英汉谚语对比及其翻译 --毕业论文.doc

【标题】英汉谚语对比及其翻译 【作者】卢 燕 【关键词】相同点；不同点；翻译原则；翻译策略；注意事项 【指导老师】廖东红 蒋朝霞 【专业】英语 【正文】I. IntroductionProverbs are the treasures of language and the crystallization of wisdom.1 They are short sayings of folk wisdom and easy to remember. They touch almost all aspects of peoples life and the role that proverbs play in the education of people is unique and can hardly be replaced by other means of education. The facts and truths they reflect often expound the profound truths from the simple matters in daily life. They sum up daily experience of people and tell people how to conduct themselves in society. As Francis Bacon long ago observed:“The genius, wit, and spirit of a nation are discovered in its proverbs”. English and Chinese proverbs are widely loved and used by people and regarded as the cream of the English and Chinese languages and the gorgeous treasures of English and Chinese cultural treasure-house. They deserve to be called the nations spiritual values and cultural heritage. Proverbs have vivid images and distinct national flavor. Then how to retain these features and acquire the highest degree of cultural exchange in translation? In order to meet the purpose of proverb translation, the translator must adopt some effective strategies, such as literal translation, free translation, or the combination of two ways of translation, which totally depend on the features of the language and the cultural background of the proverbs. In order to make translation more precisely, the translator should first make a comparison between them.II. The Similarities between English and Chinese ProverbsThe similarities between English and Chinese proverbs mainly lie in their origin and some of their features.A. Similar OriginsGenerally speaking, Chinese and English proverbs enjoy the similar origin. They both originate from peoples daily life and experience. 2 They are the summary of peoples experience in their everyday life. The summarized experience and reason are abstracted from the practice of peoples life and work. They express peoples simple and healthy thoughts, feelings and sentiments. More often than not, it reveals a universal truth from a particular point so as to enlighten people. A large portion of English and Chinese proverbs were created by working housewives and cooks in the kitchen and so on, using familiar terms that were associated with their own trades and occupations. Many English and Chinese proverbs come from some literal works. Many English proverbs are from The Fables of Aesop which reflects the essence and the true meaning of life. These proverbs are so concise and humorous that people can understand them and put into practice easily. Shakespeares works are probably the most colorful literature origin of proverbs. For example, All is not gold that glitters.Many Chinese proverbs are from Chinese classics. For example,孙悟空跳不出如来佛的手心;关公面前耍大刀;假作真时真亦假，真作假时假亦真;没有打虎将，过不得景阳岗 are respectively from the great works The Pilgrimage to the West, The Three Kingdoms，A Dream of Red Mansions and The Marsh Rebellion. The four works are the most popular classics in China and they are even worldwide famous. They are the representatives of Chinese classics. Besides, both English and Chinese proverbs are from mythology and fairy tales or a nations historical events, even some of them are from other languages and so on.B. Similar Linguistic CharacteristicsEnglish and Chinese proverbs share some common features in several aspects: language and rhetorical devices1. Similar Lexical CharacteristicsProverb diction tends to be neat and simple. They are usually simply and informally worded. The diction tends to be everyday expression, simple and short words. In the aspect of diction, Chinese and English proverbs have great similarity.(1) ColloquialismProverbs come from daily life and are frequently used orally. They are handed down from generation to generation. So colloquialism is the first choice concerned with diction.For example:A horse stumbles that has four legs.麻雀当家,叽叽喳喳.“stumbles” in the first proverb and“叽叽喳喳”in the second are both colloquial expressions, frequently used in colloquial language.(2) The use of antonymsThere exist many contradictory elements such as good and evil, beautiful and ugly, true and false, etc. The skillful use of antonyms in proverbs may contrast the two sides and make themeaning more striking.For example:What soberness conceals drunkenness reveals.Grasp all, lose all.人无远虑，必有近忧。One who fails to see far ahead will face danger close at hand.In these proverbs,“conceal” and“reveal”,“grasp” and“lose”,“far” and“close” are antonyms.(3) The use of numeral termsNumerals in proverbs can either show the actual amount or unreliable figure.For example:Kill two birds with one stone.A cat has nine lives.一山不藏二虎。No two rival tigers can exist in the same mountain.三个臭皮匠，顶个诸葛亮。Many heads are better than one.In these proverbs,“one”,“two”,“nine” are numeral terms.2. Similar Rhetorical CharacteristicsChinese and English proverbs share some similar sentence patterns. They are usually very short and simple in structure. Some of them are very concise, condensed and give the prominence to the meaning and expressiveness. Apart from that, elliptical sentences and inverted ones are also frequently used. The concise and refined pattern of proverbs makes it much easier for people to cite or use them. Elapsed sentences are also often taken up, e.g.无风不起浪; No smoke without fire;不入虎穴，焉得虎子 and Nothing venture, nothing have. Many Chinese and English proverbs take up the same rhetorical devices such as simile, metaphor, and antithesis, etc.(1) SimileSimile is a figure of speech in which two dissimilar objects are expressly compared with one another by the use of like or as.For example:众人像面镜, Everybody is like a mirror; A bad custom is like a good cake, better broken than kept and A black plum is as sweet as a white. In all the above proverbs, simile is used. The first one uses“like”, comparing people to a mirror, the second one also uses“like”, comparing bad custom to a good cake, the third one uses“as”, comparing a black plum to a white.