40页OntheTranslationofIdiomsFromaPerspectiveofCulture.docx
- 文档编号:9885369
- 上传时间:2023-02-07
- 格式:DOCX
- 页数:32
- 大小:44.72KB
40页OntheTranslationofIdiomsFromaPerspectiveofCulture.docx
《40页OntheTranslationofIdiomsFromaPerspectiveofCulture.docx》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《40页OntheTranslationofIdiomsFromaPerspectiveofCulture.docx(32页珍藏版)》请在冰豆网上搜索。
40页OntheTranslationofIdiomsFromaPerspectiveofCulture
1.1
Thedefinitionofidiom:
anidiomisanelementofalanguagethatpossessesauniquewayofexpressionbasedonitstime-honoreduse.(LiFuning,1979:
4)Inotherwords,anidiomisafixedgroupofwordsorasingleword,orevenasentence,withaspecialmeaningthatcannotbeguessedfromitsstructure.Thatistosay,themeaningofanidiommustbeleantasawhole.Asimpledefinitionoftheidiomwouldbetheuseofcommonwordsinaspecialsense.“Tospillthebeans”,forinstance,isnotatallconnectedwithbeans;itmeans“totellsomethingthatissecret”.
InEnglishIdiomsandHowtoUseThem,J.Seidleetalpointoutthatidioms“arenotaseparatepartofthelanguagewhichonecanchooseeithertouseoromit,buttheyformanessentialpartofthegeneralvocabularyofthelanguage.”(Seidleetal,1978)
Merriam-Webster’sCollegiateDictionary(EleventhEdition),publishedin2003,givesfourdefinitionsofthetermidiom.Thefirstsenseofthewordidiomis“thelanguagepeculiartoapeopleortoadistrict,community,orclass:
DIALECT.”Thesecondsenseis“thesyntactical,grammatical,orstructuralformpeculiartoalanguage.”Thethirdsenseis“anexpressionintheusageofalanguagethatispeculiartoitselfeithergrammatically(asno,itwasn’tme)orhavingameaningthatcannotbederivedfromtheconjoinedmeaningsofitselements(asMondayweekfor“theMondayaweekafternextMonday”).”Thefourthsenseis“astyleorformofartisticexpressionthatischaracteristicofanindividual,aperiodofmovement,oramediumorinstrument
MANNER,STYLE
1.1.1DefinitionsofEnglishIdioms
AccordingtoWarren,theword“idiom”inEnglishisusedtodescribespecialphrasesthatareanessentialpartofalanguage.Thesephrasesneednotfollownormalgrammarrulesinthelanguageandcanhavebothidiomaticandlitermeaning.AnEnglishidiomisdefinedintheWebster’sNewWorldDictionaryoftheAmericanLanguage,2ndcollegeedition,1972as“anacceptedphrase,construction,orexpressioniscontrarytotheusualpatternsofthelanguageorhavingameaningofdifferentfromliteral”.IntheCambridgeAdvancedLearner’sDictionary,itsdefinitionis“agroupofwordsinafixedorderhavingaparticularmeaning,differentfromthemeaningofeachwordunderstoodonitsown”.
1.2.2DefinitionsofChineseIdioms
InChinese,therealsoexistlinguisticconstructswhicharesimilartoEnglishidioms,so-called“成语”.SimilartoEnglishidiom,“成语”arealsolexicalorwordgroupsandphraseswhichareestablishedthroughlongtimeofuseandareacceptedthroughpractice.ThisisthedefinitionofChineseidiominanarrowsense.Inabroadsense,theChinese“equivalent”for“idiom”is“熟语”,itreferstoakindofasetphraseorsentencefixedbylongusage.AccordingtoCihai(Xia,1999),“熟语是语言中固定的词组或句子,使用时一般不能任意改变其组织,且要以其整体来理解语义,包括成语、谚语、格言、惯用语、歇后语等.”“Shuyuarefixedphrasesorsentencesofalanguage,whichcannotbemodifiedarbitrarily.Theymustbeinterpretedasasemanticunit.Theyincludesetphrases,proverbs,maxims,locutionsandtwo-partallegoricalsayings,etc.”AChineseidiomisnewlydefinedas“aChineseidiom,constitutedbywords,relativelyfixedinstructure,isanarrativelanguageunitwhichcanperformamultipleoffunctions.”(Wen,2005:
17)
Inabroadsense,Englishidiomscoverallofthefollowingforms:
setphrases,proverbs,commonsayings,colloquialisms,allusionsandslangs.Herethreeimportantformsofidiomsareselectedforexplanation.
