(原创英语小论文)Paper-Choice of Correct Words in Translation.doc

Choice of Correct Words in TranslationAs we all know, language is a part of culture. Different language reflects different culture and different culture also influences different language. As an important carrier of culture in language, word is the basic element of language and the choice of a word which is connected with the particular culture. English and Chinese are from different cultural backgrounds. So their language habits and styles are also different from each other.Choice of words, means choose the word that is selected, which throughout the entire translation. Here “word refers to the expression of a wholly or partly conception of words, phrase or phrases. In any kind of comprehensive development of human language, most of which are polysemous words. Polysemy is a major language phenomenon and it usually appeared in every language. For example, words of paper, none, in an ordinary English-Chinese dictionary have at least ten explanations. However, in Chinese, it cannot match directly, not to mention it has more than thirty explanations if match with take. Good to do as an adjective also has at least ten explanations! As to the two words match with other words to become different phrases. These phrases have different meanings as well. Thus, it has a problem to choose the word. What sophisticatedly, though the original meaning has not changed, it cannot just copy from the dictionary, it should coordinate to the Chinese habit of expression to explain the exact meaning so that readers or listeners could easily accept it. Take broken for example, a broken man and a broken solider although both have the meaning of “破碎”, they should be translated into a man in despaired and a disabled soldier. Broken money means pocket money, one also could not translate it directly. All of what I just said concerned with how to choose the correct words in translation.Here are four aspects about choosing correct words in translation:. Polysemy and Synonyms in TranslationEnglish and Chinese are both abundantly and developed language. Both of them have polysemy and synonyms. For example,“爬”means walking insects, but it also refers to the people walking together with the action. It can also be extended to climb, such as climbing, climb the ladder and so on. However, in some languages masters pen, climb is cleverly used to describe many other things, such as: 顺着山脚爬出去的公路,春天爬上了柳梢. Similarly, synonyms is also very common phenomenon in English, for example, the original meaning of hand are just meaning about forelimb thing, but now it can be extended for the following meanings: : She is a good hand at pig ( she is an expert in raising pigs) .) M rHunter suddenly failed and all hands in the m ill w ere sacked (Mr. Hunter bankrupt suddenly, all the factory workers have been laid off.). Furthermore, run means an action originally, but runs for president, run a factory, run the blockade, run short have different explanation about run. Chinese, “跑买卖”still cannot just translate by run . Considering that, we usually use different translated words to express the same word in a text which may means different, for example, King Lear told the servant of the castle to tell Regan and her husband that he had arrived and wished to see them at once. With the same word tell, the subject is the king, the object is the servant, so the first tell should be translated into 吩咐；if the subject is the servant and the object is the king, it should be translated into 禀告. We can draw a conclusion that only by comparing and selecting words carefully in translation can we have words appropriately and correctly.Analyze the intensity of a word. Destroy in Chinese have three meanings, 损坏,破坏 毁坏. In Chinese, these three words mean different severity of one thing. 破坏 have a meaning of intentionally ; and 毁坏 have a meaning of completely .Thus, in The enemies destroyed a lot of bridges when they escaped, destroy translated into 破坏. Taking a another example: Unfortunately, he was not in when I managed to find his home. Here unfortunately only translated into不巧 rather than 不幸. Otherwise, it seemed too serious.Analyze the meaning of words collection. In Chinese, 胖refers to someone is fat, but肥refers to animal. Both of the situation use fat to describe in English. Thus, many foreigners often confuse them. 