Influence of Cultural Differences on Chinese and English Idioms and Their Translation.doc

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1、文化差异对英汉习语及其翻译的影响Influence of Cultural Differences on Chinese and English Idioms and Their TranslationContentsAbstract.1Key words.1I. Introduction.2II. Cultural Differences Reflected in English and Chinese Idioms.21. Differences in natural environments.32. Differences in custom.43. Differences in rel

2、igion54. Differences in historical allusions.75. Differences in thinking.8III. The Way to Translate the Chinese and English Idioms.81. Literal translation.82. Free translation.93. A combination of the two methods.94. Substitution.10IV. Conclusion.11References.11Influence of Cultural Differences on C

3、hinese and English Idioms and Their TranslationInfluence of Cultural Differences onChinese and English Idioms and Their TranslationAbstract: Idioms are the core and the essence of a language. They are heavily-loaded with cultural information. Idioms are widely used in daily communications, newspaper

4、s, magazines and mass media because of their characteristics of being short, humorous and full of philosophic meanings. But because of the cultural differences, such as surroundings, habits, religion, history, custom and thought pattern, English and Chinese idioms are quite different, cultural diffe

5、rences constitute the main difficulty in the translation of idioms. This paper analyzes influence of cultural differences on English and Chinese idioms and indicates that literal translation, substitution, free translation are mainly applied in the translation of idioms of the two languages in order

6、 to convey as much the information of the original as possible.Key words: cultural differences； English and Chinese idioms；ways of translating the idioms摘 要: 习语是语言的结晶，是文化的载体。习语具有简洁,机智幽默以及寓意深刻等特点，因此广泛地用于日常交际，报纸，杂志和大众媒体中。但是由于人们不同的生活环境，宗教信仰，历史背景，风俗习惯以及思维方式，英汉习语有很大的差异，而文化差异成为翻译习语的主要障碍。本文将分析文化差异对英汉习语的影响，

7、以及在习语翻译中，为更好的翻译习语使之不失原意，而采用的直译，意译，替代等翻译方法。关键词：文化差异；英汉习语；习语的翻译方法I. IntroductionIdiom is a kind of phrase or sentence whose meaning is not clear from the apparent meaning of its individual words and which must be learnt as a whole unit. Language is closely related to culture and can be said as a part

8、of culture. Language is the carrier of culture which in turn is the content of language on Chinese and English idioms . We can dig out cultural features from language and explain language phenomena with culture. Different languages reflect different cultures; different cultures entail different lang

9、uage expressions. Idioms as a special form of language exist in both of them and carry a large amount of cultural information such as history, geography, religion, custom, nationality psychology, thought pattern and etc, and therefore are closely related to culture. In a board sense, idioms include

10、common sayings, proverbs, allusions and the allegorical sayings. Idioms in one language differ from those in other languages as a result of differences in background information of history, economic life, geographical environment, customs, religious beliefs, living environment, social conventions an

11、d literature tradition etc. Idiom is a mirror that can reflects clearly national or cultural characteristics. Idiomatic expressions are even difficult for English native speakers because their meanings cannot be determined through an analysis of their individual words. For we Chinese students, Engli

12、sh idioms are a stumbling block. It is very possible that they often not only feel at a loss in understanding conversations because of a key idiom but also misuse idioms. For that reason, idioms are difficult to translate. In this paper, I am going to do some study on cultural differences reflected

13、in Chinese and English idioms first and then explore the ways of their translation.II. Cultural Differences Reflected in Chinese and English Idioms Every nation has its own way of living and thinking, cultural environment and traditional culture. Because of this, the cultural information reflected b

14、y different languages is quite different.Both Chinese and English has plenty of idioms. Some of them are in the same meanings or are quite similar with each other. But in most cases, they are quite different from each other just because they were the products of different cultures. If we do some com

15、parison work, we would see many interesting examples:1. Differences in natural environmentsGeographical environment plays an important role in shaping one countrys culture and human beings have no choices and capacities to change the geography. And the idioms maintain close ties with peoples life an

16、d the culture where they are created and used. As a result, idioms based on geographical features appear different. Britain is an island country, which does not share land border with any other countries except the Republic of Ireland. British people have a special passion for water., which we can f