Setphrases
Onemostimportantgroupofidiomsaresetphraseswhoseformissetandmanyofthemareratherrigidandcannotshowupinanyotherforms.ThereisaninexhaustiblestorehouseofsetphrasesthatplayanimportantroleinEnglishlanguage.Oneexamplewithculturaltracesis“tokickthebucket”.ItsorigincanbetracedbacktoareligiousceremonyofbaptisminChristianity.AsfarasaChristianisconcerned,his/herimportantthreestages,birth,marriageanddeath,arecloselyconnectedwithareligiousceremony:
baptism.AChristianneedstoreceivebaptismfromanadministratorwhenhe/shewasborn,getmarriedinthechurchwithblessingsofacertainministerandbebaptizedagainwhenhe/sheisgoingtodie”.Sotheidiom“kickthebucket”isaeuphemisticexpressionconnoting“todie”referringtothedeathofaChristianintheceremonyofbeingbaptized.Anotherexamples“toshowone’steeth”suggests“totakeathreateningtoneortoshowanintentiontoinjure”,whichnotonlyhasliteralmeaningofshowingone’steeth,butalsoacquiresanimplication.TherearesometypicalexamplesofEnglishsetphraseslistedbelow:
tofallinlove,togoDutch,aflyonthewheel,inblackandwhite,etc.
Proverbs
ProverbsareaspecialkindofEnglishidioms.LongmanModernEnglishDictionarydefinesproverbas“abrieffamiliarmaximoffolkwisdom,usuallycompressedinform,ofteninvolvingaboldimageandfrequentlyajinglethatcatchesthememory.”Theyarerichincontentandsuccinctinwording.Proverbisoftendefinedasthewisdomofmanyandthewitofone,statingcommonlyexperiencedorforthepurposeofgivingwiseadvicetoothers.HundredsofEnglishproverbshavegreatvitalitybecauseoftheirwidegeneralapplicationamongpeopleofallsocialstrata.Theyexpressinafewwords,afactoratruthwhichdealswitheverydayexperience.Forinstance,“Firstcome,firstserved”means“peoplewillbedealtwithastheycome,withoutspecialtreatmentforlatecomers”;“Oncebitten,twiceshy”suggests“apersonwhohasbeentrickedwillbemorecarefulinthefuture”;“Morehaste,lessspeed”means“themoreyouhurry,thelessrealprogressyouarelikelytomake”;“Nogainswithoutpains”teachesusthat“nothingcanbegainedwithouteffort”;“Acatmaylookataking”means“Everyoneisbornequal”;“Betterlatethannever”states“itisbettertodosomethinglatethannottodoitatall”.Besides,manyproverbsmaybefoundtobackupalmostanyview.Theymayexpresscontradictoryopinionsas“Wellbegunishalfdone”and“Agoodbeginningmakesagoodending”emphasizetheimportanceofthebeginningstageofatask,whereas“Alliswellthatendswell”laystressonthefinishorontheresult.
stick,couchpotato,pop,onthebeam,bookaholic,etc.Owingtoitspopularitywithcommonpeople,slangisdescribedastheordinaryman’spoetry,reflectingtheircommonbutcolorfullives.
Generallyspeaking,Chineseidiomsincludethefollowingforms:
setphrases(chengyu),proverbs,commonsayings(suyu),proverb(yanyu),andtwo-partallegoricalsaying(xiehouyu).Theywillbeexplainedwithexamplesrespectivelybelow.
