论英语谚语翻译技巧(dinggao)
河北师范大学成人教育本科毕业论文
题目:论英语谚语翻译技巧
专业: 英语
考生姓名: 王丽敏
考生所在单位: 武安市郭二庄煤矿子弟学校
准考证号: 92010107208
导师姓名: 张靖
联系电话： 137********
完成日期：2012 年 4 月 20 日
On Translation Technique of English
Proverbs
BY
Wang Limin
Prof. Zhang Jing，tutor
Submitted to the B.A. Committee in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in the English Department of Hebei Normal University
Abstract
The proverb，which comes from life, is a high degree of concentration and embodiment of a national language and culture. It can reflect a country’s cultural background such as geography, history, religion and so on. To study a nation's culture is necessary to study its proverbs. English and Chinese proverbs as treasures of two different languages embody distinct differences that root in cultural differences. Therefore the inescapable responsibility of a translator is to translate proverbs faithfully and to put a culture into another culture. With the help of some typical examples, this thesis compares and analyzes the differences between English and Chinese proverbs from the point of origin, geographical environment, customs, religious beliefs and historical culture, etc. It makes proverbs difficult to translate because of their distinctive characteristics and their unique cultural backgrounds. In order to present an adequate translation of a proverb, we can use four methods of translation flexibly: literal translation, free translation, equivalent translation and literal translation combined with free translation.
.
Key words English and Chinese proverbs; cultural differences; translation principles; translation methods
摘要
不管世界上任何一个国家，谚语来源于生活，是一个民族语言和文化的高度浓缩和集中体现。它可以反映出一个国家的地理、历史、宗教等文化背景。研究一个国家的文化必然要研究其谚语。英汉谚语作为两种不同的语言瑰宝，由于其独特的文化而表现出明显的差异。因此,如何忠实地翻译谚语,把一种文化在另一种文化中再现出来,成了每一个译者不可推卸的责任。本文借助一些典型的例子，从起源、地理环境、风俗习惯、宗教信仰、历史文化等文化侧面入手，进行比较与分析，探讨了英语谚语和汉语谚语之间存在的差异。英汉谚语本身的特点以及其独特的文化背景使谚语的翻译比较困难。为了忠实、通顺地再现英语原谚,可以灵活运用四种译法。本文讨论了直译、意译、对等翻译、直译和意译相结合等翻译方法。
关键词英汉谚语文化差异翻译方法翻译原则
Contents
Abstract (i)
Abstract(Chinese)...........................................................................................................i i Introduction .. (1)
Chapter One Cultural Differences between Chinese Proverbs and English Proverbs (2)
1.1Differences in Origin (2)
1.2Geographical Differences (3)
1.3CustomsDifferences (3)
1.4 Religious Belief (4)
1.5HistoricalAllusion (4)
Chapter Two Translation Principles and Methods on English Proverbs (5)
2.1LiteralTranslation (6)
2.2Free Translation (8)
2.3 Equal translation Methods (8)
2.4TheCombinationof Literal and Free Translation (8)
Conclusion (10)
Notes (11)
Bibliography (12)
Acknowledgements (13)
Introduction
Proverbs, which are from life, embody a high degree of concentration of a national language and culture. Francis Bacon, an English philosopher, said: “Genius’s wit and spirit of a nation are discovered by their prover bs.” Because of the differences in the geography, customs, religious beliefs and historical culture, English and Chinese proverbs bear different cultural characteristics and cultural information. They are closely linked with cultural traditions and they are inseparable from the origin, geographical environment, customs, religious beliefs, historical allusions, and other cultural sides.
As the cultural differences between English and Chinese language, proverbs usually cannot be translated literally in another language. The image meaning of words may have entirely different connotations. Implied meaning is its true meaning the speaker or writer wants to express. Many differences between English and Chinese proverbs can be grouped into two categories: First, the significant differences in the image; Second, the differences in implied meaning (including meaning of Judgments), but they are beyond the literal meaning, which is a concrete reflection of cultural differences. With the help of some typical examples, this thesis attempts to make a number of English proverbs, expounding the cultural differences between English and Chinese proverbs, and explore specific principles and methods of proposed English proverbs.
