英汉谚语中的文化差异研究摘要习语是人类智慧的精华。
它是在群众间流传的，用简单通俗的话语反映出深刻的道理的固定语句。
总的来说，世界上各个民族的习语都蕴含了诲人的哲理并且节奏感特别的强烈。
毫不夸张的说，对一个民族的习语进行研究就可以更加深入的了解该民族的风俗以及人们的精神生活。
英语习语的汉译和汉语习语的英译不仅涉及了不用语言间的翻译，而且也是文化内容的体现。
习语作为英汉语言的精华，具有浓厚的历史和民族文化内涵，其产生和使用在各自的文化中呈现出不同的特色，因而，习语翻译历来是翻译的难点。
本文旨在从地理、历史、宗教和社会风俗等方面来分析中西方文化的差异在习语中的体现。
习语是人类经验的总结，因此它们在文化交流和文化转换的过程中扮演的重要的角色。
这篇论文展示出了几种比较实用的适合习语翻译的方法，如直译、借用、意译、直译加意译和注释等方法。
同时附有相对应的习语翻译。
以期使读者更好地了解中西文化差异，并灵活进行习语翻译。
关键词：文化差异习语翻译翻译策略及方法。
AbstractProverbs are the most popular language and the embodiment a general truth and the wisdom of a nation. Their meanings are in deep and rhythm. It is not an exaggeration to say that to explore the proverbs of a certain language is one of the feasible approaches to get into the inside of that nation’s people and spiritual life. The English-Chinese and Chinese-English proverb translation involves not only the transfer of language but also the transmission of culture.As the essence of English and Chinese language, proverbs or set phrases have strong historical and cultural contents, whose emergence and use demonstrate different characteristics in its own culture. Therefore, proverb translation has always been the difficulty for translation. The present thesis attempts to study cultural differences between western and eastern proverbs from perspectives like geographic, historical, religious and social customs. Since proverbs are the summary of the common people’s experiences，they play a decisive role in promoting different cultural exchange and cultural transmission．More importantly, this thesis is going to propose several methods for proverbs translation such as metaphrase, borrowing, free translation, metaphrase plus free translation and the use of notes. Practical proverb translation examples and methods are proposed accordingly. It’s hoped that this will benefit learners and readers in their better understanding of cultural differences and skillful translation of proverbs.Key words:cultural differences; proverb translation; translation strategies and methodsTable of Contents摘要 (I)Abstract (II)1 Introduction (1)2 Definition (2)2.1 The definition of proverb (2)2.2 The Definition of cultural dDifferences (2)3. The Analysis of East-West Cultural Differences (3)3.1 Geographic differences (4)3.2 Historical differences (5)3.3 Religious differences (5)3.4 Social customs differences (6)4. Translation Strategies and Methods (7)4.1 Metaphrase (7)4.2 Borrowing (7)4.3 Free Translation (8)4.4 Metaphrase plus free translation (8)4.5 The use of notes (9)5. Conclusion (10)References (11)1 IntroductionLanguage is the carrier of culture, which reflects the culture it represents. Set phrase or proverb is an indispensable essence part of culture, which contains very rich historical, social, religious and cultural contents. Actually, proverbs are seen as the most important too for people’s communication which can be treated as an indispensable part of culture and is influenced by culture in return. Without culture, language would be insignificant. Moreover, proverbs are considered to be the most popular saying in the society and the wisdoms of a nation which reveals the people’s mind and wisdom in pieces of words. Without proverbs, language would lack spirit and color. A concentrated reflection of various rhetorical means and a mirror of the historical and cultural conceptions of a society are revealed in proverbs.Proverbs between eastern and western countries vary differently due to their different ways of living, ways of thinking, different historical development and different cultures. Therefore, proverb translation has always been the difficulty for translation. Nevertheless, the successful translation of proverbs is of vital importance in inter-lingual and inter-cultural communication between China and western countries, and east-west cultural differences are among the largest barriers of proverb translation. It is thus very important and necessary for us to probe into the west-east cultural differences and come up with practical proverb translation strategies and methods in order to help learners and readers better understand the cultural differences and better translate proverbs.The present thesis attempts to study cultural differences between western and eastern proverbs from perspectives like geographic, historical, religious and social customs. Since proverbs are the summary of the common people’s experiences，they play a decisive role in promoting different cultural exchange and cultural transmission．