本科畢業(yè)設(shè)計(jì)-on-sex-discrimination-in-english-proverbs-and-their-translation-英語(yǔ)

OnSexDiscriminationinEnglishProverbsandTheirTranslation

Abstract.Proverbs,asessenceandimportantpartoflanguageandcarrierofculture,reflectpeople’sperspectivesandsystemsofsociety.Thediscriminationagainstwomeninsocietyisreflectedinproverbs,whichinfluencethesocialconceptgreatly.Itaimstoexposethesexdiscriminationinlanguage,enhancepeople’sawarenessofitandhaveabetterunderstandingoftherelationshipbetweenlanguageandsociety.ItalsoputsforwardsometranslationmethodsforEnglishproverbswithsexdiscrimination,suchasliteraltranslation,freetranslation,synonymousreplacementandcombinationofliteralandfreetranslation.

Keywords:sexdiscrimination；Englishproverbs;translation

1.Introduction

Languageislikeamirrorthroughwhichonecanseesocialviewsandattitudesofhumanbeings;allkindsofsocialphenomena(includingsexdiscrimination)areboundtobereflectedinlanguage.Language,toagreatextent,reflectssuchsocialphenomena:femalesaredefamed,belittled,andlaidinthepositionofbeingsubordinatetomales.Amajorissueinsociolinguisticstudieshasbeentherelationshipbetweengenderandlanguage.Since1960s,therisingofthefeministmovementhasfurtherpromotedtheresearchofgenderlanguage.

Asthepeculiarresultofthedevelopmentofthehumansociety,languagereflectsthesocietynaturally.Languageislikeamirrorthroughwhichcanseesocialviewsandattitudesofhumanbeings.AccordingtoAlleenPaceNilsem(2007),languageandsocietyareasinterviewedasachickenandanegg.Languageuseistheevidenceofthevaluesandbeliefsofthatsociety.Allkindsofunequalphenomenainthesocietyincludingsexdiscriminationareboundtobereflectedinlanguage.

Sociolinguisticsisthesciencewhichstudiestherelationshipbetweenlanguageandsociety,betweentheuseoflanguageandsocialstructuresinwhichtheusersoflanguagelive.Itisgenerallyrecognizedthatsociolinguisticsasanindependentdisciplinearoseinthemid-1960.Thestudyoflanguageinrelationtogenderhasbeenhighlightedasahotissueinsociolinguistics.Thelinguistswhoshowinterestinthisfieldaretraditionallydividedintotwogroups.Onegrouplaytheiremphasisonthespeechdifferencesbetweenwomenandmen.Theothergroupoflinguistshasobservedthatmenandwomenarespokenaboutdifferentlyanditisoftenclaimedthatlanguageisdiscriminatoryagainstwomen.Thestudyofthesecondgroupconstitutesthefocusofthisthesis.

2.LiteratureReview

Thispartisareviewofthestudiesofsexdiscriminationinproverbs.InthispartsomebasicconceptsareprovidedandstudiesofsexdiscriminationinEnglisharealsodescribed.Proverbsaresmallpiecesofhumanwisdomthathavebeenhandeddownfromgenerationtogeneration.JustasanEnglishwriterRobertPaynesaid,“Thewisdomofnationliesintheirproverbs”(LiJinghua,2006).WiththedevelopmentofWomen’sLiberationinthewesternworldsine1960s,thesocietyhasundergonearevolutionofreformingtheEnglishlanguageintoanequalandunbiasedone.Manyscholarsandsociologiststrytoanalyzewomen’swayofusinglanguageandmakecomparisonbetweentwogenders.OneofthemostimportantpioneersintheUnitedStatusisLakoff,whohasmadegreatprogressinthestudyoflanguageandgender.

2.1.Proverbs

Proverbsareshortwell-knownphrasesorsentences,whichareusuallythereflectionoflife.Proverbsareapartoflanguageandakindofidiom.Theyarephrasesorsentencesthatspreadamongtheforkswithpopularimageandrichsignificance;theyarealsoaformoffolkliterature;theyhavealonghistoryrecordingexperienceoflaborsindifferenttimes;theystemfromawideorigin:fromliteraryworkstofolkstories,fromreligiousbeliefstonaturalphenomenon,fromrealizationstoexperiencesandwisdomofpeopleindifferenttimesanddifferentsocialclasses;theyincludeoralonesandwrittenones;theyareaccumulationandsummaryofpeople’sexperienceandarehandeddownfromgenerationandgeneration;theybringaboutdeepeffectsonsocialconcepts.

