Cultural Default Reflected in Proverb T ranslation between English and Chinese
and the Compensation Strategies
Absrtact:Proverbs are the accumulation of human’s experience and wisdom. Different proverbs transmit different cultural information. If those cultural elements are not taken into consideration in the process of translation, cultural misunderstanding or cultural loss would arise. To deal with the cultural default in Chinese and English proverb translation, the author puts forward some compensation strategies.
Key Words: Proverb Translation; Cultural Default; Compensation Strategy
I. Introduction
Proverbs are the crystals of human intelligence and experience. They do not only reflect human civilization but also enrich human life and make language more colorful. They are culturally influenced, thus bringing up difficulties in translation. As different nations have different cultures, whose uniqueness inevitably bring certain communication barriers between different countries and regions. Those differences may sometimes be culturally-specific, which means that what belongs to one culture may be vacant in another culture. This usually results in cultural vacuum, or in other words, cultural default. The translation between Chinese and English proverbs is affected greatly by the cultural elements of Chinese and English-speaking countries. Therefore, it is of great importance to find some compensation strategies to deal with the cultural default during the process of translation. Cultural default, if well handled, can improve the effectiveness of translation and enhance the communication.
II. Cultural Default in Proverb Translation
1. Definition and Current Studies of Cultural Default
Cultural default is a common phenomenon in communication, either in written texts or in colloquial form, and it has been attracting the attention of many scholars in recent years. Wang Dongfeng (2000: 234) defines it as “absence of relevant cultural background knowledge shared by the author and his intended
reader”. Wang Dalai (2004: 69) defines default specifically into three categories: Situational Default; Contextual Default and Cultural Default. He also puts forward his theories on cultural default and its compensational strategies. In his view, the principle for compensating cultural default in translation is to make the readers enjoy their process of probing cultures. Cultural default in proverbs is obvious or already-known to the language users, but it can always create a sense of vacuum for the outsiders because of the pote ntial discontinuity in translators’ interpretation. Li Jiachun and Cui Changliang (2007) express their views on cultural defaults and the strategies of cultural compensation in intercultural communication, in which they propose three strategies on compensating cultural defaults: domestication strategy, foreignization strategy and combined use of these two strategies.
2. Classification of Cultural Default
Cultural default is a culture-specific phenomenon in communication. What is easy and obvious to the source language (abbreviated as SL) reader in the form of cultural default is often inconspicuous and opaque to the target language (abbreviated as TL) reader. The unavoidable existence of cultural default embedded in the source text and its function will force us to face the fact that the source proverbs can not reflect the translated language’s flavor. So,in the process of translation, cultural default poses a big problem to the translator. In order to deepen the study of cultural default, it is necessary for us to divide it into different categories or types. In the thesis the author makes a general classification of cultural default reflected in proverbs as follows:
2.1 Legends
Legends of ancient Greek and Rome have been exerting enormous influence on western culture, and people who come from western culture are quite familiar with most of those legends. However, those stories from legends are often treated as default elements because other readers are not familiar with them. Likewise, people from other cultures may be at a loss when they first come across Chinese proverbs. Take the Chinese
famous legendary proverb“狗咬吕洞宾，不识好人心”for example. Y ang Xianyi(2003) translates it as “Y ou ungrateful thing! Like dog that bit Lu Dongbin----you bite the hand that feeds you.” If it is translated as “A dog that bites on Lv Dongbin can not distinguish a good person’s heart from a bad person’s heart”,the foreign readers will be confused for it fails to carry the underlying meaning to readers but adds bewilderment to foreign readers. Such proverbs are cultural proverbs; they were born and grow with a particular legendary story. Native readers would understand them without any difficulties, but target readers may not know them. So translating this kind of proverbs usually needs to add the background story to the translated text.
2. 2 Historical Events
There are such different genres of story that were inherited from ancient times, such as myths, fables, folklores, legends, etc. Ancient stories that happened in history are also another group. Culture abounds with colorful stories. They have been passed down from generation to generation and have nourished the culture to which they belong for centuries. The English proverb “somebody meets his Waterloo’s battle”is quite familiar to westerners, which can be translated into Chinese as“遭遇滑铁卢，遭受致命的失败”. However, many Chinese don’t know much about what happened in Waterloo, so it is necessary to introduce the background knowledge of this proverb. Napoleon, the great French revolutionary general and also a dictator, was heavily defeated by Anglo-Prussian alliances at waterloo in Belgium on June 18th, 1815, which marked the start of his decline and collapse. Since then he was unable to restore his army from failure. Ever since this event, people use“meet one’s waterloo” to mean one encounters failures or gets defeated by others. A Chinese reader can not understand this phrase as it is so closely connected with the historic events that happened in French history. In this sense, the proverb “meet one’s waterloo” is an example of cultural default resulting from historic events.
