尚军论文最后定稿.doc

尚军论文最后定稿 Chengdu InstituteSichuan InternationalStudies University本科毕业论文题目(中文)英汉翻译习语中的暗喻时体现出的文化差异(外文)Cultural Differences Reflected in English-Chinese Translationof Metaphors in Idioms系别英语师范系专业英语年级xx级学生姓名尚军指导教师李晓春结稿日期xx年4月26日四川外语学院成都学院教务处制xx年4月30日Cultural Differences Reflected in English-Chinese Translationof Metaphors in Idioms Abstract Idioms,as aspecial formof language,exist inculture andreflect cultural differences.They havefixed patternsand abundantconnotations.Metaphorsin idioms areextremely difficultfor translatorsand English learners toprehend becauseof theculture embodiedin them.Therefore,how toproperly dointercultural translationturns outto bean indispensableskill.In this thesis,the translation of metaphors in idiomswill bediscussed on the foundationof introducingthe definition,features,similarities anddifferences of metaphors inidioms.Meanwhile,a seriesof principlesand methodsof idiomtranslation will be putforward.Key words:metaphor;idiom;cultural differences;translation Cultural DifferencesReflectedin English-Chinese Translationof Metaphorsin IdiomsOutline ThesisStatement:Metaphors liedeep in different languagecultural backgrounds,and bettertranslation of them isbased onwell understandingof anytwo cultures involved.This thesis aims topare andanalyze the cultural differences between English and Chineselanguages within the contextof metaphortranslation,and to give bothlearners and translators someuseful suggestionsregarding howmetaphors couldbe bettertranslated.I.Introduction A.A GeneralIntroduction toMetaphorsin Idioms B.The Objectivesof ThisStudy II.The TwoFeatures ofMetaphor inIdioms A.Cultural ConnotationB.The StructureIII.Cultural Similaritiesand Differencebetween Metaphorsin English and ChineseIdioms A.The Similaritiesbetween Metaphorsin English and ChineseIdioms1.Orientation Metaphor2.The CulturalIntegration ofMetaphor B.Cultural Differencesand EnglishMetaphor TranslationProblems1.Differences inLocation andLiving Environment2.Differences inHistory3.Differences inReligion4.Differences inCustom5.The Social,Political,Economic DifferenceIV.Solution andSuggestion ofBetter TranslatingIdiomsA.Literal TranslationB.Liberal TranslationC.Combination ofLiteral andLiberal TranslationV.Conclusion CulturalDifferencesReflectedin English-Chinese Translationof MetaphorsinIdiomsI.Introduction Withthe integrationof globaleconomy,politics andtechnology,multi-cultural coexistenceis thetrend.Therefore,cultural factorsbee important in translationas wellas incross-culture munication.Both in English and Chinese,there area greatamount of idioms bearingessence of different cultures of differentcountries,which havehistoric andcultural significance.People from different cultural backgrounds mayhave different,even diametricallyopposed understandingof the same words,It will be ofgreat helpto graspthe maincharacteristics of metaphors inidioms andcultural differencesreflected in translation.A.A GeneralIntroduction Richardsmentioned that,in ourdaily conversationsalmost everythree sentencescontain a metaphor.1For example,English people often say:“It is not necessaryfor usto carrycoal toNewcastle.”It meansyou neednt domore thingson it,because it is perfectnow.So we can see that metaphorscontain the connotations ofpeoples life,in theaspects ofgeography,history,religion,and custom.Since idiomsare expressive,terse andpithy,people canconveniently andclearly expresstheir feelings.The famousAmerican translator,Eugene A.Nida,mentions inhis book,Customs andCultures thatlanguages alwaysexist ina bigenvironment.The politics,economy andculturesina socialenvironment bringmany difficultiesto translators.The reasonwhy there are manydifficulties is that the people concerneddo not have agood graspof the different cultural backgrounds.B.The Objectivesof ThisStudy2Metaphors liedeep in different languageculturalbackgrounds,and bettertranslation of them arebased onwell understandingof anytwo culturesinvolved.This thesis aims topare andanalyze the cultural differencesbetween English and Chineselanguages within the contextof metaphortranslation,and togive bothlearners andtranslators someuseful suggestionsregarding howmetaphors couldbe bettertranslated.II.The TwoFeatures ofMetaphor inIdioms Aording to Snell-Hornby,“a metaphoris aplete of(at least)three dimensions(object,image and sense),reflecting thetension betweenresemblance anddisparity”.2From this theory we can see that metaphoris afigure ofspeech whichunderstands