英语本科毕业论文-论数字习语翻译的文化取向.doc

论数字习语翻译的文化取向摘要：本文旨在探讨中英数字习语及其翻译。数字不仅仅用于计算，它包含丰富的内涵，折射出中国和英语国家独特的文化。众所周知，数字习语来源于各自民族的历史事件，传说故事，宗教和生活等等方面。数字习语的含义远远超过习语中各个字词意思的简单组合，比单个数字的意思丰富得多。要正确理解及恰当的翻译数字习语，必须广泛了解两种文化。译员须分清特定语境中数字习语的字面意思，比喻意思，内涵意义，才能着手翻译。在翻译中，可运用替代，直译，意译使译文与原文尽可能的相符。关键词：文化；数字习语；内涵；翻译On the Cultural Aspect of Numeral Idiom TranslationAbstractThis paper is to explore both the Chinese and English numeral idioms, and to discuss the translation strategies. A number is not only used as a counting and calculation tool, but also carries profound connotations, reflecting the unique culture of both China and English-speaking countries. As is known, numeral idioms are formed on the basis of a nations history, economy, culture, tradition and custom. Their meanings are beyond the simple sum of each word in the idioms, and much more profound than that of a single number. To correctly comprehend and properly translate numeral idioms calls for a wide range of background knowledge concerning the culture in both source language and target language. The translator should distinguish the literal, figurative and connotative meanings of the numeral idioms in the given context before they get down to translating them. The three mainly translation strategies, substitution, literal translation, free translation, are suggested to be carefully selected to make the rendition equivalent to the original numeral idioms as much as possible. Key words: culture; numeral idioms; connotation; translationAcknowledgementsFirst and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Li Fangqin, both for her intellectual guidance and for her warm and constant encouragement during the process of writing this thesis. With patience and prudence, she labored through drafts of this thesis and pointed out defects in my theorizing. Therefore, I owe all the merits in this thesis, if any, to her, though I am fully aware that the thesis might still contain some mistakes, for which I bear the whole responsibility.My cordial and sincere thanks go to all the teachers in the Department of English, whose interesting and informative courses have benefited me a lot during my college years. The profit that I gained from their profound knowledge, remarkable expertise and intellectual ingenuity will be of everlasting significance to my future life and career.I am also very grateful to my classmates, who have given me a lot of help and courage during my stay in the University and throughout the process of writing this thesis. Last but not the least, big thanks go to my family who have shared with me my worries, frustrations, and hopefully my ultimate happiness in eventually finishing this thesis.Contents中文摘要.iAbstract.iiAcknowledgementsiiiIntroduction.1. Numeral Idioms and Their Cultural Connotations2 A. Distinctive Preference towards Numbers.2 B. Concept of “Idioms”.3C. Main Origin of Numeral Idioms and the Connotations3. Translation of Numeral Idioms.7 A. Comprehension.7 B. Expression.8 1. Substitution.9 2. Literal Translation.10 3. Free Translation.12Conclusion.16Notes.17Bibliography.19On the Cultural Aspect of Numeral Idiom TranslationIntroductionWith the development of globalization, peoples speaking their own different languages are becoming more and more interdependent and interactive. Translation, therefore, certainly plays a crucial role in bridging the gap across diverse languages for increasing communication. A large number of people are engaged in this profession, and almost everything involves translation, such as multilingual notices, instructions, tourist publicity, official documents and literary works. However, translation is no easy job. “Translating,” according to first name Nida, “consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source-language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style.” 1 It requires that the translator should not only have good command of the source language and the target language, but also have excellent ability of comprehension and message reproduction.In the area of culture-loaded words, to translate appropriately is extremely demanding. This is because those words are heavily culture loaded, having denotative, connotative and figurative meanings. The numeral idioms discussed in this paper form an important part of such cultural words. Both the Chinese and the English numeral idioms are the fixed special expressions evolved over a long period of use. They are like gems adorning a language, and always rich in cultural connotation and national flavor. Therefore, the vivid and meaningful numeral idioms in both languages constitute difficulties for translators. This thesis probe into the Chinese and English numeral idioms, their cultural connotations, and the effective strategies of translating numeral idioms. Numeral Idioms and Their Cultural IdiomsA. Distinctive Preference towards NumbersIt has long been recognized that a language is both part of culture and a medium through which the other parts of culture are expressed. Among lexical items of a language, numerals are a very essential part. Number has been used as a counting and calculating tool since prehistoric times. According to The Italic Book of Changes, people in remote antiquity tied a knot in a rope to keep a record of events. Besides knots on ropes, various counting devices were employed to record quantities of concrete objects, such as pebbles, sticks and the like. With human evolution, numbers have gradually penetrated into peoples life in every aspect, and embodied more and more cultural information in different cultural backgrounds. For instance, in English-speaking countries, odd numbers are considered lucky, except for thirteen. On the other hand the Chinese think that even numbers can bring good luck.Pythagoras, a prominent thinker in the early Greek period, claimed that numbers were sacred and that all things were numbers. The fundamental division of “odd” or “even” numbers originates from Pythagorean categorization. Odd numbers