论文总字数：30850字

摘 要

随着经济全球化地不断发展，中西文化交流逐渐增多，习语作为中西文化的精华，也受到了越来越多的关注。为了进一步促进跨文化交流的顺利进行，对习语及其翻译的研究便更有必要性和重要性。这篇论文主要是分析在文化差异影响下的习语的翻译并且试图提出习语翻译方面的一些方法。这篇论文分为五个部分，第一部分是引言。第二部分是关于习语的定义及起源。接下来，我会介绍反应在汉语及英语习语中的文化差异，包括自然环境，历史背景，习俗还有宗教信仰。第四部分是关于习语翻译中遇到的问题的解决办法：归化法和异化法。最后，第五部分是结论。

关键词：文化差异；习语；习语翻译

Contents

1.Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 1

3.About Idioms 3

3.1 Definition of idioms 3

3.2 Origins of idioms 3

4.Cultural Differences Reflected in Chinese and English Idioms 4

4.1 Differences in natural environments 4

4.2 Differences in historical backgrounds 5

4.3 Differences in customs 6

4.4 Differences in religious beliefs 7

5.Cultural Adaptation to Idiom Translation 8

5.1 Domestication 8

5.2 Foreignization 10

6.Conclusion 11

Works Cited 13

1.Introduction

As a part of language, idioms are fixed form in the development of language, including set phrases, sayings, proverbs, colloquialisms, allusions and slangs. Both Chinese and English are rich in idioms. When people from different cultural backgrounds communicate with each other, they must find out that there are a lot of differences between them. With the globalization, people from various cultural backgrounds begin to interact with each other. In their communication, they will inevitably use these idioms, which contain a large amount of cultural characteristics and backgrounds, ranging from geography, climate, agriculture, history to economy, relationship and morality. Under this circumstance, people may find it hard to understand each other sometimes. To communicate with each other better and avoid misunderstanding and embarrassment, we have to be familiar with these differences, especially in the translation of idioms, which are widely used in our daily life. How to translate these idioms correctly will influence other people"s point of view towards our country and culture.

With a full understanding of these backgrounds, we may not make some grave mistakes which may cause irretrievable losses when we communicate with foreigners. However, understanding does not only mean that you can translate idioms word for word from one language to another. We still need to take the cultural elements into consideration. The author will introduce two methods (domestication and foreignization) to help people solve the problems caused by cultural barriers in the communication and give people a new perspective of translating idioms.

2. Literature review

Many scholars have done comparative study between English and Chinese idioms in order to find the balance between these two languages and seeking out suitable translating methods.

In Language, Culture and Translating, Nida(2001) talks about functional equivalence. He says that translating means communicating, and this process depends on what is received by persons hearing or reading a translation. Judging the validity of a translation cannot stop with a comparison of corresponding lexical meanings, grammatical classes, and rhetorical devices.

Zeng Xiangfang enhances the relationship between idioms and culture into the height of philosophy. She gives new classifications for the factors impacting idioms. She classifies the differences as different views of value, modes of thought, national psychologies and religions, and discusses about their separate influences on the translation of idioms. She points out that Chinese pay more attentions to the group while the westerners are more self-centered; Chinese pursue harmony, while westerners pursue freedom, equality and personality.

While for translating methods, Zhang Zhen (1999) divides translation into two categories, namely translating English into Chinese and translating Chinese to English. In each part, she sets many examples and analyses them separately. Through this method, she shows us the subtle differences between English and Chinese cultures and their relationships in mutual translation. However, it also involves cultural differences into it.

In The Theory and Practice of Translation, Nida (2004) compares the old focus and new focus of translating in it -- The older focus in translating was the form of the message, and translators took particular delight in being able to reproduce stylistic specialties, e.g., rhythms, rhymes, plays on words, chiasmus, parallelism, and unusual grammatical structures; the new focus, however, has shifted from the form of the message to the response of the receptor. Therefore, what one must determine is the response of the receptor to the translated message. This response must then be compared with the way in which the original receptors presumably reacted to the message when it was given in its original setting.

To summarize all these, we should say that idioms are the crystallization of culture and language, and translating language is actually translating culture. Idiom translation, as the communication of different thoughts and cultures of different nations, has been researches by many researchers. This paper will do the search on the translation of the idioms, hoping that it will do a favor in the progress of idiom translation.

