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1、從動物習語看中西文化差異Abstract Language is a cultural carrier. Culture-loaded vocabulary plays an important role in a language. Different social backgrounds and national cultures have a great effect on the cultural connotations of vocabulary. Animals are friends of human beings. Languages of most nations cont

2、ain a lot of words denoting animals, and so do Chinese and English. Along with the development and progress of human society, many animals are tamed to become domestic animals serving people, and many others have become peoples pets. So animals have become part of peoples life. Animal idioms gradual

3、ly have got their established connotations in all languages. That is, people associate their feelings and emotions, even happenings and natural phenomena with various animals, which are thought to present different characters like people, or serve as symbols. Many animals have become a kind of symbo

4、l in peoples thinking and this symbol is reflected in the language. However, because of different history and culture, the connotations of animal words in one language do not necessarily coincide with those in another because of different outlook of life and concept of beauty in different cultures.

5、This dissertation attempts to compare the similarities and differences of animal idioms, the causes for differences and the translation methods of dealing with cultural differences. Therefore, we can not only better master and use the animal idioms accurately, but also understand the eastern and wes

6、tern cultures, promoting the cross-cultural communication and translation practice. Chapter one is the introduction dealing with the relationship between the language and culture. Chapter two makes a comparison of similarities and differences in animal words meanings of idioms. Owning to the differe

7、nt social backgrounds, customs and religions, differences are bound to appear in animal idioms in both languages. When talking about the differences, I compare the animal terms in Chinese and English idioms according to the connotative meaning, affective meaning and reflected meaning. I also talk ab

8、out the meaning gap in Chinese and in English. Chapter three focuses on the analysis of the causes for the differences from the following aspects: influence of region, influence of convention, influence of religion, influence of history, influence of fables and mythologies and influence of borrowed

9、language and foreign language. Chapter four deals primarily with the methods of dealing with cultural differences from five translation methods: literal translation, free translation, image-shift translation, literal translation plus annotation and literal plus free translation. 【摘 要】 語言是文化的載體，作為文化載

10、體的詞匯在語言中扮演重要的角色。不同的社會背景和不同的民族文化對詞匯的含義有很大的影響。動物是人類的朋友，包括英語和漢語在內(nèi)的所有語言中都有很多表示動物的詞匯。隨著人類社會的進步，很多動物成人類的朋友，為人類服務(wù)，也有很多動物還成為人們的寵物?？梢妱游镆呀?jīng)成為人們生活的一部分。動物詞匯也逐漸形成特定的涵義，也就是說人們把他們的一些情感，甚至是發(fā)生的事件，自然現(xiàn)象都和動物聯(lián)系起來，認為動物能夠表現(xiàn)不同人的個性，或者是表示某些象征。許多動物已經(jīng)在人們的思維中形成某種象征，并體現(xiàn)在語言當中。然而，由于不同的歷史和文化，不同的人生觀，以及不同文化的審美觀，動 物詞匯的內(nèi)涵意義會因為語言的不同而不同。

11、本文就中英動物習語的異同的論述，引起中西文化差異的成因和翻譯上如何處理文化差異的方法三點進行比較，使我們能夠更加準確、更加形象地使用動物習語，也能更好地了解中西文化，促進跨文化交際，對習語的翻譯實踐也有一定的實際意義。 第一部分是引言，主要處理語言與文化的關(guān)系；第二部分比較習語中動物詞匯的異同。由于不同的社會背景，風俗習慣和宗教信仰，在中英語言中，不同點便自然而生。在談到不同點時，根據(jù)內(nèi)涵意義、情感意義和反映意義將習語中的動物詞匯進行分析，同時也談到中西文化中動物詞匯的空缺；第三部分從地域性的影響、風俗習慣的影響、宗教信仰的影響、歷史的影響、寓言神話的影響和借用語和外來語的影響來強調(diào)分析中西動

12、物詞匯文化差異的成因；第四部分從翻譯方法上來處理中西文化差異，提出的翻譯方法主要有直譯、意譯、形象轉(zhuǎn)換法、直譯加注釋法和直譯加意譯法。 1. Introduction “Language and culture, intrinsically dependent on each other, have evolved together through the history.” 1 “On the one hand, language as an integral part of human being, permeates his thinking and way of viewing the