2.3 Religious Stories
Religious culture is an important part of a nation's culture, which includes the nation's religious belief
and ideology. Buddhism and Taoism have great influence on Chinese people while Christianity has a great effect on the western world. When people from Chinese culture get into trouble, they will talk to Buddha and ask him for help and utter “Gracious Buddha”.In English-speaking countries, Christ is worshipped by millions of people and the basic concepts of Christianity are criteria for an individual's behaviors.To some extent, Bible can be called the guide book for westerners. Westerners will exclaim “God bless you” or “God bless my soul” when they express their regards or pray.
As for proverbs that have distinct Chinese color, they are often influenced by Buddhism and Taoism. Therefore, there are a lot of expressions related to Buddhism and Taoism in Chinese proverbs, which are usually treated as culturaldefault elements. Take the Chinese proverb“闲时不烧香，临时抱佛脚”(Zheng Xunlie,1985:214）for example. We translate it literally as “clasp the feet of Buddha”. The proverb means that when someone gets stuck into a difficult situation caused by lack of preparation, he looks for help at the last critical moment. In ancient China, when Buhhdism was very popular in the Nan Dynasty, it is said any criminal who was to embrace Buddha's feet and prayed for help would be pardoned.“抱佛脚”if translated literally, does not make sense to the TL reader. Thus as translators, whoever translates this proverb should adopt a skillful translation approach, and should point out the default meaning and let the TL readers understand the specific Chinese cultural meaning in it.
2.4 Literary Works
Many proverbs in literary works, when translated, reflect cultural default. There is a proverb taken from Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre: “Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last. To pluck the mask from the face of the Pharisee is not to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns.” Guo Jianzhong (2000:244) translates it into Chinese as “惯例不是道德, 自作正经不是宗教。攻击前者并不是突袭后者。从法利塞人脸上扯下假面，不是对荆棘冠举起不敬的手。”
In this excerpt, one cultural message is defaulted in Chinese culture, which is “to lift an impious hand to
the Crown of Thorns”.Here, a short introduction to this proverb is necessary and must be presented. According to the Bible, when Jesus was about to be crucified onto the Cross, some people teased him by putting a crown weaved with thorns on his head. Westerners will not have any difficulties in understanding this novel because they are familiar with this cultural element. But in translated Chinese version, readers may fail to get the implied meaning of the proverb if it is just literally translated into“荆棘冠”.
III. Strategies for Compensation of Cultural Default in Proverb Translation
From the above paragraphs we can see that cultural default exists in many different types. They cover legendary stories, religious color and historic events, etc. Their various origins make translating these proverbs more complicated. Therefore，it is necessary for the translators to find some ways to compensate the defaulted meaning in order to surpass the obstacle of cultural differences in the texts. Compensation in translation is to make up the semantic losses caused in the course of converting the linguistic forms of the original language into those of the target. As for the compensation methods, four commenly used strategies will be discussed in the essay and they are annotation, contextual amplification, adaptation and literal translation.
3. 1 Annotation
Annotation means translating the original cultural terms and at the same time adding some explanation to the translated text. Annotation is a commonly used strategy to make up cultural default in translation and it is also a very effective strategy. Annotation can reflect the original authors’ idea without the restriction of the page space. Thus the translator can introduce the necessary information of the source culture and the readers can learn a lot of knowledge of source culture. In a word, the strategy of annotation fills up the vacuum of word meaning and sentence meaning and links up the contextual meaning. Thereby the textual coherence is connected.
Take the Chinese proverb“姜太公钓鱼，愿者上钩”as an example,it is translated by Zheng
Shengtao(1994:113) as“Chiang Tai-kung went fishing, casting the line for the fish which want to be caught”. The Chinese readers are familiar with this famous Chinese proverb. But the English readers, if the translator does not add the annotation to the translated Chinese proverb, being unknown of Chinese historical background, cannot figure out what it is like to fish like Chiang Taigong. So annotation is necessary and must be presented to the readers. An explanatory annotation of this proverb is added by the translator. It can be possibly explained that Jiang Shang was his real name, and Jiang Taigong was a respectable title used by others in addressing him.The following is the annotation added to the English version of Chinese proverb: Chiang Shang lived in the Chou dynasty. According to a legend, he was said to fish by
the Weishui River(present Shensi), holding a rod with no hook or bait three feet above
the water, and saying“the fish that destined to be caught will come up.”(Zheng
Shengtao,1994:113)
The translator uses notes to add to the versions some additional information. So the translator adds a short note after giving a literal translation to help the TL readers to grasp a full cultural knowledge of the original language text.