3.About Idioms

3.1 Definition of idioms

"Every language has a relatively long history, is rich in idioms. Idioms are set phrases, short phrases or short sentences." (Bao,2001:148）Idioms have a wide categories, such as set phrases, proverbs, sayings, colloquialisms, allusions and slangs. When Seidle revised McMordie"s book English Idioms and How to use them, he said that "Idioms are not the dispensable part of language which can be used, but an indispensable part in forming the vocabulary of English. It will be extremely difficult for us to speak or write in English without using idioms."

Generally, idioms have strong cultural characteristics. In the translation of idioms, we not only have to deal with the contradiction between language and culture, but also have to translate the images, figurative meanings and even the figure of speech of the idioms in the source language. In order to achieve the optimum degree of cultural communication, we also should pay attention to the national characteristics and regional features of a country. The quality of the translation of idioms can directly affect the quality of translation and the degree of cultural communication. Therefore, the key to a successful idiom translation is to ensure the information of cultural transmission in the source language and the validity of the cultural transmission of idioms.

As long as culture is involved in the translation, we have to decide whether we should adapt the translation to the source language or the target language in order to achieve the best understanding. Since culture is so delicate and complicated, we have to deal with these cultural differences carefully in order to avoid misunderstanding in the translation of idioms.

3.2 Origins of idioms

"Idioms are the special form of language which is sanctioned by usage in the long-term social practice. Idiom is a mirror which can reflect a county"s long-standing history and colorful reality."(Zhang, 2007:4）

The origins of idioms can be divided into two parts: material aspect and spiritual aspect. In material life, idioms include almost every aspect of life, such as basic necessities of life, geographical features and social customs. In this aspect, idioms are accumulated by transforming the nature, interacting with people and achieving one"s own survival. The material part of idioms indicates that idioms involve in almost every aspect of our life, which is inherited from generation to generation and associated with culture. In spiritual life, idioms refer to the aspects like social system, art and literature, religious beliefs and thinking patterns. In this sense, idioms are mostly formed by people"s thought, for example, their outlook on world and life, their incessant pursuit for truth and value. In both cases, idiom is the central manifestation of a country"s culture. The translation of idioms cannot be separated from the overall cultural background. Only with a full understanding and access to the culture, can people successfully translate the idioms without losing its essences.

4.Cultural Differences Reflected in Chinese and English Idioms

As we know, different countries have different cultures. British cultural anthropologist Edward Tella first put culture forward as a notion in Primitive Culture in 1871. It states that culture is a complexity that includes knowledge, belief, art, ethics, law, custom and acquired ability and habit in society. It clearly shows that culture is a complex system with wide coverage. As an indispensable part of culture, language reflects different and colorful phenomena of a country. It is also true to idioms. It is filled with strong national and regional color from which people can learn a lot about other countries. The following factors exert difficulties on understanding Chinese and English idioms.

4.1 Differences in natural environments

Different natural backgrounds are also reflected in the idioms. The different living environments of China and England determine that the language symbol of both countries is the gether of their national spirit. China is an inland country, with a typical civilization of inland agriculture. Most of the economic activities relied on the land. In the process of exploiting the nature, they make the best of their familiar natural environments, like mountains, climate and landscape from. A lot of idioms relevant to the natural backgrounds appear. While England is an island country, with its typical sea climate, so the English idioms are largely associated with the sea.

China has a large production of bamboo. According to the history, long before Qin and Han Dynasty, both the south and north were rich in bamboo. " When the bamboo sprout, it is called "笋". The stem buried underground is called " 鞭", for example, 快马加鞭(to spur on the flying horse)". Therefore, there are lots of idioms related to bamboo in Chinese, such as: 青梅竹马(the period when a boy and a girl grew up together)，势如破竹(like splitting bamboo”-- without difficulty)，节外生枝(new problems crop up unexpectedly)，竹篮打水一场空(draw water with a sieve)，立竿见影( set up a pole and see its shadow -- to get instant results) and so on.

