黑龙江外国语学院2015届毕业论文

Idiom Translation under the Chinese

and English Cultures

Chapter 1 Introduction

Idioms universally exist in every language. An Idiom is a word or an expression that cannot be literally translated from the source language into the target language because its idiomatic meaning cannot be understood by literally defining its component parts.(Background) In a broad sense, idioms contain set phrases, proverbs, colloquialisms, slangs, maxims, allusions, etc. (YinLi, 2007:9) In Chinese, they also include enigmatic folk similes. Newmark, a British translation theorist, in his work A Textbook of Translation, said, "I define as culture the way of life and his manifestation that are peculiar to a community that uses a peculiar language as its means of expression. "(Previous research) English Idioms derives from English cultures and daily life. In real context, idioms explain themselves: nine times out of ten they carry their own explanations. If we are unaware of these, we will find ourselves in a state of confusion since we will assign literal meaning to them. The Chinese Idioms, especially the four-character idioms, have their own unique origins which are closely correlative to the Chinese history and cultures. In view of the difficulties in understanding idioms, we should pay due attention and efforts to understand their cultures and customs. This thesis is designed to dig into the cultural differences between Chinese and English and then elaborates on the translation theories applied to idioms. (Subject + Method or structure of the theses)

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黑龙江外国语学院2015届毕业论文

Chapter 2. A Comparison between English and Chinese Idioms 章节摘要：This chapter discusses…….

2.1 The Cultural Differences between English and Chinese Idioms

2.1.1 Geographical Conditions

The formation of culture is closely related with natural geographical conditions. A specific geographical environment produces a specific culture, which also leads to a particular expression.

Great Britain covers islands including the Northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, northwest of France. It has a moist climate with much rainfall. Rivers and lakes are numerous. No wonder that fishery is thriving and most important in Britain. Accordingly, idioms concerning fish and navigation constitute a great part in English idioms. (LiYuping, 2008:20)(Theory/Results of previous research)

For example, "like a fish out of water". If you feel like fish out of water, you feel awkward and uncomfortable because you are in an unusual and unfamiliar situation. Fish in the air 缘木求鱼

An odd fish 怪人

Miss the boat 错过机会

Trim the sails to the wind 顺势前进

A small leak will sink a great ship 小洞不补要沉大船 (Examples)

On the other hand, China is located in the Asian Continent and reputed as an agricultural country with a large population of peasants. It is not surprising to find many idioms relevant to farming, such as "骨瘦如柴，对牛弹琴, 众人拾柴火焰高,竹篮打水一场空......". Chinese people also have a mysterious and awe feeling for sea, so they have idioms like "海角天涯，海枯石烂，海阔天空，海底捞针，海市蜃楼......". (Analysis)

2.1.2 History

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黑龙江外国语学院2015届毕业论文

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2.2 The Similarities Between English and Chinese Idioms

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2.2.1 Colours

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2.2.2 Numbers

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黑龙江外国语学院2015届毕业论文

Chapter 3. Methods of Idiom Translation

Translation is far more than a science. It is also a skill, and at the ultimate analysis, fully satisfactory translation is always an art. (Nida, 1982:49) Translation is considered as the cultural bridge and media between two languages. As there are wide differences in vocabulary and syntax between English and Chinese, translation is no easy job. Therefore, in order to keep the flavor of the original as well as cater for both the Chinese and English languages, translation skills should be reasonably employed in the process of translating, such as the following translating methods:

3.1 Literal Translation

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3.2 Free Translation

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3.3 Translation with Notes

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3.4 Replacement with Similar Idioms

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3.5 The Translation of Corresponding Idioms with the Same Meaning

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3.6 A Combination of Literal and Free Translation

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黑龙江外国语学院2015届毕业论文

Chapter 4. Some Warnings Concerning Idiom Translation ………………………………………………………………………………. ………………………………………………………………………………. ………………………………………………………………………………. 5

黑龙江外国语学院2015届毕业论文

Chapter 5. Conclusion

One of the major characteristics identifying us as human is our ability to use language. Language plays a very important role in people’s daily life; it enables people communicate with each other and understand others' feelings. Language has close relations with culture. It is impossible to separate language from culture. As the essence of language, idioms also have close relations with culture. The contents of them range from society, history, psychology to customs and other various social phenomena. So, in the process of translation, translators should pay more attention to the cultural factors, in doing this, he can dig up the implicit meanings. (Conclusion of research) Only the cultural factors are concerned, translators can have a satisfactory translation. Besides, people should get acquaintances with the cultural background when using idioms to avoid embarrassment in communication. (Suggestions)

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黑龙江外国语学院2015届毕业论文

Bibliography

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[*] 作者. 文章名（英语的斜体）. 刊物名称. （出版地：）出版社，年份

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[2] Li Qingming. A Comparison of the Cultures between the Chinese and English Language. Xi'an: Northwest University of technology Press, 2007

[3] Nida Eugene. The theory and Practice of Translation. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1982

[4] Nida Eugene. Language, Culture, and Translating. Shanhai: Shanhai Foreign Language Education Press, 1993

[5] Susan Bassnett, Andre Lefevere. Translation, History, Culture. Shanghai: Shanhai Foreign Language Education Press, 1987

[6] Luo Shiping. A Research on English Idioms. Shanhai: Shanhai Foreign Language Education Press, 2006

[7] Li Yuping. English Idioms and their Cultural Origin. Tianjin: Nankai University Press, 2008

[8] Yin Li. English-Chinese Idioms and Folk Culture. Beijing: Bejing university Press, 2007

[9] Zhang Yajun. A Kaleidoscope of Chinese Culture. Beijing: Sinolingua, 2008\

[10] 李云.《新编大学翻译教程》. 北京：世界知识出版社, 2007

[11] 马爱英.《中英文化翻译》. 北京：科学出版社, 2006

[12] 孙致礼.《新编英汉翻译教程》. 上海：上海外语教学出版社, 2008

[13] 王宗炎.《英汉语文问题面面观》. 北京：北京高等教育出版社, 2006

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