Cultural Differences in the Translation of English and Chine Idioms
Abstract: Idioms are unique and fixed expression_rs which are formed in using a language .Idioms are the esnce of a language, and also the quintesnce of a nation’s culture and wisdom .The translation of English and Chine idioms occupies a prominent place in the whole translation. This paper probes into the cultural differences between the two languages in living environments, translational customs, material cultures, religious beliefs, and historical allusions. It also includes the translation skills of English and Chine idioms.
Key words: English; Chine; idioms; difference; translation.
摘要：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。习语是语言的精华，也是一个民族文化与智慧的结晶。英汉习语的翻译在整个翻译中占着突出的地位。文章探讨这两种语言在生存环境、风俗习惯、物质文化、宗教信仰等方面的文化差异，以及习语在翻译
奶油干酪
中的具体技巧。
关键词：英语；汉语；习语；差异；翻译
Introduction
Idioms are a t of fixed expression_rs peculiar to a nation formed through the u of language over along period of time ,including colloquialisms, proverbs, slang expression_rs and so on, making up one of the esntial parts of language of that country. Chine and English speaking countries especially Great Britain have a long history of languages and the background of cultures. Most of idioms are vivid, carrying strong local color or national features. Some of them are explicit; some are implicit and can arou varieties of associations; some may contain more than one meaning and must be judged from the context. If language is the minor of culture, idioms, as the esnce of language, are the quintesnce of culture. Therefore, the quality of translation largely depends on the translation of idioms. Translation is a rendering from one language into another, i.e. the faithful reprentation in one language of what is written or
said in another language. However, language and culture are cloly are connected. On the one hand, language is part of culture and carrier of culture. On the other hand, culture has great influence on language. Therefore, with the development of translation, people no longer consider translation merely as a switching of language symbols, but as a cross-cultural communication. That is to say, the switching of language symbols is the surface level of translation, whereas cultural transmission is the esnce of translation. Idiom translation is the most typical in translations field.
Eugene A. Nita divided the character of language culture into five groups: Ecology, Material Culture, Social Culture, Religious Culture, and Linguistic Culture. So we summarize the cultural differences of English and Chine idioms into five aspects: living environment, traditional customs, material cultures, religious beliefs, and historical allusions.
憩息
梦见涨洪水是什么兆头1. Cultural differences of English and Chine idioms
1.1 Different living environment
Geographical environment plays an important role in shaping one country’s culture and human beings have no choices and capacities to change the geography. As a result, idioms bad on geographical features appear different.
葵花朵朵 Britain is an island country, which does not share land border with any other countries except the Republic of Ireland. In history, its navigation industry has ever been the first one for a long time. So, British people have a special passion for water. However, the most part of China belongs to inland place where people cannot live without earth. This very geographical difference results in different idioms in the two languages. For example, to show somebody being extravagant, there is a Chine idiom ‘挥金如土’, but in English the idiom is ‘spend money like water’. Take the other instance, in southern China with mild and moisture weather, bamboo is a familiar plant for people there, so they u the idiom ‘雨后春笋’ to describe the new things cropping up in great numbers. Correspondingly, English have the idiom ‘spring up like mushrooms’ to tell the same mea
韦贝贝ning, since in England mushroom in spring can be en everywhere. Besides the different idioms expressing the same notion in the two languages, there are a lot of idioms related to water in English and earth in Chine which have no corresponding counterpart in the other language, like the English idioms ‘to rest on one’s oars’, ‘to keep one’s head above water’, ‘all at a’ and etc.
1.2 Different traditional customs
The differences of traditional customs of the two nations exist in different living customs, productive pattern, The two peoples are ud to raising dogs. Most of idioms about dog in Chine contain derogatory n. For example: ‘狼心狗肺’ ‘狗急跳墙’ ‘狐朋狗友’ ‘狗腿子’and so on.
Although in the recent years the number of population who take dogs as pets is largely increasing and the dog’s status ems to change, the derogatory meaning of dog has been deeply rooted in the culture of Chine language.
However, to the western, dog could be taken as doorkeeper or ud to hunt as well as human pet, friend or partner. In English language, most of idioms about dog contain dual n. For instance: You are a lucky dog. [你是一个幸运儿。] Every dog has his day. [人人都有得意日。] Old dog will not learn new tricks. [老人学不了新东西]; to be a top dog[居于要位]，and so on. ‘Dog tired’ means ‘very tired’. Its literal meaning is ‘tired like a dog’. Becau English people usually e their dogs coming back, and then the dogs will lie on the ground as dead if they are very tired. Therefore, the idiom has been ud to describe human tiredness. On the other hand, dog in English culture also means hostility and sneer. Like the following:
You are going to the dogs.你就要像狗一样完蛋了。［It means somebody will degenerate or go to the bad.］
伤内This is a dog’s life.这简直不是人过的日子。[It means the very poor life.][1]
From above off, the meaning of dog differentiates greatly between Chine and English, which make some trouble in the inter-translation of the idioms.
豁牙子大军
明月从星
1.3 Different material cultures
With the economic globalization and the increa of international communication, western cultures about diet, residence, and closing, i.e., have increasingly influenced on every aspect of Chine traditional culture. For example: ’‘coffee’, ‘sofa’, ‘chocolate’ have been translated as ‘咖啡’‘沙发’‘巧克力’.The words have been usually ud in our daily life. Meanwhile, Chine has the similar influence on western language. For example:‘豆腐’‘麻将’have been translated into ‘tofu’ ‘mahjong’.