3. 2 Contextual Amplification
This method is used to make the meanings of translated proverbs explicit to the target reader and can help to keep the cultural image for the target language readers and at the same time compensate for the target reader's cultural default, making them achieve the coherent understanding of the original proverb immediately without further reading of other texts. Besides, amplified information added to the proverbs of the original cultural default in the TL text could also help achieve other effects. For example, rhetoric effect is the case in this English proverb “Birds of a feather flock together”(Sheng Shaoqiu,1989:88). It has an amplified Chinese version as“物以类聚，人以群分”. The original English proverb just talks about birds and it does not include the human part. Obviously, the Chinese version has an amplified meaning in it by
attaching“人以群分”to it. By doing so, it may help the target readers to understand the original English proverb.
As it is suggested previously, the proper way to translate cultural default is to translate literally with the intactcultural image, in which the key point is that the same words should share the similar associative meanings in another language. It is important for translator not to deprive readers of their direct appreciation of the source language culture. The amplified proverb translation does not only convey the implied image of the source language, but also effectively amplifies the cultural images in the original proverbs.
3. 3 Adaptation
Some proverbs’images or figurative meanings in one language are hard to be expressed in another language. Word-for-word translating method is hardly accepted and understood by the readers. Thus, translating the meaning is prior to translating words. Therefore, other translation approaches need to be adopted. One of them is liberal translation, also known as adaptation Liberal translation is an approach in which a translator gives priority to the meaning of the original proverb and puts the image and structure in the second place. Some cultural images or metaphors in the proverbs of the source language might be the obstacles rather than a help for the target language readers to understand. In such case, priority should be given to the meanings of the proverbs. Take one Chinese proverb“情人眼里出西施”(Wang Changzai,1985:341) for example. When it is literally translated into English version as “Xi Shi lies in the lover’s eyes”, probably it will put the English readers into confusion. Apparently, most English readers do not know Chinese history, and historical figure is unknown to the foreign readers. Foreign readers would certainly be at loss about “西施”, who is one of the nationwide best-known beauties in the history of China. In English, it has a saying as “Beauty lies in the lover’s eyes”. This English proverb is acceptable to all English readers. Therefore, when translating this proverb into English, it would be much better and suitable to translate“情人眼里出西施”into Beauty lies in the lover’s eyes. By using this translating method, the
cultural default about this historical figure is compensated excellently.
3. 4 Literal Translation
Literal translation is a kind of word-for-word translation method. If other translating ways misinterprets the proverbs, translators can try literal translation, a way that the grammatical constructions of the source language are converted to its nearest equivalents of the target language, but the lexical words may have not the same equivalent with the source proverbs. Literal translation not only helps retain the vividness of the original language in translation, but also introduces unique modes of thinking from one language to another and brings new, vivid as well as inspiring elements to the target language culture. Besides, for some proverbs, their literally translated versions will not arouse any misunderstandings to the target language readers even though they carry some images. Sometimes literal translation, the simplest and the most frequently used method, can fully keep the original language style. A good example is the Chinese proverb“跑得了和尚跑不了庙”, which can be translated literally as “The monk may run away, but the temple can not run with him”. The English proverb “Every salesman boasts of his own wares” is literally translated into Chinese as“老王卖瓜，自卖自夸”. Chinese readers are familiar with the figure of“老王”and the Chinese word“瓜”has the same referee in this proverb as wares in this English proverb. They both mean the products that a seller wants to sell. Even the products they sell are totally different but they have equivalent image in these two proverbs. So judging by its acceptability to the Chinese readers, there is no other translation better than this one.
IV. Conclusion
Since there are cultural differences between nations, cultural default is an inevitable phenomenon in proverb translation. To make communications more effective, the cultural default elements should never be neglected in proverb translation. Translators should try to employ certain strategies to make up the cultural defaulted elements to help readers to decode the implied meaning of the original proverbs. In this way
readers can get a coherent comprehension of the proverb and its culture.