(2) MetaphorMetaphor is a figure of speech in which two unlike objects are implicitly compared without the use of like or as.For example:时间就是金钱. Time is money.Failure is the mother of success.失败是成功之母.The first one compares“time” to“life”, the second one compares“failure” to“success”, they are without“as” or“like”, but belongs to metaphor.(3) AntithesisIt is to arrange some phrases or sentences that have nearly the same amount of words, the same structure and related meaning.For example:Out of sight, out of mind.Man proposes, God disposes.良药苦口利于病,忠言逆耳利于行。Good medicine tastes bitter; bitter pills have good effects.谦虚使人进步,骄傲使人落后。Modesty helps one make progress; conceit makes one lag behind.Antithesis is used in these proverbs, everyone has the same amount of words and related meaning. Each part of every proverb has three, two, seven and six words respectively and the meaning is relevant to each other. Apart from the above-mentioned rhetorical devices, hyperbole, metonymy, personification and other devices are also often used.III. The Cultural Differences between English and Chinese ProverbsLanguage is the mirror of the culture of a nation. 3 A nations cultural features and its national psychology, patterns of thoughts and values are surely reflected in its language. Proverbs, being part of language, are of the same characteristics and most of the distinctive cultural features of a nation can be found in proverbs.A. Different Religious BeliefsOwing to different religions, the English and Chinese people use different figures in their own proverbs. Many people in the West believe in Christianity, and so the images of“God”,“devil”,“heaven”, and“cross”, etc. are found in a number of English proverbs.For example:The devil can site Scripture for his purpose.魔鬼引圣经,不会怀好意。God helps those who help themselves.上帝帮助自助之人。Man proposes, God disposes.谋事在人,成事在天。However, in China Buddhism has existed for over 1,000 years and it is the dominating religion that has bred-in-the-bone influences on Chinese people. Hence, most of the Chinese proverbs are closely related to Buddhism and the images of“佛,菩萨”(Buddha),“和尚”(monk),“庙”(temple), which are always used in Chinese proverbs.For example:借花献佛。Present Buddha with borrowed flowers.泥菩萨过河,自身难保。A clay idol fording a river is hardly able to save itself.做一天和尚撞一天钟。Go on tolling the bell as long as one is a monk.B. Different Historical TraditionsEvery nation has its own cultural tradition. In the long history of its development, a great number of beautiful legends and myths were created and many proverbs based on them were produced. Greek and Roman civilizations have had great influence on the English language.For example:Love is blind.爱情是盲目的。This proverb is from Roman myth. Cupid, the God of love, is a boy with two wings. His eyes are blind-folded and he is flying in the sky with bow and arrows in hand, shooting his arrow of love. The one who gets the golden arrow will win his love. This proverb implies that lovers cannot see each others weakness and shortcomings. There are also many English proverbs derived from“The Fables of Aesop”.We see not what is in the wallet behind.人们总是看不见自己的缺点。The fox said the grapes were sour.狐狸吃不到葡萄,就说它是酸的。Some Chinese proverbs are derived from ancient Chinese myths, legends or fables and they have strong cultural colors.For example:孙悟空逃不出如来佛手掌心。Be unable to jump out of anothers grasp, however cleverand capable one may be.This Chinese proverb is from The Pilgrimage to the West. Sun Wukong is Monkey King who is clever and capable. Ru laifu is Buddha Tathagata who has great power. This proverb implies that a common man cannot escape the control from a powerful man.C. Different Living CustomsLanguage reflects peoples life and it comes from peoples life. Living customs greatly influence and restrict the system of language expressions. Every language is characterized by its different living customs.For example:Unkissed, unkind.不接吻,不友善。This proverb reflects the Western custom of kissing each other as friendly greetings. While in China, if a person does so when greeting another, he might be misunderstood. We have tradition of“男女授受不亲”(Grown-ups of different sexes are not expected to touch each others hands) This is a distinctive feature showing the differences between the expressions of one language and those of another and is also the typical example of the so-called“exotic flavors”.萝卜白菜，各有所爱。In China,“radish” and“cabbage” are two common vegetables. When they are used in theproverb, it means people have different tastes or opinions. However, the same images are not very likely to produce the same expressive effects in the minds of British people. They may use two other different images“apple” and“onion” to transmit the same message.“Apples” and“onions” are two kinds of common food in British and the choice of“apples” or“onions” represent peoples different tastes. They would say,“Different people have different opinions, some like apples and some like onions”.4D. Different Living EnvironmentsHuman experiences have an enormously great influence on the coinage of proverbs. Traditionally speaking, Britain is an island which has a long history of navigation, and therefore a lot of English proverbs are derived from the sea.For example:There is as good fish in the sea as ever come out of it.有了大海，还怕没鱼。The good seaman is known in bad weather.要识好水手，需凭坏天气。Hoist sail when the wind is fair.乘风扬帆，乘机行事。On the other hand, China, which come from a primitive society，is a country of farming and a vast majority of the people live in the rural areas. Therefore, a lot of Chinese proverbs come from farmers and are about them especially in agricultural production.For example:瑞雪兆丰年。