浅析英语习语的误译
毕业论文关键词：英语习语；误译；文化
Abstract The idiom was one of the most important parts of language. As the center of the language, idiom has many nations’ characteristics, which was born with and never changed. English idiom as one part of idioms, it is influenced by British cultural background, historical development and customs. This paper takes contrast analysis methods to discuss some different translation skills. By a large number of practice show that choose appropriate translation skills is helpful to solve the problems of mistranslation of English idioms. The author gives some concrete examples to analyze several factors (culture, history notes, geography environment, religious belief and customs) which affect the translation of English idioms. According to these factors, the author gives some suggestions on translating. Accordingly, to translate English idioms better not only learn the translation skills, but also consider some factors. Hopefully this paper can help readers avoid some mistakes during translating English idioms.
Key words: English idiom; mistranslation; culture
An Analysis of Mistranslation of English Idioms
Contents
摘 要 ⅰ
Abstract ⅱ
Ⅰ. Introduction 1
Ⅱ. The Factors Lead to Mistranslation of English Idioms 2
2.1 Culture 2
2.2 History Notes 2
2.3 Geography Environment 3
2.4 Religious Belief 3
2.5 Customs 4
Ⅲ. The Strategies of English Idiom Translation 4
3.1 Literal Translation 4
3.2 Free Translation 5
3.3 The Corresponding Translation 6
Ⅳ. Some Suggestions for Translating English Idioms 8
4.1 The Quality of a Translator 8
4.2 To Identify the English Idioms from the Context 9
4.3 Combining with the Context to Translate 10
4.4 Keeping the Original Flavor 11
Ⅴ. Conclusion 12
Bibliography13
Acknowledgements14
Ⅰ. Introduction
According to Oxford Advantaged Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary, an idiom is “a phrase or sentence whose meaning is not clear from the meaning of its inpidual words, which must be learned as a whole unit” (248). In the broad sense, idioms may include set phrases, proverbs, sayings, epigrams, slang expressions, colloquialisms, quotations, and two-part allegorical sayings, of which the first part, always stated, is descriptive. While the second part, sometimes unstated, carries the message. And The Britain linguist, Jennifer Seidl, had said in the preface of his books “English Idioms and How to Use the English Idioms (1978)”, that “Idioms are not a separate part of the language which one can choose to either to use or to omit…”(Jennifer 185). As we all know, an English idiom is a specialized language, which is different from the free phrases. Idioms have the characteristics of conciseness, popularity and explosive vitality. They are deeply influenced and limited by culture. They can also best express the historical development, cultural background and customs of the people. So when we translate English idioms, we must consider its cultural background, historical development, custom and so on. For instance, the English idiom “I am all ears”. Some people may translate this sentence as“我全身都是耳朵”, but the meaning of this sentence is“我洗耳恭听”. In order to avoid mistakes, we can’t translate English idioms word by word, we should learn the different culture, customs, history, and master some methods of the translation flexibly, then we can translate English idioms correctly.
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