9/9中國習語與英國習語的不同翻譯CulturalDifferencesandTranslationin

EnglishandChineseIdiom

1.Introduction

WhatisanEnglishidiom?Anidiomisagroupofwordsestablishedbyusageashavingameaningnotdeduciblefromthoseoftheindividualwords.(Wang2000)Idiomsexistinanylanguage.TheEnglishlanguageisnotedforitswealthofidioms.TheyaretheessenceofEnglishlanguageandthecrystallizationofEnglishculture.Theyreflecttypicallythewholeexperiencesofworkingpeople’slivesandthesocialhistory.

Havingexperiencedtheevolutionoferas,Englishidiomhasformedinphrasesandshortsentencesafteramplesocialpractices.Concerningitsbroadsenseappellation,itincludesidiom,phrase,proverb,slang,sequel,locution,allusionetc.EspeciallyEnglishandChinesearedefinedtothissortofexistingsentence,whichisalsocalledidiom(setphrase)thatindicatesfromfixedversatilepopularshortsentence.Theseform-fixedshortsentenceshavebeengraduallydevelopedandcan’tbetornapartfreelyorrebuilt.Theygenerallypossessfixedformandmeaning,denotesageneralconception,andappearsinasentenceasacomponentwithvividimage.Thusitispropertomodifymattersforitscharacterconcisenessandbeingeasilyunderstoodandremembered.Thereforeitispopularamongthemasses.

Themeaningsofsomeoftheidiomsaredefinite,andothersareimplicitwhichcanraiseluxuriantassociation.Comprehensionofthemshouldbebasedonthecontextinordertounderstanditaccurately,fortheidiomspossesssomeextensivemeanings.AsfrequentexchangeofChineseandwestcultures,Englishidiomshavefoundtheirwaytoallfieldsofourlivesjustasournationalessence,atthesametime.Inthemeantime,EnglishidiomsandChineseidiomspossesssimilarsideanddifferentsideowingtothedistinctionbetweenbilateralnationalculturesandsocialsurrounding.Inordertodothetranslationwellwemustcarefullydistinguishthedifferences.Inthisessay,wewillanalyzethesourcesandculturalbackgroundoftheEnglishidioms,andwayoftranslatingthemintoChinese.

2.SourcesofEnglishIdioms

TheabundanceandvarietyofidiomsintheEnglishlanguagemaybetogreatextentaccountedforbythehistoricaldevelopmentofthelanguage.Andaspartoflanguage,idiom’semergingandgrowingisjusttheresultoftheenrichmentofEnglishlanguage.SothesourcesofEnglishidiomsaredeeplyinvolvedintheprocessofpeople’scommunicationinwhich

languageistheessentialmedia.Idiomsareoftenshortandbrief,buttowritedownthethoughtsandfeelingtheycontainneedslotsofbooks.

Asidiom’sdefinitionstates,itiscreatedbythepeoplewhospeakEnglishduringalongperiodoftime.Knowledgeofthesourcesoftheseidiomsmayhelpustocomprehendwhattheyreallymean,soitisworthourefforttogiveanaccountofthefactorswhichleadtotheirformation.

2.1IdiomsfromDailyLife

Generallyspeaking,thesourcesofEnglishidiomsarebasicallylivesofworkingpeople,suchasagriculturallife,economylife,nauticalandmilitarylifeandsoon.Forexample,―Aninetofivejob‖:regularworkasanemployee,especiallyinanoffice,shop,andfactory,etc.Itcorrespondsto―常日班‖inChinese.InEnglishspeakingcountries,worknormallybeginsatnineinthemorningandendsatfiveintheafternoon.Hencecomesuptheidiom.

2.2IdiomsfromLiterature

Therearealotofidiomscomingfromliteraryworks,suchasTheBible,workswritenbyWilliamShakespeare,TheFablesofAesop,andothermythsandlegends.Forexample―athorninone’sflesh‖means(fig)―constantsourceofannoyance‖.―Toflutterthedovecotes‖means―toalarmquietpeople‖.―Thelion’sshare‖means―thelargerorlargestparting‖.(TheLion’sSharefromArnoldBennett)