symbolize the spiritual or male forces while even numbers constitute the material of female forces. Moreover, the odds are the master, because odd plus even always gives odd. And two evens can never produce an odd, while two odd numbers produce an even. Besides, the westerners think that even number suggest division.In Chinese tradition, even numbers mean symmetry, double and harmony. What is more, the Chinese thought of the Supreme Ultimate (All Absolute in ancient Chinese cosmology, presented as the primary source of all things) shows that everything is composed of two sides Yin and Yang. Yin is dark, feminine and negative, while Yang is light, masculine and positive. Although they are opposite in character, they are united together and they fulfill each other. According to Shao Yongs explanations of the Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate, “两仪”gives rise to “四象”. “两仪”refers to Heaven(Yang) and Earth(Yin), and “四象”means four seasons: spring(wood), summer(fire), autumn(metal) and winter(water).The above examples clearly show that the distinctive preference towards numbers reflects cultural difference between the Chinese and English-speaking people. B. Concept of “Idioms”And one of the best mirrors of a certain culture is idioms. In a broad sense, idioms include set phrases or expressions, colloquialism, proverbs, clichs, slang and so on. Among them, numerical idioms play an important role. C. Main Origin of Numeral Idioms and the ConnotationsBoth the Chinese language and English language abound in numeral idioms. Since numerical idioms originate mainly from historic events, legends, religion, classical literary works and particular culture, they are endowed with profound meanings and various connotations in different cultural backgrounds, reflecting unique cultural heritage and almost all aspects of peoples life. In other words, numeral idioms are the product of social and cultural development. Meanwhile, culture is embedded in the numeral idioms and it is numeral idiom that express, embodies and symbolizes cultural realities. In short, numeral idioms and culture have inextricably interweaved and interacted with each other. Take Arabic “3”, Chinese “三”, English “three” as an example. As is known, Chinese culture has been profoundly influenced by Confucianism, a social ethics, a political ideology, a scholarly tradition and a way of life. And Confucianism advocates “三从四德”(Three Obediences and Four Virtues) and “三纲五常”(Three Cardinal Guides and Five Constant Virtues) showing sex discrimination and hierarchy in feudal society of more than two thousands years. The Three Obediences regulate that a woman should obey her father before marriage, her husband after marriage and her son after her husband death; and according to the Four Virtues, a woman should show morality, have proper speech, modest manner and work diligently. By the feudal ethnical code, “三纲五常”(Three Cardinal Guides and Five Constant Virtues) states that the ruler guides his subject, the father his son, and the husband his wife, and that a person should have benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and fidelity to achieve harmonious personal relationship.The Chinese character “三” (literal meaning “three”) gains great respect in religion. The Taoists believe that there are three spirits(三魂)in human body. In Buddhism, there are “三生” which refers to the previous life, present life and future life. “三生有幸” means transmigration of death and living-a person is quite lucky all his life. Another numerical idiom about Buddhism is “无事不登三宝殿”,saying that one never goes to the temple for no reason. Here “三宝殿” is Temple of Three Treasures-the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. The figurative meaning of the frequently used idiom is that one would not come to others if he does not have a favor to ask of them.Many numerical idioms also originate from legendary stories and historic events, such as “朝三暮四”“三顾茅庐” and so on . “朝三暮四” suggests the frequent changes of ones mind. But the idiom is originally used to show that the wise are good at playing tricks, while the foolish are slow to perceive. The story goes like this. According to LieziYellow Emperor, a monkey raiser fed three acorns to the monkey for the morning meal and four ones in the evening, which makes the monkey angry. So he reversed the allocation, four acorns in the morning and three for the evening. Then the monkey was pleased. “三顾茅庐” means to invite somebody very sincerely. In the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Bei paid three consecutive visits to Zhuge Liang, a master strategist who lived in a thatched cottage near Xiangyang in the present Hubei province. Liu Beis sincerity deeply moved and prompted the latter to end the seclusion life and become his strategic advisor. Those idioms have already been part of our daily language to express our ideas and communicate with others. Thanks to the vivid, laconic and meaningful numeral idioms, our Chinese language has been enriched to a large extent.In the history of the western civilization, the Greeks and Romans have made remarkable contributions. Their culture has exerted great influence on the whole west world, and the cultural heritages have run almost all fields of arts, literature, philosophy, religion and, broadly speaking, the way of life. Therefore, the English-speaking countries share the main culture and tradition, deprived from the Greek and Roman civilization.The ancient Greek Pythagoras spoke of “3” as a perfect number, 3(trinity)=1(unity)+2(diversity), which indicates beginning, middle and ending. In Greek mythology, there are trios of goddesses: three graces, three fates, three witches, three furies, three sirens and the three goddesses who arouse the Trojan War in the desire of possessing a golden apple inscribed “to the Fairest”. In Roman myths, the God Jupiter governs the others. His power lies in the three-pronged thunder-stick in his hand, the authority of Neptune depends