However, English people do not plant bamboo and the word "bamboo" is borrowed from other language. Thus, bamboo has no associative meaning in English, not to mention the idioms related to bamboo. So how can we translate idioms related to bamboo? Here is an example: comparing with the phrase"雨后春笋" in Chinese, English people prefer to use "spring up like mushrooms".The reason behind this phenomenon is that in England there is always plenty of rain, with high wind and heavy fog. London used to enjoy the name of " Fog City". Therefore, mushroom can grow quickly after a heavy rain. Thus, phrases like "to mushroom" is usually used to describe the fast appearance of new things. In this case, "mushroom" substitute "笋" without losing the intended meaning of the phrase and it is easier for the English people to understand this phrase.

4.2 Differences in historical backgrounds

"In history, there were numerous famous historical stories or events, the later generations often told them in a brief way to express their content and after a long time, they became idioms." (Li, 2006: 66) For example, Damon and Pythias originate from a foreign historical story. In the 4th century, there was a man called Pythias who was sentenced to death for offending the tyrant of Syracuse Dionysius. Before he was executed, Pythias pleaded to go back home to deal with his personal affairs and then came back for the execution. At this moment, Damon, Pythias"s closest friend, consented to be in prison instead of Pythias and promised to be executed if Pythias could not come back in time. Although being held up on the road, Pythias arrived in time to save Damon. Moved by their noble friendship, Dionysius set both of them free. From this story, the idiom "Damon and Pythias" was formed, and it is used to describe the true friendship. The idiom can be translated into "莫逆之交，生死之交".

However, the phrase"莫逆之交" has completely different historical background in China. This phrase comes from Zhuangzi-the great master. They thought that those who can first understand the meaning of death and the meaning of life can truly see through life and death. They all held the same attitude that life and death are actually belong to each other and that"s why they became best friends. Although this two phrases"莫逆之交" and "Damon and Pythias" share the same meaning, they have different historical backgrounds. People in China may be familiar with the story of Zhuangzi, but they have no idea about the meaning of "Damon and Pythias" if they don"t know the historical background in English.

4.3 Differences in customs

Many idioms are formed in the development of human society, and they are related to almost every aspect of our lives. The word "fruit" in English originates from the Latin verb "enjoy". When put in the plate, fruits like banana, apple, orange, cherry and peach all look pretty charming and attractive. Therefore, idioms related to fruits usually have a confirmative meaning. For example, peaches and cream. Peaches are "桃子". Cream is "奶油". When the two words are put together, the phrase means everything is great. But what is the connection between peaches and cream? The custom behind this idiom is that westerners like to eat sliced fruit with cream. Actually, they like everything with cream. Therefore, peaches and cream means perfect. This example reflects the lifestyle of westerners more specifically, their eating habits. Without knowing the customs, people may feel extremely hard to understand and communicate with each other, especially in such a field as is related closely to daily life.

Another custom which leads to different meanings respectively in Chinese and English is about dog. The dog is a kind of pretty bad and dishonest animal in Chinese. Idioms related to dogs often contain a negative or derogative meaning in Chinese: "狐朋狗友 (fox"s friends, dog"s party)", "狗急跳墙 (driven to extremes)", "狗腿子(hired thug)", "狼心狗肺 (rapacious and savage)". Phrases like these which describe irresponsible and bad people in English are often translated into idioms related to dogs in Chinese. While in western countries, things are totally different, and the dog is considered the most loyal friend to human beings. Idioms associated with dogs are thought to be good and fortune. Such as " You are a lucky dog (你是一个幸运儿)" , "Every dog has his day (凡人皆有得意之日)" , "Love me, love my dog (爱屋及乌)". These idioms are often related to luck and fortune when translated into Chinese, but they are not directly related to the original word "dog" considering Chinese people"s attitudes towards dogs.

4.4 Differences in religious beliefs

In retrospect of the history of capitalism, it can be clearly seen that Christian and Catholicism played an important role in western culture. People in western countries believe in God. Therefore, there are many idioms related to religion. For example, "God help those who help themselves (天助自助者) ", " put the fear of God into somebody (使某人非常害怕)", " in the lap of the Gods (难以预料)".

Since Buddhism was introduced into China in Han Dynasty, the Buddhism has largely transformed the custom and thoughts of Chinese people. Buddhism, together with the doctrine of Confucius and Mencius in ancient China, is greatly influencing the society and people"s daily life. Therefore, in Chinese idioms, we often see expressions like these "放下屠刀，立地成佛(The butcher who lays down his knife at once becomes a Buddha)", "普度众生(to deliver all living creatures from difficulty)", "借花献佛(present Buddha with borrowed flowers -- to borrow sth. to make a gift of it)" and so on.

