恰如其分地翻译成英语就成了一大难题。本文旨从文化差异的角度为中文成语在英语中的翻译提供几种方法，主要可分为三部分：首先第一

4、部分主要介绍成语的定义和特点；第二部分主要描述了成语中英翻译间存在的问题以及原因，最后第三部分则针对这些问题提供了几条实际的翻译方法。关键词：成语，直译，意译AbstractAs we all know,some Chinese idioms are very different from English idioms in their constitutions and the figurative usages.How to comprehend and translate those idioms is a troublesome problem for most children.Th

5、is paper will help you to make a successful translation.This paper mainly falls into three parts.The first part,gives a brief introduction about the defination and the features of idioms.The second part gives a detailed introduction about how to retain those character in translation and the difficul

6、ties in the translation process. And the third part sums up several methods of translating idioms.Key words: Chinese idioms, literal translation, liberal translation ContentsAbstract1Acknowledgements3Contents3Chapter 1 Introduction41.1 A Brief Introduction to Chinese Idiom41.1.1 The Definition of th

7、e Chinese Idioms 51.1.2 The Features of Chinese Idioms51.2 The Purpose of the Paper6Chapter 2 Difficulties in English Translation of Chinese Idiom62.1 Allusions of Chinese Idiom62.2 No Corresponding English Idiom to Chinese Idioms 6Chapter 3 Causes Behind the Difference 63.1 Cultural Difference 63.2

8、 Different Cognition 6Chapter 4 The Principle of Translation and Translation Method of Chinese Idioms 74.1 Equivalence Theory 74.2 Specific Strategies Used in Idioms Translation 84.2.1 Literal TranslationInterview with the Teacher 84.2.2 Liberal TranslationInterview with the Students 94.2.3 Literal

9、Plus Liberal Translation94.2.4 Translation with Notes10Chapter 5 Conclusion11References12Chapter 1 Introduction1.1 A Brief Introduction to Chinese IdiomsIdiom is the cream of the nations colorful culture, is the crystallization of the ancient philosophers brillance, as well as the heritage of a long

10、 and splendid history. Therfore, they contain a wealth of impliction, flashing the light of wisdom and imbueding with the long culture. Owing to these specific features of the chinese idioms, idiom is said to be the most difficult words to be translated into English in the world. So this part will g

11、ive a brief introduction of Chinese idioms, including its definition and features. 1.1.1 The Definition of the Chinese Idioms Idioms have been described as the crystallization of language. Without idioms our language would become dull and dry. Idioms mirror the national characteristics in a language

12、 and thus always rich in cultural connotation and national flavor. All this is true of Chinese idioms. What is idiom indeed? According to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (2003), idiom is defined as “a phrase which means something different from the meanings of the separate words; the way

13、of statement typical of a person or a people in their use of language.” But in 辞海(1999), a Chinese dictionary, idiom is defined as set phrases or sentences, whose structure is often established and can not be easily changed, including set phrase，proverb，maxim，Chinese common saying，and a two-part all

14、egorical saying. In a word, idioms are set phrases and sentences. Chinese idioms, are often referred to as four-character idioms; however, they are not the only idioms in Chinese. Chengyu (simplified Chinese: 成语; traditional Chinese:成语, pinyin: chéngy, lit. "set phrases") are a type o

15、f traditional Chinese idiomatic expressions, most of which consist of four characters. Chengyu were widely used in Classical Chinese and are still common in vernacular Chinese writing and in the spoken language today. According to the most stringent definition, there are about 5,000 chengyu in the C

16、hinese language, though some dictionaries list over 20,000. 1.1.2 The Features of Chinese IdiomsIdioms are usually vivid and forceful. For one thing, most idioms contain an extremely profound and rich meaning. For another, most idioms carry a vivid image. They are peculiar not only in their grammati

17、cal constructions and established collocations, but also in their specific meanings. When used, their structures and meanings cant be changed at random. Idioms in this study mainly refered to four-character idioms, which consist of more or less than four characters. As a result, the first obvirous c

18、haracter of Chinese idioms is their simple construction. Commonly, one Chinese idiom contains four words, but some own more than four words. For example: “能者多劳(An able man has more work)” and “空中楼阁(a pavilion in the air)” are two of the examples. Chinese common sayings are widely used in the colloqu

19、ial language. Compared with set phrases, they are looser in syntax and there is no set number of characters. A typical example is“巧妇难为无米之炊(Even the cleverest housewife can cook a meal without rice )”. A proverb is a traditional or a popular short saying, with the purpose of advice or warning. Some p