3.TheCulturalDifferencesReflectedinIdiomTranslation

―Themostelusivethingtocomprehendandtranslatetheforeignliteratureisitsassociatedmeanings,‖asMr.ZhuGuangqiansaidinhisOnTranslation,―translationpossessesspecialemotionalenvironment,whichisverybroadanddelicateandtremendouslyimportant,butcannotbefoundinthedictionary.Wewillbeconfusedifwearenotfamiliarwiththelocalconditionsandcustomsabroadaswellasitshistoricalculturalbackgrounds.Howeverthisisabsolutelydifficulttohandlewithintranslation.‖(1996,110)TheBritishanthropologistEdwardTailor,inhisoriginalculture,mentionedcultureasaconceptionfirsttime,andaddedthat―culture,includingknowledge,beliefs,arts,morality,lawandcustoms,isasortofcomplexabilityandhabitsacquiredinsocialpractice‖.(Worrall1975)Obviously,culture,whichcoversfields,isacompoundsystem.Asacomponentofculture,idiomreflectscolorfulethicculturalphenomenal.Asstatedabove,wecansayculturaldifferencereflectedinEnglishidiomscanbedividedintovarietiesandmainlyembodiedinthefollowingareas.

3.1CulturalDifferencesinLivingSurroundings

Ithascloserelationsbetweentheformationofidiomsandpeople’sactivitiesandlives.Asaninsularcounty,Britainhadoncebeenthemasterofthesea.Comparatively,ourHanPeoplelivedlongontheAsiancontinentpeopleandcouldnotliveanymoreoncetheysteppedoutoftheland.Therearemanywordsabout―boat‖and―water‖inEnglishidioms.It’sapitythatnocompletelycorrespondingidiomscanbeselectedinChineselanguage.Forexample,―torestonone’soars‖(暫時歇一歇),―tokeepone’sheadabovewater‖(奮力圖存),―allatsea‖(不知所措)etc.Simultaneously,inChineseculturalcircumstance,westwindreferstothewindinsiring,andsummerisalwaysconnectedwithbrutalandsultrywords,“赤日炎似火燒，驕陽似火”.Allthesewordsareadaptedtodescribesummerweather.InBritain,whichislocatedinthenortherntemperatezoneinwesternhemisphere,andenjoysoceanweather,westwindisthesymbolofspring’scoming,afamousBritishpoetShelleyexpressedhispraiseofspringinhisOdetotheWestWind.ItisjollyandamiableinEnglandwhensummeriscoming,soEnglishpeopleliketouse―lovely,warm,nice‖todescribesummerweather.Moreover,Shakespearecomparedthelovelysummerinoneofhissonnets.―ShallIcomparetheetoasummer’sday?Thouartlovelierandmoretemperate‖.

3.2CulturalDifferencesinCustoms

TherearemanydifferencesinEnglish-Chineseidioms.Nothingifmoretypicalthanpeople’sopinionstoward―dog‖,whichisahumbleanimalinChina,anditisfrequentlyassociatedwithderogatorymeaningssuchasdog-associatedwords,―狐朋狗黨，狗急跳墻，狼心狗肺，狗腿子‖etc.seeminglydog’sstatushasbeenacceptedandincreasedinrecentyearsduetomoreandmorepeopleadoptdogsaspetsinChina,thedogsaredeemedasthemostloyalfriendsinwesternEnglish-speakingcountries.Mostofdog-associatedwordsarenotderogatoryexceptsomeofthemaffectedbyotherculture.Wecanusuallycompareaperson’sbehaviorswithdoginEnglishidioms,forexample,―youarealuckydog‖(你是一個幸運兒),―everydoghasitsday‖(凡人皆有得意日),leadadog’slife(過窮困潦倒的日子)etc.Whenexpressingaperson’sterribleillness,peopleliketouse―sick‖asa―dog‖,whenexpressingaquiteexhaustedperson,peopleuse―dog-tired‖.OnthecontraryChinesepeoplearefoundofcat,thustheyliketouse―饞貓‖toindicateaperson’sgreedinessforfoodwithaffectionatesense.Butinthewesternculture―cat‖isusedtodescribe―atrickyandmalevolentwoman(包藏禍心的女人).

3.3CulturalDifferencesinReligionandBeliefs

Thereisahostofreligion-and–beliefassociatedwordsinEnglishandChineseidioms.

PeoplebelievethatthereexistsGodwhomastersallthingsintheworld.BuddhismhasadoptedbyChineseoveronethousandyears,whichhasmanyassociatedidioms,e.g.閑時不燒香，臨時抱佛腳.PeoplebelieveinChristianverymuchinwesterncountries,especiallyintheU.S.andtheU.K.sotherearemanyassociatedidiomssuchas―godhelpsthosewhohelpthemselves‖(上帝幫助自助的人),afamouscurseidiom―gotohell‖(見鬼去吧).

