The Strategies of English Idioms Translation.doc

the strategies of english idioms translation【摘 要】习语是英语语言中的精华部分。语言中的习语反映了不同语言和文化的通俗的、简洁的、精确的特征。因此，习语翻译的恰当与否直接关系到句意的正确表达。习语认知能力越好，学生就能更好的掌握英语语言的正确表达和理解。习语翻译不仅是译语言表面代表意思，而且还要译出文化因素。对于习语的翻译策略，古今中外有许多的学者曾有涉略这方面的研究。本文对习语翻译策略作了初步探讨。介绍了三种基本的习语翻译策略：直译法，意译法，文字加译法。学习如何使用习语是一个困难但绝非不可能完成的任务。习语不同于其他的文字意思表达，不能通过认识单个的词义来猜测它的完整意思。由于它们的特性，习语需要记忆和相应的分析技巧。本文已经简要的分析了几种策略以帮助英语学习者更好的学习英语习语。【关键词】英语习语 文化 翻译策略 直译法，意译法，文字加意译【abstract】. idioms are considered as the essence of english language. idioms in language reflect common，similar and specific features of different languages and culturestherefore，the correct of english idioms translation is related to express the right meaning. the acquisition of idioms is crucial for a successful mastery of english translation of idioms means not only translation of linguistic signs but also that of cultural elementsthe theme has made a study on the strategies of english idiom translation. it illustrates the literal translation approach，the free translation approach，and the literalplusfree translation approachlearning how to use idioms is a difficult but by no means impossible task. an idiom is different from other literal expressions in that you could not guess its meaning just by understanding all the words in it. because of their characteristics, learning idioms requires both rote-learning and analytical skills. the text has designed 3 main strategies to help english learners learn idioms.【key words】english idioms，culture，translation strategies，literal translation approach， free translation approach，literalplusfree translation approach.the strategies of english idioms translation1. introduction idioms are a cluster of words or phrases that have a meaning of their own peculiar to that language. english is a language particularly rich in idioms-those modes of expression peculiar to a language (of dialect) that frequently defy logical and grammatical rules. without idioms english would lose much of its variety and humor both in speech and writing while using it properly, people will not only enhance the ability to express all sorts of ideas but also the ability to appreciate culture, which then improves the linguistic ability. english idiom relate so closely to english culture that they are a drop in the ocean of english culture and reflect the significance of english culture throughout history. customs are a kind of social phenomenon. they are not the product of individuals but that of the collective in the society, which are affected by politics, economy, religion, literary art and so on and then affect those things in reverse. english idioms are thus greatly influenced by english customs, which concern almost every respect of social life. as a special part of culture, language, especially idioms, inevitably reflects the customs of the nationality. 2. the present situation of idiom translation in the past several decades, english idioms translation strategies had attracted peoples attentions; there were too many researches which had been done on english idioms translation strategies. recently, the study of english idioms translation strategies has been paid more and more attention by researchers home and abroad. various aspects of english idioms translation strategies have been investigated. such as american translating theorist nida e a defines translating consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closet natural equivalent of the source language message (1969) and he also has put forward a translating standard, that is, “functional equivalence” or “dynamic equivalence”(1998) chinese researchers also have done extensive research into english idioms translation such as yan fus “faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance”.3. the strategies of english idioms translation an idiom is a set of word combinations whose meaning cannot be derived from the meaning of the individual elements (bussmann,2000),apart from this thematic inseparability, culture specificity is another property of idioms; that is, idioms are usually used in a given cultural group where people share some common foundational knowledge, information or experience. as cultures are typically localized, most idioms are not useful outside the local context. an idiom is a multi-word expression which functions as a single unit and whose meaning cannot be worked out from the sum of its separate parts. that is, it has a holistic meaning which cannot be retrieved from the individual meanings of the component words.for example:(1)she washed her hands of the matter (she refused to have anything more to do with the matter).(2) he spilled the beans (he told someone something that people have being trying to keep secret).3.1 literal translation approachliteral translation means express its meaning without too much extension, but not to mean to translate word-for-word. in other words, it is not word for word but the translation of the original thoughts and contents without changing the way of expression such as metaphor. literal translation is under the direct translation of english content, not using any rhetorical device, do not add any content, nor reduce the content. literal translation of idioms is not normally caused by cultural barriers. there was no understanding of values and the errors in the meaning of the expression of various cultural backgrounds which can be understood and accept by the people. english idioms to break the record can be directly translated as 打破记录 another example is the english idiom strike the iron while it is hot. directly translated as 趁热打铁 similarly, the idiom he laughs best who laughs last can be directly translated as 谁笑在最后, 谁笑得最好 a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. can be directly translated as 双鸟在林，不如一鸟在手.some of the use of literal translation of english not only the faithful and complete expression of the style of the original idiom, but also make the translation with the original features such as metaphor and local colors. 3.2 free translation approachfree translation, is to express the main idea of the original writing but vary the way of expression. this method is used when no equivalent is found in the target language or when it is not necessary to translate literally. (12张培基., 1979).in this method, we must know what important is the content of idioms but not the style. free translation is based on the english idiom meaning, taking into account the chinese meaning in translation can not or do not need to use the literal translation to preserve the expression of english, but also found in chinese idioms available to apply the appropriate synonym, we should also be taken into account the context and cultural factors which make some conversions. in idioms translation, if neither literal nor equivalent translation can be used, we have to adopt a free way in order to make the translation closely follow the original in meaning. we have said above that learning english with us will be a piece of cake now, you cannot take the meaning of a piece of cake in the literal sense; you have to understand it in the idiomatic sense, in which it means easy that means we can translate it as小事一桩.3.3literal translation plus annotationsas we all know, different language has different culture, so cultural gaps will be produced naturally. good literal translation can help readers to acquire the cultural information of source language, but sometimes direct literal translation without any notes will puzzle readers literal translation plus annotations may supply notes to backgrounds, figure meaning, context and sources, strengthen the acceptability of idioms and retain the original flavor of idioms. for example: the team met its waterloo in the fina1该球队在决赛中惨遭失败(waterloo滑铁卢，比利时城镇，1815年拿破仑的军队在此惨遭失败)。if we do not plus the explanation of waterloo history, the reader will feel very confused. so we must show the relation of the words in the sentence.4. conclusionin a word, english idioms are a colorful part of english words. it is the product of culture. they are restricted by english culture and bear exclusive characteristics of it, carrying abundant cultural purport. theoretically and practically, learning english idioms has to take culture into full account, as english idioms are the drop in the ocean of english culture. and a good job in idioms translation is supposed to have a thorough understanding of cultural differences and to comprehensively utilize the methods with flexibility. there are many kinds of methods to help the translation of idioms. the translators can use it according to the different situations. what is more, the translator should be familiar with the language culture or the history. it is very helpful. the correct of english idioms translation is related