More importantly, this thesis is going to propose several methods for proverbs translation such as metaphrase, borrowing, free translation, metaphrase plus free translation and the use of notes.2. Definition2.1 The definition of proverbProverb or set phrase is the crystal of language accumulated and extracted during people’s long-time practice and use. Proverbs often come from ancient classics, famous masterpieces, historical stories and folktales, which contain rich cultural information and have strong national characteristics. Proverb has the characteristics of vividness, profoundness, conciseness, humor and meaningfulness. Even within a single language community, proverb, and the extent to which it is used, tends to vary widely across social, ethnic, economic, and geographic strata. Proverb may fall into disuse over time; sometimes, however, it grows more and more common until it becomes the dominant way of saying something, at which time it usually comes to be regarded as mainstream, acceptable language, although in the case of taboo words there may not be an expression which is considered mainstream or acceptable. Numerous proverb terms pass into informal mainstream speech, and sometimes into formal speech, though this may involve a change in meaning or usage.Proverb often involves the creation of new meanings for existing words. It is common for such novel meanings to diverge significantly from the standard meaning.A proverb is a simple and concrete saying, popularly known and repeated, that expresses a truth based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of conduct may also be known as a maxim.Proverbs are often borrowed from similar languages and cultures, and sometimes come down to the present through more than one language. Both the Bible and Medieval Latin have played a considerable role in distributing proverbs across Europe, although almost every culture has examples of its own.2.2 The definition of cultural differencesThere are different meanings to the word “culture”. Sometimes, people who know about music, art, literature are thought to be cultured. However, to an anthropologist, the word “culture” means all the ways that a group of people think, feel, eat and dress. TheLongman Dictionary of Contemporary English gives such an explanation of culture: the customs, beliefs, art, music, and all the other products of human thought made by a particular group of people at a particular time. The linguistic difference that informs any cultural performance is dramatized in the common semiotic account of the disjuncture between the subject of a proposition and the subject of enunciation, which is not represented in the statement but which is the acknowledgment of its discursive and address, its cultural, its reference to a present time and a specific space. The pact of interpretation is never simply an act of communication between the I and the you designated in the statement. The production of meaning requires that these two places be mobilized in the passage through a Third Space, which represents both the general conditions of language and the specific implication of the utterance in a performative and institutional strategy of which it cannot “in itself” be conscious. What this unconscious relation introduces is ambivalence in the act of interpretation According to the famous translator Eugene Nida, culture is “the totality of beliefs and practices of a society”. He also holds that “Nothing is of greater strategic importance than the language through which its beliefs are expressed and transmitted and by which most interaction of its members take place.”Therefore it is obvious that cultural differences mean the differences in histories, religions, cultures, social beliefs and customs, etc. For instance, when people die, different cultures deal with their bodies differently. Sometimes bodies are burned; sometimes bodies are buried under the ground. In many cultures in the past, people were buried with food, weapons, and other things that might be useful in the next life. For example, the ancient Egyptians buried people with little human figures which were from clay. These clay figures were intended to work the death person in the other world.From above, we can see that cultures vary differently from one culture to another. There are many factors underlying in cultural differences, the author of this paper will conduct further analysis later in the following.3. The Analysis of East-West Cultural DifferencesThere are a number of cultural differences between China and other westerncountries, but the differences can be overcome in inter-cultural communications. Having a good command of the factors about the differences would help people better understand the language and the culture, so to perform successful communications. This paper has mainly chosen four east-west cultural differences: geographic differences, historical differences, religious differences and social customs differences. In the following, this paper will further discuss the main four differences respectively.3.1 Geographic differencesPeople in different countries live in different geographic environments, thus different cultures and different proverbs were formed in