On the Chinese Translation of English Proverbs(淺析英語諺語的中文翻譯).doc

內(nèi)江師范學(xué)院本科畢業(yè)論文（設(shè)計）ContentsAbstract.2Introduction3. The Definition of English Proverbs3. Factors Affecting the Translation of English Proverbs4A. The Background of History and Culture4B. The Environment of Geography5C. The Customes and Habits6D. The Beliefs of Religion6E. Moral Ideas7F. Legends7. The Translating Methods of English Proverbs8A. Literal Translation8B. Free Translation9C. Literal Translation and Free Translation9D. Rhetoric Translation10E. Equivalent Translation10. Matters in Need of Attention in the Translation of English Proverbs.11A. Making the Translation Easy to Read11B. Keeping the Original Style of the Text Translated11C. Keeping Languages Features11D. Avoiding Catching the Meaning of Words Literally from the Context12Conclusion12Notes13Bibliography14Acknowledgements.15Abstract: Proverbs are the concentrated reflection of a nations talent, wisdom and spirit. It is an independent statement in the folk, with educational purpose and elegant art. English proverbs were produced by the ancients in the specific history, geographical environment, customs, religious beliefs, economic, cultural and social life, which were characterized by distinctive nation, ideology and art. The translation of English proverbs should be faithful to accurately express the meaning of original text, keep the original style, and faithfully reflect the original appearance. Things like the geographical environment, historical factors, customs, moral ideas, and religious beliefs should be taken into account when we translate English proverbs. We can adopt literal translation, free translation, equivalent translation and combine with various methods. Only by using the most appropriate approach in different situations, and concretely analyzing concrete questions, can we make the translation text exact, natural and vivid. By studying the culture and translation of English proverbs, Chinese readers can not only appreciate the essence of English language, but also understand the rich Anglo-American culture. Keywords: English proverbs; the Chinese translation; the methods of translation摘要：諺語是一個民族的天賦、智慧和民族精神的集中反映，它是在民間流傳的、具有晦人目的和高雅藝術(shù)的獨立語句。英語諺語是英國人民在特定的歷史、地理環(huán)境、風(fēng)俗習(xí)慣、道德觀念、宗教信仰、經(jīng)濟、文化和社會生活中產(chǎn)生的，具有鮮明的民族性、思想性和藝術(shù)性。英語諺語的翻譯要忠實準(zhǔn)確地表達原文的意義，保持原文的風(fēng)格，忠實反映原文的面貌。翻譯時要考慮英語諺語所產(chǎn)生的地理環(huán)境，歷史因素，風(fēng)俗習(xí)慣，宗教信仰等。翻譯英語諺語時可采用直譯、意譯和借譯等各種方法，只有在不同的情況下運用最合適的翻譯方法，具體問題具體分析，才能使譯文達意確切、自然傳神。所以通過對英語諺語的文化及翻譯的學(xué)習(xí)和研究，以便使中國讀者既可以欣賞英語語言的精華，又能了解豐富的英美民族文化知識。關(guān)鍵詞：英語諺語；中文翻譯；翻譯方法On the Chinese Translation of English ProverbsIntroductionEnglish proverbs, like literature and poetry, are the crystallization of the collective wisdom of working people, and an important part of English language culture, characterized by vivid lively image and concise saying, and is full of philosophy, The well-known British writer and philosopher, Francis Bacon once said, “the genius, wit and spirit of a nation are discovered in its proverbs.”1 Concise proverbs can express rich implication, but how to vividly and accurately translate them into Chinese? I think its not an easy question. The proverbs are one of the rich fruits branch in the tree which have language and culture of human beings, so proverbs are like a miracle in the white garden of language, we can view them as precious art. The Definition of English Proverbs What is a proverb? There are a variety of definitions at home and abroad. However, there are two kinds of famous sayings about the definition. One saying is made by a German scholar Foley Seller, in his book German Proverbs, says that, “the proverb is an independent statement that goes around in the folk, with educational purpose and elegant art.2 The other saying is made by the English edition of Longman Modem English Dictionary, Which makes such an explanation about proverbs, saying that proverb is a brief familiar maxim of folk wisdom, usually compressed in form, often involving a bold image and frequently a jingle that catches the memory easily.3Although the viewpoints above both are different from each other, they do reflect the characteristics of proverbs; A. The flash of wisdom; B. The elegant language; C. The crystallization of experience; D. The profound philosophy; E. The flying of imagination without wings; F. The true portrayal; H. The