肥孩子is an example. Therefore, know the habitual word combination when choose a word in translation is important. Analyze the meaning and emotional color of a word in translation. In Chinese and English, there are collections of words to express yes or no, like or dislike. Therefore, in the process of translation, if we confuse the emotional color of a word, the articles appealing will decline; even misunderstand the articles main idea. Take this sentence for example, we had been conferring without allies on the crucial question of whether and when the island should be invaded. In this sentence, invade means at tack and spread in to, so as to take control of a country, city etc. In Chinese, 入侵and 进攻can express the meaning of invade, but the subject in this sentence is we, we should use the positive word-入侵 rather than negative word-进攻. He had deep disrupt for the old school of the Grammar ruling class. They were rigid, embittered by defeat rigid ,the meaning of rigid is not easy to change, Therefore, the translation of this word should choose 顽固不化rather than 顽强不屈， it express the authors prejudice about German ruling class.Different Meanings of a Word in TranslationMost of words have its literal meaning and implicit meaning. Because of cultural backgrounds in English and Chinese, its affiliated words have different connotations. If we do not understand the implicit meaning, only translate a word by its literal meaning, we would make a wrong translation and make listeners or readers puzzled. For example, in American English, Politian often contain a negative meaning, it refers to someone who wants to seek their own interest by engaging in political maneuvering. When it translated into Chinese, we should utilize 政客rather than 政治家. 野心勃勃in China has a negative meaning. People often confuse ambiguous with greedy and ruthless. However, in English, it contains a compliment meaning, it usually describes someone is hardworking. Thus, poor and ambiguous cannot translate into 穷而野心勃勃but 壮志满怀, 勤奋努力. quite frankly, Im a materialist. Ive got it in a good. Paying job and I want to keep it. I have bought my own flat, and my wife and I want to enjoy the comforts of life. If we translate materialist into 唯物主义者 we could see from the context that it is clearly wrong. The concept meaning of 唯物主义 in Marxist philosophy in China uses different from the context. Therefore, we should translate it into 实用主义者.The Rhetoric about Choose Words in Translation Each nationality has its own history, culture, politic. Therefore, because of unique historical development, living standard, customs, the way of thinking, aesthetic conceptions, Chinese and English are different. Rhetoric, as a part of speech art, of course, influenced by culture. In translation, if we just depend on our own cultures habit to modify English, we cannot avoid cultural conflicts. Therefore, translated by our own rhetorical format, just copy the image of the original metaphor, it cannot only lose the original style but also obscure and distort the meaning of the original sentence. For example, as stupid as a goose, in Chinese, pig is a symbol of stupid, so when we translate it, we should say 笨得像猪; work like a horse, translated into 像老黄牛一样干活; red as rose, translated into 艳如桃李; a heart as hard as flint, is a simile in English, but our translation 铁石心肠is a metaphor; she was dressed in a maids cap , apron, and a bright smile, this sentence should not translate into 她戴着女仆帽、围腰和明亮的微笑。,we can use four words to express the exact meaning of this sentence-她带女仆帽, 系着围裙, 容光焕发, 面带微笑。 It cannot only express the authors feeling, but also reproduces the original meaning.Cultural Backgrounds in Choice of Words in TranslationIdioms were polished by ancestor. So every idiom is the fruit of wisdom. Words are the carrier of culture, so the words in idioms are the essence of languishing. Thus, the words especially in idioms reflect culture typically. Idioms are vivid, have a fantastic effect of expression. When we translate them, we should have a correct choice of words so as we could accurately reflect the culture and language characteristic of the language. For example, by making the bold promise, he had burned his boats. For now he had no option but to go forward with the project., burn ones boat comes from 49BC, when Julius Caesar led his army through the Root River, he ordered the armies burn the boat to cut off the retreat road, which shows his determination to win. In ancient, there is also a similar story about Xiang Yu in China, so we can choose 破釜沉舟 to explain burn ones boat . However, there are few similarities in life experience in English and Chinese, so they cannot translate directly by their literal meaning. For example, eat ones word similar to 食言 in Chinese，but the exact meaning of 食言 is dishonest, broke the promise. Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister, said: Eating words have never given me indigestion. It means that he accepted who said the wrong word and make an apology. A bed of roses, we may take it as rose alter, but roses have been taking as noble since the ancient of