So what is it saying? Proverbs are popular, concise, lively rhymes or phrases, and they are often spread in the form of spoken language and used by people. They are also the performance of people’s real-life experience or felt as the “ready-made words”.They are the fixed phrases in folklore, popular with the simple words, and reflect the profound truth. They express a social experience. Proverb, together with poetry, is a lively form of folk literature.
Chapter One Cultural Differences between Chinese
Proverbs and English Proverbs
British anthropologis t Edward ? Taylor in the book “original culture”(1871), for the first time mentioned culture as a concept, and expressed “Culture as a community includes knowledge, the ability, habit, belief, art, morals, law, customs and acquisition”It shows a very wide coverage of culture. Proverbs, as an integral part of culture, reflect a nation rich in culture. English proverbs reflect cultural differences mainly in the following areas:
1.1 Differences in Origin
First, English and Chinese proverbs are influenced by religious ideology, but there are differences with China. English proverbs are influenced by Christianity, and reflect the Christian moral and ethical code of conduct, such as: No respecter of persons(一视同仁);Man proposes, God disposes（谋事在人，成事在天), etc., But the Chinese proverbs are influenced by the three religions “Confucianism”, “Buddhism”and “Taoism”. For example, “Filial piety is the most important of all virtues” is a Confucian though t; “Equality of all beings” is the Buddhist idea; “When God shuts a door, he opens another” is a Taoist thought.
Second, the origins of differences in English and Chinese proverbs are very large. There are a large number of institutions and popular phrases of celebrities in English proverbs, such as: “Never say die ”from the British novel Dickens’s Pickwick Papers; but Chinese Historian think that a lot of Chinese proverbs are from social life and productive practice, such as: “A neighbor is better than a distant relative” is a daily experience.
In addition, many English proverbs are from Latin, French and other foreign language, and some even retained the original, such as: Cherchez la femme (Identify the source of trouble). This is a reservation in English in the original form of French proverbs; and Chinese proverb absorbed a large
number of Minorities proverbs, such as: “will still be brought to light the misdeeds of forty years”from the Uighur Proverbs; There are many stories from fables, myths and legends in English proverb. “Love is blind” comes from Roman mythology, and there are a lot of farming proverbs in the Chinese proverb, such as: “rather in the time before, after the absence.”
1.2 Geographical Differences
Proverbs production is closely related with people’s lives. Britain is surrounded by sea, and the English Channel is the only gateway to the Atlantic for many European countries, which is also one of the world’s busiest sea routes. Therefore, once the maritime industry in British history lead the world, it makes a great influence on the formation of English Proverbs. There are many English proverbs with the sailing-related, such as: to take the wind out of one’s sail（先发制人，抢占上风），to go with the stream/tide（随波逐流、顺应时势），to be all at sea（不知所措. Britain’s unique geographical environment makes the fishing industry play an important economic position, which also left English a large number of and fishery-related sayings, such as: hook(land)one's fish(如愿以偿，用诡计得到想要的东西)have other fish to fry(有其他鱼要煎——有其他事要做)play a fish(让上钩的鱼不停地拖动钩线而致疲乏) etc., China is a landlocked country. For thousands of years, it was dominated by agriculture. People and land are inextricably linked. Therefore, there are many Chinese proverbs about rivers, land and agriculture-related, such as: S ailing With the Wind (一帆风顺) The danger past and God forgotten.（过河拆桥）Watching a fire from the other side of the river（隔岸观火）To pull up the seedlings to help them grow（拔苗助长）and so on.
