Ⅴ。Conclusion 16

Bibliography 18

Acknowledgements 19

Ⅰ。 Introduction

A language is always closely related to its culture。 On one hand, language originates from people’s practice, which reflects human civilization and natural culture while the language is formed, developed, and used。 Therefore, language would be called the instrument of culture creation and transmission。 One the other hand, the abundant human culture enriches language, making it more expressive。 Idiom is an important part of language and culture。 It records the history, reflects the economic life of different countries, presents the cultural attitudes and ways of thinking of different people, and accumulates tremendous cultural treasures。 文献综述

An idiom is the essence of culture。 It is a special and inpisible part of language and exists in both Chinese and English, having been used for a long time。 Although idioms are formed in short phrases, which usually are four character phrase or several words in English and Chinese, their meanings are exuberant and connotative。 Therefore, the analysis of the idioms’ usage and cultural differences is significant to every language learner and translator。 At present, a lot of translators would make mistakes in idiom translation。 They don’t understand the real meaning and translating criteria of idioms in Chinese and English。 Only if they are clear with the cultural similarities and differences between Chinese and English, they are able to translate idioms correctly and accurately。 In the past decades, many scholars contributed to the translation criteria such as Yan Fu, Lin Yutang and Eugene Nida。 Besides, cultural differences and translation of idioms are studied by Bao Huinan, Liu Chongde, Claire Kramsch and Eugene Nida。 The fact is that so many investigators recognized the importance of cultural differences between Chinese and English, so they are more absorbed in studying idioms。

Ⅱ。 The Origin of English and Chinese Idioms

As a kind of special form of language, idioms present rich culture and civilization。 Therefore, in different conditions, they have different origins, including living practice, mythological fables, historic events and classic works。

2。1 Living Practice

Most idioms come from people’s practice and daily life。 In ancient times, people were living by planting, hunting, gathering and fishing。 During these practices, they gradually created precise and vivid colloquial expressions that are widely used after spreading。 Such as English idiom “strike while the iron is hot”, the idiom is from the living practice of striking iron。 It presents a view that a blacksmith is striking a hot piece of metal, especially iron, with a mallet or other tool before it cools, while it is still hot enough to be shaped。 “Destroy root and branch”, the idiom is from farm work。 To make the crops grow better, farmers will cut the weeds and dig up the roots。来:自[优E尔L论W文W网www.chuibin.com +QQ752018766-

 In Chinese idioms, there are also many alike examples like “揠苗助长(pulling up seedlings to help them grow)”。 A person in Song Dynasty, China, pulled the grain seedlings in order to make them grow faster。 Unluckily, they were withered quickly。 This idiom reveals that the development of everything has its law。 Only by good wishes and impulsive actions, people will not get hopeful results。 Another Chinese idiom is “自给自足(self-sufficiency)”。 In ancient China, the existing small-scale peasant economy forced people to produce things by themselves。 It fully reflects the ancient Chinese lives reality that the development of people counts on agricultural activities。 Chinese culture belongs to the land farming culture while English culture relates to the sea。 Therefore, the different regional environments of English and Chinese make people use different images and idioms to express their thoughts。