400电话开通费:A Comparative Study of the Cultural Images in Chinese and English Idioms and Idioms Translation
来源:百度文库 编辑:中财网 时间:2024/04/18 17:01:56
1.0 Introduction
Chinese and English are two of the most influential languages in the world.
Language cannot exist without culture as its component. As part of language, idioms including saying and proverbs are characterized by their concise expressions, rich and vivid, involving geography, history, religious belief and social conventions (Li Ruihua,1996). Despite those cultural differences in the two languages, they both have a rich mine of idioms. As the result of long usage, they are well refined and sanctified. Most idioms are composed of few words, but contain an extreme profound and rich meaning. They occupy an important position in any language by displaying various national characteristics. Without idioms, our language would become as dry as sawdust. However, if idioms are properly used, our language will be more expressive and impressive.
Language is a special component of culture, and idioms particularly reflect culture‘s great influences on language; language should serve man‘s social activities, and idioms nearly mirror our life from every dimension (Liu Chuandeng,1996). There are a plethora of cultural images in the idioms, which are not only the core of the idioms‘ structure, but also that of their meaning.
In the following parts, firstly we will seek the traces of some cultural images in the Chinese and English idioms and do a certain kind of comparative research on them. Then we will analyze the translation of idioms concerning their cultural similarities, cultural differences and translation principles.
2.0 The Effect Caused by Cultural Differences on English and Chinese Idioms
Each language has its profound cultural intension relative to its own physiology, convention, religious belief and so on. English and Chinese idioms, closely related to their culture, convey different cultural features and message of their own nation, reflecting their own rich culture. Based on my study, the differences between English and Chinese idioms are presented in the following aspects.
2.1 Regional Cultural Differences
Region culture refers to the culture formed by the different region, living environment, and living condition. Different language forms, as the partial reflection of region culture, are applied by different nations to show their attitudes towards one thing or phenomenon. Therefore, regional differences have effect on the expression ways of English and Chinese idioms.
The
corresponding ones in Chinese, such as to rest on one’s oars, all at sea, to keep one’s head above water.
But
Another example, if we want to express something in large quantity, we say as many as the hairs on an ox, but in English we should say plentiful as blackberries. In addition, there are many other idioms about agriculture, such as 瑞雪兆丰年,揠苗助长,瓜熟蒂落,斩草除根,解甲归田,五谷丰登,依葫芦画瓢,捡了芝麻丢了西瓜。
In terms of geographical condition,
But thing is quite different in
“When daffodil begin to peer/ With heigh, the doxy over the dale! / Why, then comes in the sweet all the year”.
A deeper description of daffodils as the messenger of the spring can be found in William Wordsworth’s “ The Daffodils”. Such an image of the daffodil being a symbol of the joyful spring times, however, is not popular in the Chinese literature. So British people favor “the west wind” and many British poets sang the praises of “the west wind” and repelled “the east wind”. P. B. Shelly in his “Ode to the West Wind” praised the west wind, a presage of revolution, to show his optimistic view to the bright human’s future. And in