1.3 Customs Differences
A difference between English and Chinese customs is an important aspect of culture. The most typical case is the people’s attitude to dogs. Dog, in China, is a humble animal. Chinese people regard dog-related words as mostly derogatory terms: a pack of rogues（狐朋狗党）A cornered beast will do something desperate(狗急跳墙)wolf's heart and dog's lung（狼心狗肺）
henchman（狗腿子）and so on. Although in recent years, the number of raising pet dogs seems to have greatly increased and changed the status of the dog, but the dog was a deeply derogatory image in Chinese language and culture. In English-speaking countries, dogs are considered as man’s most loyal friends, so Westerners do not eat dog’s meat. Though the derogatory influence of other languages, most proverbs in English as to the dog part are complimentary sense. In the English proverb, it is often used to describe the image of a dog’s behavior, such as: Every dog has his day（人皆有出头日）;Love me, love my dog（爱屋及乌）. In contrast, the Chinese people love their cats, compared with cats who often has ingredients o f intimacy, such as: A cat has nine lives(吉人自有天相).In Western culture, the cat is used to mean an evil hearted woman, such as: Cats hide their claws（知人知面不知心）.⑤For the image of the fox, the Chinese emphasize the fox’s tail surprising flaws, such as: The tail does often catch the fox(常凭尾巴抓到狐狸),The English emphasize on fox tricks which are more difficult to deal with, such as: When the fox preaches, then beware your geese（遇上狐狸说教，当心鸡鹅被盗. Chinese think that the loss of horses has nothing wrong, and could bring good luck, such as: Misfortune may be an actual blessing(塞翁失马，焉知非福). But English think that the horse must not be lost, such as: Better lose the saddle than the horse(宁可丢鞍，不可失马).
1.4 Religious Belief
Religiou s belief is an aspect of people’s mental activity, and has certain influence on the national culture. And a large number of proverbs that appear in English are related to religion. Buddhism has 1000 years of history since it came to China, and people believe that Buddha is about the human world at all, so there are many Chinese proverbs with the “Buddha”, “templ e”and other sayings, such as：to present Buddha with borrowed flowers（借花献佛）；
⑥Chinese proverb reflects the Taoist thinking , such as: Danger is the next neighbor to security（福兮祸所伏，祸兮福所倚）, Joy surfeited turns to sorrow （乐极生悲）. In many western countries, especially in Britain, people believed
in Christianity, God is the only supreme. Therefore, in religious life and their activities, many English proverbs are strong religious, such as：Nature does nothing in vain(造物主无所不能), God helps those who help themselves（上帝帮助自助的人）；⑦ In the right church, but in the wrong pew（进对了教堂，但坐错了椅子）. It tells us that overall thinking is right, but the detail is wrong.
1.5 Historical Allusion
There are a large number of historical allusions of proverbs in English and Chinese Language. In the Chinese classics, proverbs, mostly in poetry, legends, thinkers of the middle, are simple but profound, and educate the people very deep. For example , fail in a competitive examination (名落孙山), a professed love of what one really fears（叶公好龙）and so on. T hey’re all from the historical allusion. The main sources of English proverbs allusions are in the following areas. The first, they’re from the “Bible”, for example: We are all Adam’s childr en(我们都是亚当的子孙)；The second, they’re from the Greek and Roman myths, such as: Pandora’s box(潘多拉之盒—灾难、麻烦、祸害的根源); The third, they’re from “Aesop’s Fables”, such as: a dog in the manger（狗占马槽，占着茅坑不拉屎; The fourth, they’re from William Shakespeare and other literary works, such as: Brevity is the soul of wit（简洁是智慧的灵魂）. Of course, the source of proverbs is not a single British literature, but a variety of sources. In addition to the above-mentioned, there are proverbs from Western Europe, such as: All happy families resemble one another, every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.（幸福的家庭彼此相似, 不幸的家庭各有其不幸）, from the French proverb: Don’t put the cart before the horse（不要本末倒置).
There are many differences between English and Chinese proverbs, but English proverbs’ large-scale use of rhetoric is so concise, vivid, and pregnant with meaning, with a strong Artistic influence and artistic beauty of the language, that they not only have experience in teaching people the same time, but also acquire a good of artistic enjoyment.