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英汉习语的文化差异及翻译 习语是某一语言在使用过程中形成的独特的固定的表达方式。本文所要讨论的习语是广义的、包括成语、谚语、歇后语、典故等。英汉两种语言历史悠久，包含着大量的习语，它们或含蓄、幽默、或严肃、典雅，不仅言简意赅，而且形象生动，妙趣横和，给人一种美的享受。由于地理、历史、宗教信仰、生活习俗等方面的差异，英汉习语承载着不民的民族文化特色和文化信息，它们与文化传统紧密相连，不可分割。习语中的文化因素往往是翻译中的难点。本文试图借助语用学的理论，对美车哲学教授在他的Meaning一书中把话语的意义分为自然意义和非自然意义两种。话语的非自然意义指人们意欲表达的意义，即在特定的场合下表达出交际者意图的语用隐含意义。这就是Grice的会话含意理论的基础。那么，由于英汉两种语言的文化背景的差异，同样字面意义、形象意义的话语文章可能具有完全不同的隐含意义。隐含意义才是说话人或作者所要表达的意义。根据我们的观察，英汉习语之间的多方面差异可归为两类：一是形象意义的差异，一是隐含意义的差异，而它们都是字面以外的意义，是文化差异的具体反映。由此出发，本文提出了英汉习语文化意义翻译的具体原则和方法。 一、英汉习语中所反映的文化差异 朱光潜先生在《谈翻译》一文中说：“外国文学最难了解和翻译的第一是联想的意义……”，“它带有特殊的情感氛围，甚深广而微妙，在字典中无从找出，对文学却极要紧。如果我们不熟悉一国的人情风俗和文化历史背景，对于文字的这种意义就茫然，尤其是在翻译时这种字义最不易应付。”英国文化人类学家爱德华·泰勒在《原始文化》一书中，首次把文化作为一个概念提了出来，并表述为：“文化是一种复杂，它包括知识、信仰、艺术、道德、法律、风俗以及其作社会上习得的能力与习惯。”可见文化的覆盖面很广，它是一个复要的系统。语言作为文化的一个组成部分，反映一个民族丰富多彩的方化现象。我们经过归纳总结认为，英汉习语所反是非曲直的文化差异主要表现在以下几个方面： 1、生存环境的差异 习语的产生与人们的劳动和生活密切相关。英国是一个岛国，历史上航海业曾一度领先世界；而汉民族在亚洲大陆生活繁衍，人们的生活离不开土地。比喻花钱浪费，大手大脚，英语是spend money like water，而汉语是“挥金如土”。英语中有许多关于船和水的习语，在汉语中没有完全相同的对应习语，如to rest on one’s oars，to keep one’s head above water，all at sea等等。 在汉语的文化氛围中，“东风”即是“春天的风”，夏天常与酷署炎热联
A wolf in sheep’s clothing 披着羊皮的狼. to be on the ice 如履薄冰. to sit on pins and needles 如坐针毡. An ass is known by his ears 见耳识驴it is a sad house where the hen crows louder than the cock（）鸡司晨，家之不祥. it’s ill to waken sleeping dogs/ Let sleeping dogs lie 勿惹睡狗. A barking dog is better than a sleeping lion 吠犬不可怕，睡狮难提防. The great fish eat up the small 大鱼吃小鱼. He who rides a tiger is afraid to dismount 骑虎难下. A good horse cannot be of a bad colour 好马无劣色. to be as mild as a lamb 驯如羔羊. 合抱之木，生于毫末Great oaks from little acorns grow. 人靠衣服马靠鞍It’s the saddle that makes the horse and the tailor , the man. 旧瓶装新酒new wine in old bottles. 玩火者必自焚He who plays with fire gets burned. 羽毛丰满to become full-fledged. 风驰电掣to pass swiftly like the wind or lighting. The ap ple of one’s eye 掌上明珠. as timid as a hare 胆小如鼠. as strong as a horse 大力如牛. as poor as a church mouse 一贫如洗. Man proposes, God disposes 谋事在人,成事在天. Everyone for himself, God for us all 人人为自己, 老天为大家. A small bird wants but a small nest 燕雀无鸿鹄之志. Take not
英汉习语的文化差异及翻译 副标题： 作者：佚名文章来源：本站原创点击数：29 更新时间：2005-5-15 习语是某一语言在使用过程中形成的独特的固定的表达方式。本文所要讨论的习语是广义的、包括成语、谚语、歇后语、典故等。英汉两种语言历史悠久，包含着大量的习语，它们或含蓄、幽默、或严肃、典雅，不仅言简意赅，而且形象生动，妙趣横和，给人一种美的享受。由于地理、历史、宗教信仰、生活习俗等方面的差异，英汉习语承载着不民的民族文化特色和文化信息，它们与文化传统紧密相连，不可分割。习语中的文化因素往往是翻译中的难点。本文试图借助语用学的理论，对英汉习语的翻译作一些探索。 美车哲学教授H.P.Grice在他的Meaning一书中把话语的意义分为自然意义（natural meaning）和非自然意义（non-natural meaning）两种。话语的非自然意义指人们意欲表达的意义，即在特定的场合下表达出交际者意图的语用隐含意义。这就是Grice的会话含意（conversational implicature）理论的基础。那么，由于英汉两种语言的文化背景的差异，同样字面意义、形象意义的话语文章可能具有完全不同的隐含意义。