The Influence of Chinese and English Cultural Differences on English Idioms Translation

1、the influence of chinese and english cultural differences on english idioms translationabstract: take a view of english learning in china, we might find that learners are not fully aware of the importance of english idiom study, and the outcome of idiom translation learning is far from satisfactory.

2、 this thesis will study the influence of chinese and english cultural differences on english idioms translation. english idiom translation should be noted that different from chinese idioms translation. after consulting a lot of relevant literature review, the study offers the reader about the analy

3、sis of chinese and english cultural differences of idioms and their translation methods. as english learners, we should learn about the translation and usages of idioms as well as the origins of these idioms for the sake of adequate communication.key words: cultural differences; english idiom; trans

4、lation摘要：纵观中国的英语学习，我们或许会发现英语习语并没有引起学习者广泛的关注，并且习语翻译学习的结果并不令人们满意。这篇论文将致力于研究中英文化差异对英语习语翻译的影响。我们应该注意到中英习语的翻译是不同的。通过查阅大量相关文献，这篇论文提供给读者中英文化差异下对习语翻译的分析以及方法。作为英语学习者，我们应该学会习语的翻译、使用及其文化源流，做到在语言交流上游刃有余。关键词：文化差异；英语习语；翻译contentsi. introduction.1ii. literature review.2a. chinese and english cultural differences i

5、n language.2 1. definition of culture.,.2 2. the relationship between language and culture.2 3. chinese and english cultural differences in language.2b. features of english idioms.3 1. definition of idioms.3 2. the common features of english idioms.3 3. the influence of english idioms features on en

6、glish idioms translation.5iii. the influence of chinese and english cultural differences on english idioms translation.6 a. the phenomenon of rendering idioms.6 b. reasons of the phenomenon in rendering idioms.7iv. three practical translating ways of english idioms11 a. literal translation.11b. libe

7、ral translation.13c. literal translation & liberal translation.14 v. conclusion.15works cited17i. introductionwith the development of cultural communication, more and more idioms are widely shown up in english movies, books, newspapers, and real life communication. consequently, learners will undoub

8、tedly encounter more and more idioms in their learning not only in written form such as novels and magazines, but also in spoken form like movies and plays. maybe some learners are not fully aware of the importance of english idiom study so that the outcome of idiom translation learning is far from

9、satisfactory.furthermore, it is noted that english idiom translation should be noted that are different from chinese idiom translation, especially the four-character idiom translation in both cultural and pragmatic terms. for example, the users and the implication of idioms are different. in chinese

10、, a speaker being able to use four-character idioms is most cases a cultured one, whereas it is not necessary the case in english translation. different culture implications in chinese and english idioms can be said to the contributor to the difference in their translation.in the view of the difficu

11、lty and the significance of idiom translation learning, as language learners, who are supposed to build a bridge for the eastern and western cultures, we should become aware of the increasing significance of idiom translation learning. due attention and efforts should be given to the study of englis

12、h idiom translation and more work needs to be done into this special field. english learners should learn about the translation and usages of idioms as well as the origins of these idioms for the sake of adequate communication.the purpose of the thesis:a. let the english learners know more knowledge

13、 about the influence of chinese and english cultural differences on english idiom translation, attract the english learners attention to the importance of such differences when we translate english idioms and encourage the students enlarge their cultural knowledge of english. because never could a l

14、anguage exist without culture.b. offer some typical examples and practical approaches of translating english idiom to the english learners.ii. literature reviewii. chinese and english cultural differences in language 1. definition of culture“culture consists of all the shared products of human socie

15、ty” (robertson 79). this means not only such material things as cities, organizations and schools, but also non-material things such as ideas, customs, family patterns, languages. putting it simply, culture refers to the entire way of life of a society, “the ways of a people”.2. the relationship bet

16、ween language and culturelanguage is a part of culture and plays a very important role in it. some social scientists consider it the keystone of culture. without language, they maintain, culture would not be possible. on the other hand, language is influenced and shaped by culture; it reflects cultu

17、re. in the broadest sense, language is the symbolic representation of a people, and it comprises their historical and cultural backgrounds as well as their approach to life and their ways of living and thinking.social scientists tell us that cultures are different from one another, that each culture

18、 is unique. as cultures are diverse, so languages are diverse. it is only natural then that with difference in cultures and differences in languages, difficulties often arise in communicating between cultures and across cultures. understanding is not always easy.3. chinese and english cultural diffe

19、rences“have you eaten yet?” or “have you had your lunch?” these two sentences were nothing more than a chinese way of saying “hello” and “hi”. to americans, the greeting might mean this: “i havent either. come on, lets go together and get something to eat.” or “if you havent, i was just going to inv