and experiences ohing throughanother thing.It takesthe imagewe knowwell toreplace anabstract one.Therefore,to knowits featureswell isimportant beforetranslating it.It hastwo features,namely,its cultural connotation andstructure.A.Cultural ConnotationIn idioms,the culturalconnotation isone of its importantcharacteristics.Culture is a plexsystem,including knowledge,belief,art,moral,law,and custom,and idiomis thesystem carrier.In Dai Weidongs book,he says“Language expresses cultural reality.”3Since Chinese and Englishnations areentirely differentones withrespective characteristicsin history,geography,customs,religion and the like,different metaphors in different cultures reflectrich cultural content andcultural differences.For example,the Englishidiom“to talkto somebodylike aDutch uncle(像长辈似的教训人)”originates from the history;“the saltof the earth（社会中坚）”originates from the religion;“cup oftea（钟爱的事物）”es fromthe socialcustom.Lets lookat theconcrete exampleswhich reflectcultural connotations.As is known to all,English people have aspecial preferenceto animals;we can3also provethis phenomenonin metaphors.In English,the mostfrequently usedzoomorphism is“dog”.“Dog”can guardand hunt,English peoplegenerally do not holdmalice ondogs,instead ofthat,they believedogs symbolizeloyalty andtrust.Meanwhile,Dog ismonly usedto describepeople in English.For instance:a luckydog(幸运儿),a gaydog(喜欢玩乐的人).When they are tired,they evensay:”Dog istoo tired.”Whereas in Chinese thewords related to dogare notmendatory.Besides,“白象”inChineseis theequivalence of“white elephant”in English,while semantically“a whiteelephant”is aset phrasewhich meanssomething uselessor aburdensome possession.Under theinfluence ofdifferent cultures,the expressionof the same conceptdiffers greatly.Therefore,in theinterlingual translation,the expressionshould beadapted to the properone.From theabove mentioned,we cansee metaphors inidiomscontain richculturalconnotation.Therefore,whether atranslator graspsthis characteristicplays akey role in decidinga translations quality.B.The StructureIn Snell-Hornbys definition,we seethe structureof metaphoris alsoa majorcharacteristic.Better understandingof itsstructure canhelp us seek bettertranslating methods.Metaphor consistsof threenecessary parts:tenor,vehicle,andsense.To connecttenor andvehicle,we often use linkingverb but not“as”or“like”,which is different fromsimile.For instance:He isfat asa pig.(Simile)He is a pig.(Metaphor)Here we should payattention to the differencebetween asimile anda metaphor.In asimile,“as”or“like”is usedwhile inametaphor,such wordsare omitted.In metaphor,the tenoris theprerequisite ofvehicle,the vehicleis anindirect wayto expresstenor,and thesense is the monground betweenthe twoparts.For example:Failure is the motherof suess.4失败是成功之母。 In thisidiom(including Englishand Chineseexpressions),“failure”is the tenor;“mother”isthe vehicle.“Failure”obtained the meaning of“mother”-mother isthe one who teachesus alot.Some booksare to be tasted,others to be swallowedand somefew to be chewedand digested.书有可浅尝者，有可吞食者，少数则须咀嚼消化。 In this metaphorical idiom,the tenor“food”doesnt appear.The bookis paredwith foodand theverb“taste”,“swallow”,“chew”,and“digest”are usedto reflect the activitiesof reading-as eatingis aprocess which is similarto reading.Food hasvarious kinds;some of them can be swallowedwhile othersshould bedigested.Books can be readintensively orextensively aordingto ones needor interests.The bookisamilestone totodays science.这本书对当今科学是一个里程碑。 In thismetaphorical idiom,the tenoris“book”,the vehicleis“milestone”and thesense is“significance”-they areimportantineach of their area.From theseexamples,we cansee that the structureofmetaphorisdifferentfrom thatof simile.Metaphor ismore suinctthan simile.It connectstwo irrelevantthings,and showstheir inherentrelationship.III.Cultural Similaritiesand Differencesbetween MetaphorsinEnglishand ChineseIdioms AsDaiWeidongsays,“the sameword in different languagemay beentailed withdifferent connotations.”4translators mustrealize languagehas theprofound culturalconnotation.It is not enoughfor the translators tograsp pronunciations,and grammarof thetwo languagesonly.On thecontrary,they mustunderstand theculturesof the source language and the targetlanguage.5A.The Similaritiesbetween MetaphorsinEnglishand ChineseIdioms Humanlive in the samematerial world andexperiencesimilar stagesof socialdevelopment.The monfeatures ofmaterial world,the similarityof socialdevelopment,and themonality of human feelingsand thinkingpose avariety ofcultures andform integrationof them.Therefore,there area greatnumber ofmetaphorical idiomswhich areequivalent orsimilar.For example:In English,people maysay“My mindjust isnot operatingtoday”,while inChinese,we have“开动脑筋,丢掉包袱。 