2.2.Sexdiscrimination

Inmostcases,sexdiscriminationreferstothediscriminationagainstfemales.ThedefinitionbyAdvancedLearner’sEnglish-ChineseDictionary(2004:485)isasfollows:“sexdiscriminationisprejudiceordiscriminationagainstwomenonthebasisofsex.”Andbecauseoftheinterconnectionsoflanguageandreality,languageisdefinitelysexuallyprejudicedagainstwomen.JustaswhatQinXiubai(1996)comments:“l(fā)anguagereflectssocialactivities;thesexdifferentiationanddiscriminationinlanguagearenotdeterminedbythenaturalpropertiesoflanguagesymbols,insteadtheyarereflectionofsocialvaluesandwaysofthinkinginaparticularsocietyorculture.”Initsoriginalmeaning,languageisatoolforpeopletocommunicatewitheachother;itdoesn’tdiscriminateagainsteithermemberofthegroup.However,withthedevelopmentofthesociety,womenandmentakeondifferentsocialrolesandthusdiscriminationtakesplace.

2.3.StudiesofsexdiscriminationinEnglish

Inwesterncountries,studiesongenderinlanguagehavegonethroughamuchlongerhistorythaninChina.Languageandgenderareapopularissueintheareaofsociolinguistics,ayoungsubjectinthelinguisticfield,whichdidnotcomeintobeinguntiltheendofthe1960’s.Butactually,peoplehadshownconcernforlanguageandgenderlongbeforesociolinguisticsappearedasadiscipline.“Intheeighteenthcentury,WelshlinguistRowlandJonesstudiedmaleandfemalelanguageandclaimedthatthekeytomysteryoflanguageistheOldTestamentfromtheBible.Fromhisstudy,hecametoaconclusionthatwomenareinferiortomen,andalltheinequalitiesinlanguagesareabsolutelyjust”(QinXiubai,1996:18).Earlyworksongenderbiasinlanguageinvolveddocumentingthevariouswaysinwhichlanguagecouldbeunderstoodasbeinggenderbiased.TheyhavepointedoutthattheEnglishlanguageisinherentlygender-biased,becauseitcarriescertainassumptionsaboutgenderroles.

Sincetheearlytwentiethcentury,especiallysincethefeministmovementinthe1960s,whichoriginatedinAmericaandthenspreadallovertheworld,thetopicoflinguisticgenderbiashasbeenanimportantpointofdiscussion.AFeministtheoryoflanguagelooksat1)howlanguageisusedtokeepwomenintheirplace;2)howlanguageindexesgenderroles;3)howlanguageuseestablisheswomen’sidentityassubjugatedbeingsorsecondclasscitizens;4)howtofindwaystoequipwomenwiththetoolsofdiscoursesthatwillservetoempowerthemratherthankeepthemdown.Theyholdthatgenderdistinctionsinherentinlanguageaffectthewaypeopleperceivegenderrolesandopportunitiesformembersofthetwogenders.

Inthe1980s,feminismstimulatedfurtherresearchongenderbiasinlanguage.Comparedwiththepreviousstudy,theresearchpaidmoreattentiontosocialsignificanceinsemanticsandemphasizedtheimportanceoflinguistictheory,whichhascontributedtotheenhancementofpeople’sawarenessoflinguisticbiasagainstwomen.DaleSpenderisanotherimportantcharacterinthisfield.Asafeminist,sheassertedthatEnglishisbiasedinfavorofthemaleandagainstthefemale.Shespokeoflanguageasbeingman-made.

Fromthelate1980stonow,manylinguistshavemadeadeeperresearchonthegenderbiasinlanguage.JennyCheshirehasadetaileddescriptionandanalysisofthegenderlanguageandthesocialandculturalfactorsofit.Recentworksalsotendtobebasedmoreonempiricalresearchratherthanoncasualobservationorintrospection.Currentstudiesinthisfieldhaveshifteditsfocusfromvocabularytodiscourses.Researchonthetopicconcernsmanysubjectssuchasphilosophy,psychology,culturalstudies,semantics,etc.Besides,manyothercurrentworksallyieldthesameresult:languageisgenderbiased.

3.SexDiscriminationinEnglishProverbs

Languageistakenastheproductofhumanlifeinacertainareaandhasalwaysbeenconsideredasoneofimportantelementsfordivingnations.Proverbs,asessenceoflanguageandcarrierofculture,canreflectpeople’sperspectivesandsystemsofsocietyandinfluencesocialconceptsdeeply.Thusproverbsaremorerepresentativeandpersuasivetobeusedtomakearesearchonsexdiscrimination.Bystudyingproverbs,wecanseethedeep-rootedgender-biasedideologyinsociety.

BothChineseandEnglishproverbsreflectsuchphenomenon:menaresuperiortowomen;womenaresubordinatetomen;menworkoutsidewhilewomenareinchargeofhousework;menarestrongerthanwomen;talentmenmatchgood-lookingwomen.Theybothincludeobviousdiscriminationandderogationtofemales,thatis,subordinateandnegative.ThispartillustratessexdiscriminationinEnglishproverbsinfiveaspectsandpointsouttheirinfluencesinsociety.