Chapter Two Translation Principles and Methods on
English Proverbs
Language is a cultural expression. To some extent, Chinese proverbs reflect the Chinese cultural characteristics, and English proverbs reflect the English cultural characteristics. Therefore, while translating, the premise of the synonymy between the language terms (equivalence) is not enough to seek reciprocity. Nida said, “All of the translation, whether it is poetry or prose, it mus t be attentive to the recipient’s response; Therefore, the ultimate goal of translation is the effect produced from its audience from China and it is the evaluation of any translation o f the most fundamental factors.”Therefore, during the translators translate the English proverbs into Chinese proverbs, they must make more use of the performance of the Chinese language means, and seek to reproduce the style and richness of English Proverbs. Only by paying more attention to the saying beyond the literal language of the specific content of allegory that can make translation properly, appropriate for reasoning, without losing the original language of proverbs with the image.
On translation standards, foreign translation theorists claim difference from Yan Fu’s “fidelity, accuracy, elegance”, Fu Lei, “In spirit is important than in appearance” to Mr.Zhang Peiji’s “faithful fluent”to the American translation theorist Eugene A ? Nida of “functional equivalence” or “Dynamic Equivalence”. Although the focus of these claims is different, but the center asks to faithfully and accurately express the original meaning and maintain the original style. the so-called faithfulness for the original meaning of the expression means literally faithful to the original meaning of the expression; meaning of implied；meaning of the image in three aspects. However, not every word text has three meanings at the same time. In particular, any two languages and cultures which are not identical to the original text and should be reproduced at all three significance of translation is often impossible. If
there is a conflict in the translation between the literal meaning and implied meaning or significance of the image because of cultural differences, the image of the literal meaning or significance should be subject to implicit meaning. Second, if the image of the original meaning of the target language may be found corresponding to - or not have the same image, or it is the same image, but implied the conflict meaning, then it is the exact meaning the expression implied must be first considered, which can be replaced Another familiar image, or we give up the image of meaning, only translated implied meaning. In short, the implied meaning, which is intended to convey the original meaning, is the most important.⑧For example: East is East, and West is West. If we translated literally “East is Eas t and West is West”, it can not fully express the implied meaning of the sentence, but to“After all, the East is East and after all, The West is the West” which can reflect t he laments between East and West.
On translation method, if the original use of the expression literally means accurately, you can use the literal translation as possible, but if literal translation can not reproduce the rich contents of the original proverb, you can use free translation, equal translation, literal and free translation, so as to more original charm intact, so vivid translation.
The following aspects introduce the methods of English Proverbs.
2.1 Literal Translation
The so-called literal translation refers to translation in the language specification which is not violated, and no association of the conditions that caused the error in the translation of English proverbs is analogy to retain the image and the nation, local color method. We use literal translation of the English proverbs and Chinese proverbs because they’re the same part of metaphor and image, or after the literal translation, it isn’t misunderstood, such as: Practice makes perfect（熟能生巧）, Walls have ears（隔墙有耳）, New-born calves make little of tigers（初生牛犊不怕虎）, and A fire on city wall brings disaster to the fish in the moat（城门失火，殃及池鱼）.
2.2 Free Translation
Some English proverbs express the historical allusions of specific country or cultural background, if we use the literal translation. The translation may be far-fetched ,which is not easy for Chinese readers to understand. Therefore, we usually abandon expression of primitive forms instead of free translation, which can be avoided in some cases caused by literally dragging its feet to cause misunderstandings and other ills. For example, Achilles’heel, if we literally translate it as “the man’s heel” , which is difficult for most people to understand, while if we translate it as implications “the only fatal weaknesses”, which is more appropriate.⑨ Examples include: In fair weather prepare for the fou l(居安思危)；Murder will out（纸包不住火）；When Greek meets Greek, then comes the tug of war（两雄相争，其斗必烈）；Every man has a fool in his sleeve （人人都有糊涂的时候）.