17、ind in the following examples : “when ones ship comes home” translated into (当某人发财时). “to keep ones head over water” means “勉强过日子” in Chinese and “to sink or swim” is translated into “不论成败”and so on. There are also some other examples to show that the English are keen on sailing and traveling, for i

18、nstance: all at sea茫然不知所措; any port in a storm风暴来时不择港/慌不择路; half sea over饮酒过多; in the same boat处境相同/同舟共济; sink or swim靠自己在人世间沉浮/不管成败; take the wind out of somebodys sail先发制人地占某人上风; weather eye观察敏捷，随时留意; to keep ones head above water奋力图存; to clear the decks准备战斗; to tide over顺利度过However, the most part

19、 of China belongs to mainland where people cannot live without earth. For example, to show somebody being extravagant, there is a Chinese idiom 挥金如土, but in English the idiom is spend money like water. In china we have “面朝黄土背朝天” to describe the Chinese farmers toil in the field and “泥菩萨过江，自身难保” to d

20、escribe those who cannot even protect themselves at certain circumstance. Take the other instance, in southern China with mild and moisture weather, bamboo is a familiar plant for people there, so they use the idiom 雨后春笋 to describe the new things cropping up in great numbers. Correspondingly, Engli

21、sh have the idiom spring up like mushrooms to tell the same meaning, since in England mushroom in spring can be seen everywhere. Besides the different idioms expressing the same notion in the two languages, there are a lot of idioms related to water in English and earth in Chinese which have no corr

22、esponding counterpart in the other language, like the English idioms to rest on ones oars, to keep ones head above water, all at sea and etc.In Chinese culture, the east wind refers to the wind of spring, which brings hope and life. In English we have the opposite description “the west wind” for the

23、 spring wind as a result of difference in geographical location. The UK is located on the Western Hemisphere and the climate there belongs to the maritime climate. When the west wind begins blowing, it means spring comes. In the English literature, the west wind is the symbol of hope and power. Perc

24、y Bysshe Shelley described west wind as “destroyer and preserver” in his world famous poem Ode to the West Wind2. Differences in customOne nations custom is formed through a long history and firmly rooted in peoples mind. It is closely related to national psychology and acts as one important source

25、of idioms. In different countries and nations customs drastically differ in various aspects. The Chinese and the British hold different opinions on the same thing, such as: time, animals, figures, and so on. Due to that, a lot of idioms turn out with varied dress. 1）Different attitude towards animal

26、sFrom Chinese and English idioms, we can see peoples different attitudes towards different animals; we can take some animals for example.(1) DogsIn the west dogs are companion of their masters. They hunt with their masters. They watch home for their masters. They can live in the hotels set up for th

27、emselves when in a journey with their masters, living a luxurious live. In English, there are idioms about dogs, such as “ lucky dog” (幸运儿) “ a dog like affection” (忠实的爱) “gay dog”(快乐的人) “every dog has his day” (凡人皆有得意时) “dog doesnt eat dog”（同类不相残）. All the abovementioned idioms about dogs has comme

28、ntary meanings. But in China, dog is an image to be condemned. In Chinese, we say “狗仗人势” “狗尾续貂” “摇尾乞怜”狗急跳墙” “狗眼看人低” . All the abovementioned idioms in Chinese are derogatory in meanings.(2) BatPeoples different attitude towards animals is also shown in the idioms about “bat”. “as blind as a bat” (瞎的

29、跟蝙蝠一样，眼力不行) “crazy as a bat”(疯的像蝙蝠) “have the bat in the belfry”(异想天开). From the abovementioned idioms about pat in English, it is can be inferred that bat is usually associated with negative qualities in the west. Judging from its physical appearance, it is an small, blackish creature. Westerners c

30、onsidered it as an ugly, sinister, bloodsucking creature. It stirs the emotion of fright and revulsion. However, to Chinese people, bat is a symbol of fortune and wellbeing-all are positive qualities. The reason for such association is probably because the creature is pronounced the same as “福” .Thu

31、s the popularity of the traditional design that shows the bat and the deer together. “蝠鹿”, pronounced the same as “福 禄”good fortune, happiness, and high social positions.(3) CatAs we all know, there is a saying in Chinese, that is “A cat has nine lives.” Besides that ,the people who have great passi