隐含意义才是说话人或作者所要表达的意义。根据我们的观察，英汉习语之间的多方面差异可归为两类：一是形象意义的差异，一是隐含意义（包括褒贬义）的差异，而它们都是字面以外的意义，是文化差异的具体反映。由此出发，本文提出了英汉习语文化意义翻译的具体原则和方法。 一、英汉习语中所反映的文化差异 朱光潜先生在《谈翻译》一文中说：“外国文学最难了解和翻译的第一是联想的意义……”，“它带有特殊的情感氛围，甚深广而微妙，在字典中无从找出，对文学却极要紧。如果我们不熟悉一国的人情风俗和文化历史背景，对于文字的这种意义就茫然，尤其是在翻译时这种字义最不易应付。”英国文化人类学家爱德华·泰勒在《原始文化》（1871）一书中，首次把文化作为一个概念提了出来，并表述为：“文化是一种复杂，它包括知识、信仰、艺术、道德、法律、风俗以及其作社会上习得的能力与习惯。”可见文化的覆盖面很广，它是一个复要的系统。语言作为文化的一个组成部分，反映一个民族丰富多彩的方化现象。我们经过归纳总结认为，英汉习语所反是非曲直的文化差异主要表现在以下几个方面： 1、生存环境的差异 习语的产生与人们的劳动和生活密切相关。英国是一个岛国，历史上航海业曾一度领先世界；而汉民族在亚洲大陆生活繁衍，人们的生活离不开土地。比喻花钱浪费，大手大脚，英语是spend money like water，而汉语是“挥金如土”。英语中有许多关于船和水的习语，在汉语中没有完全相同的对应习语，如to rest on one’s oars（暂时歇一歇），to keep one’s head above water（奋力图存），all at sea（不知所措）等等。 在汉语的文化氛围中，“东风”即是“春天的风”，夏天常与酷署炎热联系在一起，“赤日炎炎似火烧”、“骄阳似火”是常被用来描述夏天的词语。而英国地处西半球，北温带，海洋性气候，报告春天消息的却是西风，英国著名诗人雪莱的《西风颂》正是对春的讴歌。英国的夏季正是温馨宜人的季节，常与
浅谈英汉习语的翻译 On the translation of English and Chinese idioms 邓慧云 （长江大学外国语学院英语（师范）10901班 200900848）摘要：随着社会的不断发展和进步，英汉互译在我们的生活和工作中变得越来越平常和普通。无论是在何时何地英汉双语的标语或标志都不罕见，可见其在我们生活之中是比较普及的。语言是文化的一部分，而习语又是语言的一部分，它是一种文化的浓缩，是文化的活化石，具有形象鲜明、音韵优美、内涵丰富等多种特点。很多时候我们都能从一些习语中了解到一定蕴含于其中的文化意义。英语中，习语的范围是很广泛的，包括俗语、谚语、格言、警句和俚语等。汉语中，这类表达称作“成语”或“俗语”。英汉习语翻译的主要目的就是尽可能的表达清楚源语言的含义，做到“信、达、雅”，让目的语的读者能够更加透彻的理解对方的习语，从而了解其中蕴含着的文化。 在英汉习语翻译时我们一般要先了解英汉习语的特点；英汉习语形和意的差别；英汉互译的方法一般有采用直译法和意译法或两者相互结合与补充。习语是文化的产物，它们蕴涵了丰富的文化知识，从习语中反映出中西文化差异，这些差异要求我们真切地了解产生与使用该语言国家的文化传统、价值观念、风土人情，并把握和细究习语的意义，以及它所承载的文化信息，从而有效地进行跨文化的言语交际，不断促进和加强各国人民之间文化的交流与融合。 关键词：特点、形和意、直译、意译 论文大纲 1.英汉习语的特点 1,1英语习语的特点 1.2汉语习语的特点 2.英汉习语的形和意 2.1意义和形式相同 2.2意义和形式部分或完全不同 2.3意义相似，形式不同 2.4形式，意义都不相同 3.翻译方法 3.1 直译法 3.2 意译法 3.3直译和意译结合 4.结语 理论背景
谈英汉习语的来源和翻译(一) 【摘要】习语是人类语言的结晶，具有形象、简练、寓意深刻、机智幽默等特点和强烈的文化特征和民族特色，所以习语的翻译是翻译中的一个难点。本文从习语的起源说起，论述了习语的五种翻译方法，即直译、意译、对等翻译、直译加注和音译加注法。 【关键词】英汉习语；来源；翻译；文化特色 习语是经过长时间的使用而提炼出来的固定短语或短句，是人类智慧的结晶，也是人类语言的结晶。英汉习语可以分为以下几类：英语习语包括习惯用语、谚语和许多俚语表达；汉语习语可以被大致分为成语、俗语、谚语、歇后语和粗俗语。习语具有形象、简练、寓意深刻、机智幽默等特点。英汉习语有很多共同点，都具有形象、简练、寓意深刻、机智幽默等特点。在日常口语和书面语中适当地使用习语会在很大程度上增强语言的表现力和感染力。没有习语,我们的语言就会变得单调而干涩无味。 正确的翻译习语有助于对整个句子和文章的理解。由于英汉两种语言和文化的不同，翻译时很难做到完全对等。很多习语前后对称、音节优美、韵律协调，翻译时除了忠实地表达原文习语的意义外，还应尽可能保持原文习语的形象比喻、丰富联想、修辞效果以及其民族、文化特色等。所以，习语的翻译是译者的难题，也是翻译理论者关注的话题。 一、英汉习语的来源 首先，大多数习语来自于劳动人民的日常用语。劳动人民在工作和生活中创造了许多习惯用语，比如水手发明了很多和海洋有关的生动的短语，运动员使用运动方面的习惯用语。这些习惯用语产生于各行各业，它们不仅简洁、口头化而且生动形象，和生活紧密相关，因此不久就被人们在日常生活中相似的场景下广泛使用，其中最生动最有用的习惯用语逐渐地由普遍的对话演变为约定俗成的语言，最终被广为使用。比如sharehappinessandwoe（同甘共苦）指一起分享快乐和悲伤；strikewhileironishot（趁热打铁）指利用有利条件首先采取行动；becomereconciled（言归于好）指化敌为友。Harmonybringswealth（和气生财）指人缘好生意自然就好。 其次，习语源自古老的神话、传说和寓言。古希腊罗马文明对英语有着深远影响，许多英语习语来源于古希腊神话和传说，它们在书面语中广泛使用。如theappleofdiscord(不和的种子)指争端，祸事；Pandora’sbox(潘多拉的盒子)是指会给人类带来灾难，装着所有罪恶的盒子。例如“吃不到葡萄就说葡萄是酸的”这个习语源自《伊索寓言》。