Here wecan learnthat the Englishand Chinese cultureboth regardhuman brain(脑)as machine（机器）.Another coincidenceis thatinEnglishpeople have“She brokehis heart.”while inChinese wehave“她使他心碎。 .Chinese and English culturesboth regard“heart(心)”as“the glass(玻璃)”.In thismetaphor,thetenoris“heart”,thevehicleis“glass”,and thesense is“easily broken”.“Glass”and“heart”have differentmeanings.However inthismetaphor,the meaning of“heart”has beengiven thecharacteristic of“glass”-easily broken.The Chineseand Englishmetaphors stillhave manyastonishing similarexpressions:A rayof hope一线希望Many handsmake lightwork.人多好办事Eat thefruit ofones owndoing.自食其果Cold words.冷言冷语All inall,there are many similaritiesbetween Chineseand Englishmetaphors inidioms,and approximately,they canbe dividedinto threeclasses asfollows.1.Orientation MetaphorWe often use orientationwords asmetaphors inour conversations,especially inthe needof expressingsome abstract concepts,like time,quantity,quality,social status,and soon.Among them,three groupsare monlyused,high-low,up-down,front-back.Both Englishpeople andChinese peoplehold anotion thatthings ina highposition arebetter thanthose ina lowplace.For6instance:The ladyhermits aredown,butnotout.女隐士们穷困潦倒。 但是没有放弃生活。 Hes reallylow thesedays.他这几天情绪很低落。 Therefore,“high”and“up”always connect with positivethings,on thecontrary,“low”and“down”connectwithnegative things.They canbe usedto describeabstractconcepts,such asemotions andhealth.Besides,EnglishandChinese peoplealso consider“right”as positive,and“left”negative ornot so positive.In English,“my right-hand man”isthepeople whosupport me;“my left-hand pliment”means qualifiedsupport.The latterisnotsopositivethan theformer.The situationisthe same inChina.In ancientChina,when ministerspaid theirrespects to the emperor,the onewho was in higherpositions alwaysstood inthe right,and theonewhowasinlower positionsstood inthe left.2.The CulturalIntegration ofMetaphor Dueto rapiddevelopment ofmunication technology,information industryand thegrowing internationalexchanges,cultural blendbees possible,so dothe absorptionand assimilationof metaphors.Chinese peopleborrow lotsof idiomsfrom English,and manyof themhave beepart ofChinese culture.For example,an Englishmetaphor,“to shedcrocodiles tears”,the literal translation is“掉鳄鱼眼泪”,and the free translation is“猫哭耗子”.The literal translation isbetter thanthefreetranslation,because itisnotonly retainingthe imageof the original sentence,crocodile,but alsobringing theintroduction ofexotic cultureto China.This convergenceand developmentofdifferent cultures havereduced thecross-cultural municationbarriers.This isespecially truefor the translation ofmetaphor.Translators shouldbe faithful to the original andmake effortsto retainthe imageof theidiom.B.CulturalDifferencesand EnglishMetaphor TranslationProblems In China,“蝠”and“福”are harmonics,so inChinasculturaltradition,bat isregarded ashappy symbol.In thewestern culture,bat isrelated toevil.For example:“have batsinthebelfry(思想古怪，神经错乱)”.Therefore,metaphorsinidioms reflectnational cultures,and weshould notneglect itscultural connotations.7The cultural differencesbetween Chineseand English stemfromthe following fiveareas:geography,history,religion,life experienceand thesociety.These fiveaspects of cultural differenceshave significantimpacts ontranslation,and the impacts lead to problemsofmetaphortranslation.Therefore,weshouldfully considerthe culturaldifferences onthese fiveaspects.Otherwise,we willmit“cultural error”intranslation.1.Differences inLocation andLiving EnvironmentSince peopleslive indifferent geographicallocations andliving environments,different ethnicgroups createdifferentcultures.Britain isan islandcountry,whichisextremely richin fisheryresources;fishery plays an important roleinEnglands economy.Therefore,British peoplehave adeep passionfor water,and theyhave many metaphors related to thesea,fishery,and navigation.However,China hashistorically beena predominantagrarian country.People livewith theland.Agriculture is closely relatedto peoples lives.As aresult,Chinese havemanymetaphorsrelatedto theearth,plant,and weatherconditions.This verygeographical differenceresults