inspiration of life. To sum up, Proverb is a form of language to express peoples emotions and feelings in their daily life; and is a short lively sentence or phrase from peoples social practice; and is the most concise and vivid part of their own language. proverbs are from peoples daily life，so the daily experience is the most important factor to affect the proverb; in other words, proverbs are the daughter of daily experience. (Proverbs are the product of the daily life.) If you want to learn English more, you have to learn the English proverbs very well, but English proverbs are the deposit of Anglo-American culture in thousands of years history; therefore, the differences between the Anglo-American culture and Chinese language can bring about great difficulty in our learning and understanding. The translation of proverbs plays a crucial role for us to correctly understand the proverbs meaning and the national culture they reflect. So I try doing a little exploration on English proverbs strategy in Chinese translation by comparing the Chinese proverb on the influencing factors of English proverb translation. A proverb is a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated for long time, which conveys a profound truth, based on common sense or the human being s practical experience. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of the production and life also is known as a classical motto. If a proverb is distinguished by particularly good phrasing, it may be memorized as a maxim by the old and the young. Factors Affecting the Translation of English Proverbs Proverbs are the essence and core of a nations culture, also are the production of human civilizations development. The translation of proverbs is restricted by many factors. If we want to grasp the main point and the cultural connotation, we should take all the factors that affect its meaning into consideration in the translating process; such as the background of history and culture, the environment of geography, the customs and habits, the belief of religion, moral ideas, legends, so that we can fully understand the proverb itself especially the profound meaning it contains.A. The Background of History and CultureThe impacts of the social and historical development on language are huge. As is known to all, there are many diversities between the modern English and the old English, middle English in the language structure and usage, and those changes are the result of long-term historical development, as the times changes, the old language constantly updates even replaces new language. Today we look round again, the change and development of the proverbs are the same as the continuous development of historical progress, which can clearly reflect the changes of the society and culture, so when we are translating English proverbs, we need to consider their historical background and social development, only in this way, can we correctly understand the meaning of the proverbs.There are rich cultural heritages in Chinese history, many proverbs are reflected; such as “說曹操，曹操到”、“逼上梁山”、“過五關(guān)，斬六將” These proverbs with obvious national characteristics are closely related to Chinese history and culture In 55 BC, the Roman commander Julius Caesar had conquered the British Isles, while the “Roman Conquest” began in 43 in the British history. From then on, the Romans occupied the Britain for 400 years. The influence of the culture of Romans on Britain remains on the island, we can still find the trace of history in todays English proverbs. For instance,(1) Rome was not built in a day 羅馬不是一天建成的。( 喻指冰凍三尺，非一日之寒)(2) While Rome is burning 大難臨頭依然尋歡作樂。( 喻指對大事漠不關(guān)心)(3) All roads lead to Rome. 條條道路通羅馬。（喻指殊途同歸) Those proverbs all reflect the assimilation of language and culture for long time, and reflect that Roman empire has brought great impacts on the development of English.B. The Environment of GeographyThe generation of proverbs is closely related to peoples geographical environment where they live and work, so we can not separate the form of culture from the influence of the natural geography. While the special geographical circumstance brings up the special culture, the special culture is the production of the special expression methods of proverbs. China is giving priority to the land, it is a comfortable place where people could stay. The production of proverbs are