一只饥渴的狐狸想吃葡萄架上的熟葡萄，但它想方设法去摘，结果还是够不着。最后它只好悻悻走开并自我安慰地说：“这些葡萄是酸的，可能还没熟透呢。” 再次，宗教是习语的重要来源。生活在封建社会的人们深受宗教的影响，现在仍有很多反映当时宗教信仰的习语。圣经中也产生了大量的习语，事实上很多的圣经短语至今还出现在口头的对话中，但却很难去追溯它们的根源。如olivebranch(橄榄枝)源自圣经，意味着“和平”的意思，其真正含义为“讲和”。《旧约·创世纪》中说，“上帝降洪水灭世，义人诺亚一家靠了方舟得以安然无恙。洪水稍退，诺亚放出鸽子试探水势，鸽子回到方舟时嘴里衔着一枝橄榄叶，诺亚由此判断洪水已经消退。”后来人们就将橄榄枝看作平安、和平的象征。现在，“伸出橄榄枝”这个习语已被中国读者广泛使用。再有“色即是空，空即是色”来自中国的佛教。最后，古典文学作品中的许多表达也是产生习语主要来源之一。圣经之后，莎士比亚的戏剧作品成为英语习语最丰富的文学来源，这些习语被广为使用。如，Achilles’heel(阿咯琉斯的脚踵)来自著名希腊史诗《伊里亚特》；Talkofthedevilandhecomes(说曹操，曹操就到)是出自中国的古典名著《三国演义》。 总之，习语不仅和一个民族的宗教文化有关，还和其历史、文化遗产、生活经历、地理条件、社会习俗和心灵境界等紧密相关，这些都是习语的民族性特征的主要决定因素，因此可以将习语视为一面反映一个国家或一种文化特征的镜子。不同的社会体系、文化遗产、科学技术
笨鸟先飞早入林Clumsy birds have to start flying early 冰冻三尺，非一日之寒It takes more than one cold day for the river to freeze three feet deep。The ground is frozen three feet deep --a rather long process。 长江后浪推前浪In the Chan kiang River the waves behind drive on those before。 滴水穿石Constant dripping wears away a stone。 光阴似箭，日月如梭Light travels like an arrow, and time like a shuttle。 老马识途An old horse knows the way。 麻雀虽小，五脏俱全The sparrow may be small but it has all the vital organs。 青出于蓝而胜于蓝Indigo blue is extracted from the indigo plant, but is bluer than the plant it comes from。 山外有山，天外有天There are mountains beyond mountains, and heavens beyond heavens。山重水覆疑无路，柳暗花明又一村 A sudden glimpse of hope in the dark mist of bewilderment, it’s along lane that has no turning。 万事开头难The first step is always difficult。 万丈高楼平地起High buildings rise from the ground。 有利必有弊Everything has its advantages as well as disadvantages 机不可失，时不再来Don’t lose a golden opportunity, it is never fou nd again。 谋事在人，成事在天Man proposes, God disposes。 人逢喜事精神爽People are in high spirits when involved in happy events。 人生如梦Life is but like a passing dream。 仁者见仁，智者见智 A true man loves the mountains, a wise man loves the sea。 人非圣贤，孰能无过All men but saints are apt to make mistakes。 失败是成功之母Failure is the mother of success。 一失足成千古 A single slip can cause a lasting sorrow。 有所不为，而后有所You must be able to refrain yourself in some matters in order to accomplish others。 饮水不忘挖井Don’t forget the well diggers when you drink from this well. 己所不欲，勿施于人Don’t do to others what you don’t want others to do to you 。
习语的翻译一、什么是习语(idiom) 习语是经过长时间的使用而提炼出来的固定短语或短句，是人民智慧的结晶。习语大都具有鲜明的形象，适宜于用来比喻事物，因而往往带有浓厚的民族色彩和地方色彩。习语既是语言中的重要修辞手段，同时其本身也是各种修辞手段的集中表现。因此，翻译时应当尽量保持这些特点。译者除了忠实地表达原文习语的意义外，还应尽可能保持原文习语的形象比喻、丰富联想、修辞效果以及其民族、地方特色等。我们这里所谈的英语习语（idioms）是就其广义而言的，包括俗语、谚语、俚语（slang expressions）等。例如：The new naval(海军的) base has proved to be a white elephant; A large number of American radio stations operate in the red. 