On the Origin of English Allusion and Idiom and Translation论英语典故与习语的来源与翻译.docx

On the Origin of English Allusion and Idiom and TranslationAbstractIdiom and allusion are indispensable parts of a language, and they are deposits of a language in a certain culture. This paper focuses on the origin of English allusion and idiom and how to translate English idiom into Chinese. The form of English idiom is simple and vivid but its sources are wide. All of these features cause the difficulty for people to understand it. This paper tries to discuss the correct translation ways of English idiom by means of describing its origin. Translators must try their best to convey the literal meaning, keeping the metaphorical image and connotative meaning of English idiom. The thesis is aimed at helping people have an exact understanding of English idiom and translate it correctly.Key words: English allusion and idiom; translation; origin; approaches摘 要习语和典故是语言不可缺少的一部分,是语言文化的淀积。本文重点讨论英语典故与习语的来源以及如何把英语习语翻译成中文。虽然英语习语的形式简单生动,但是它的来源却很广泛。正是由于这些因素，导致了人们对英语习语理解上的困难。本文试图通过阐述英语习语的来源来讨论他正确的翻译方法，那就是翻译者必须尽力传达英语习语的字面意思,保留其隐喻性形象和内涵意义。本文旨在帮助人们正确理解和翻译英语习语。关键词：英语典故与习语；翻译；来源；方法221. IntroductionLanguage is a carrier of culture, allusion and idiom play important roles in language and as a specific form of language, idioms are habitually used by people. Idioms contain abundant information of culture and they can reflect culture. They are formed through a long time, and have their unique style and implied meaning. Due to these characteristics, its hard for us to understand them. In order to understand English idioms thoroughly and use them correctly, we have to know their origins and features.If we want to have a right idea of English idioms, what we should do at first is to grasp what English idioms are. Therefore, the thesis gives the definition of the English idioms and their common features, such as structural feature and semantic feature. Then, since there are many sources of English allusion and idiom, the paper lists four main origins, daily life, Bible, myths and tales, living environment and literary works. From these four sources, many allusions are formed. So allusions are something typical from kinds of aspects in our life, they further develop into linguistic idioms gradually. The paper studies many English idioms from four origins of allusions which are good for understanding. Besides, based on the origins of English idioms, the paper comes up with some approaches and advice of English idioms translation, for example, equal replacement translation, free translation and so on. We should use literal translation as far as possible and keep the original and national culture characteristics of English idioms. The successful translation of English idioms should combine different methods reasonably and respect their original culture.2. The Research BackgroundBased on the study of English allusion and idiom, cultural factors infiltrated idiom translation. Many scholars and professors have made efforts on the study of idiom translation. There are mainly three directions. First, many scholars have conducted the study on the methods of idiom translation with little concern about the differences of cultures. Second, some studies only focus on the cultural factors of idiom translation. Third, some scholars inspect and analyze idioms only from one specific aspect of culture. This paper based on the origins and features to find some suitable ways to translate the English idioms. 2.1 Researches of English Allusions and Idioms in Western CountriesShokooh and Mohammad (2012) used four strategies for translating idioms, such as using an idiom of similar meaning and form, using an idiom of similar meaning but dissimilar form, translation by paraphrase, and translation by omission. They wanted to find out which strategy was the most frequently used strategy and whether there were any significant differences among the using of these strategies. Conducting a descriptive statistical analysis, it has been. concluded that “paraphrase” and “using an idiom of similar meaning and form” were the most and the least common strategies respectively. On the basis of the findings of this research, it is recommended that, in addition of having enough knowledge in terms of the theoretical translation issues and the translation strategies suggested by different scholars, a translator should have a good command of the idiomatic expressions.Idioms are the gems of a language, said Chen Linli (2010), translating idioms is not an easy task because not all English idioms have equivalents in Chinese idioms due to linguistic, especially cultural differences. He indicates that there are six translation tactics in translating English idioms into Chinese: literal translation, free translation, compensatory translation, explanational translation, borrowing, integrated approach. Obviously, a reasonable choice and the quality of translation are decided by the translators cultural awareness and creativity.According to Michael (2006), English idioms commonly appear to exhibit relatively fixed prosodic patterns, and departure from the expected prosodic pattern can give rise to humorous and bizarre effects. As idioms are generally supposed to require phrasal entries in the mental lexicon, there is some initial plausibility in the proposal that such entries might include arbitrary prosodic or accentual properties. Various categories of idiom can be distinguished, according to which aspects of the prosodic pattern seem to be fixed, and the relationship the pattern bears to those which would be expected on corresponding literal expressions.2.2 Researches of English Allusions and Idioms in ChinaThe idiom is fixed sentences or phrases, which is widely used by people in oral, so as a special form of language, it has different characteristics from the general form of words, such as nationality, folk and figurativeness, Li Xin (2013) said. This topic was also talked bout by Shen Gang (2012), he represents the unity of semantic and the stability of structural of the English idioms.Zhou Jun (2015) said that language is a carrier of culture, English idioms reflects the cultural characteristics of the Anglo American countries in the process of formation. For example, American hegemonism, inclusive culture, rich religious values and American dream and so on. The fundamental strategy of the United States to deal with the weaker countries is hegemonism. The United States is a unique immigrant country, and its culture presents diversity, open and containment. It was because that America received religious culture and customs from other regions such as Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America, through a long time melting, it created its own unique “new culture”. There are a lot of idioms from the loan words in English, like “tofu”, which is literal translation to translate Chinese food. Besides, in the minds of Americans, everyone is free and has equal opportunity, no matter how poor a person is, how low social status the person has, as long as you work hard, there is always a day will achieve their ambitions, even as president. The origins of English idiom are various, Shen Donghuan (2012) classified its origins from historical perspective, mythological perspective, religious perspective, life perspective and literal perspective. And in historical perspective, she further classified that English idioms influenced by