英国战争对英语习语的影响.docx

英国战争对英语习语的影响.docx

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英国战争对英语习语的影响

毕业论文

题目：

英国战争对英语习语的影响

Title:

TheInfluenceofBritishWarsonEnglishIdioms

2009年5月20日

Acknowledgements

Firstandforemost,myappreciationgoestomyaffectionateparents,andtherestofmyfamily.Throughoutthedevelopmentofthispaper,theyhavebeentherealwaysgivingmecontinuoussupport,encouragementandunderstanding.Theirloveandsupportencouragemetopursueprogressallthetime.

Iwouldalsoliketoextendmysincerethankstoallotherteacherswhogavemelecturesduringthepastthreeacademicyears.Ihavebenefitedsomuchnotonlyfromtheircoursesandlecturesbutalsofromtheirconstantencouragement.

Finally,mydeepestgratitudeandrespectgotomysupervisor,LuLi.Itisforherconstantencouragement,criticalinstructions,hergreatcareandpreciousadviceandsuggestionsthatthispaperappearsinthepresentform.

Abstract

TheoriginofEnglishidiomsgoesbacktoancienttimes.Ithasastrongexpressivenessandreflectsvividnationalcharacter.Arightuseoftheminspeechandwritingwilladdmuchtovariety,strengthandvividnessofthelanguage.Withtheincreasingcross-culturalcommunication,approachestothecomprehensionandtranslationofEnglishidiomsareurgentlyneeded.AnappropriatetranslationofEnglishidiomsplaysasignificantroleinthemorefrequentcross-culturalcommunication.Throughexpoundingtheorigins,characteristics,translationprinciplesandmethodsofEnglishidioms,thethesisaimstohelpEnglishlearnershaveabetterunderstandingofBritishWaranddeveloptheirabilitiesofEnglishidioms’translationbylistingmanylivelyexamples.ThisarticlemainlydiscussestheinfluencesofthehistoryofBritishwaronEnglishidioms.PeoplecanhaveadeepunderstandingofEnglishidiomsthroughthestudyofthedevelopmentofthehistoryofBritishWars.

KeyWords：

Englishidioms;origin;Britishwars;influence;idiomtranslation

摘要

英语习语源远流长，有很强的表现力和鲜明的民族色彩。

恰当地使用习语能够丰富语言，增添其形象性和表达力。

随着跨文化交际的增多，迫切需要对英语习语理解和翻译的方法进行探索。

恰如其分的习语翻译对日益频繁的跨文化交际起着重要作用。

英语中有相当一部分习语来源于英国的战争，与此相关的文化背景对理解和翻译英语习语有着重要意义。

本文通过对英语习语来源，特征及翻译的原则和方法的详述，结合大量生动的例子，探讨了与英国战争历史有关的习语。

通过对英语习语的相关战争背景的研究，旨在帮助英语学习者更好地了解英国战争，提高他们翻译有关英国战争英语历史的习语的能力。

关键词：

英语习语;来源;英国战争;影响;习语翻译

Contents

Introduction1

I.Theconceptofidioms3

1.1Definitionofidioms3

1.2MilitarybackgroundofEnglishidioms7

II.MilitaryWordsUsedinEnglishIdioms.8

III.EnglishidiomsrelatedtoBritishwars9

3.1TheEnglishidiomsderivedfromconquestsandinvasionsinBritain9

3.2TheInfluencesoftheTwoWorldWarsonEnglishIdioms

15

IV.ThetranslationofEnglishidiomsconcerningmilitarybackground17

4.1Literaltranslation19

4.2Freetranslation20

4.3Eclectictranslation22

Conclusion23

Bibliography26

Introduction

Languageistheprincipalmeanswherebyweconductoursociallives.Whenitisusedincontextsofcommunication,itisboundupwithcultureinmultipleandcomplexways.Theidiomsworldisaprimeexampleoftheuseoflanguagetoextremeimagination.Nodiscussionaboutidiomsinsecondlanguageacquisitioniscompletewithoutsometreatmentoftherelationshipbetweenculturesandidioms.Culturecancausebigdifferencesontheexpressionofidioms.TheonethingaboutEnglishisthatitisfilledwiththesekindsofwordsandphrases.WhiletheirsourcesareasdiverseasEnglishcultureitself.Idiomsderivedfromthecultureofthenationandfromday-to-daylife.IdiomaticexpressionspervadeEnglishwithapeculiarflavorandgiveitastoundingvariety,brightcharacterandcolor.TheyhelplanguagelearnersunderstandEnglishculture,penetrateintocustomsandlifestyleofEnglishpeople,andmakeadeeperinsightintoEnglishhistory.

IdiomsformanessentialcomponentpartofthegeneralvocabularyoftheEnglishlanguage,whichisparticularlyrichinidiomaticandfigurativeexpressions.Idiomisthecrystallizationofhumancollectivewisdomandalsothecreamofallkindsoflanguagesintheworld.Althoughthelinguisticformsofexpressionmayvarygreatly,however,thecontentofideologyisquitesimilartoeachother,Thusitcanbeseenthatdifferentraceswillarriveatasameconclusionwhentheyrecognizetheobjectiveworldindifferentareas.

Idiomsareheavilyembeddedwithculturalimplicationsfromtheirorigins.Butwiththedevelopmentofsocietyandflashingoftime,someofthemhavefadedtheiroriginalmeaning.However,geographyinfluencesidiomformation,andthelanguagewouldbedifferentintermsoftheclime,theclimateandtheenvironmentetc.U.Kisanislandcountry,andEnglandisthefirstlargestislandinEurope.Hehasawindedseacoast,andthetotallengthis11.450km.ThepositionofU.K.,anisland,hasavitalmeaningforitsowndevelopment,andhasahugeinfluenceonformingidiom.  