Languageandrealityarecloselyrelatedandtheyinteractwitheachother:realityinfluencesandshapeslanguagewhilelanguagereflectsandaffectsreality.Languageitselfhasthesocialityandfunctionofsocialintercourse;languageusecaninfluencesocialeventsandhascounteractiononsociety.Ontheonehand,proverbs,astheessenceoflanguageandamirrorofreality,theycanmoreorlessreflectpeople’sviews,values,attitudes,behaviororsystemofthesociety.Sothesex-discriminationproverbsprovideaglimpseofthesexdiscriminationinreality.Ontheotherhand,“l(fā)anguageisasocialtoolofhumanbeings.Asapartoflanguage,theprimarydutyofproverbsisstillsocialtool”(WuZhankun,1998:303).Furthermore,proverbsarerichinpithiness,frankness,appealandhandeddownbymouthandear;theycanberememberedeasilyandspreaduniversallybothinfolkandsocietygenerationbygeneration.Thusproverbsexertadeepandpervasiveinfluenceonbothindividualsandthewholesociety.

Itisimportanttonotethat,peoplefinditdifficulttodisputeorchallengeapersonwhomakesuseofproverbswhenspeaking,becauseitispresentedinaformwhichisnotpersonal:thepersonusingthephrasedoesnotclaimresponsibilityforinventingit,butissimplycallinguponpre-existingknowledge,whichisassumedtobeself-evidentlytrue.Theyareknownasdifficulttocounter.

Toagreatextent,peoplehavebeenabsorbingthestereotypedandoldthoughtfromsex-discriminationproverbs,whichwidensthegapbetweenthetwogenders.Suchproverbsreinforcethestereotypedimagesofwomenrevealingahighdegreeofmisogyny.Inaword,thesex-discriminationproverbsinfluencethesocialconceptandsocialroledeeplyandreinforcethegenderbiasinreality.

4.TranslationofSex-discriminationProverbsinEnglish

Proverbs,beingpregnantwithculturalsymbols,therefore,deservespecialstudy;likewise,proverbtranslationasaneffectivecross-culturalcommunicationenjoysitsownspecialty.Proverbsareheavilyculturallyloadedsentencesorshortsayingsandconsideredasthespecialculturalimages.

4.1.Literaltranslation

Literaltranslationisanapproachadoptedtokeeptheoriginalmeaning,imageandstructurestothefull.Thetranslatedversionmustconformtothestandardofthetargetlanguageanditisnotsupposedtobringaboutwrongassociationinthereader’smind.Theaimofliteraltranslationistopreservethenationalflavorofthesourcelanguageproverbs,whilenottransgressingthelinguisticprinciplesofthetargetlanguage.Translatorsshouldmakeeveryefforttoretainthefigurativeimage,rhetoricaldevicesandnationalcharacteristicsoftheoriginalproverbs.

4.2.Freetranslation

Sometimesliteraltranslationhasitsownlimitation.Thankstodifferentculturalbackground,someproverbscannotbetranslatedliterallyandmaintaintheirdistinctivenationalfeatures.Inaddition,itishardfortranslatorstofindthecounterpartintargetlanguage.Inthiscase,freetranslationwillbeagoodchoice.“Liberaltranslationmaybedefinedasasupplementarymeanstomainlyconveythemeaningandspiritoftheoriginalwithouttryingtoreplaceitssentencepatternorfigureofspeech.”

InAddition,freetranslationisadoptedespeciallywhenliteralmeaningandfigurativemeaninginthesourcelanguagetextarehardtobekeptinthetranslatedtext.Iftheimageofthesourcelanguagetextcannotberemainedinproverbtranslation,atranslatorshouldchangetheimageintotheonethatismorefamiliartothereaderofthetargetlanguage.Onlybydoingsocantheimplicatedmeaninginthesourcelanguagetextcanbefullyunderstoodbythetargetreaders.

4.3.Synonymousreplacement

Oneproverbmayhaveitssynonymousproverbinthecounterpartlanguage.Ifthetwosynonymousproverbsarenotonlyidenticalintheirmeanings,butalsohavethesameorquitesimilarimagesormetaphors,thetranslatormayborrowthesynonymousproverbfromthetargetlanguagetotranslatetheoneinquestion.

4.4.Combinationofliteralandfreetranslation

Theliteraltranslationisaneffectivemethodinmaintainingthenationalcoloringsofthesourceproverbsbutsometimesitfailstokeepthevividartistryofproverbs.Fortunately,freetranslationcanmakeuptheloss.Somanytranslatorscombinethesetwomethodstogetherinproverbstranslationtogetabetterresult.Specificallyspeaking,thetranslatorsrendertheproverbsliterallyintheformerpartandthenparaphrasetheminthelatterpart.

5.Conclusion

Proverbs,languagefossils,animportantcomponentoflanguage,areextractedfromsocialpracticeovertheyearsandcanreflectpeople’sviews,behaviorsorsystemofsociety,morerepresentativeandpersuasivetobeusedtomakearesearchonsexdiscriminationinlanguage.Thesex-discriminationproverbsintheEnglishlanguag