1、The Cultural Connotations of English Idioms and Their Translation 英语习语文化的文化内涵和它的翻译The Cultural Connotations of English Idioms and Their Translation英语习语文化的文化内涵和它的翻译 摘要 论文以习语来源分析文化对成语的影响，并对英语习语的翻译进行了分析和阐述。 习语是语言的艺术，是语言的一种特殊表达方式。首先，习语是文化的特征，表现形式多种多样，并且富含各种修辞，习语本身也是一种修辞：除了持久的生命力，习语还有着语义整体性和结构稳定性的特征。从他的来
2、源来看，习语与文化有着紧密的联系，有的习语来源于人们的生活，风俗习惯和地理环境，另外一些习语来源于宗教信仰，历史，寓言和神话故事，或文学作品，有的习语甚至来源于外来语的借用。 蕴含着丰富文化特质的习语给翻译工作带来很大的挑战。在阅读了大量的有关习语的翻译作品后，作者在论文中对习语不同的翻译方法进行了深入的分析和探讨。习语不是由组成它的词语的单个意义的简单相加，一些习语的语言不符合语法逻辑，不能按常理来理解他。不同的文化背景的人对同一句话有不同的理解，因为他们对目标文化了解的很少。所以，学习中国和西方国家文化的不同是必要的。这本论文中，作者以文化的一部分-习语作为例子来探讨英语的翻译。除了这些，
3、作者介绍了两种和四种英语成语的翻译方法。译者应该根据具体的语境来采用不同的方法。 关键词：成语 来源 文化 翻译The Cultural Connotations of English Idiom and Its TranslationAbstract: On the basis of analysis of source of idiom,this thesis mainly probes into the translation of English idiom.idiom is a special kind of expressing way of language,or a kind
4、of art of human language.the first,as well as most important feature of idiom is that it is a mirror of culture.the second is that English are rich in figures,which have plentiful varied expressing styles,and idiom itself is a kind of figure too.the semantic unity and structural stability are the th
5、ird and forth features of English idioms;the final one is long-lasting vitality.Idiom are very close with culture,which can be testified by its origins,some idioms are originated form peoples lives,custom and environment while other idioms are originated from religious belief,history,allegoric and m
6、ythical story,or literal works,still others originated from the foreign borrowing.From the origins of English idioms,we know idiom,the culture-specific item,would like to challenge the translators proficiency owing to the rich cultural connotation of idiom,there are always some difficulties to make
7、a sensible translation.after reading numerous translation works of English idiom,the thesis goes deep into the different translation versions of English idiom,and explores the problems occurring in the existing translation works.idioms meaning is not a simple combination of that of each constituent
8、word.some idioms are not logical grammatically,cannot be understood by common sense.People from different cultures may have different understandings of the same sentence because they know little about the target cultures. Thus, it is necessary for us to study the cultural differences between China a
9、nd Western countries. In this thesis, the author takes idioma part of culture as an example to study English translation.Besides, the author introduces two methods and four skills of English idiom translation. Translators should adopt different methods and skills according to specific conditions.Key
10、 words: Idiom, Origin,Culture,TranslationIntroductionTranslation is not only one kind of simple correspondence switching process between two languages, but is one kind of cultural exchange and transmission.Therefore, translating idioms is a concrete operating process.The translators must fully under
11、stand the intrinsic meaning of the Chinese idioms and they should utilize several different translation methods,this thesis analyse the definition of idiom and his region of idiom,let the reader know more about the idiom and his relationship with culture.Beside those,author introducte some methods a
12、nd skills to leach how to translate English idiom.reader get a deep understanding with the help of some examples.it is useful for the English learner.Chapter 1 Definition of Idiom1.1.Idiom is originated form Greek;it means a special kind of expressing way of human language ,or a kind of art of human
13、 language.its form can be a few words,phrase,clause or short sentence.Oxford advanced learners English-Chinese dictionary defines idiom as:phrase or sentence whose meaning is not clear from the meaning if its individual word and which must be learnt as a whole unit,such asgive way,a change of hearte
14、tc.Thus,we can define that:English idiom is a set of phrases or one sentence,whose meaning is not obvious through knowledge of the individual meaning of the constituent words,but must be learnt as a whole.it is a social phenomenon,which appeared during the long history of language development,in a b
15、road sense,it includes idiom,proverb,allusion,allegorical saying,maxim and colloquialism.1.2.For instance, “to fall out” means “to quarrel”, but neither “fall” nor “out” has a sense of quarrel. Another example is “a feather in ones cap”, which means “an honor or a success, of which one can be proud”
16、. The meaning of this idiom is metaphorical. “Under the rose” is also very difficult to understand from the literal meanings of its component words. Its true meaning is “secretly”. “To have a bee in ones bonnet” means “to have a strange fixed idea about something”. “To kick the bucket or to bite the