ThearticlemainlydiscussestheinfluencesofthehistoryofBritishwaronEnglishidioms.IdiomsintermsofthehistoricaldevelopmentofBritishWarwereextremelyimportantthatonlythroughunderstandingtheidiomsoftheBritishWarhistory.ForaBetterunderstandingofthewar,theBritishtranslationofEnglishIdioms,andtheroteorliterallyscrutiny,thesetwoapproachesarenotfeasible.Englishidiomsrelatedtothewarthatisnecessaryforstudyingthedevelopmentofhistory.

Ⅰ.Theconceptofidioms

Idiomisaspeciallinguisticphenomenonandisasuccessionofwordswhosemeaningisnotobviousthroughknowledgeoftheindividualmeaningsoftheconstituentwordsbutmustbeleantasawhole.Anyidiomshaveatleast2meanings:

thelinguisticmeaningofthewordsandphrasesthemselves,andthestipulated,idiomaticmeaning（Cacciari,1993:

23）.Theunderstandingofthelinguisticmeaningofanidiomortheseparatemeaningoftheconstituentwordsdoesnotnecessarilymeantheunderstandingofitsidiomaticmeaning.Whatismore,idiomatizationisaprocess,duringwhichmanyfactorsinteract.Therefore,tomakeclearwhatanidiomisandcomprehendhowidiomsretaintheirculturalvalueswouldbeofgreatuseandhelp.

1.1Definitionofidioms

Itisstillquitedifficulttogiveaclear-cutdefinitionoftheEnglishword`idiom'uptofortherearemanynow,differentviewsonthequestion.Althoughthedefinitionofisidiomamatterofcommonconcernofalltheidiomatologistsanddictionarycompilers,it'sstilltooearlytoreachaconclusionbecauseallthedefinitionsinbooksanddictionariesareratherincompleteandinaccuratetodate.Forexample,thetermsphraseologyandidiomsareacceptedbylinguistsindifferentopinions.Infact,thewordphraseologymayhaveaverydifferentmeaninginGreatBritain,theUnitedStatesandtheformerSovietUnion.BritishandAmericanlinguiststreatidiomasaproblemofappliedlinguistics,sotheyaremainlyinterestedincompilingdictionariesofallkindsofidiomaticexpressions.Theirobjectinsodoingisprincipallyutilitarian.Theyprovidelanguage-users,whethertheyarenativeornon-nativespeakersofEnglish,withadetailedandpracticalguidetowide-rangingidioms.ThisisbecausethesescholarsbelievethatidiomisakeyelementofspokenvocabularyinEnglishandalsoahardnuttocrackforforeignstudentsinEnglishlearning.However,linguistsintheformerSovietUnionchieflyfocusonthetheoreticalaspectofEnglishidioms.Asfor`idiom',theyparticularlyinventedaterm,i.e.phraseology,whichis,accordingtotheOxfordIllustratedDictionary（1975）,onlyastylisticterm,meaning`choiceorarrangementofwordsormodeofexpression'.Inviewoftheabove-mentionedfacts,IbelieveitisverynecessaryforustomakeacomprehensivecontrastofthosevarieddefinitionsonidiomsandthenfindarelativelyscientificandexhaustivedescriptionfortheEnglishword`idiom'.

1.1.1DefinitionsGivenbyEnglishDictionaries

Withregardtoidiom,thefollowingdictionarieshaveslightlydifferentconceptsfromoneanother.TheOxfordEnglishDictionary（OED）definesidiomasfollows:

1.theformofspeechpeculiarorpropertoapeopleorcountry;ownlanguage,owntongue.[1：

873]2.Aformofexpression,grammaticalconstruction,phrase,etc,peculiartoalanguage;apeculiarityofphraseologyapprovedbyusageofthelanguageandoftenhavingasignificationotherthanitsgrammaticalorlogicaloneWebster'sNewWorldDictionaryoftheAmericanLanguage（SecondCollegeEdition1972）:

Acharacteristicstyle,asinartormusicOxfordIllustratedDictionary:

Languageofapeopleorcountry;specificcharacterofthis.，Forthofexpressionpeculiartoalanguage.Webster'sThirdNewInternationalDictionary:

Idiomisanexpressionestablishedintheusageofalanguagethatispeculiartoitselfeitheringrammaticalconstruction（asNo,itwasn'tme）orinhavingameaningthatcannotbederivedasawholefromtheconjoinedmeaningsofitselements（as"Mondayweek"for"theMondayaweekafternextMonday";"Howareyou?

"for"Whatisthestateofyourhealthorfeelings?

"）Obviously,fromtheabove-listeddefinitionswecanseethatidiomisinfactapolysemousword,butmostdictionariesofEnglishonlydefineitas`afixedgroupofwordswithaspecialdifferentmeaningfromthemeaningsoftheseparatewords'withoutprovidingasemanticcriterionthatcanbeappliedtodistinguishidiomsfromnon-idioms.Inotherwords,mostdictionarycompilershaveobservedtheconventionalizedusage,structuralfrozenness,semanticunity,figureofspeech,andcolloquialism.

1.1.2Definitionsgivenbylinguists.

AustralianlinguistChitraFernandodefinesidiomas"conventionalizedmultiwordexpressions,oftenbutnotalways,non-literal（1996:

1）."Idiomsinbroadsensemayinclude:

1）setphrases,2）proverbs,3）sayings,4）epigrams,5）slangexpress