closely related to the environment of local geography where people are living and working. Its well known that Chinese people originated in the Yellow River basin, so there are many proverbs related to the Yellow River. Such as,“跳進黃河也洗不清” 和“不到黃河心不死，不撞南墻不回頭”.While Britain is an island nation, which locates on the British Islands between Western Europe and Atlantic Ocean, with the English Channel and the straits of Dover on its South, and the North Sea on its east. Owing to the advanced oceanic transportations and fisheries, many proverbs about the voyages, fisheries, sea and water left.4 For example,Spend money like water. （揮金如土，而不是“揮金如水”） All is fish that comes to his net. （進到網(wǎng)里的都是魚）The great fish eat up the small. （大魚吃小魚）He that would sail without danger must never come on the main sea. （誰在航行時不冒險，他就永遠不要來到大海上了）Never offer to teach fish to swim. （不要教魚兒游泳。這條諺語比喻意義“不要在行j家面前賣弄自己”相當(dāng)于漢語諺語“不要班們弄斧”）The Great Britain Island is a typical warm temperate maritime climate with the abundant rainfall, strong wind, fog and the heavily rainfall. Then they had a proverb,“It never rains but it pours.” (不雨則已，一雨傾盆)C. The Customers and HabitsThe Customs and habits are a way of peoples life in a region, including lots of things related to life in all fields. Proverbs not only affect a nations politics, economy, religion, literature, but also reflect the nations customs and habits. Proverbs and customs, habits are more closely related. The translation of English proverbs cant be known well without understanding the English customs and habits. Any nation has their own favorite animals, so the culture on pets has district characteristics. Chinese people always look down upon dogs and use them to describe an evil person or bad things. But most of the Anglo-American countries have a good sense to dogs, they view dogs as their reliable friends. Most of them dont have any derogatory sense except the part effected by other culture. While in Anglo-American culture, “dogs” are always the allegory to describe the peoples life, so there have been many proverbs in reference of a dog.Every dog has his own day. （每只狗都有它的好時光。）The metaphor of this proverbs is, “Everyone has a proud day”. (人人都有他得意的一天。)Love me, love my dog.（喜歡我就要喜歡我的狗。）It says,“Anyone who wants to keep the friendship with me needs to accept and stand all the things that belong to me, including my own hobbies and opinions”. And its similar to the Chinese proverb “愛屋及烏”. While in China, people are used to regarding dogs as immoral man or disgusting things. So there have formed plenty of proverbs about “dog”, 狼心狗肺；狗咬呂洞賓，不識好人心。 In contrast, Chinese people are very fond of cats, cats are usually regarded as sweetheart by people. In western culture, the cat was used to describe a spiteful woman; such as, Cats hide their claws. (知人知面不知心。)D. The Beliefs of Religion Religious belief is not only a kind of ideology, but also a kind of culture. As a kind of spiritual customs, it is very complicated and related to humanitys production, life, work and study. Confucius, the founder of the Confucian school occupies an important position in the ideological field of China, Confucianism has left precious spiritual wealth, in the Chinese proverb, “嚴于律己，寬于待人”，“恭敬不如從命”。 The Buddhism has been introduced to China for more than several thousand years, people believe that everything around the world could be dominated by the Buddha, so there are many proverbs containing “Buddha”and “Temple” in Chinese language, such as“借花獻佛”,“無事不登三寶殿”Chinese proverbs also reflect Taoism like “福兮禍所伏，禍兮福所倚”and so on.The Christianity is one of the three major religions in the world, the number of people who are faithful to Christianity accounts for a quarter of the worlds population. The new Christianity is viewed as Britains national religion, although there are also many Catholic population in Britain, the well-known Christian followers - protestants accounts for the most proportion. Therefore, there are many English proverbs with Christian characteristic. For example, If man proposes evil，God disposes of it上帝會阻止想要為惡的人(喻指謀事在人，成事在天，或盡人事，聽天由命。) (1)God helps those who help themselves上帝幫助那些幫助自己的人。(喻指自助者，天助之。)(2)Pay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and God what belongs to God讓上帝的歸上帝，讓愷撒的歸愷撒。(喻指不在其位，不謀其政或做好自己的事。) In the western countries, God is the creator of all things, so God in English takes high position and is referred in proverb with high frequency. In the right church，but in the wrong pew. (進對了教堂，但坐錯了椅子)比喻“總的來說是對的，但細節(jié)上不對”。