32、on for excellent food are often called “馋猫一只”,but in western countries ,cat is the animal people love very much, however, to ones surprise, in English slang, cat means a spiteful or unpleasant woman(心地恶毒或令人讨厌的女人). According to that we can see that cat in Chinese idioms is lovely, but hateful in Engl

33、ish idioms.2) Different attitude towards time Due to cultural differences, the Chinese and the British view time with different perspectives. And this can be shown in the following examples. The western people have very strong feelings on the limited time, so they say, “Time is money”. And the Ameri

34、cans believe that the most precious thing is time. They believe that “chasing time” is much important than making plans and checking regulations. So the American has “Procrastination is the thief of time” （拖延乃偷盗时间之贼）. Meanwhile, the British emphasize the importance of punctuality in the proverb “Pun

35、ctuality is the politeness of kings”(守时乃国王之礼). But in the Chinese society, cautious plan is more important. The Chinese people believe that a person should wait for opportunities to come with patience, because “心急吃不了热豆腐” meaning one could not be too eager to do something. Similarly, “慢工出细活” is used

36、to mean “careful work makes perfect result”.3) Different attitude towards numberThe Chinese people love the figure “6”, because in Chinese we have “六六大顺”, which means everything goes well. But if there is a “6” in an English proverb, the meaning usually is the opposite, e.g. at six and seven means “

37、乱七八糟”，six to one, “相差悬殊”，and “six penny” (不值钱). The figure “4” is a taboo in Chinese culture because it sounds the same as the word for death in Chinese. Just as Judah who betrayed Christ in the Last Super. The western people who are influenced by Christianity consider 13 sinister because Judah, the

38、 person who is the thirteenth to come.3. Differences in religionReligion exists in every county and nation and affects much in peoples belief and life, especially before the modern civilization. Numerous idioms were generated from the fountain of religion. The people in different countries mostly be

39、lieve in different schools of religion. Therefore, some differences of idioms between Chinese and English can be traced back to the origin of religion.In the system of enforcement, Christianity and its different schools have played a very important role and exert great influence on the western world

40、. The western people including the British still believed that the God, Heaven and Hell do exist. So there are so many proverbs related with religion, such as the taboo: “Go to Hell”，“Damn you”. We still have so many idioms, such as: “Judahs kiss”(犹大之吻) to describe those who betrayed out their frien

41、ds. Religion played a key role in British society especially before capitalist society. “In ones element(在某人喜欢或习惯的环境中)” is an English idiom with philosophic viewpoint in the Middle Ages which means “stay in the satisfied environment”. The philosophers in the Middle Ages pointed out that the universe

42、 is made up of four elements: earth, air, water and fire. And nothing can live without these four elements. English idioms reflect the influence of Christianity, for example, “God help those who help themselves（上帝帮助自助的人）” ,“put the fear of God into sb. (使某人非常害怕)” ,“in the lap of the Gods（难以预料）”. Bes

43、ides, the idiom as poor as a church mouse is also somehow influenced by religion. In Christian church, there is no devoted food, which is not the same case in Chinese temples. Therefore, the mice in the church, which have no food, are very poor. Different from Britain, Chinese culture evolved from C

44、onfucian School, Taoist School and Buddhism School. There are traces of Taoist principles and Confucian principles in Buddhist doctrines. Buddhism has great influence on Chinese customs and thinking. Buddha is powerful, in charge of moral human beings, cultivating human, such as “放下屠刀，立地成佛”; “佛法无边，普

45、渡众生”; “平时不烧香，急时抱佛脚”. Therefore, although Buddhist culture originated from the other country, it has been assimilated in Chinese culture through a thousand years of spreading and accepting Chinese feathers at the same time. It has been a part of Chinese culture and exerted enormous influence on Chine

46、se traditional culture and present life as well. In language, a large number of Chinese idioms can be traced back to Buddhist School. For example, the idiom 道高一尺, 魔高一丈 is originally the warning in Buddhism to warn Buddhist disciples of the outside temptations, which remind the disciples of the hard

47、prospect to overcome all the difficulties both inside and outside in order to make the slightest development. Now it is used to tell there is always at least one power stronger than the other. For another instance, 一尘不染 is also a Buddhist term. Buddhist School calls sex, sound, smell, flavor, touch and rule as 六尘 and Buddhist disciples should not be affected by the above six. Now this idiom evolved to describe a person who is pure and honest or a thing which is clean and in order. From the a