Analysis of the differences and similarities between English and Chinese Idioms Translation.doc

analysis of the differences and similarities between english and chinese idioms translationpaper keywords idioms translation comparison abstract all have a large number of english and chinese idioms. idioms are an important part of the national language, contains rich cultural connotations. in this paper, on the similarities and differences between english and chinese idioms are compared and analyzed and then discussed the translation of several english-chinese idioms methods with a view to the translation of english idioms help. abstract: english and chinese are both rich in idioms. idioms are an important part of language and have rich cultural connotations. this paper analyzes and compares english idioms with chinese ones and then introduces some translation methods of idioms. key words: idioms; comparison; translation idioms addition to the fixed phrases or expressions, but also includes colloquial, proverbs, maxims and even some slang. english and chinese belong to the more developed language, ancient capital has a large number of idioms. english idioms a long history, all have an extremely rich cultural heritage. idioms reflect two different peoples of different historical, economic life and ways of thinking. english idioms have a strong summary and performance capabilities, vivid, profound meaning, flavor meaningful, loved by the people. 1 comparison of chinese and english idioms 1.1 the basic commonality idioms 1.1.1 structure of fixity idiom from its structure, has its own integrity, in which components are fixed and can not be any opened or replaced, such as the pull somebodys leg (to fool a person) can not change the singular to the plural; by twos and threes (3322) can not be changed according to chinese idiom by threes and twos. another example is the chinese language quweicunzhen can not be said to keep true to the false , few words can not be said two words three words, while the former and the latter being not very different, but xiangyanchengxi customary to what people say, is the former, not the latter. 1.1.2 semantic unity idioms are language convention, xiangyan habitual use of stereotypical phrases, in the semantics is an integral unity, can not be understood literally as with confidence is not the literal meaning, but the metaphor has been take into consideration before doing things or carefully planned. another example is chenyulayan does not describe the sinking of the fish and falls to the geese, but to describe the unparalleled beauty of women. the same is true of english idioms can not be understood literally, but from the whole to understand its uniqueness and customary, such as: do somebody brown (make someone fooled), show the white feather (shown cowardice), etc. 1.1.3 the habitual use of idioms idioms idioms using prescriptive application refers to the wide range of members of the community in a variety of communicative situations and a variety of stylistic idioms commonly used, so as to continuously enrich idiom. idiom in its short form, vivid image and metaphor and the very popular, as the crystallization of the wisdom of the whole nation and society as a whole language of wealth, where a wide range of masses of the people recognized and applied, therefore, many idioms have a strong vitality. 1.2 the basic difference between english and chinese idioms 1.2.1 customs of different british dog, depending on the dog as a companion, so often the dogs behavior metaphor lives of ordinary people, such as: love me, love my dog (aiwujiwu). although china has dogs, but most people in the psychological aversion rustic depending on the animal, often describe it as evil and bad metaphors, such as henchman, gouzhangrenshi and so on. british and chinese people of different beliefs, the british multi-faith christian, there are many idioms related to, such as: go to the church (worship), power of the keys (the popes authority). the greatest impact in china, buddhism is the religion, idioms quite a few from buddhism, such as mid-life switch, 做一天和尚撞一天钟 and so on. 1.2.2 historical and cultural background of different english idioms usually come from the nations ancient literature or non-verbal. english and chinese historical and cultural backgrounds, different sources of idioms. although the natives to understand, foreigners often incomprehensible, such as china since ancient times dominated by agriculture, a large proportion of those engaged in agriculture, therefore, in chinese idioms in large part nongyan, such as: being vitality, extermination. britain is an island nation, the british love the sea, there are many english idioms from the maritime industry, such as: plain sailing (smooth), drop anchor (anchor; settle down), etc. also a lot of idioms derived from the ancient fable or a poem, etc., can be said of such allusions idiom idioms. english allusions have their own ethnic origin, non-a few words can set clear, such as the chinese idiom: sangumaolu, rainy day and so on. english also has a similar idiom, such as: fly on the wheel (and arrogant people). 1.2.3 metaphor differences there are many synonyms or the meaning of english idioms similar to, but because they are the product of two different life experiences, there are many obvious can not be reflected in two different national form, such as the commonly used chinese idiom mushroom to describe the general things in the rapid development and in large numbers, but in english is synonymous with like mushrooms (like a mushroom in general), this is because the british did not produce bamboo, and even the bamboo the word is introduced in the foreign language. idioms such as these abound, such as: never fish nor fowl is the neither fish nor fowl, no smoke without fire is the no smoke without fire. reposted elsewhere in the paper for free download http:/ 2 translation of idioms 2.1 literal translation literal translation that does not contravene the target language norms, and lenovo are not under the conditions that caused the error in the translation to retain the national characteristics of the original idiom, language, style and method of image metaphors, such as the chinese language paper tiger straight to paper tiger, foreigners seem not only fully aware of its meaning, they find it very expressive, so the term has now become the official languages of anglo-american nation. when the implied meaning of the original idiom is obvious, the reader can grasp its literal meaning, literal translation literal meaning, such as timely help translated to offer fuel in snowy weather. like this idiom translation, the reader as long as the intentions of to taste, will understand its hidden meaning, not only retains the original image, but an increase of reading fun. 2.2 the translation method some idioms because of cultural factors, in the translation, can not retain the original statement, the literal meaning and image of the meaning, can not find the synonymous idiom borrowed, when the original image can be replaced with the reader familiar with the image of another translation thus to convey out of the original pragmatic objective translated implication, such as the chinese in the to pieces usually refers to being beaten defeat, translated into english is to be shattered to pieces; another example is the dog that will fetch a bone will carry a bone. when translated into chinese in which the literal image of the dog , bone can not be literally translated, only give up its literal meaning and image of the meaning, translated implied meaning to say to you people ill people will say bad things about you. 2.3 to borrow france as the human feelings of objective things, feelings and social experiences and so can not help but similarities exist, so the existence of a small amount of english idioms the same or similar idiom, the literal meaning of idioms, the image of the same or similar meaning, implicit with meaning is the same, that is, the literal meaning of these idioms and images conveyed the meaning out of cultural information is the same, this idiom can be used to borrow translation method. such as english in the practice makes perfect and the chinese in the practice makes perfect, and if the chinese in the most drastic and in english burn ones boats are derived from the two countries in military strategy, so have the same usage and meaning. 2.4 translation in chinese idioms, often side by side on the dual structure, that is, using two different body metaphor to express the same moral of the story around the meaning of repetition, in which case you can deal with the translation section, eliminating