二习语英译汉的三种主要方法1直译法2汉语同义习语的套用法3意义法二习语英译汉的三种主要方法1 直译法：例如：to break the record armed to the teeth the most-favored-nation clause A rolling stone gathers no moss. a gentleman’s agreement bad egg A cat has nine lives. the Trojan horse the heel of Achilles the cold war Blood is thicker than water. Barking dogs do not bite. 2 汉语同义习语的套用法：（1）双方有完全相同的形象比喻：另外，中国人和英国人共同的劳动经历也使这两个民族产生一些相同的人生经验，故而有完全相同的形象比喻的习语存在。如：试翻译下列习语：to praise to the skies to fish in troubled waters to add fuel to the fire to be on thin ice Walls have ears. (2)双方有大体相同的形象比喻：试翻译下列习语：As stubborn as a mule To fish in the air To drink like a fish To be at the end of one’s rope To spend money like water One boy is a boy, two boys half a boy, three boys no boy. 3 意义法：例如：I guessed when he asked for an interview that Smith had an axe to grind. The teenagers don’t invite Bob to their parties because he is a wet blanket. Among so many well-dressed and cultured people, the country girl felt like a fish out of water. To break the ice, Ted spoke his interest in mountain climbing, and they soon had a conversation going. She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth; she thinks she can do what she likes. 三小结习语不仅是语言的精华，而且是语言的缩影，是语言特征的集中反映：语言是人在劳动中创造的，大部分习语就来自普通老百姓的生产活动和生活经历。由于不同民族之间既存在相同的生产生活经历，也存在不同的方面，因而，中英文习语中就存在意义和形式完全相同的习语，也存在不同的习语。所以在翻译英语习语的时候，应该恰当地运用直译，意译和套用汉语同义习语等方法，以保证译文质量。四作业1.试将下列句子译成汉语：Like father, like son. Least said, sooner mended. Out of sight, out of mind. Penny wise, pound foolish. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. 2. 完成教科书第45页上的习
摘要：英汉两种语言都拥有大量的习语。习语有的意思明显，有的含蓄。译者除了忠实地表达原文习语的意义外，还要尽可能保持原文习语的语言风格。因此，习语的翻译是比较困难的。但习语翻译的好坏对整个译文的质量有直接的影响。因此，如何处理习语是翻译中的一个极为重要的问题。 关键词：英语习语；汉语习语；翻译 学习任何语言，包括母语在内，均不能忽略习语。英语和汉语是两种高度发展的语言，因而都拥有大量的习语。习语是经过长时间的沿习使用而提练出来的固定词组或短句，是人民智慧的结晶。习语大都具有鲜明的形象，形式简练，含义精辟，表达生动等等特点，为人们所喜闻乐用，广泛流传，因而往往带有浓厚的民族色彩和地方色彩。习语有的意思明显；有的富于含蓄，意在言外，可引起丰富的联想；有的可能包含几个意义，必须根据上下文的具体情况来明确它的意义。习语既是语言中的重要修辞手段，同时其本身也是各种修辞手段的集中表现。不少习语前后对称，韵律协调。由于习语具有这些特点，翻译时就应当尽量保持这些特点。翻译时除了忠实地表达原文习语的意义外，还应尽可能保持原文的形象比喻、丰富联想、修辞效果以及其民族、地方特色等，避免死译硬译。习语不仅大量出现在文艺作品里，在政治和科学学论文中也同样经常遇到。习语翻译的好坏对整个译文的质量有直接的影响。 一、英语习语的汉译 英语习语以其精辟、形象、生动等特点，牢固地确立了它在英语中的重要地位。无论是在书面语言中，还是口头语言里，英语习语都发挥着越来越重要的作用，其数量正在日益扩大、其质量也在不断升华。要想译好英语习语，仅借助于一本字典或是认识几个单词是远远不够的，我们必须打好扎实的语言基本功，掌握英语习语的词汇构成和丰富的习语知识，通过长期不懈的学习和实践。英语习语的汉译主要有以下几种方法： （一）直译法 有些英语习语是平铺直叙的，既无很深的含义，也无难解的典故，只是用词与搭配相对地固定。对这类习语，我们只须从字面上去理解，采取直译的方法： last but not least 最后但不是最不重要的一点 under one’s nose 在某人鼻子底下 to break the record 打破记录 laugh in one’s face 当面嘲笑 lay sth to heart 把某事放在心上 have pity on sb 同情某人 to fight to the last man 战斗到最后一个人 有些英语习语，有着明显的比喻意义，其中不少有着一定的历史或神话典故。这类习语中，有些因使用范围广、历史久，其字面意义和比喻意义都能为中国读者所接受；而有一些由于其文化背景的缘故，中国读者还不能通过它们的字面意义来理解它们的比喻意义，对于这两类习语，人们都采取直译其义的方法： barking dogs do not bite 吠犬不咬人 a rolling stone gathers no moss 滚石不生苔 a cat has nine lives 猫有九命 trojan horse 特洛伊木马 feet of clay 泥足 ugly duckling 丑小鸭 crocodile tears 鳄鱼眼泪----------比喻假慈悲