on his three-pronged spear and Pluto is a dog with three heads. The three gods above govern the universe. Gradually, three acquires the meaning of “power” and “holiness”.In Christian religion, the Holy Trinity refers to the unity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit in one Godhead which are coequal, coeternal, and indivisible. In the Bible, three is the number of unity, of accomplishment and of the universe. The human race is traced to Noahs three sons; Jesuss earthly ministry lasted three years, and he rose from the dead on the third day. In the Christian teachings there are three virtues: faith, hope and charity. “The world is threefolded(earth, sea and air)”; “Man is threefolded(body, soul and spirit)”; “the enemies of man are threefolded(the world, the flesh and the devil)”; “the Christian graces are threefolded(Faith, Hope and Charity)”; “the kingdoms of Nature are threefolded(the mineral, the vegetable and the animal)”.There are so many numeral idioms about “three” in both languages that it is not difficult to imagine the amazing treasure house of numeral idioms. The above brief analysis proves that numeral idioms have profound and various connotations. .Translation of Numeral IdiomsWhen it comes to translation, how can we have sound translation? Generally speaking, the process of translation consists of two phases: comprehension and expression. Comprehension is of foremost importance, and expression is the natural consequence of thorough comprehension.2 A. ComprehensionIn the first phase, general and close reading is required to work out the intended meaning by the author. General reading aims at getting the gist of the context; then we read between the lines to comprehend the words both out of and in the context. The translator searches for the intention, and he combines that with understanding, for they go together. If failures are made in the very step, the translation would be totally wrong. Take the following as an example.Across the street on the side of a house was painted a giant woman with a five-foot smile and long blond hair, holding out a giant bottle. 街对面的墙上有一幅画一个披着金色长发的女郎张开足有五英尺长的笑口，手里扬着一个大瓶子。 In this sentence, “a five-foot smile” was translated as “五英尺长的笑口”. If “a five-foot smile” is a smile as long as five foots, let us imagine then how long the beautys face is, and how long the hair and how big the house is then? According to the context, the house is not a skyscraper, so that it is not enormous enough to have the giant painting. Actually, “a five-foot smile” here has its metaphorical meaning, suggesting a bright smile. The whole sentence can be translated as “街对面房子的墙上有一幅大型广告画一位肩披金色长发的女郎，笑容满面，手里举着一个大瓶子。”3Undoubtedly, only when the translator understands what the author really intends to express can they work out the exact meaning and give a faithful translation.Then, the translators should have a good command of the numerical idioms, knowing its connotation, the implicit meaning in the given context, and the origin of the numeral idioms. For instance, the Chinese idiom “半斤八两”suggests “two of a kind” or “not much to choose between the two”. However, it does not make any sense in current weight system: one jin equals ten liang. Then, how to explain that? The answer lies in the origin of the idiom. In the traditional Chinese weight system, one jin is sixteen liang, and half a jin equals eight liang. If the translator does not know the idioms origin, he may think that eight liang is more than half a jin , and as a result, a wrong version may be made. The following is another example. (SL)Although we had ordered only twelve, the shopkeeper gave us a bakers dozen. (TL)虽然我们只订购了十二个，但店主却给了我们十三个。4“A bakers dozen” is “thirteen”. It seems strange to us Chinese if we do not know the origin of the western idiom. There was a rule long ago that if the bread was lighter than the standard, the baker would be punished. In order to avoid the punishment, bakers gave a piece of bread freely when the customer bought twelve. Although the rule has been abolished, this idiom has been handed down and commonly used now.B. ExpressionFrom what have been discussed above, it is evident that comprehension is the most essential and basic part in the process of numeral idioms translation. It is also why Nida says in Language and Culture that for truly successful translating, biculturalism is even more important than bilingualism, since words only have meanings in terms of the cultures in which they function.5 In the expression phase, the following translation strategies can be adopted.1. SubstitutionSince both the Chinese and the English that boast their splendid civilization has a long history, they certainly share some similar or the same cultural perceptions of many fields. Therefore, some numeral expressions have the equivalents in the target language. Those equivalents share a lot in linguistic features, and in literal, figurative and connotative meanings. Substitution is used to replace the original expression with synonyms or idioms of the target languages according to different situations.6 As to the completely corresponding idioms, it is perfect to substitute the original with the target idioms. There are some examples.(1)三三俩俩 in twos and threes(2)kill two birds with one stone 一石二鸟The example(1)and(2) have the same meanings and connotations as well as the same image and figure of speech. They are the ready one-to-one equivalents. However, these corresponding idioms account for only a small proportion. Most idioms cannot find perfect match, be it in the semantic form, connotation, relevant image or other aspects. Some numeral idioms may be similar in their denotative sense, but different in their connotative meaning; some are similar in message, but different in their images; some denote the same thing, but are expressed with different rhetorical devices. In that case, the connotative meaning should be regarded as the first priority. In other words, this kind of numeral idioms is sugge