13、 world, language both expresses and embodies cultural reality. On the other, language, as a product of culture, helps permeate the culture, and the changes in language uses reflect the cultural changes in return”.2 Language is the base of entire culture, and it is only in language that culture can b

14、e well-presented and handed down from generation to generation. On the other hand, language is influenced and shaped by culture; it reflects language. Language reflects characteristics of culture and predicts the developing orientation of culture. In the broadest sense, language is the symbolic repr

15、esentation of a people; the development of language often embodies the change of culture. It comprises their historical and cultural backgrounds as well as their approach to life and their ways of living and thinking. To understand a language, one must know well about its culture and vise versa. 2.

16、A comparison of similarities and differences in meaning 2.1 Similarities in meaning Animal is mans best friend. Different animals have different natural instincts and life styles. During the long-term intimate contact with the animals, people have the deep-rooted understandings towards animals. And

17、both the Chinese people and English people nearly have the same knowledge of animals natural instincts and ways of life. For example, English people would say, “He is as sly as a fox. Hes foxy, and youre got to watch him. ”At the same time, Chinese people would understand the meaning of the sentence

18、 as well, in Chinese, “他像狐貍一樣狡猾，他很狡猾，你得注意點”. This example indicates that “fox” can be used to describe someone who is cunning and deceitful. This example states that different languages and cultures endow “fox” the same cultural associative meaning. The following animal vehicles have the same associ

19、ative meanings both in English and in Chinese. Donkey can be regarded as a kind of animal with dopey and stubborn temper. So the “donkey (驢)” is used to show the character with obstinate and stupid temper both in English and in Chinese, e.g.: “as stubborn as a donkey (像驢一樣固執(zhí)的)”.Birds can fly to any

20、place they like to. No wonder they are the embodiment of freedom in both English and Chinese. For example: “Bring the child down to me for a fortnight. I have a huge old garden where he can be as free as a bird and perfectl y safe”.Parrot is a kind of bird that can imitate peoples sound. English peo

21、ple and Chinese people use “parrot(鸚鵡)” to refer to those people repeat someone elses word and ideas without really understanding what you are saying, e.g.: “He doesnt have an idea of his own. He just parrots what other people say. (他沒有自己的主張，常常鸚鵡學舌。)”.Pig or swine has such characteristics: dirty, gr

22、eedy, lazy, selfish and ugly, for example, “make a pig of oneself (貪婪地狼吞虎咽到吃喝)”; “l(fā)ive like a pig in clover(生活奢侈)”;“He has been a pig about money. (他對錢貪得無厭)”. 2.2 Differences in meaning Because of different cultural, historical and traditional background, actually, English people and Chinese people

23、would have different associative meanings towards the same animal vehicle. 2.2.1 Same vehicle with different meanings “Everybody knows that words represent meaning. The problem is that they may represent several types of meaning simultaneously.”3 “According to Geoffery Leech(1981:9-23), meaning in t

24、he wider sense may embrace 1. conceptual meaning(or sense); 2. connotative meaning; 3. social meaning; 4. affective meaning; 5. reflected meaning; 6. collocative meaning; and 7. thematic meaning.”4 Among them, “connotative meaning, social meaning, affective meaning, reflected meaning, and collocativ

25、e meaning can be brought together under the heading associative meaning.”5 (i) Same vehicle with different connotative meanings “Connotative meaning is the communicative value an expression has in addition to the purely conceptual meaning.”6 “Connotations of words vary from culture to culture. If th

26、ey are ignored, serious misunderstandings can occur in cross-cultural communication. The connotations of a great many English words are different from those of their translation equivalents in Chinese.”7 Some of these English animal words will be discussed in the following paragraphs. Dog is a disti

27、nctive example in the two cultures. “狗” is very pejorative in meaning in Chinese. This can be readily illustrated by the Chinese words and idiomatic expressions in which it is an element: “走狗”, “喪家狗”, “狗頭軍師”, “狗急跳墻”, “狗腿子”. Many others can be added to this list, but they are enough to exemplify the