20、roverbs are open statements, whose meaning is straight-forward; but most proverbs are metaphorical. Quite often it is both informative and instructive. For instance, “少壮不努力，老大徒悲伤(If a man doesn't work hard when young, he will be sorry for it when old.)” A two-part allegorical saying consists of

21、two phrases, with the first being a simple and concrete analogy, and the second an abstract interpretation. For instance, “八仙过海-各显神通(The Eight Immortals soaring over the ocean, each of them showing their true talent)” The second main character of Chinese idiom is their rich meaning. Though there are

22、 only four word of the idiom, it has profound meaning, no less than some long sentences or even paragraphs. For example, the phrase "破釜沉舟" literally means "break the woks and sink the boats." It was based on a historical account where General Xiang Yu ordered his troop to destroy

23、 all cooking utensils and boats after crossing a river into the enemy's territory. He won the battle because of this "no-retreat" policy. The phrase is used when one succeeds by burning the bridge. This particular idiom cannot be used in a losing scenario because the story behind it do

24、es not describe a failure.Another example is "瓜田李下" which literally means melon field, under the plums. It is an idiom that has a deeper meaning that implies suspicious situations. It is derived from an excerpt from a poem (乐府诗君子行） from the Han Dynasty. The poem contains two phrases "

25、瓜田不纳履，李下不整冠" which describe a code of conduct that says "Don't adjust your shoes in a melon field and don't tidy your hat under the plum trees" in order to avoid suspicion of stealing. The literal meaning of the idiom is impossible to understand without the background knowledg

26、e of the origin of the phrase.1.2 The Purpose of the PaperIn contemporary world, English has been used widely, and it becomes more and more important.if some one want to learn English very well, you should know some certain English idioms and their correspondent Chinese translation. English idioms h

27、ave fixed Chinese translations and have their own translation techniques. It is and expression established in the long usage of a language that is peculiar to itself either in grammatical construction or in having a meaning that cannot be derived as a whole from the conjoined meaning of its elements

28、.This study tries to provide a detailed discussion of the methods used in the English translation of Chinese idioms from the perspective of cultural difference. Since the Chinese idiom owns rich and complicated meaning, though it's structure is very simple, it is the most difficult for people to

29、 translate it into English. This paper put forward some practical methods of Chinese idioms' translation. First, the paper gives a brief introduction of the Chinese idioms, including its definition and its main features. Than, the difficulties exist in the translation process will be discussed a

30、nd analysed the causes behind these difficulties. At last, this paper put forward several methods of translation. For example: literal translation, liberal translation, the combination of literal and liberal translation and the translation with notes.Chapter 2 Difficulties in English Translation of

31、Chinese Idioms 2.1 Allusions of Chinese IdiomsThere are many reasons that makes the Chinese idioms hard to be translated, such as historical difference, cultural difference religion difference and so on. Among them, the allusion is the most important and national characteristics. These idioms are si

32、mple in structure but hard to understand. We can not learn and translate them gust form the words literal meaning. We must fully comprehend its culture connotation and make proper translation.Different country has different culture. Tradition of every country is different from that of the other coun

33、tries. For example, English people have a good sense of dog. They think that dog is a kind of loyal animal and regard it as their good friend. But Chinese people dislike dog and only regard it as the inferior animal. As a result, people of these two countries create some idioms related to dog, which

34、 have sharp difference. In English, love me, love my dog. Means lucky person. But in Chinese. They are some idioms, such as 狗仗人势，狗血喷人. 2.2 No Corresponding English Idioms to Chinese IdiomsIn china, most idioms are from historical stories. While in English, idioms mainly come from bible stories and R

35、ome mysterious. In this way, the translator must be familiar with those stories and make proper translation. For example, 一败涂地, which is translated into English like "meet one's waterloo".In a broad sense, English idioms include idiomatic phrase, proverds, colloquialisms and slangs. In

36、 comparison, the Chinese equivalent for idioms is 熟语. Idioms plays a very important part in language. It is a group words with special meaning different form the meaning of its constituent words, or different from the meaning of a free phrase. And they play important role in English learning, so it

37、is necessary for an excellent translator and very important for every Englsih learner to know the translating methods of English idioms in Chinese. The culture will influence the appearance of the idiom, which plays a predominant role in English language. The idioms of a nation are closely associate

38、d with its culture.Chapter 3 Causes Behind the DifficultiesThe English translation of Chinese idioms remains as a hard nut to crack for translators since the way a language chooses to express meaning or concepts may only to a certain degree match the meaning in the other language. Chinese idioms ref