the process of laboring and struggling with nature. A certain culture exists in a certain terrain; inevitably, it reflects the natural and geographic features of the area. For this reason, when people use natural sights or objects to express themselves, there would be obvious differences. What’s more, people in different cultures hold different attitudes towards different natural phenomenon relevant to their living conditions, so the expressions of proverbs are also quite different.For example, China has long been an agricultural country with a vast land, so it has many expressions or proverbs with land or agriculture, such as “七十二行，庄稼人头一行”, “百叶农为本，民以食为天”, “地不翻，苗不欢”, “种田不用问，用好水和粪” and so on. However, Britain is an island country surrounded by vast sea, so it has many expressions or proverbs related to boats or seas, such as “The best fish swim near the bottom” (好鱼沉水底), “to go with the stream” (随波逐流), “The good seaman is known in bad weather”(要识还海员，须凭坏天气), “There’s as good fish in the sea as ever come out of it” (有了大海，害怕没鱼), “A man may lead a horse to the water, but he can’t make him drink” (牛不喝水，按不低头) and so on. These kinds of examples are numerous. Also, there are many proverbs peculiar to specific geographic areas, for instance, in English “bring coal to Newcastle”(多此一举), since Newcastle is a place abundant in coal. Meanwhile, there are similar proverbs in Chinese, such as “边收边耕，叶草不生”, “好树结好桃，好种出好苗”, “春风不刮，春芽不发” and so on.The totally different geographical differences of the east and west are responsible for the different cultural values embodied in the proverbs of the two languages.3.2 Historical differencesApart from geographic differences, historical differences are also of great importance. A certain culture is formed through a nation’s history, so when discussing cultural differences, historical differences cannot be neglected. Different countries have different historical developments, stories, legends, allusions and so on. For example, throughout the history, Chinese people define themselves as the descendents of “Yandi and Huangdi Emperors” the “Dragon” and the “Cathay”; so an proverb was “炎黄子孙”. There are also proverbs relevant to wars, persons, etc. such as “唱空城计”, “败走麦城”, “东施效颦”, “名落孙山” and so on. In English, there are also proverbs or expressions related to wars, persons peculiar in its own culture, such as “to meet one’s Waterloo” to mean failure, “a Trojan horse” to mean potential dangers, “Achilles’ heel” to mean one’s fatal weakness, the week or vulnerable point of a person, an organization, a country and “Pandora’s box” to mean the root of evils. There are boundless examples like this. The historic value of a certain culture is unique; people should pay special attention to it when engaged in inter-cultural communication and proverb translation.In brief, both East and West have its own historic field and literary works to reflect their proverbs. Only if the translator translates proverbs well, can the exact meaning will be transmitted.3.3 Religious differencesReligious belief is one aspect of human thought, which has great influence on culture. In many western countries, particularly in English-speaking countries, people believe in Christianity. They believe that God is all mighty. So there are many proverbs related to their belief. For example, “A tree is known by its fruit” (观果实可知树，观其行可知人), “God help those who help themselves”(自助者天助). In addition, the Bible has greatly affected the western culture, and some proverbs are derived from Bible, such as “the forbidden fruit” (禁果), “as poor as Job” (一贫如洗), “eye for eye and teeth for teeth” (以眼还眼，以牙还牙), and so on. While Chinese culture, on the other hand, was mainly influenced by Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. Proverbs like “平时不烧香，临时抱佛脚”“泥菩萨过河，自身难保” reflect Buddhism; “乐极生悲”“脱胎换骨”“回光返照” are derived from Taoism; while “平安是福” is from Confucianism. Religion is a complex factor in inter-cultural activities, thus it cannot be ignored for its profound influence on cultures.From the analysis proverbs above, we can infer that God is powerful in Christianity and Buddha is mighty in Buddhism. The Chinese people adore the Buddha and the westerners show respect to the God.3.4 Social customs differencesSocial customs also play an important role in east-west cultural differences, as it embodies a nation’s history and value. Countries with different social customs have different beliefs, values and different national emotions. Just take China and English-speaking countries as an example, in China, horse is regarded as loyal and patient, so Chinese people treat horses as friends. There are many favorable proverbs related to horses, such as “马到成功”, “马首是瞻”. While Westerners regarded horses as their companion in their life as they can reveal from the proverbs like “a horse stumbles that has four legs”(everyone will make