3.4DifferencesinHistoricalAllusions

ThereareanumberofidiomsoriginatingfromhistoricalinEnglishandChinesehistory.Theyareusuallysimpleinstructureandprofoundinmeanings.InsomuchwetranslatetheirmeaningsfromtheChinesehistory.Forexample,東施笑顰，名落孫山，and葉公好龍etc.MostoftheEnglishallusionscomefromtheBibleandancientGreekandRomanMyths,e.g.―Achillesheel‖(唯一致命的弱點),―meetone’swaterloo‖(一敗涂地)―Penelope’sweb‖(永遠完不成的工作),―Pandora’sbox‖(潘多拉之盒—災難，麻煩，禍害的總根源)etc.ThoughtherearenocompletelythesameexpressioninEnglishandChinese,forexample,toholdone’sheadhigh(昂首挺胸，充滿自信),stillwehavesimilarorrelatedcounterparts.

4.WaysoftranslatingEnglishIdiomsintoChinese

TounderstandthebackgroundandsourcesofEnglishidiomsandthedifferencebetweenEnglishandChineseidiomsbasicallyaretheprerequisitetotranslateidiomsintothegood,correct,correspondingversion,whichwearefamiliarwith.TherearealotofmethodstotranslateEnglishidioms,butthemainareliteraltranslation,freetranslationandequivalenttranslation.Let’sanalyzethemwithexamplesrespectively.

4.1LiteralTranslation

Whenconductingthismethodtotranslate,weshouldnotviolatetheChineselanguagerules.Underthiscondition,wenotonlyshouldkeeptheoriginalcomparison,image,characteristicsandtheobvioustintofnation,localityandhistoryreflectedintheidioms,butalsocontributetoabsorbinsomenewwords,sentencestructureandexpressionsetc.e.g.

1)HitlerwasarmedtotheteethwhenhelaunchedtheSecondWorldWar,butinafewyears,hewascompletelydefeated.

Inthissentence,thetranslatortranslatedarmedtotheteethas武裝到牙齒.Itismorevividlyandlively,simultaneously,andthetoneisstronger.Ifthetranslatortranslateditas全副武裝,thetonewillbereduced.

2)SayonewordmoreandI’llburyawhitebladeinyouandpullitred.

再說別的，我讓你白刀子進去紅刀子出來。

ThoughtherearesomeEnglishidiomscanbetranslatedintoChinesecorrespondingversionliterally,thevolumeisnotbig.InSentence2),thephrase―buryawhitebladeinyouandpullitred‖(把白刀子捅進你身體，拔出來的是紅色的)ifbasicallysameastheChineseidiom白刀子進，紅刀子出.Itremainsthepeculiaritylikesimile,imageandsoonintheidioms.

ThefollowingphrasescanbetranslatedintoChineseliterally;wecanfindtheequivalentidiomsinChineselanguage.Digone’sowntomb—自掘墳墓;Athornintheflesh—肉中刺，眼中釘

Whenwedosuchkindoftranslationweshouldunderstandthewords’meaning,sometimesweshouldalsobeawarethatwecouldconvertthefunctionofvocabularywhenwetranslateEnglishintoChinese.Newwineinoldbottle—舊瓶裝新酒;Packedlikesardines—擠得像沙丁魚;Bloodisthickerthanwater—血濃于水

4.2EquivalentTranslation

TherearesomeEnglishidiomssimilarasChineseidiomsinform,content,figureofspeech.Sowecanuseequivalenttranslation.SomeoftheidiomsinChineseandEnglisharethesame.

1)Ithink,andIcertainlyhope,thosestoriesareterriblyexaggerated.Ourintelligencesays.Stillthereisasmoke.

我覺得，我當然也希望這些報道是夸大了。我們的情報人員是這樣，不過無風不起浪。

Certainly,whenwetranslatesomething,ourmindsshouldbeliveandopen,sothefunctionofwordsorexpressioncanbechangeable.Sometimeswemustomitsomepartoftheoriginalsentencesorpassageswhenwetranslatethem,butsometimesweshouldaddsomethingtomaketheversionmoresmoothly.

Inthissentencethephrase―thereisasmoke‖isshortenedfromthephrase―wherethereissmokethereisfire‖(有煙必著火，無火不起煙).Ifweareconfinedtotheellipsisformoftheoriginalandtranslateitas只要有煙or有煙的地方,readerswouldbeboundtobeconfused.Abettermethod,comparatively,istoemploytheequivalentChineseidiom無風不起浪withtheemissionofellipsisfromoftheoriginal,whichwouldbemorecorrectandappropriate.

