Numbers-英语数字文化解析.ppt

CultureofNumbersandTranslation数字文化与翻译,英文学院吕允丽,1.Generalintroductionofcultureofnumbers:,Differentculturalconnotations-Ingeneral,oddnumbers（奇数）areconsideredtobeluckyinEnglish-relatedculture,whileinChinesecultureevennumbers(偶数)arethoughttobringgoodluck.,Idiomswithnumbersarethecentralcoreandcreamoflanguages,reflectingthewisdomofhumanbeing.Asrhetoricaldevicesofhyperboleandanalogy,idiomswithnumbersmakelanguagemoreconcise,vivid,colorfulandcomprehensible.,SomeidiomswithnumbersinChinese:一荣俱荣，一损俱损（Injureoneandyouinjurethemall;honoroneandyouhonorthemall）；一箭双雕;二一添作五（平分，均摊,gofifty-fifty);略知一二;三句话不离本行；四海之内，皆兄弟也；五光十色;六神无主；十五个吊桶打水,七上八下；,八字还没一撇；八九不离十；九牛二虎之力；十年树木，百年树人；不管三七二十一;三十六计，走为上策；五十步笑百步（Thepotcallsthekettleblack）；千里姻缘一线牵；万般皆下品，惟有读书高（Tobeascholaristobethetopofsociety/Onlythelearnedrankhigh,allothertradesarelow),etc.,SomeidiomswithnumbersinEnglishculture:one-horsetown（乡村小镇）;intwosandthrees(insmallnumbers三三两两，稀稀拉拉)；intwotwos(转瞬,转眼间)；puttwoandtwotogether(根据所见所闻推断);three-scoreandten（古稀之年）;four-letterword(粗俗下流词)；fourleaf(幸运草);tobeflungtothefourwinds（被抛到九霄云外）;,fivefingers(三只手，扒手);fifthwheel（累赘）；takethefifth（以美国宪法修正案第五条作庇护拒绝回答，避而不答）；atsixesandsevens（乱七八糟）;oneovertheeight(醉得疯疯癫癫);haveninelives(命大,九死一生)；ninedayswonder(轰动一时的人或事)；,takefive/ten(小憩);tentoone（十之八九，很可能）；theupperten/theuppertenthousand(上层社会，贵族阶级)；theeleventhhour(最后时刻，危急关头);striketwelve(表现出全部才能）；run/go/talknineteentothedozen(喋喋不休)；gofifty-fifty（平分，均摊）；likesixty(快速地，猛烈地，急剧地)；,oneinathousand(百里挑一);onehundredandonethanks(十分感谢，万分感谢，千恩万谢);haveonethousandandonethingstodo(日理万机)；athousandandoneways(许许多多的方法);athousandmilesaway(千里之遥),etc.,InChinese,fuzzynumbers（模糊数字）十，千，万arefrequentlyused.InEnglish“ten”,“hundred”,“thousand”,“million”areverycommon.,2.TheculturalconnotationofnumbersinChineseandEnglish,Culturalconnotationsofnumbersarenotonlyrelatedwithpsychology,butalsowithmythsandreligionetc.Inbotheasternandwesterncultures,therehasbeenfetishismthatinfluencesthepeoplessub-consciousness.Theybelievethatcertainnumbershavemysteriousormagicpowerthatmaybringthemluckorevil.Soinpeoplesdailylife,luckynumbersarefavoredandunluckynumbersaredisliked.,2.1InChineseculture,certainnumbersarebelievedtobeauspicious（吉利的）orinauspiciousbasedontheChinesewordthatthenumbernamesoundssimilartothoughthesebeliefsmayberegardedassuperstitions.,-Chinesepeoplehavestrongpsychologyofsymmetry,doublething(成双成对),association,analogy,pursuingthegoodandavoidingthebad.,Evennumbersarenaturallyluckyones。6,8and10arebelievedtohaveauspiciousmeaningsbecausetheirnamessoundsimilartowordsthathavepositivemeanings.,-Anotherinterestingassociationisthatin三（3）,thetopstrokestandsforheaven,themiddleforpeople,andthebottomforearth,sothewholenumbersymbolizestherelationshipbetweenthethree（天、地、人），whichseemtoblend(合一).,Theculturaldevelopmentandculturalconnotationsofnumbersisalsostronglyinfluencedbymyths/mythology.Inancientmythology,thereisasupernaturalbeingNeZha,withthreeheadsandsixhands,whoisinchargeofjustice.Itwassaidthathecantransformhimselfintothreeatwillandpossessesunusualpower.Accordingly,3hastakenonthemeaningof“powerful”and“magic”.,Besides,Confucianism,TaoismandBuddhism,intertwinedsotightlyinChina,hadbeendominatingforyears.EachofthemisveryimportantwithitsexertionsontheculturalconnotationsoftheChinesenumbers.,-InTaoism,everythinghadtwooppositesides:goodandbad,rightandwrong,longandshort,brightanddark,motionandmotionlessness.ThiscausesthenotionthatevennumberswereconsideredtobegoodluckandthatthetwooppositesidesofeverythingcorrespondtotheChinesetraditionalaesthetics,andthatinsocialandculturalactivities,evennumberswereconsummate/perfectandlucky.,However,thenumber4,thoughanevennumber,isregardedunluckysinceitsoundsliketheword死（death）.,2.2Incontrast,inEnglish-relatedculture,peoplebelievethatoddnumbers(exceptfor13)areassociatedwithgoodluck.,TheEnglish-speakingpeopleusethenumbers“hundred,thousandandmillion”plusthenumber“one”toformoddnumberstoseekgoodfortunesortoexpress“furthermore”.,Theluckyandmysteriousnumber3hasdeepeffectonsociallivesintheEnglishculture.