Culturalbridge：translation-2019年文档

1、Cu1tura1bridge:trans1ation1、Languages,CultureandTranslationLanguagedoesnotdevelopinemptyplace.Languageisthecarrierofapeopleandthechiefwaybywhichthemembersofasocietycommunicates.Togivethebarestofdefinition,languageisameansofverbalcommunication.Itisinstrumentalinthatcommunicatingbyspeakingorwritingisa

2、purposefulact.Itissocialandconventionalinthatlanguageisasocialsemioticandcommunicationcanonlytakeplaceeffectivelyifalltheusersshareabroadunderstandingofhumaninteraction.Translationmaybedifficulttodefined.Theoretically,agoodtranslationshouldgivethereaderasmuchthesameconceptionaswhatanativegetstheorig

3、inal.Nidaremarkedthathowtodetermineagoodtranslationistheresponseofthereceptortothetranslatedmessage,andthismessagemustthenbecomparedwiththewayinwhichtheoriginalreceptorspresumablyreactedtothemessagewhenitwasgiveninitsoriginalsetting.Perhapsitismostdifficulttodefinethetermculture.Differentpeopleindif

4、ferentsocietiesorcountrieshavedifferentdefinitions.Acultureisasocietysystemofcommonheritage.Ourcultureisexposedcontinuouslyinourdress,food,work,languageandotheractivities.Toputitsimply,culturemeansthetotalwaysoflifeofacommunity.Therefore,alanguageisbothapathofcultureandabridgeconnectwithotherpartsof

5、cultureandcultures.Thismakeslanguagethedistinctivefeatureofhumansociety.Butlanguageisalsoinseparablewiththefunctionofacultureandfortransmittingittosucceedinggenerations.Thatistosay,languageplaysaveryimportantroleinculture,withoutlanguage,culturewouldnotexist.Ontheotherhand,languageisinfluencedandsha

6、pedbyculture.Languagecannotexistwithoutculture.2、ImageandFunctionTheChineseputemphasisonintuitionandimages,theIndo-Europeanemphasisonreasonandlogic.SoChineseisimageabewhileEnglishisfunctional.Chineseiswrittenwithcharacters(alsocalledideograms),which,intheirearliestform,werepicturesofthingsorideas.Ch

7、inesecharactersintheirpresenthighlydevelopedformarenotasystemofpicturewritingbutacomplexmeansofconveyingideasvividlythroughimages.Forexample,人(man)isexactlythe?imageofamanstandingwithlegsparted,雨(rain)hasfordotstrokessymbolizingraindrops.日(sun)and月(moon)resemblethesunandmooninthesky.日and月combinetogi

8、ve明(brightness),从(tofollow)veryvividlydepictsonemanfollowinganother.ThemeaningofsomeChinesewordscanbeunderstooddirectlybytheir?visualpresentation,suchas短发(shingle,bobbedhair),假发(wig),硬币(coin),纸币(note,bill),圆形针(paperclip),高跟鞋(stilettos,high-heeledshoes),短袜(socks),无袖外衣(tabard),and露背装(haltertop).Alarge

9、amountofChinesewordsareveryvividlypresentedinimages,shapesandqualities;butwhentranslatethemintoEnglishversionitcanonlysurveytheirmeaningandfunctioninthesourcetextandneglecttheimage.ideas,metaphorsorsentimentsandambitionsusuallybeexpressedthroughimages.蚕食(tonibble)meansgradualaggressionandoccupationt

10、othewaysilkwormseatmulberryleavesbitetheleaveslittlebylittle.手忙脚舌Lvividlydescribesapersondoingsomethinginaflurry.Thecompounddepictsageneralflurryofactivitywithoutanyspecificrelationto手and脚.InEnglish,itwouldbetranslatedas“withirresistibleforce"or“likesplittingbambooor“likea?hotknifecuttingthough

11、butter;thislastoptionborrowsanimagefromwesternculturethathasasimilarconnotation.AlargenumberofmeasurewordsalsomakeChinesevocabularyveryimageable;forinstance,一支笔(apen),一张报纸(anewspaper),一朵花(aflower),一把椅子(chair),一面镜子(amirror),一匹马(ahorse),一盏灯(alamp),一棵树(atree),一口锅(awok),etc.Themeaningandthequantityofthe