Christian and Buddhism both claim that if human beings can bear all the sufferings in their life, they can come to the heaven after their death. Out of such religious belief, readers can conclude that the word "heaven" in English has the same meaning with "天" in Chinese. The Chinese idiom "谋事在人，成事在天" is translated into "Man proposes, God disposes". This idiom has two versions of translation considering the different interpretation of "天". One is "Man proposes, God disposes", the other is "Man proposes, heaven disposes". The set phrase "望子成龙" is literally translated into " to expect one"s son to be a dragon", which may sound extremely confusing to the westerners. In western culture, dragon is seen as a brutal and ferocious animal, however, in China,"dragon" is thought to be noble and sacred, which is the symbol of China. As Chinese emperors related themselves to the dragon, the image of dragon is also associated with power. This idiom "望子成龙", expresses parents" expectation of their children to be successful in their future career.

The differences in all the above aspects between English and Chinese may easily lead to misunderstandings and puzzles among people. Without a background knowledge, people from different countries may find it hard to communicate with each other. How to understand these idioms and how to translate them correctly is crucial to our communication and interaction.

5. Cultural adaptation to idiom translation

As for the differences reflected in idioms in the aspects of natural environments, historical backgrounds, customs and religious beliefs between Chinese and English, people may feel awkward or hard to understand each other sometimes in the communication, especially in the translation of idioms. When two irrelevant words are put together, a completely new phrase will be created and has nothing to do with the original words. It will be even harder to translate idioms when culture is involved in the process. So, how to translate idioms? Should it be translated completely according to the meaning of the source language, or be adapted to the target language? Two methods will be presented in the following parts to solve the problems of translation of idioms.

5.1 Domestication

Eugene A.Nida proposed that translation is communication. Whether a translation is useful or not cannot simply be restricted to the word meaning, grammar or figure of speech. It should depend on the receiver"s understanding of the texts. Domestication is to adapt the translation to the culture of the target language without considering the foreign element in the text. In this way, the cultural interference from the source language will no longer be a problem.

The purpose of domestication is to help readers better understand the texts and avoid cultural barriers in order to achieve successful cultural communication. However, domestication emphasized the readers, without absorbing the good elements of the foreign language. It may sometimes be seen as cultural invasion. When the culture of language of the native country prevailing, the translation must reflect the characteristics of the native language in the use of language and in the specific style of expression, or readers may fail to recognize your translation or treat your translation as a failure.

According to the theory of domestication, language is the tool for communication. In the process of translation, the emphasis should be attached to getting the meaning across and avoiding ambiguity. The traditional way of translation is to replace source language culture with target language culture when the problem between original text and translated text cannot be compromised because of cultural differences. For example, the Chinese set phrase "狐假虎威(the fox assuming the majesty of the tiger -- borrowing power to do evil)" reflects Chinese people"s attitude and recognition toward fox and tiger. Chinese people sees fox as a cunning and smart animal and tiger a mighty and powerful beast. However, people lack the knowledge of the cultural meaning behind these two animals, thus, there is no equivalent phrases in English concerning fox and tiger. If the phrase is translated as "The fox is false, while the tiger is mighty", English people may feel puzzled because they don"t know the story behind this phrase. In this phrase, the tiger is not really as brave as we think it should be and may not be qualified as the king of all animals. Therefore, when translating phrases related to "虎(tiger)" into English, we should use an image which is familiar to the English people and which is the symbol of bravery and power. As people in England respect the power of lion and see it as the king of all animals, we can translate the following phrases related to"虎(tiger)" by using the image of lion rather than tiger. For example, "披着狮子皮的驴" can be translated into "an ass in a lion"s skin".In the same way, the English readers may find it easier to understand "拦路虎 (a lion in the way)" and "虎落平阳被犬欺(Hares may pull the dead lions by the beard)". Translations like these are in accordance with the Chinese usage and are also beneficial for the reader"s understanding.