-asthesymbolofGodandasthemostperfectofallnumbers;-theChristianTrinity(Father,SonandHolySpirit)-Theworldisthree-folded(earth,sea,andair);-Manisbelievedtohavebody,soulandspirit.,Westernersalsohavespecialpreferenceto,evenworshipthenumber7-theancientrelatedthenumber7withCelestialBodies(thesun,themoonandVenus金星,Jupiter木星,Mercury水星,Mars火星andSaturn土星)totheGods,-InChristianculture,Godcreatedtheworldin7days;-Godandtheangelsaresupposedtobelivinginthe7thheaven;-andthereareSevenSagesofGreece(希腊七大圣贤)andSevenBishops（七大主教）.-Consequently,7isusedtoexpresshappyimplicationsoriginatingfromChristianityandtherebyisusedtoregulatepeoplesmoralityandbehaviors.,-Theyalsobelievedthatpeoplehave7virtues(七大美德):Faith/Trust（信任）,Hope（希望）,Charity/Mercy（仁慈）,Justice（公正）,Fortitude(毅力),Prudence(谨慎)andTemperance(节制).,-Andwhatsmore,therearemanyidiomaticusageswith“seven”inEnglishculture:theSevenHeavens(七重天),theSevenDeadlySins(七大罪),theSevenSacraments（七大圣礼），,theSevenSpiritualWorksofMercy(七大精神善事)，theSevenGiftsoftheSpirit(神的七大礼物)，theSevenSenses(七种官能),theSevenVirtues(七大美德)etc.,Butinwesterncountries,13isregardedasanunluckynumber,evenataboonumber.The13thofamonthislikewiseominous,particularlywhenitfallsonaFridayinsomeEnglish-speakingcountries(黑色星期五).,Religiousculture,morethanpsychologyandmyths,isanimportantpartofcultureofhumansociety.Religioustheoriesonthepositiveandnegativeconnotationsofnumberscertainlyinfluenceapersonsspiritualworldfromgenerationtogeneration.,3.Translationofthenumeralwords,Onthebasisoftheprinciplesofachievingidiomaticityandvividness（民族性，通俗性/习惯性，形象性）,herewemainlyhavethreemethods.,3.1Literaltranslation/Preservationoforiginalnumbers保留数字直译,EnglishandChinesesharealotincommonintheiruseofnumbers.Whenthereisone-to-onecorrespondence,literaltranslationisanormalstrategy.,1)Twoiscompany,threeisnone.两人成伴，三人不欢。2)ThisPCisinexpensive;Iboughtitsecond-hand.这是个二手电脑，便宜。,3)新婚乍别，不免有一日三秋之感。Tothenewly-weds,onedayofseparationisaslongasthreeyears./Onedayapartseemsthreeautumns.4)一个篱笆三个桩,一个好汉三个帮。Afenceneedsthesupportofthreestakes,andanablefellowneedsthehelpofthreeotherpeople/Onemanneedsthehelpofthreeotherstosucceed.,5）一年之计，莫如树谷；十年之计，莫如树木；百年之计,莫如树人。Togrowgrain,youneedayearswork;toplantatree,tenyearswork,buttonurtureamanoftalent,ahundredyearswork.6)一个和尚跳水吃，两个和尚抬水吃，三个和尚没水吃。Oneboyisaboy,twoboyshalfaboy,threeboysnoboy.,3.2Borrowing/Replacement套译/变动数字改译,Inmanycases,however,thesameideaisoftenexpressedbydifferentnumbersinEnglishandChinese.Therefore,theremustbeachangeintheformforthesakeofidiomaticexpression.,1)EvenifIfailseventytimesseven,Iwilltryagain.即使我失败千百次，我也要继续下去。2)Itusedtobeawell-runbusiness,butthendisagreementsarosebetweenthepartners,andnowthingsareatsixesandsevens.原来本是个管理得好好的企业,后来合股人内部发生分歧,现在搞得乱七八糟/七颠八倒。,3)Heresaman,anarmyofficer,insuchrottenshapethatifIsentagoodhorseafterhimnowitstentoonehecouldntgetonhim.此处有位军官，可他身体是如此虚弱，以至于即使我们用一匹马送他，十之八九他也上不去。4)Inthecontemporaryliteraryworldhisnameissimplyaninedayswonder.当代文坛中，他仅是昙花一现的作家。,5)他有一说一，有二说二，值得信赖。Heistrustworthy,forheisonewhocallsaspadeaspade.6)冰冻三尺非一日之寒，他这身功夫可是一生心血的结晶啊！AsRomewasnotbuiltinaday,hiswonderfulskillwasthecrystallizationofalifetimeshardworkanddedication.,7)方案一公布，大家就七嘴八舌，议论开了。Publicationofthedraftplantouchedoffalivelydiscussionwitheverybodyeagertoputinaword.,3.3Accessionoromissionofnumbers添加或舍弃数字意译,Therearestillsomecasesinwhichtheideaexpressedbynumbersinalanguagehastoberealizedbysomeotherlexicalitemthananumberinanotherlanguage.,1)Marywasintheseventhheaven/oncloudninewiththepianowhichshehasbeengivenasabirthdaypresent.当收到作为生日礼物的钢琴时，玛丽高兴极了。2)ListentoJohnsinging!Hemustbeoneovertheeight。听,约翰在唱歌呢!他准又醉得疯疯癫癫的。,3)Whenthepatientsconditionwascritical,thedoctorstayedwithherfordaysandhadonlyfortywinksinthedaytime.她病情危急时,那位大夫几天一直守护着她,只有在白天打个盹儿。4)Acrossth