英汉习语对比及其翻译 【Abstract】Idioms are the essence of a language, which have strong national colors and distinctive cultural connotations. So it is difficult for both English and Chinese readers to understand the idiom translation thoroughly and exactly. This thesis first analyzes the similarity of English and Chinese idioms from the aspect of rhetorical means, such as alliteration, rhyme, repetition, antithesis and so on. Then it probes into the causes of the differences in English and Chinese idioms from the aspects of different living circumstances, different cognitions of things, different religions and beliefs, and different historical allusions and myths, etc. After that, it talks about the three typical problems in English-Chinese idiom translation, such as interpreting the English idioms too literally, copying Chinese customary sayings mechanically, and lacking in necessary explanatory notes. Finally, it summarizes five idiom translation methods, including literal translation with explanation, literal translation with association, transformation of meanings, application of Chinese couplet and equal consideration of both images and meanings. All the significance of this thesis is to convey the idioms? cultural information as much as possible, which is very useful for the language learning. 【Key Words】idiom; comparison; translation 【摘要】习语通常包括成语、俗语、格言、歇后语、谚语、俚语、行话等。其表现形式音节优美，音律协调，或含蓄幽默，或严肃典雅，言简意赅，形象生动，妙趣横生，给人一种美的享受。习语是语言的精华，它带有浓厚的民族色彩和鲜明的文化内涵。因此对英语读者和汉语读者来说，做到彻底精确地理解蕴含深刻文化内涵的习语的翻译是相对比较困难的。本文首先从修辞手法方面分析了英汉习语的相似性，然后分别从生存环境、对事物的认知、历史典故、宗教信仰等四个不同方面来比较和分析英汉习语存在的巨大差异，接着概括了英汉习语互译中存在的典型问题，，最后，本文侧重探索了英汉习语互译的最佳方法，包括直译加解释、直译加联想、意译改造法、采用汉语对联的形式，形象意义兼顾法等五种手段。整篇论文的意义在于最大限度地传递习语中的文化信息，对语言学习具有重大指导意义。【关键字】习语；对比；翻译 1.Introduction Idioms are the essence of a language, which are always philosophical and eternal. According to Oxford Advantaged Learner?s English-Chinese Dictionary, an idiom is “a phrase or s entence whose meaning is not clear from the meaning of its individual words and which must be learnt as a whole unit”. “In the broad sense, idioms may include : set phrases; proverbs; sayings; epigrams; slang expressions; colloquialisms; quotations; two-part allegorical sayings, of which the first part ,always stated, is descriptive, while the second part , sometimes unstated, carries the message(chiefly in Chinese). While in Chinese, idioms are called as …熟语?,including:短语，成语(usually consisting of four words),俗语，谚语，格言，箴言，名言(quotation or recorded