mistakes in one day), “it is too late to lock the stable door after the horse has bolted”(one needs to make preparation in advance, otherwise, he will suffer incurable loss).Dog is a low-down animal in Chinese culture, so proverbs related to dogs are derogatory, such as “狗嘴里吐不出象牙”, “狗咬耗子，多管闲事”，“狗咬吕洞宾，不识好人心”etc. On the contrary, English people regard dogs as faithful friends, so English proverbs relevant to dogs are positive. For instance, when they say someone is lucky, they would say “a lucky dog”; however, proverbs related to horses are not always good, such as “pay for a dead horse” means waste money.For another example, Chinese and English people hold different attitudes towards “dragon”. Chinese people think dragon as auspicious and precious, thus proverbs related to dragon are always predatory, such as “望子成龙”, “龙凤呈祥”and “乘龙快婿”. While western people often regard dragon as evil and ferocious, thus proverbs related to dragon are always negative, such as “chase the dragon” means taking drugs.Social customs have much to do with the national characteristic of proverbs. From the analysis above, we may find that people’s different attitudes towards the sameanimals are quite different, as the horse and the dog.4. Translation Strategies and MethodsFrom above analysis, we have already known the four main cultural differences between proverbs of China and western countries. In this chapter, the author will come up with some strategies and methods for proverbs translation. We summarized five main translation strategies and methods, namely: metaphrase, borrowing, free translation, the method of metaphrase combined with free translation and use of notes, in the hope to help learners and readers better translate proverbs, thus to ensure excellent translation texts and successful communications.4.1 MetaphraseMetaphrase is a method to translate Chinese proverbs directly into English. It is able to keep the meaning, form, and grammatical structure of the source language when adopting this method. Nevertheless, the method of metaphrase doesn’t mean translate the source proverbs word by word. For example, the Chinese proverb “三人行，必有我师”can be divided into two parts: “三人行” and “必有我师”. Their counterparts in English are “three men” and “teach”, so when translating “三人行，必有我师”, translators can adopt the method of metaphrase to translate it like “When there are three men walking together, one of them is bound to be able to teach me something”. For another examples, “路遥知马力，日久见人心” (A long road test a horse ‘s strength and a long talks proves a man’s heart), “井干方知水可贵”(We never know the worth of water till the well is dry), “吠犬不咬人” (Barking dogs do not bite) and so on.When using metaphrase method, the translator should follow several rules. The first is that the translation should transfer the message from the source text completely. The second is that the translation should accord with the characteristics of the target language. The last but not the least, the translation shouldn’t evoke incorrect imagination to readers.4.2 BorrowingBoth Chinese and English have lots of similar proverbs. Some Chinese and English proverbs have similar meanings and forms. Therefore, translators can use the method of borrowing when translating proverbs. For example, some Chinese proverbs and Englishproverbs have similar or underlying meaning, and they also have similar image or metaphor, such as the Chinese proverb “吃一堑，长一智” and the English proverb “A fall into the pit, a gain into your wit” have the same underlying meaning. The proverb “隔墙有耳，窗外岂能无人”and its translation “Wall have ears, and outside the window is there not a man?”Not only have the same metaphor meaning, but also have similar image. Some Chinese proverbs and English proverbs do not have the same image, but they do have the same metaphor meaning. For example, “山穷水尽” in Chinese means a hopeless situation. The English proverb “at the end of one’s rope” also means somebody has done all they could but still couldn’t find a way to solve the problem. Thus “at the end of one’s rope”is a preferred translation for “山穷水尽”. Using the method of borrowing, the target readers would have a sense of familiarity, which makes it easier for them to understand the translation and the culture.4.3 Free translationFree translation is the method mostly adopted when translators cannot translate the proverbs literally. For example, if translators use the method of metaphrase when translating the Chinese proverb “开门见山”, the translation would be “to open the door and see the mountain”, which is very awkward. In order to translate the original message more precisely, free translation should be adopted, since it focuses more on meaning. Then the proverb “开门见山” can be translated into “to come straight to the point”. The Chinese proverb “完璧归赵”has a metaphor meaning, which means give something back without