However, domestication may twist the original meaning of the texts sometimes. For example, "It is as significant as a game of cricket". If the phrase is translated into "这件事如同板球赛一样重要". Chinese people may feel puzzled because cricket is not a group sport for Chinese people. Thus, this phrase should be translated into "这件事如同吃饭一样重要" or "这件事很重要". The second version reveals the most important and outstanding meaning of the phrase, without giving people a chance to get to know the western culture. The first version is easy to understand, however, there is no connection between "板球赛" and "吃饭". It is a good way for the readers to know the importance of cricket in western culture and it promotes the spread of western culture in China. Another example, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." The literal translation may confuse the Chinese readers, why in Rome, not other places? Why do as the Romans do? Thus, the translation can be "入乡随俗" or "上什么山，唱什么歌" in certain contexts. Therefore, domestication may sometimes hinder the understanding of source language culture, but it is still a common method of getting the meaning across to the readers.

5.2 Foreignization

"In the 1930s, LuXun proposed that the translation should be foreignization, not domestication. He said: “translation should remain the exotic elements in the source language. Actually, a completely domesticated translation does not exist. If there is any, the translation cannot be completed, and in strict terms, it cannot be classified as translation"(Zhang, 2007: 65) Foreignization proposes that the source language and the writer should be the target of translation and the connotation and cultural information of the original text should be preserved, as well as the cultural characteristics, language forms and writing styles. The foreignization is beneficial for the target language to absorb the exotic part of the source language and it can reflect the cultural characteristics of the source language. Therefore, readers can get to know and appreciate the exotic culture.

Lawrence Venuti is the representative linguist of foreignization. According to him, the significant characteristics of foreignization are its fluency, coherence and natural language translation. According to Friedrich Schleiermacher, in his article “On the Different Methods of Translating”, “Either the translator does not disturb the writer as far as possible, and let the readers approach to the author; or he dose not disturb the readers as far as possible, and let the writer approach to the readers.”(2004: 278) Therefore, the alienation in the original text can be lessened and the translation is more close to the original work. The adoption of foreignization can infuse the most valuable information in one country"s culture with that of another country, which is beneficial to the communication and infiltration of culture between different countries.

The purpose of foreignization is to promote the cultural communication and help the readers understand and accept the culture of the source language. Therefore, the translator have to change the cultural image of the original text for the reader"s sake. Otherwise, the translator should implant the culture of the source language into the target language so that the readers can directly understand and accept the culture of the source language. For example, "真是天有不测风云，人有旦夕祸福."The translation is" Truly, storms gather without warning in nature and bad luck befalls men overnight. "storm" and "bad luck" means "风云" and "祸福" in Chinese. While, there is no equivalence in English. Thus, the translator follows the requirements of foreignization. Another example, When the phrase"三个臭皮匠，顶个诸葛亮" is translated directly into " Three heads are better than one", the true meaning behind this phrase reveals, but it does not emphasize the cleverness and wit of Zhugeliang, English readers cannot truly understand the cultural meaning of this phrase. Therefore, the phrase can be translated into "Three cobblers with their wits combined would equal zhugeliang, the master mind". Besides, the English phrase" get something into one"s bones" can be translated according to the foreignization into "深入到某人的骨髓里". There are other examples like: "be armed to teeth", "武装到牙齿". "kill two birds with one stone" "一石二鸟". On the one hand, foreignization breaks the rules of the culture in the target language to some extent. On the other hand, it contributes to maintain the culture of source language and help the readers learn and absorb the expressions in foreign language to enrich native language as well as culture.

6.Conclusion

Idiom is the most ancient, valuable and charming expression of language. Each nation is rich in idioms. Idioms have many aspects, like natural environment, historical background, custom and religious beliefs, which are all indispensable in our daily life. When people from different countries begin to communicate with each other, they may find it hard to understand each other sometimes because of the cultural differences. To prevent such things from happening, two methods are introduced to solve the problem of the translation of idioms. After a full analysis, a conclusion is drawn that there is no absolutely better way of translation. Both of two methods should be used to break the cultural barrier. If the methods can be used properly, a good and appropriate translation will be achieved.

A full understanding of the two methods is far from enough. In order to achieve the best results of translation, the emphasis should be put on the willingness to understand other cultures. With a full knowledge of the cultural differences involved in the translation, people can find it easier to communicate with each other and can avoid unnecessary embarrassment, misunderstanding and mistakes. By getting to know the idioms, people from different parts of the world can communicate with each other better and get access to the colorful culture of other countries.

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