Setphrases(chengyu)
Chinesesetphrasesare“phraseswith2plus2patternwithdescriptiveorinformativefunction.”(Wen,2005:
290)Sincetheyaregenerallycomposedoffourcharacters,theyarealsocalledsetphrasesoffourcharacters.Chinesesetphrasesareforceful,terseandvividinimagery.Forinstance,“杀鸡取卵”means“Ifyousellthecow,yousellhermilktoo”,“自食其果”,whichmeans“toeatthefruitofone’sownbehavior”,“过河拆桥”means“ThedangerpastandGodforgotten”and“反唇相讥”means“toturnbackatone’scounterpartforblaming”.Besides,someChinesesetphrasesarefullofclassicalallusionswhichmakethemmoredifficulttounderstand.“重蹈覆辙”means“tofollowthesameolddisastrousroadortomeetthesamefate”and“功亏一篑”means“tofailatthethresholdofsuccessforlackofafinaleffort”.Exceptthesefourcharactersetphrases,thereareasmallnumberofsetphrasesinChineselanguageconsistingofmoreorlessthanfourcharacters,buttheyaresofewthatpeoplewouldstillregardthemassetphrases.Exampleare:
“不到黄河心不死”(Untilallisoverone‘sambitionneverdies),“八仙过海,各显神通”(eachonehasitsspecialskillsandadvantages),“眼中钉”(athorninone’sflesh,athingorpersonthatmakessomeonefurious),“覆巢无完卵”(individualscannotsurviveifthewholeisruined),“凡事预则立,不预则废”(onewouldbesuccessfulifheprepareswellaheadoftime,otherwisehewillfailonthetask),etc.(
Commonsayings(suyu)
Commonsayingsarepopular,easytounderstandandwidelyusedinthecolloquiallanguagewithlooserrequirementsinsyntax.ComparedwithChinesesetphrases,commonsayingsarenotquiteneatinformandrelativelylooseinstructure.Forexample,“这山望着那山高”(Itisalwaystheothermountainthatlookshigher;Thegrassisgreenerontheotherside;tobedissatisfiedwithwhatonehas),“杀鸡给猴看”(topunishsomeoneasawarningtoothers),“画虎不成反类犬”(thepoorskillofpaintingmakesthetigerlooklikeadog),and“喝水不忘挖井人”(Whenyoudrinkwater,thinkofitssource).Interestingly,wecanfindtheequivalentsoftheabovecommonsayingsinsetphraseslike“见异思迁”,“杀鸡儆猴”,“画虎类犬”,“饮水思源”whichhavethesamemeaningwithitscorrespondingcommonsayings.AccordingtosomelinguistsinChina,thecategoryofcommonsayingshouldbeincludedintothatofproverbssincetheyarebothinformalandtosomeextentilluminating,thoughproverbsaremorerefinedandoftenhaveaparallelstructure.
Proverb(yanyu)
Proverbsarenotonlyplainandpopularbutalsoterseandimplicit.Theyoftenexpoundaprofoundtruththroughasimplematterindailylife.TheFormerEnglishPrimeMinisteroncegavesuchacommentonproverbs:
“proverbsarethedaughtersofdailyexperience.”LiketheEnglishproverbs,Chineseproverbsarealsotheaccumulatedwisdomofordinarypeople.Theysumuplifeexperienceandservetheguidanceforpeopleinhowtobehaveoneselfinsocietyandhowtosolvetheproblemsincertainsituations.Forinstance
- 配套讲稿:
如PPT文件的首页显示word图标,表示该PPT已包含配套word讲稿。双击word图标可打开word文档。
- 特殊限制:
部分文档作品中含有的国旗、国徽等图片,仅作为作品整体效果示例展示,禁止商用。设计者仅对作品中独创性部分享有著作权。
- 关 键 词:
- 40 OntheTranslationofIdiomsFromaPerspectiveofCulture
链接地址:https://www.bdocx.com/doc/9885369.html