20、ite you to my place.” in other words, it could indicate an invitation to a meal. there is a similar chinese greetings, such as “上哪儿去啊?到哪儿去啊?” which if translates literally would be “where are you going?” or “where have you been?” the natural reaction of most english speaking people to this greeting

21、would most likely be “its none of your business!”in recent years, the trend of many english-speaking people has been to address other by using the first name tom, michal, linda, jane, etc. rather than calling the person mr. summers, mrs. howard or miss jones. this is especially common among american

22、s, even when people meet for the first time; this applies not only to people of roughly the same age, but also of different ages. it is not at all uncommon to hear a child calling a much older person joe, ben, may, helen etc. this may even include the childs parents or grandparents. people of differ

23、ent social status do the same.the chinese term 请 is usually regarded as equivalent to “please”. however, in certain situations the english “please” would not be used. when offering or urging another person to be first in going through a door or getting in a car, the expression is generally “after yo

24、u” (not you go first, as some people not well-acquainted with english are apt to say). b. features of english idioms1. definition of idiomsthe word “idiom” itself is of greek origin (idioma), meaning “peculiarity” or “speciality”. generally speaking idioms cover set phrases and short sentences, whic

25、h are peculiar to the language in question and loaded with the native cultures and ideas. in most cases, the meaning of idiomatic expressions cannot be deduced from the literal definitions and the arrangement of its parts, but refers instead to a figurative meaning that is known only through convent

26、ional use. strictly speaking, idioms are expressions that are not readily understandable from their literal meanings of individual elements; in a broad sense, idioms may include colloquialisms, catchphrases, slang expressions, proverbs, etc. (li yuping 3). 2. the common features of english idiomsidi

27、om is defined as an expression that does not mean what it literally says. hence, its meaning is often quite different from the word-for-word translation. the meaning idiom convey is non-compositional. it implies that you cannot understand the whole phrase by just putting the meanings of each word to

28、gether. if you look at the individual words, it may not even make sense grammatically, so idiom has the meaning only as a unit. they are, in fact, fixed phrases that cant be altered. professor koonin emphasized seven inherent and very important features of the idiomatic expressions: semantic unity、s

29、tructural stability、ethnic feature、stylistic feature、rhetorical feature.a. semantic unityeach idiom consists of more than one word, and each word is semantic unity. though the various words which make up the idiom have their respective literal meanings, in the idiom they have lost their individual m

30、eaning. their meanings are not often recognizable in the meaning of the whole idiom. the part of speech of each element is no longer important. quite often the idiom functions as one word. e.g. “till the cows come home” means forever or taking a long time. “rain cats and dogs” means to rain heavily.

31、b. structural stabilitythe structure of an idiom is to large extent unchangeable.the constituents of idioms cannot be replaced. the structure is fixed, e.g. “in a brown study” means deep in thought; “lip service” refers to the support only in words, not in fact. the word order cannot be inverted or

32、changed, e.g. “by two and threes”, “tit for tat”. the constituents of idioms cannot be deleted or added, not an article, e.g. “out of the question” means impossible while “out of question” means no question, and “in question” means being considered. many idioms are grammatically unanalysable.c. ethn

33、ic featureidiom is the cream of language. so is english idiom. they are mostly created and used in the work and labor of the working people. accordingly, idiom is indispensably associated with geographical environment, historical background, economic life, religious and customs, ethnic psychology, m

34、oral values of an ethnic group. idiom is a unique mirror that impressively reflects cultural features of a race or nation. for example, the idiom “in the arms of morpheus”. if a learner doesnt know morpheus is the goddess of sleep and dream in the greek myth, he or she will be at a loss as to how in

35、terpret this idiom.d. stylistic featureidiom show different stylistic meanings. some are casual, others formal, still others neutral in style. the same idiom may show stylistic differences when denoting different meanings. and the style of idiom is not free from changing in the development. some idi

36、omatic expressions were all colloquial and informal and once confined to a limited group of people engaged in the same trade or activity. e.g. “to screw up” in some context means to make someone nervous and tense , while in other context means mishandle or mess up; some slang expressions are often p

37、eculiar to social or regional varieties. but they proved terse, vivid, forcible and stimulating so that later they broke out of their bounds and gradually gained wide acceptance. as a result, their stylistic features faded in part and many became part of the common core of the language and are now u

38、sed in different situations.e. rhetorical featurethe rhetorical feature of idiom manifests itself in phonetic manipulation, lexical manipulation and manipulation of figures of speech.phonetic manipulation includes: alliteration which refers to the repetition of the same consonant sounds or different

39、 vowel sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables, such as in “chop and change”, “practice makes perfect”, “penny wise, pound foolish.” rhyme which means that in an idiom, a word that corresponds with another in terminal sound, as in “toil and moil” and so on.lexical manipulation embr