2.3 Equal Translation Methods
Proverbs are social phenomena and the laws of natural phenomena ,which are the scientific summary of production and life experiences of the masses. British and American people have the similarities with the Chinese people in experience and understanding of the world in many respects, which make the two nations have very similar proverbs. Some Chinese proverbs and English proverbs coincide in the same content, use, or substantially the same image, or substantially the same analogy and rhetoric to explain the same token. In this case, we can use the synonymous Chinese proverbs to translate the English proverb, “one can be more fluent translation, on the other hand it easier for the r eader to understand and accept.” (FENG Qing-hua, 1995:144), such as: Diamond cut diamond（棋逢对手）；Two can play the game（孤掌难鸣）；To fish in troubled waters（浑水摸鱼）；Like father，like son（有其父必有其子）.
2.4 The Combination of Literal and Free Translation
Sometimes translating some English proverbs, the simple literal translation can not make readers understand its meaning while free translation can not
exactly express the meaning of the original proverbs. Then it is necessary to use the combination of literal and free translation. Literal translation is difficult to make up words and phrases and paraphrase difficult vivid enough. Literally, using literal translation can point out the hidden meaning, so we use vivid translation to achieving the effect of finishing touch.⑩For example: Cut your coat according to your cloth(量布裁衣，量入为出) Even Homer sometimes nods(荷马也有瞌睡时；智者千虑，必有一失) If I have lost the ring, yet the fingers are still there(戒指虽丢失，手指仍然在；留得青山在，不怕没柴烧).
The quality of the translation has a direct impact on the quality of English proverbs. Therefore, how to deal with English translation of proverbs is a very important issue. We should keep the original idioms as much as possible.
Conclusion
All in all, expressing a long history, bringing the wisdom of the public together and putting the rich content in a highly concentrated form, which are the oldest of the cultures of mankind and the most valuable form of language. Proverbs are a treasure of national culture and full of national character after long-term accumulation and rich ,which combine with concise, paradox, antithesis, harmony, image, meaning brilliant. Therefore, the cultural differences through proverbs and the study of English translation , not only people can understand the country's history, culture and customs, expanding horizons, but also they can learn from the micro perspective on things to set up intercultural communication ideas.
Therefore, it is significant that the use of the skills of translating English proverbs convey properly the original meaning of accuracy. Of course, acquiring the above four kinds of proverbs does not mean to find a way to translate the master key of all the sayings. Some proverbs need translators "interpretation and transformation," while some proverbs should maintain the original meaning in order to maintain their “authentic”.
Notes
[1]张宁. 英汉习语的文化差异与翻译[J]. 中国翻译，1999年，第3期：p.23。
[2]张宁. 英汉习语的文化差异与翻译[J]. 中国翻译，1999年，第3期：p.23。
[3]武占坤, 马国凡. 谚语（第二版）[M]. 内蒙古：内蒙古人民出版社，1997年.p.3。
[4]陈丽英. 英汉习语的语用意义对比及翻译[J]. 龙岩师专学报，2003年，第21卷：p.107。
[5]周淑萍. 英汉谚语渊源比较分析[J]. 南平师专学报，2003年，第22卷：p.92。
[6]张宁. 英汉习语的文化差异与翻译[J]. 中国翻译，1999年，第3期：p.23-24。
[7]陈丽英. 英汉习语的语用意义对比及翻译[J]. 龙岩师专学报，2003年，第21卷：p.108。
[8]陈雯. 英语习语文化内涵探微[J]. 广西教育学院学报，2003年，第5期：p.45。
[9]包惠南. 文化语境与语言翻译[M]. 北京：中国对外翻译出版公司，2001年.p.163。
[10]张宁. 英汉习语的文化差异与翻译[J]. 中国翻译，1999年，第3期：p.25。
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Acknowledgements
I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my respected supervisor, Lecturer Zhang Jing, who has offered me invaluable guidance and inspiring encouragement. His profound knowledge and insightful suggestions have enlightened me in this field, and have led me through all stages of this thesis writing. Therefore I owe all the merits in this thesis, if any, to him.
And I must dedicate this thesis to my dearest family members. Without their loving care and unfailing support, this thesis would not have come out on time.