2)Well,it’stoolatetohidenow,musttrytoavoidsuspicionbythrowingthemoffthescent.

如今即使趕著躲，想躲也躲不及了，少不得要使個金蟬脫殼的法子。

Englishidiom―tothrowsomebodyoffscent‖isdifferentfromtheimageofChineseidiom金蟬脫殼,butthemainideaofspeechisclose.Bothofthemhavethesamemeaning:trytoescape,sothissetofidiomscanbetranslatedequivalently.

Fromthecontentsandexamplesmentionedabove,however,wecanconcludethatwhenequivalenttranslationisused,weshould,inmostcases,avoidoverexaggeratingthecase,becausewecouldnotfindcorrespondingversiontooneanotherabsolutely.Sometimes,weshouldbefamiliarwithuseoftranslationtechniques.

Thefollowingphraseshouldbetranslatedinthisapproach.Addfueltothefire—火上加油;Wallshaveears—隔墻有耳;Spendmoneylikewater—揮金如土;Fishintroubledwater—渾水摸魚.

4.3FreeTranslation

Whenthemainideaoforiginalcontextcontradictswiththerepresentationoftheversion,theliteralmethodshouldnotbeadopted.Inthiscase,wecanchoosefreetranslationaccordingtothecontext,butitshouldnotlimitfromtheoriginalpassage.Sothat’stosay,wecanchange,restructuretodelivertheoriginalcontent.

Sure,inEnglish,therearemanyrelatedthingstoaccountforonematter,butwhichonecanbechoseisuptosituation.Thussometimeswecanchoosesomerepresentationsalittlefarfromtheusedsentence’smeaning.

1)Johncanbereliedonheeatsnofishandplaysthegame.

約翰為人可靠，他既忠誠，又正直。

Inthissentenceto―toeatnofishandtoplaythegame‖cannotbeliterallyregardedas不吃魚和玩游戲.Thisexplanationwouldmakesomebodyconfused.ToeatfishisanEnglishallusion,itsmainideaisthat:duringElizabethperiod,JesusChristian,ejectedtoabidebythecustoms―toeatfish‖onFridayorderedbyRomanCatholicinordertoshowhisdevotiontoEnglandgovernment.Insomuchtoeatnofishmeans―faith,toplaythegame‖andto―playfairmean‖規規矩矩地比賽.Consequentlyitcanbetransferredto公平對待，舉止光明正大，為人正直。

2)AfterIfinishedmywork,hesaidthathewantedtogivemeahand.NeverthelessIthoughtthathisideawasjusttocarrycoalstoNewcastle.

FromthisexampleitiseasytofindthattheoriginalmeaningofthesentenceisnotequalcompletelytoourChineseexpression.ButinEnglish’seyes,wecouldusethistoconveythemeaning,whichleadtoanamazingmentalfeedbackorreaction.

TocarrycoaltoNewcastleoftheoriginalsentenceliterallymeans把煤運到紐卡索.Thatisanallusion.Newcastleisaplacewhichproducescoalprofusely.SotocarrycoaltoNewcastleisofnouse,andmoreoveritmeansdoingsomethingrepeatedlywithnoneed.So―tocarrycoaltoNewcastle‖canbetranslatedas多此一舉.

WhentranslatingEnglishidioms,ifwecannotpreservetheoriginalmeaningandthefigurativemeanings,weshouldpresenttheimplicitmeanings.ThiskindoftranslationisverycommoninEnglishidioms.Forexample,ifwesimpleregardAchilles’heelas阿喀琉斯的

腳跟.Itishardtobeunderstoodmostaccuratelyandacceptably.

Withregardtoanothercaseofidiomconnectedwiththedogthatwillfetchabonewillcarryabone,onecannottranslatedog,boneliterallyas狗，骨頭.That’stogiveupitsliteralmeaningandfigurativemeaning.Sowecantranslateitasitsimplicitmeaning對你說別人壞話的人也會說你的壞話.Thereisstillanothercase―raincatsanddogs‖.Ifwetranslateitinto下貓和狗,itcannotbecomprehendedthoughitremainstheoriginalimagination.Andalsoitdoesn’tconfirmtoChineselanguageexpressionrules.wecantranslateitasitsimplicitmeaning傾盆大雨.

Thefollowingphrasewouldbetranslatedassuch:Tokeepone’sowncompany—孤芳自賞，隱居獨處，獨往獨來，離群索居;Holdthebaby—干苦差;smellatrat—懷疑其中有詐.

