文化语境视角下的英语习语汉译探析
毕业论文关键词：文化语境；英语习语；汉译策略
Abstract Cultural context refers to cultural background which is related with verbal communication. It plays a very important role in language use. In order to understand the essence of the English idioms, which is the gem of the English language, we have to take the cultural context into full consideration. From the perspective of cultural context, this paper will explore the origin and characteristics of English idioms, analyze the impacts of cultural context on English idioms, and propose some effective basic strategies of English translation. Hopefully this paper will be beneficial for learners to understand and translate the English idioms properly.
Key words: cultural context; English idioms; Chinese translation strategy
Analysis of the Translation of English Idioms from the Perspective of Cultural Context
Contents
摘 要 i
Abstract ii
I. Introduction 1
II. The Origin and Characteristics of English Idioms 2
2.1 The Origin of English Idioms 2
2.2 The Characteristics of English Idioms 3
2.2.1 Structural Stability 3
2.2.2 Semantic Unity 3
2.2.3 The Integrity of the Idioms 3
2.2.4 Convention of Idioms 4
Ⅲ. The Impact of Cultural Context on English Idioms 4
3.1 Religious Belief 4
3.2 Social Custom 5
3.3 Historical Allusion 6
3.4 Living Habits 7
Ⅳ. The Strategy of the Translation of English Idioms from the Perspective of Cultural Context 8
4.1 Literal Translation 8
4.2 Literal Translation with Notes 9
4.3 Free Translation 10
4.4 Equivalence Translation 11
4.5 Substitution Translation. 12
Ⅴ. Conclusion 13
Bibliography 14
Acknowledgments 15
I. Introduction
Context is the prerequisite for employing and understanding language correctly, and has both restrictive and explanatory functions for linguistic phenomena in communicative activities. In 1923, the British anthropologist B.Malinowski firstly put forward the concept of context. He has classified context into two categories: the context of linguistics and the context of non-linguistics. According to David Crystal, the “context”, as the features of the non-linguistic world in relation to the linguistic units, is also defined as the situational context or environment.
The concept of cultural context was firstly proposed by the anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski. He pided it into situational contexts and cultural contexts. And he held that the cultural context and situational context are the same in essence, but the former is more abstract while the latter is more concrete. In addition, the cultural context also includes cultural practices and social norms, that is to say, the life style and social regulations and restrictions in verbal communication activities that people in social life would like to follow for generations. Now, most people think that the cultural context is associated with verbal communication and cultural background.
Idioms are mainly used by people in a long period of time. Some fixed phrases or sentences, which include idioms, proverbs and allusions and slangs, are formed gradually. The formal characteristics of them are rigor and concise. Idioms are an important part of language; language has inner structure, semantic feature and pragmatic and syntactic functions, as well as colloquial style. The factors, such as geographical environment, customs, historical allusion, thinking mode and economic life of a country, are closely related to the language features, which contain abundant cultural information, a large number of cultural characteristics and cultural backgrounds. All of those factors have a distinct image and metaphor, with distinctive national characteristics and strong local color (Jeff Verschueren 191). Cultural differences reflected in the idioms require us to improve the sensitivity to cultural differences when we learn and use idioms. When we do the translation of English idioms, we should follow the pattern of “likeness in form or spirit” (Bao 57). The original content makes cross-cultural communication smooth, thus, translators can understand and grasp English idioms accurately. In addition, countless idioms relatively high developed in the English and Chinese respectively. English idioms are numerous and widely used, especially they are closely tied with the daily verbal communication. Currently, the effective integration of culture and globalization has become the main trend of world development. Thus, understanding the true meaning of English idiom allows us to have a better understanding of the cultural connotation of the Western countries and to promote the transmission of Chinese and Western cultures.