E. Moral IdeasThe traditional moral and concept of China have paid attention to “propriety, righteousness, benevolence, honesty”, so there are some proverbs with unselfish spirit,“一人有難大家?guī)?，一家有事百家忙”，“互幫互助，窮能變富” The British have paid more attention to personal gains and losses. Such as, he that has but only one eye must be afraid to lose it.(只有一只眼睛的人當(dāng)然怕失去它，隱義為“不借錢給你，也是理所當(dāng)然的”。)Lend your horse for a long journey; you may have him returned with his skin. (借馬給人去遠行，可能還你一張皮。隱義為“忘恩負義、恩將仇報”) Lend your money, and lose your friend.(借出你的錢，失去你的朋友)。F. LegendsThe Bible is a great book, whose effects on the western world are so enormous that any other works cannot reach. Many legends in the Bible bring about a great impact on English countries. People widely used them to write essay for long period time in daily life; thus legends have brought forth a large number of English proverbs, which have become an important part of a language that is used widely.The heart knows his own bitterness. (一顆心知道它自己的痛苦，隱義為“切膚之痛”)Every man must carry his own cross. (每個人必須背他自己的十字架，隱義為“自己的痛苦要靠自己來承受”。）Those proverbs come from“The Bible”, the cross is the one which the Jesus is approaching to death with misery, nailed him to the cross and died at length. So the word “cross” has the meaning of misery and those proverbs mean that “Everyone must be enduring the suffering in life, and bear their own burden”.5“Forbidden fruit” is also a phrase from “The Bible”, and is well-known for everyone. In the “Genesis”, the apple that Don Adam had eaten in the garden of Eve is called forbidden fruit. The implication is made in “Forbidden fruit” means that the thing one wants to get because it was forbidden.6 Forbidden fruit is always sweet. （禁果是甜的） It shows that“不讓得到的東西往往就具有誘惑性”. (The thing you cant get is always quite attractive). The Translating Methods of English ProverbsThe famous philosopher Rousseau once said, “A proverb is the wisdom of men and the wit of one”. Since the content of proverbs reflect, the flash of wisdom, the crystallization of experience, the sediment of the historical culture, and the translation of proverbs all are closely related to reflecting their own characteristics and revealing their connotative meanings. A well-known American translator Linda left a famous saying, “Its so necessary to pay attention to the response of the accepted people for all translation whether they are poets or articles. The effect on the audiences from the objective facts, is the most fundamental factor to evaluate any translation.”.7 So we should apply various methods to express the natural and connotative meanings of English proverbs. So here, I will present a brief introduction with several methods to translate the different proverbs.A. Literal Translation So-called literal translation refers to a skill that keeps English proverbs metaphor, form and the national characteristics on the basis that literal translation is in accordance with the standardization of language translation, and without causing errors in association and understanding. The following English proverbs can be directly translated into Chinese proverbs, Knowledge is power. (知識就是力量) All roads lead to Rome. (條條道路通羅馬) no pains, no gains. (不勞則不獲) We can find that the literal translation can mainly retain the original image and metaphor, and retain the original unique technique of expression, which bings novel and chic sense to person. Therefore, in the process of English proverbs translation, we usually give priority to use literal translation. Blood is thicker than water. (血濃于水)He who laughs last laughs best. (誰笑到最后，誰笑得最好) Learn to walk before you run. （先學(xué)走，再學(xué)跑）Money isnt everything. （錢不是萬能的） Practice makes perfect. （熟能生巧）The eye is the window of the mind. （眼睛是心靈的窗戶）We can see that this way has hold the original form, analogy and the expressing methods.B. Free TranslationWhen by using the skill of literal translation to translate English proverbs is difficult or the translation makes the reader misunderstand, free translation should be generally adopted. Free translation is a kind of skill that mainly refers to the proverbscontent and figurative meaning, but it sacrifices the form, and flexibly convey the original meaning combined with the context. Such as the English proverb, “A