4.4Non-equivalenceinEnglishandChineseidioms

Now,wearesomehowfamiliarwiththenumerousdifferencesstatedintheabovepagesbetweenSino-westculturesseemingly,manyidiomsaresimilar,butmeaningsvaryalot,especiallyincolorandnumbertranslation.What’smore,sometimesthedifferencesbetweenthemareverygreat.LetusdosomeanalysisofthecorrectionwiththefollowingEnglishandChineseidiomscases.

1)InthetranslationofEnglishandChineseidioms,weshouldpayspecialattentiontothenon-equivalenceofEnglishandChineseidioms.ThesimilarlymeaningofEnglishidiomsmaymisleadus—thecontrarymeaning.

―Haveaboneinone’sthroat‖notequalto―骨刺在喉‖

ThissetofEnglish-Chineseidiomscannotbedeemedtobeequal,eventhoughtheirmeaningisquitethesameseemingly,butthefigurativemeaningisafarcry.Theformerisanexcuseofunwillingtospeakwhatthetruthis.有骨頭卡在喉嚨里開不了口.Sowetranslateitas―難以啟齒‖.Thelatterismeaningthatbetteritas―有話不得不說‖.Wecaneasilyfindthattheirmeaningsarequitedifferent.

2)Apartfromaddingnegativeorpositivemeaning,thiskindofphraseorsentencemayembodythesuperficialmeaning,addingmorevividnesstothefacialmeaning.

―awalkingskeleton‖notequalto―行尸走肉‖

Literally,thissetofidiomsisquitesimilar.Walkingisequalto―行‖,skeletonissimilarto―尸‖.Actuallytheirfigurativemeaningsareutterlydifferent.Skeletonin―walkingskeleton‖showsapersonbecomeasemaciatedasafowl(thinandshaggyperson).Itstressesonaperson’shealthystate.Thelatter―行尸走肉‖referstoaperson’sspiritualballast.Thereisafarcrybetweenthetwophrases.

3)Atthesametime,thepurposeofnon-equivalencemayaddemotionalqualities.―touchandgo‖notequalto―一觸即發‖

Theimageofthepairisquitesimilar,buttheirimplicitmeaningsarenotthesame.Englishidiom―touchandgo‖denotedanarrowescape,andhasthemeaningofdangerandmainlyrepresentthepastmattersoruncertainties.But―一觸即發‖representsatrendofthing’sdevelopment,whichmeansexposure.

e.g.Ourteamwonthegameallright,butitwastouchingandgoingforawhile.

我們隊是贏了，但卻是懸得很。

4).Itsometimeshasthefunctionoffiguresofspeech.

―pullone’sleg(puttheleg)‖notequalto―拉后腿‖

Theformatsofthesephrasesarequitesimilar,―pulltheleg‖means―tryforajoke,tomakehimbelievesomethingthatisuntrue‖(和某人開玩笑,愚弄別人,使人相信虛假的事情).InChineseidiom,―拉后腿‖meansobstructingsomebody’swayorholdingdownother’sactions.

e.g.foratimeIactuallybelievedthathiswifehadroyalblood,andthenIrealizedhewaspulingmyleg.

我一度真的相信他太太有皇族血統,后來才明白原來他是愚弄我.

5)Atlastbutnotleast,usingnon-equivalencemakestherelatedexpressionofeuphemism,orhasthefunctionofpun.Inthiscase,itcanmakereadermoreeasilybeingtouched.

―liedownonthejob‖notequalto躺倒不干

Thispairofidiomsissimilarinformatbutdifferentinmeaning.―liedownonthejob‖meansnotworkingbyhearandsoul.TherelativeEnglishidiomof―躺倒不干‖is―throwingupone’sjob‖whichmeansrejectingtowork.Sothemeaningsoftheseidiomsarenotthesame.

e.g.thisparticulartaskrequirescloseteamworkandifanyoneofusliesdownonthejob,weshallneverbeabletofinishitintime.

這一項任務要求互相相互配合得很好,任何一個人不好好干,我們就無法按時守成.

Accordingly,wecanconclude,fromtheexampleandanalysisthatnon-equivalenceinEnglish-Chineseidiomalwayspreoccupiedus,mainlystressingthepurposeofthepresentations.Whenencounteringwithsuchcases,actuallyit’seveninevitabletocommitmistakefornewlearners,evenheorshehascertainknowledgeinthatfield.