40、aces: reiteration, which means the duplication of synonyms such as “safe and sound” (安然无恙) , which means the repetition of the same word, such as “harm set, harm get” (害人反害己) and so on.english idiom is rich in figures of speech, covering almost every kind of rhetorical device. we can see itself in t

41、he english idiom, among which metaphor appears most frequently. for example “snake in the grass” (不可靠的人), “bed of dust” (坟墓), “the salt of the earth” (社会中坚), “cut the ground from someones feet” (挖某人的墙角) and so on.3. the influence of english idioms features on english idioms translationthe features o

42、f english idiom directly influenced their translation. first, it is necessary for us to know the connotation of the target language before we translate it, so the feature of semantic unity should be concerned. the semanteme of idiom is complete and inseparable. that mean we cant understand the idiom

43、 word-for-word, otherwise we would make a mistake. such as “pull ones socks up” (振作起来，鼓起勇气，加紧努力), we cant translate it “提起自己的袜子” according with four parts of the idiom. “know where the shoe pinches” (知道困难所在), not “知道鞋子在哪儿夹脚”. then, based on the understanding of the connotation in translation idiom,

44、we should draw attention to the structure. feature of structural stability seriously limited the structure of the idiom in translation, neither addition nor deletion. however, language is developing and changing all the time. because of some requirements in communication or rhetoric, people always m

45、ake an addition or deletion for some idioms so as to increase the emotion in language. thus, we need to know the rhetorical feature. in addition, know the ethnic feature is also important in translating idioms. english idioms have profound history and cultural origin. some reflect ethnic habits and

46、some involve interesting fables or histories. for example, “a bakers dozen” (十三个), in middle age, the law of britain is extremely serious and the baker would be severely punished if giving less quantity to consumers. the baker would give one more loaf of bread in each dozen in order to avoid less qu

47、antity.it is certainly that some other features of the english idioms would have. these characteristics provide us the framework in translating english idioms. as some point out, know more about the features, more accurately the translation of english idioms would be. iii. the influence of chinese a

48、nd english cultural differences on english idioms translationa. the phenomenon of rendering idiomsmany of us have more or less read some novels and articles of english version. we may understand some of them easily while some others may make us completely at sea, especially english idioms. nowadays,

49、 the phenomenon which is conveyed is most thought-provoking and worth discussing. actually, such phenomenon, especially in translatiing english idiom, widely exists in our life, work and study. for instance, how can we translate “its case of january and may”? if it is translated as “这是一个一月和五月的情况”, p

50、eople would ask for an explanation as to what is particular about the two months. this translation is a total failure because it does not convey the actual meaning. the saying refers to a case in which an old man marries a young girl. most dictionaries do not offer any information but we find it in

51、brewers, dictionary of phrase and false. the saying originates from “the merchants tale” in chaucers canterbury tales. january is the name of a lombard, who marries a beautiful young girl named may when he is sixty years old. so it means “老夫少妻”.“ to eat ones word” to americans, if it is translated a

52、s “自食其言”, many people would puzzled. they would consider it means break ones promise. actually, the english means to be forced to take back ones word. there are many similar examples. “to get a kick out of something”(对某事感到兴奋), it has nothing to do with actually being kicked. this informal and very i

53、diomatic expression means to get enjoyment or pleasure out of something. “to blow ones own horn”(自吹自擂), it has nothing to do with each doing his own thing, the expression means to praise oneself; to call attention to ones own successes, skill, intelligence.the reason of the problems can be briefly a

54、nalyzed in terms of misunderstanding the original language culture and translating english idioms word by word. therefore, when we know more about idioms, we might become aware of that it is uneasily to translate english idioms without learn much about english culture. for the reasons, i would like

55、to state with respect to geographic environment, religion, literary works and stories from fables or histories.b. reasons of the phenomenon in rendering idioms1. geographic environmentas an island country, britain has long coastlines with many good gulfs, which is greatly suitable for fishery and na

56、vigation. therefore, navigation has a very important place in british economy ever since the ancient times. in this way navigation exerts great effects on english idioms, therefore there are a great number of idioms concerned with seafaring and fishing in the english language.“over head and ear”, th

57、is idiom originally means to be overwhelmed in the water. later this idiom, with a great number of sailors in great britain, jumps from the waters to the land. it is used by more people on more occasions such as “over head and ear in debt”(债台高筑), “over head and ear in love”(坠入情网), “over head and ear in work”(埋头工作). similarly, the idiom “to keep ones head above water,” which means to have just enough money to live or to continue a business, it also derived from the seafaring practice.“under the weather”(生病了), it means to be ill. in the course of navigation,