39、lect the ancient civilization and modern achievements of China. There are two main causes behind those difficulties and they will be discussed in this chapter separately: allusions of Chinese idioms and no corresponding English idioms to Chinese idioms.3.1 Cultural DifferenceBecause of the unique ch

40、aracteristics of Chinese idioms, many researchers believe that idiom translation is the most difficult part. Although translation researchers have accumulated a lot of experience in Chinese idiom translation, there are still a lot of problems in the translation. First, some translators only focus on

41、 the surface meaning of the idioms. The translators might only use the word-for-word translation method but ignore the figurative meaning. For instance, the Chinese idiom “铁杵成针” literally means that “to grind steel rods into needles” and figuratively means that “with assiduous attention or effort, o

42、ne can accomplish what appeared at first to be impossible”. However, without the knowledge on Chinese culture and metaphor, the translation is unacceptable to the target language readers. So translators should adopt the appropriate method to convey the real meanings of Chinese idioms.3.2 Different C

43、ognitionDue to the different culture and history, people in different countries will have different cognition, so there are some idioms that have no corresponding translations in the target language both in literal and pragmatic implication, which will bring difficulty to translators. In this case,

44、if the translators doesn t understand Chinese culture or history, they could not adopt the right method to transfer the real meaning of the Chinese idioms. Take “塞翁失马” as an example, this set phrase is created in ancient time of China. Its literal meaning is that an old man in the frontier lost his

45、horse. But in a few days, the lost horse came with another horse. Obviously, its figurative meaning is that blessing may come in the shape of a loss. If translators do not know the origin of the idiom, they can not translate it well. Especially most of the modern Chinese idioms come from general pub

46、lic, it is true of word manufacturing, idioms mainly rely on non class intellectuals,we have the best idioms and the best words, which are not produced in the library, reception room or theater, but from factories, farms and kitchens. So it closely related with a nation's historical background a

47、nd economic life, geography, custom and so on while the western people have different cognition. So they can not understand the Chinese idioms very well. Chapter 4 The principle of Translation and Translation Methods of Chinese IdiomsThere are some problems in the English translation of Chinese idio

48、ms. These problems appear mainly because the translators ignore the functional equivalence between the original and the translated works. Nidas(1964) functional equivalence theory is the best choice for Chinese idiom translation. The use of functional equivalence theory can minimize errors in transl

49、ation and achieve the coherence in function and form between the source and the target languages. And there are many methods of the English translation of Chinese idioms, including literal translation, liberal translation, their combination and the thrnslation with notes.4.1 Equivalence TheoryFuncti

50、onal Equivalence Theory put forward by Nida is different from most of the early theories that focus on the verbal comparison between the SL and TL. Nida attempts to offer a new way to produce an equivalent, taking the relationship of the receptor to the text into account. It is believed that “the re

51、lationship of the target language receptors to the target language text should be roughly equivalent to the relationship between the original receptors and the original text.” (1993) The basic ideas of Nidas Functional Equivalence Theory lie in the following three aspects. First is the notion of equ

52、ivalence. One way of defining functional equivalence in translation is to describe it as “the closest natural equivalent to the source-language message” (1964). There are three essential terms in this definition deserving our attention: closest, natural and equivalent. As far as the linguistic aspec

53、t is concerned, the term “natural” implies that the rendering must be readable (related to the language form) and understandable (related to the content) to the target receptors, since different languages have different features of grammar and lexicon. Nida uses the term “closest” to describe the de

54、grees of proximity between the source language and the target language. Functional-equivalence requires the highest degree of proximity. Second is the notion of receptors response. “It is essential that functional equivalence be stated primarily in terms of a comparison of the way in which the origi

55、nal receptors understood and appreciated the text and the way in which receptors of translated text understand and appreciate the translated text” (1993). From this point, we can see that what Nida emphasizes is different receptors responses that source language and target language cause, i.e, langu

56、age function, rather than language forms. Nida points out the great many different factors that the adequacy of a translation depends on “the reliability of the text itself, the discourse type, the intended audience, the manner in which the translated text is to be used, and the purpose for which th

57、e translation has been made”(1993). All of these factors work in the production of an adequate translation. A range of varying degrees of equivalence, as a matter of fact, is understandable and reasonable. Thus, Functional Equivalence Theory provides more freedom for translators in order to deal wit

58、h problems of specific situations. Compared with many other translation theories, which attempt to work out a single standard, Functional Equivalence Theory not only sets up an ideal definition for translation and have the lowest standard, but also allows a wide range of diversity in translating as well. 4.2 Specific Strategies Used in Idioms TranslationThere so many strategies used in idioms translation. Because of