a tiny damage. If we directly translate the proverb like “return the jade intact to the state of Zhao.”, then the metaphor meaning is lost. It’d better be translated as “return something to its owner in perfect”. There are also numerous other examples, such as “refuse to be convinced until faced with grim reality” (不见棺材不落泪), “stay out of things that don’t concern you” (井水不犯河水), “more hands, less work done” (一个和尚挑水吃，两个和尚抬水吃，三个和尚没水吃), “吹毛求疵” ( to pick a hole in one’s coat), “生灵涂炭” (to plunge the people into misery and suffering), and so on.4.4 Metaphrase plus free translationThere exist cases that either metaphrase or free translation can express the meaningof the source proverbs properly. At this moment, the translator could combine the method of metaphrase with free translation. For instance, the Chinese proverb “垂涎三尺”, “垂涎” can be directly translated like “mouth waters”, but “三尺” cannot be translated just as “three feet”. Or else, readers would be confused with the numbers. For this reason, translators can metaphrase the first part and freely translate the second part. The translation for “垂涎三尺” is “The mouth waters copiously”. For another example, “怨声载道” in Chinese, “怨声”can be directly transferred as “complaints”or “discontents”, but “载道”cannot be metaphrased as “fill the road”. Actually, “载道”can be freely translated as “everywhere”. Thus this proverb can be translated like “Complaints are heard everywhere”. Also, the proverb “走马观花” can be translated into “look at flowers while riding on the back of a galloping horse—give a cursory glance.”By combining these two methods, we can on the one hand maintain certain form or image of the source text, and on the other hand maintain the meaning.4.5 The use of notesThe last method of proverb translation in this paper is the use of notes. Strictly speaking, the use of notes can’t be deemed as a method of translation; however, how well translators deal with it determines the quality of the translation. Most Chinese and English proverbs that need to use notes in translating are derived from myths, allusions or historical stories, which have strong historical and cultural background. For example, “叶公好龙” can be translated as “Lord Sheh’s love of dragons” (Note: Lord Sheh was so fond of dragons that he adorned his whole palace with drawings and carvings of them. But when a real dragon heard of his infatuation and paid him a visit, he was frightened out of his wits). For another instance, “东施效颦”, “东施” was an ugly girl, and “颦” refers to Xishi—one of the four most beautiful girls in ancient China. This proverb contains a historical story. Dongshi wanted to be a beautiful girl just like Xishi, so she imitated Xishi. When translating this proverb, translators should use notes for explanations of readers. However, in most cases, notes are long. So it is recommended to use notes only when necessary.In this part, the paper has mainly discussed five common and different strategies andmethods of proverbs translation. Each strategy should be employed in suitable situation in an appropriate manner.5. ConclusionThis paper makes an attempt to analyze the cultural differences between Chinese and English proverbs, as well as translation strategies and methods; which aims to figure out the influences cultural differences have on proverbs translation, and comes up with some practical translation strategies and methods of proverbs. It is hoped that this paper will provide some enlightenments and suggestions for learners and readers. Owing to the cultural differences, it is difficult for translators to find the best method in proverb translation. All the four methods in the thesis are not the ideal or correct solutions and there may exist some better methods to be found. After all, they may treat as a reference for translators. Furthermore, the study of Chinese proverbs and the appropriate translation methods are helpful to promote the cultural exchange between English and Chinese.In order to promote interaction among different cultures and to ensure successful communications, special attention should be paid to proverb translation since it is an indispensable part of a language which contains rich cultural information. When translating proverbs, translators should know well of the foreign histories and customs, master a lot of similar foreign proverbs or expressions, have a good command of the source language and be flexible and skillful in the use of proverb translation strategies and methods. Only in this way can translators render better translation whether in form or meaning or both.Finally, it should be acknowledged that what has been done in this thesis may not be a final solution to the problem. Rather, it is hoped to be helpful for the translation of Chinese and English proverbs and provide some information for further relevant researches.正文字数要4000字左右，你的严重不足。