Roman conquest, Norman invasion and English Civil War. So she emphasized that English idioms related to certain historical events or figures usually have extended meaning far beyond their original ones, which are marked by the traces of history. From the mythological perspective, English idioms came from two sources, one is Greek and Roman mythologies, and the other is Aesops fables. From all the above trace come English idioms in terms of culture, she said that the charm of English idiom is so great that it is impossible to learn English without a deep understanding of its hidden meaning. The various origins of the English idiom contribute to its abundance.In the learning of English idioms, the most important is translation. Jiang Ruyan (2005) listed two typical mistranslations according to her teaching experience, the first type is word by word translation, and the second type is having words too literally. Dong Yingwu (2012) gave a suggestion about the translation of English idioms that translators should have a good knowledge of cultural differences between English and Chinese idioms, such as the differences in natural environments, in customs, in religious beliefs and so on.In order to translate English idioms correctly, Su Tianlan (2012) came up with three principles: first, the translation should give a complete ideas of the original words, second, the style and manner of writing should be consistent with the original words, third, the translation should be as smooth as the original words. Whats more, Wang Qian (2014) put forward some methods of translation according to the characteristics and origins of English idioms, for instance, equal replacement translation, free translation and literal translation.3. The Definition and Features of English idiomsIn the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (Huo, 1989), idiom is explained as "phrase or sentence whose meaning is not obvious through knowledge of the individual meaning of the constituent words, but which must be learnt as a whole”. An English idiom, which is a sentence or phrase, usually is of a special meaning different from the meaning of its constituent words. Idioms are usually semantically difficult to understand. Therefore, the meaning of an idiom cannot be defined only from the literal meaning of the constituent words. If we want to understand the meaning of the English idioms exactly, we should have a good knowledge of the features of them. In general, English idioms contain two features mainly: structural feature and semantic feature.3.1 The Definition of English IdiomsAn English idiom, which is a sentence or phrase, usually has a special meaning different from the meaning of its constituent words. Idioms are usually semantically difficult to understand. That is to say, idioms are metaphorical rather than literal. Hence, the meaning of an idiom cannot be defined only from the literal meaning of the constituent words.Another important characteristic of English idiom is that they are structurally fixed or invariable. Most of these idiomatic expressions are phrases or sentences which exist as a unit, and must be learned as a whole.To sum up, an idiom may be defined as a combination of two or more words which are usually structurally fixed and semantically difficult, and have a single unit of meaning.3.2 The Features of English IdiomsThe features of English idiom mainly contain structural feature and semantic feature. As for structural feature, it further contains stability and irregularity. Stability means English idioms are fixed phrases, their structure is stable, and we cant change their parts casually. We cant increase or decrease words, or replace them with synonymous components. We also cant change the order of idioms, because any change will make them no longer have their original meaning. For example, “make haste”, we cant add an object “him” to change it into “make him haste”, it is not a idiom. “Smell a rat” cannot be changed into “smell a mouse”, although rat and mouse are synonyms, they cannot exchange, because “smell a rat” is a set phrase. We cannot change or replace the every part of idioms. In addition, English idioms have specific form and meaning, but some of them cant obey the grammar rules, we cant understand and explain them, and we also cant change or replace the part of them, this phenomenon is named the irregularity of English idioms. For example, “ups and downs”, “ins and outs”, these prepositions are used as plural noun, they do not conform the rules of grammar. But as idioms, they used by people for a long time. In the same way, semantic feature includes unity, metaphor and nationality. Unity is equal to semantic integrity, it is the most prominent feature of English idioms. Semantic integrity is to use an English idiom as a complete unit, rather than the sum of words meaning. For example, “put the heads together”, we cannot understand it from its literal meaning, the real meaning of it is to discuss something together，and “face the music” means not be terrified before the danger. The form of English idioms are various, each part is related to others and cannot be isolated. So we should pay attention to their integrity, avoiding producing error of out of context. Whats more, because we are influenced by the way of thinking and cultural connotation, the meaning of English idioms in peoples mind formed very tactfully with metaphor. That is to say, the meaning of idioms not only has the literal meaning, but also has the implied meaning. Such as “hot potato”, it does not mean that the potato is very hot, but refers to something difficult to tackle, “rain cats and dogs” means it rains hard. So in explaining or translating an English idiom, translators cannot just get its literal meaning, but put it as a whole, and put it in a specific context and then they can understand it well. Nationality is another part of semantic feature. English idioms are created by people in the process of long-term labor, they are related directly with a nations historical background, geographical environment, economic life, religious beliefs, customs, values and so on. In general, the nationality of English idiom is mainly manifested in two aspects: one is the associative meaning which shows the national consistency, such as “hang by a hair” translated as千钧一发, “add fuel to the flames” translated as 火上浇油, and “thin as a stick” translated as骨瘦如柴, etc. The other is metaphor object, which shows the national characteristics, such as “spring up” is used to describe something happened quickly in Chinese, however, as well known, there are few bamboos in Britain, so people commonly use “to boom like mushrooms” to express the same meaning. Two more are “birds of a feather” translated as 一丘之貉, and “have a face like a fiddle” translated as 愁眉苦脸.4. The Origin of English Allusions and IdiomsWithout knowing the origins, it is very difficult for readers to understand the meaning of certain English idioms, because the meaning of English idioms cannot be guessed word by word, they have the implied meaning. 4.1 English Allusions and Idioms from Daily LifeA lot of English allusion and idiom come from the daily life of people, they reflect all the aspects of peoples life and their thoughts. The daily life of the English people is a cradle of lots of idioms. For example, as early as the fourteenth century, people who were high-ranking would ride horses as big as possible to show t