17、 dust” means “to die”. The figurative interpretation of “shoot the breeze” is “to talk without purpose”. Unlike literal language, it is impossible to explain idioms from the literal meaning of the individual words because they are a combination of two or more words, which function as a unit of meani
18、ng. Thus, English idioms are difficult to understand and acquire.1.3.For we Chinese students, English idioms are a stumbling block. It is very possible that they often not only feel at a loss in understanding conversations because of a key idiom but also misuse idioms. In this paper, the author is g
19、oing to make a study of the relationship between idioms and culture and how to translate English idioms.As we all know, language is closely related to culture and can be said as a part of culture. From a dynamic view, language and culture interact with each other and shape each other. Language is th
20、e carrier of culture which in turn is the content of language. We can dig out cultural features from language and explain language phenomena with culture.Idioms as a special form of language exist in both of them and carry a large amount of cultural information such as history, geography, religion,
21、custom, nationality psychology, thought pattern and etc, and therefore are closely related to culture. They are the heritage of history and product of cultural evolvement. Consequently, we can know much about culture through studying idioms and in turn get better understanding of idioms by learning
22、the cultural background behind them.Chapter2. The origins of the idiomAfter we know the definition of idiom, it is better to talk about the origin of the idiom.Getting to the roots of idioms, we can find that they originated from literary masterpieces, the Bible, Greek and Roman mythologies, ancient
23、 fables, historic events, anecdotes, customs, seafaring, agriculture, daily life, animal habitual behaviors, etc, which involved every aspect of life. That is why idioms are hard to understand.The essential point of studying idioms well is to learn them through the background of the traditional cult
24、ure, thought pattern, geography, religion, and custom.2.1. Literary masterpiecesMany popular western literary masterpieces have the classic words, phrases and sentences that attract people greatly. They are shaped to evolve the hidden meaning. For example:Screw up ones courage: to overcome ones fear
25、; to stop oneself from being afraid.Man Friday: a faithful and willing attendant, ready to turn his hand to anything. The young savage found by Robinson Crusoe on a Friday, and kept as his servant and companion on the desert island.To the manner born means be born to do. HamletPound of flesh: fair b
26、ut unreasonable request. The Merchant of VeniceIf we do not read literary masterpieces, it is difficult for us to get the meaning of them. Guess is not a way to know them, reading more books is a best and only way to deal with the problem of understanding English idiom.2.2. The BibleIt is a firm con
27、cept of western people that God created people. They think that God is omnipotent and sacred. God, Christ, devil, Adam and some educational segments of the stories in the Bible are passed down because of peoples favor or even some historical and political causes. For example:Judass kiss: a deceitful
28、 act of courtesy. Judas betrayed his Master with a kiss. Matt.xxvi, 49Much cry and little wool: a proverbial saying expressive of contempt or derision for one who promises great things but never fulfils the promises. Originally the proverb ran,” Great cry and little wool, as the Devil said when he s
29、heared the hogs”; and it appears in this form in the ancient mystery of David and Abigail, in which Nabal is represented as shearing his sleep, and the Devil imitates the act by “shearing a hog”.Turn the other cheek: to take no action against the person who has hurt or harmed one, esp. to allow him
30、to do it again. Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other alsoNew Testamente.g.: The murders have made me change my mind about capital punishment. We should bring back hanging. It is time to stop turning the other cheek.The widows cruse: a sm
31、all supply of anything that, by good management, is made to go a long way and to be apparently inexhaustible. In allusion to the miracle of the cruse of oil in 2 kings,So when we learn idioms from Bible, we can read Bible, which will increase our knowledge and help us to be familiar with the feature
32、s of western culture and have a clear understanding of the hidden meanings of idioms.2.3. Greek and Roman mythologiesMythologies are ancient stories that are based on popular beliefs or that explains natural or historical events because the people of the primeval society were scared of the nature and longed for the nice future.Midas touch: the excellent skill of making money. Midas is a legendary king of Phrygia who requested of the gods that everything he touched might be turned into gold. His request was granted, but as his food became gold the moment he touched it, he pra