12、objectscanbewelltranslatedintoEnglish,butthe?vividnessoftheChinesemeasurewordscanneverbereproduced.AsChineseisanideographicwritingsystemandatonallanguage,everyChinesecharactercanberegardedasatrinityofpictographideographandphone.Itisindeedagreatpitythatitsbeautyofimageandsoundiscompletelylostwhentran

13、slatedintoEnglish,analphabeticwritingsystemwithwordscomposedoflettersthathave?nosymbolizedmeaning.ThemeaningofChinesewordsisusuallygeneralwhilethemeaningofEnglishwordsisspecific.摩托车isusedto?refertoalltypesofmotorcycle(ormotorbike).InEnglishthereareotherspecifictermssuchaslightmotorcycle轻型摩托车,heavymo

14、torcycle重型摩托车,sidecarmotorcycle带侧边的摩托车andtouringmoped旅行摩托车.车mayrefertoacar,abus,aminibus,atram,alorry,avan,ataxianymeansoftransportationwithtwoormorewheels.ItispossibletodistinguishbetweentheminChinese,butaChinesepersonismuchmorelikelytouseageneraltermthanaspecificoneindailycommunication.车meansavehi

15、cle"inEnglish,butthisgeneraltermisrarelyusedbynativeEnglishspeakersexceptinofficialorlegaloccasion.NativeEnglishspeakersprefertobemorespecificintheirreferencestocars,buses,minibuses,trams,lorries,vans,taxis,etc.ThedifferencecomesoutoftheWestern'sautomobileindustryismoredevelopedthanChina,so

16、manymoretypesofvehicleareavailable?WestthaninChina.笔isanotherexample.WhenaChinesepersonwantssomethingtowritewith,itisquitenaturalforhimtoask“有笔吗"thoughmorespecificwordslike圆珠笔、钢笔、铅笔、粉笔areavailable.Theuseof笔onitsownisperfectlynormalandsatisfactoryinChinese,whereastheuseofwritingimplement,rathert

17、hanaskingHaveyougotsomethingIcanwritewith?Chinesewordsalsohavesomeveryspecificreferents,whichareinfluencedbyhisenvironmentandmaterialculture.大米themainfoodforChinesewhenitisgrowing,itisaplantcalled稻米or稻米;havingbeenharvested,itiscalled谷子or稻谷;oncethechaffisremoved,itiscalled大米,whichcanbeeaten;itiscalle

18、d米饭whenitiscookedforfoodandwhenitisemployedasseed.AllthesespecifictermscanberenderedintooneEnglishword:rice.NotonlyinChinesevocabulary,butalsoinotheraspectsofthelanguage,Chinesehasapreferenceforthegeneralwords.Chinesedonotmuchcarewhetheranounissingularorplural,definiteorindefinite.Withoutacontext,it

19、isimpossibletojudgewhichtranslationiscorrect.Hence,“你有杯子吗？“canberenderedas:Haveyougotacup?Haveyougotcups?Haveyougotthecup?Haveyougotthecups?Haveyougotanycups?Haveyougotsomecups?SometimequiteafewthingsonlybelongtoChineseandusedinourcommunityorpartofthecommunity.Thenweshouldgiveanexplanationaboutthemi

20、nbriefwhentranslatingthem.我属鸡.我从来不吃鸡.鸡是我的本命年.IwasbornintheyearoftheRooster.Inevereatchicken.TheyearofRoosterwillbringmegoodlickorbadlick.(Chinesepeopletraditionallyuse12animals,representingthe12EarthlyBranches,tosymbolizetheyearinwhichapersonisborn.)凭你的李杜文章,颜曾的品行,却是也没有一个来问你.YoumighthavethegeniusofLi

21、BaiorDuFuandthemoralworthofYanHuiorZengShen(bothofthemweredisciplesofConfucius),onewouldaskyouradvice.EmptywordsinChinesehaveimportantgrammaticalfunctions,buttheirmeaningsarefuzzyandvaryindifferentcontexts.Inthefollowingexamplestheemptywords啊bearsvariousmeaningswhichbetranslatedaccordingly.你这杯牛奶还喝不喝啊？(Question)Areyougoingtohavethiscupofmilk?这究竟是怎么回事啊？(Surprise)Whatonearthisthisallabout?啊,原来是你！(Wi