28、negative attitudes of the Chinese people towards these creatures. In English culture, however, a dog is a pet, which can even be considered a family member. For example, “there are three faithful friends: an old wife, an old dog and ready money. (人有三個忠實的朋友：老妻、老狗和現(xiàn)金。)”. 8 It is hard for English speak

29、ers to understand why “走狗” is a pejorative term in Chinese. To them a dog is lovely and a “running dog” is doubly lovely. “ Dog and 狗 convey the same conceptual meaning, but their connotations are quite different in English and Chinese cultures.”9 In English culture, owl is symbolized of wisdom. “As

30、 wise as an owl” indicates that the native English people associate wisdom with this bird. In childrens books and cartoons, the owl implies calmness and solemn. For ex ample, “He peers owlishly at us through his glasses(他透過他的眼鏡嚴肅而機智地打量著我們); A tenant offering five bales of cotton was told, after some

31、 owl-eyed figuring, that this cotton exactly balanced his debt. (一個佃農(nóng)交了5包棉花，老板精明地一盤算，告訴他說這些棉花剛好抵上他所欠的債務(wù)。)”.10 However, there is a superstitious belief that owl is an unlucky bird and is the symbol of the disaster and death among the Chinese peoples minds, as the Chinese saying goes, “貓頭鷹進宅，好事不來（an o

32、wl visiting a home pretends misfortune in that house）”. (ii) Same vehicle with different affective meanings “Affective meaning is communicated when the feeling or attitudes are expressed in language. In other cases, affective meaning is conveyed through the mediation of conceptual, connotative, or s

33、tylistic meaning.” 11 Lets take the dragon for example. In Chinese, especially in ancient time, people thought dragon is a mythical animal with great power. To Chinese, a dragon is something sacred and has been referred to the ancestor of the Chinese nationthat s why the Chinese all call themselves

34、descendents of the dragon and Chinese feudal emperors were often referred to sons of dragons, wearing clothes with designs of dragons. Chinese idioms that involve the word “龍”with good connotations are as follows: “龍騰虎躍”, “龍生龍，風生風”, “龍風呈祥”, “生龍活虎”.Many Chinese would say “望子成龍”,but its literal corres

35、pondence of form: “To expect ones son to become a dragon” would sound puzzled and ridiculous to the native English people. In western peoples minds, the dragon is a large imaginary animal that has wings and a long tail and can breathe out fire. To the westerners, the dragon is often a symbol of evil

36、, a fierce monster that destroys and therefore must be destroyed. It originates from the Bible story, in which the Satan, who fought against the God, was called the great dragon. Dragon in the western world is a cruel and vicious creature. Several stories of saints or heroes deal with struggles agai

37、nst the monsters, which in most cases are slain in the end. “There is an example from the Collins Conbuild English Language Dictionary, If you call a woman a dragon, you mean that she is fierce and unpleasant.（如果把一個女人叫做dragon，是說她很兇，很令人討厭。）”12 In Chinese peoples eye, “bat” means “auspicious” for the

38、letters “蝠”and “?！盿re pun in sounds. To English people, they are very frightened because the bat is annoying and ugly and connected with evil and darkness. Therefore, in English, expressions with “bat” have derogatory meanings, e.g.: “as blind as a bat (像蝙蝠一樣瞎)”; “crazy as a bat (像蝙蝠一樣瘋)”. The Chine

39、se people give preference to the petrel. Petrel is a bird that flies over the vast ocean with courage to brave the storms. So petrel is associated in China with braving hardships and ordeal and courage. The petrel emerges in many juvenile diaries, youthful fictional writings, and appears as the trad

40、emark for a number of products. However, the English people do not like petrel, because they think petrel is the symbol for disaster s, for when a storm is arising, petrel will flush, flying like lightening between black clouds and the sea. So the petrel is considered as an omen of disaster in Engli

41、sh. For example, “storm petrel” means a person regarded as a herald of trouble, strife or violence or someone who delights in such trouble, etc. 2.2.2 Different vehicles with same reflected meaning “Reflected meaning arises in words of multiple conceptual meaning, when one sense of a word forms part

42、 of our response to another sense.”13 “It reveals the fact that English and Chinese speakers may view the same thing in different ways”.14 This will be illustrated by the following examples. To Chinese people, tiger is a big and powerful carnivorous animal that is called the king of the beasts, so t