indifferent idioms in twolanguages.Despite ofthat,EnglishandChinese peoplesoftenuse different metaphors to expressthe samemeaning.For instance,to showsomebody beingextravagant,Chinese usuallyuse“挥金如土”analogy moneywaste,but Englishis“spend moneylike water.”The aboveexamples allshow thatidioms producedindifferentliving environmentscarry theirown nationallyand culturallydistinctive features.Different naturalenvironments makedifferent idiomforms.For example,lets analyzethe translation ofthefollowing sentence:A sortof spiritualeast windwas atthat timeblowing,neither Butlernor Greycould flower.In thewestern partof China,most areasare highmountains;and the east isthe ocean.In Chinese,“east wind”symbolize“warmth”and“spring”,and thenit symbolize“revolutionary forces”.“West wind”isasymbol of“cold”and8“awful”and thenit symbolizes“reactionary forces.”Chinese peopleoftenuse“east windoverwhelming westwind”,meaning therevolutionary forceswill win.The westof Britainis closeto Atlantic;theeastofitiscloseto Europeancontinent.The westwind whichblows fromthe Atlanticis aswarm andgenial as Chinas east wind,and theeast wind blowing fromthe Europeancontinent symbolizes“cold”.However inEngland,east andwest windsare nothingspecial andthey arejust naturalwindblowingfromdifferentdirections.They donot makemuch sense.Therefore,if wetranslate thesentence intoTranslation1那时吹来一股精神上的东风，巴特勒和格雷这样的诗人都不可能有生花之笔。 Most Chinese readers willbe puzzledby thistranslation.Lets seea betterone.Translation2瞧，”东风”吹来，文坛却一片萧条，连巴特勒和格雷这样的诗人都不可能有生花之笔。 2.Differences inHistory Differentnations have different history,so doChina and Britain.Because of this kindof culturaldifferences,metaphors whichhave differenthistorical connotationsalso cameinto being.One ofthe Chineseidiomsinhistory is“万事具备，只欠东风”.（Everything is ready,all thatis neededistheeastwind）They areall simplewords withknown superficiallexical meanings.Their impliedmeaning isthat allisreadyexcept what is crucial.“It datesback to the periodofthewar ofthree kingdomsin ancientChina,when attackersfrom one ofthekingdoms pilesup woodand flammablethings toburn the target city.They geteverything readyfor thechange ofthe windto bloweastward”.5But translatorscannot figureout theirmeaning properlywithout backgroundknowledge behindthem.The samething istrue oftheEnglishallusion.Now lets seeanother exampleof translationproblem causedby culturaldifferences:Mr.Smith canbe reliedon.He eats no fishand playsthe game.Many translatorsor Englishlearners wouldthink itis easyto translate.9They may translate it into“史密斯先生可以被信赖，他既不吃鱼又做游戏。 However,whatisthe relationshipbetween“可以被信赖”and“既不吃鱼又做游戏”?This makesthe translationvery puzzling.In fact,“eats nofish”isaphrase fromthe eraof BritishQueen Elizabeth.At thattime,Christians wantedto showtheir loyaltyto thegovernment,so theyrefused toply with the RomanCatholic customwhich arrangespeople onlyeating fisheson Friday.Therefore,“eatsnofish”means“tobeloyal to”andthe original meaning of“Plays thegame”is“playing gameswith therules.”In thatsentence,it means“to dosomething justice,ethical andupright.”So the translation shouldbe“史密斯先生可以被信赖，他忠诚并且办事公道。 Therefore,correct translation is closelyrelatedto the knowledge of historybackground.3.Differences inReligion Religionplays an importantrolein everycountry.It isso especiallybefore themodern civilization.The peopleindifferentcountries believe indifferentreligions.InChina,Chinese peoplebelieveinBuddhism.So inChinese therearemanyidioms aboutBuddhism,such as“放下屠刀，立地成佛”,“救人一命胜造七级浮屠”.But itisknowntoallthat theChristian religionhas beenthe mainreligion inwestern countries.Western countriesconsider Godcreates theworldandall thingsintheworld arearranged inaordance withthe wishof God.We cansee thatthe phrasesconcerning toChristian areabundant.For example:She wasas Winifredwould havesaid inthe latestfashion ofspeech”Honest toGod”is indifferentto itall.It is derived fromChristian terminology.It means“really orindeed”(的确或真的).Because ofthe ignoranceof theirculturalcontent,some translatorsmaytranslateitinto:她是正如维妮佛勒会用最近流行的话所说的“对上帝忠诚”对一切都冷淡。 This translation is difficultfor the Chinesereadersto understand the real10meaning.The correcttranslation shouldbe:她是正如维妮佛勒会用最近流行的话所说的“的确”对一切都冷淡。 If Englishlearners andtranslators donot understandthe religionof Englishpeople,they cant translatemetaphors well.4.Differences inCustom ChinaandBritainhavedifferentnational culturaltraditions,ethnic customs,lifestyles,values andmorality.These differencesof customsleadto