A timely snow promises a good harvest.人勤地不懒。If man is diligent, soil is not idle.种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆。Reap as one has sown.Therefore, different living environments make different proverbs.E. Different Patterns of Thoughts and Cultural ValuesThanks to the cultural differences, people have found different patterns of thoughts and cultural values. They may have quite different or even opposite opinions of the same matter. For example, camels win a fame of“ship in deserts” and people living in deserts regard camels as good friends and helpful assistants. Owing to this intimate relation to camels, people there like to compare the eyes of a beautiful girl to“camel eyes”. If such a comparison is used to describe a girl living in China, she will probably get angry because she does not have the same kind of patterns of thought and cultural value. Therefore, English language and Chinese language may use different expressions to convey the same meaning, each having a unique cultural background of its own nation.IV. Translation Principles and Strategies of English and Chinese ProverbsA. Principles of Proverb TranslationTranslating proverbs is not always easy. They are concise, comprehensive, and full of figures of speech with strongly accented rhythm and profound truth. Meanwhile, coming from various sources, proverbs present a distinctive cultural identity and manifest themselves as a real cultural indicator. Therefore, the following principles should be considered in the process of translating proverbs. In order to meet the purpose of proverb translation, we must first adopt“faithful” principle. The“faithfulness” here meansfaithful to the literal meaning, figurative meaning and alsothe implied meaning. That means to be faithful to original context. In YanFus translation theory,“expressiveness” refers to not to confine to original style and try best to show competence of language in translated text to achieve a clear meaning.5 To achieve“elegance” is also to achieve“faithfulness”, these two principles are unified. Proverb is short but conveys a profound meaning; some proverbs in one style in English may be in another style in Chinese, but what they express is more or less the same. On the basis of“faithfulness” principle, when translate some proverbs we should properly change their styles in order to achieve a more perfect meaning. In Chinese,“elegance” is usually used to describe people who are well-breed and well- cultivated, it is a high assessment. YanFu claimed that to achieve“elegance” is to one-sidedly pursue elegance of translation version. However, this idea is not prevailingly accepted.In proverb translation，“elegance” here means our translation version must be elegant in language on the basis of the former two principles, that is to say it must be catchy and pleased to ones eyes.B. Translation Strategies of English and Chinese ProverbsTraditionally, the two major orientations in translating have been literal and free. This contrast has been primarily a matter of focus. Generally speaking, literal translation and free translation are related, and they both are interacted and have no clear-cut line. Literal translation, free translation and the combinations of both are the three translating approaches.1. Literal TranslationLiteral translation is an approach adopted to keep the original meaning, image and structure to the full.6 Literal translation is by no means word-for-word translation. The translated version must conform to the standard of the target language and it is not supposed to bring about wrong associations in the readers mind. Otherwise, the readers may fail to achieve to understand the meaning of the original proverb when they read the translated version.Some proverbs carry a strong and peculiar flavor of a particular culture. In order to introduce the culture of the source language to the readers of the target language, the translator should expose the culture-loaded terms to them as long as the version conveys the original meaning and does not lead to the readers misunderstandings. In fact, the readers of the target language have accepted some literally translated versions after long-term usage. For example, the literally translated version of All roads lead to Rome(条条道路通罗马）has been completely accepted by Chinese readers and it has become a Chinese proverb.Sometimes, a proverbs meaning can be directly drawn from the individual meanings of itscomponent words. If the proverb in question doesnt have a synonymous proverb in the target language, the translator may take up literal translation approach.For example:If you lack health, you lack everything. This can be translated into如果你失去了健康就失去了一切。If you dont improve today, you will grow worse tomorrow. This can be translated into少壮不努力,老大徒伤悲.While少壮不努力,老大徒伤悲can be literally translated into if one does not work hard when young, it will be useless for him to lament when old.Some proverbs wont cause misunderstandings if translated literally although they carry some images. The Chinese proverb种瓜得瓜,种豆得豆 can be translated into if you sow melon seeds, you will reap melon; if you sow peas, you will reap peas. For the English proverb Barking dogs seldom bite, the translator may translate it into凶狗不咬人.All the mentioned translated versions reflect the image, implied meaning and sentence pattern of the original proverb to the full. Provided with enough contextual effects, the readers, with little processing effort, can achieve the maximal relevance while reading the translated version.Here are some proverbs and their literally translated version:If you run after two hares, you will catch neither.同时追两兔，全都抓不住。An empty sack cannot stand straight.空袋立不直。No bees, no honey; no work, no money.没有蜜蜂就没有蜂蜜，没有劳动就没有金钱。亲戚多，麻烦多。If you have a lot of relatives, you have a lot of t