43、iger is the symbol of the bravery, courage, vigor, decisiveness and power, e.g.: “虎虎有生氣, 虎頭虎腦，虎將”etc. In contrast, English people consider that the king of the beasts is lion, and lion is the symbol of the courage, ferocity, dignity of dominance, as can be seen from such expressions: “regal as a lio

44、n(獅子般莊嚴)”; “majestic as a lion(像獅子一樣雄偉)”. The lion in English culture enjoys high prestige. “Richard I, king of England in the latter part of the 12th century, was known as lion-hearted for his courage and chivalry.”15 There is an expression “to be brave as a lion”. When someone is called a lion, he

45、 is referred to a celebrity or a famous person. Therefore, there is another idiom like “a lion-hunter”, which means “hosts or hostesses who seek out celebrities with whom to impress their guests.” Its no wonder, then, that the English have chosen the lion as their symbol as in the expression “the Br

46、itish lion”. The word has been used to form many English idioms with such connotations. For instance, “l(fā)ions share” means the largest part; “the lions den” means a place of great danger; “to meet a lion in ones path” means to encounter a daunting obstacle etc. To mean “boast”, in Chinese, people wou

47、ld say “吹?！?But in English, people would like to use “talk horse”. In western countries, horses are beasts of burden, while oxen are raised for milk and beef. Horses have more opportunities to demonstrate their strength than oxen that are strong domestic animals, too. So even though “strong as an ox

48、”can be heard in English, “strong as a horse” is used more frequently. In China, however, oxen are the major beasts of burden in rural areas. No wonder there are such idiomatic expressions as “力大如牛”, “壯得如?！眎n Chinese. But no Chinese would say “力大如馬”, “壯得像頭馬”. To refer to “urgent”, Chinese people wou

49、ld say “熱鍋上的螞蟻”.But the English people would prefer to say, “ like a cat on hot bricks(熱鍋上的貓)”. To mean someone is wet through, Chinese people would say “像只落湯雞”. In English, people would say “l(fā)ike a drowned rat”. Chinese people usually like to use “雞”as a vehicle, such as “雞皮疙瘩”, and English people

50、would say “goose pimple”. Chinese people say “殺雞取卵”, but English people give such idiom, “to ki ll the goose that lays the golden egg”. 2.2.3 Meaning gap (i) Gap in Chinese In English culture, some animal vehicles have rich and varied cultural connotations. It is known that bull is just an ordinary

51、animal in China and doesnt have special cultural associative meanings. The Chinese people may guess the literal meaning of the idiom, “a bull in a china shop(瓷器店里的公牛)”.But they would not have the image that would be evoked in the minds of English-speaking people: an angry, snorting bull charging int

52、o a shop filled with exquisite fragile porcelain. Consequently, Chinese would be less appreciative of the vividness of the expression “a bull in a china shop”, which means a person who is clumsy and bungling and causes a lot of trouble in a situation requiring tact and delicacy. Beaver is a hard-wor

53、king animal in North America, but the Chinese people know little of it. A beaver has a unique technique and ability for creativity. Its constant activity, its habit of gnawing down trees and building complex “homes” and its skill and ingenuity in doing this have earned for the animal the name eager

54、beaver. So the idiom “eager beaver” in English means someone who is too industrious and works harder than they should. The term sometimes has a slightly derogatory connotation. However, to most Chinese people, a beaver is only a kind of animal without any cultural connotations. Cat has rich cultural

55、 connotations in English culture. In the English mythology, cat can even affect the change of the weather, as the saying goes, “to rain cats and dogs(傾盆大雨)”and “the cat has a gale of wind in her tail.(這貓尾巴里有一陣大風)”; “there is nothing for it but to wait and see how the cat jumps(眼前只有靜待，看看事情如何轉(zhuǎn)變，英語中“貓怎

56、樣跳”指風向怎樣變。) In western countries, cat is a household pet. Under the particular cultural background, the “cat” can be used to refer to many kinds of character, for example, (1) Dont listen to her gossip; she is a cat. 別聽她搬弄是非，她是個心地惡毒的女人。 (2) He was down with fever and was sick as a cat. 他發(fā)燒病倒，病情嚴重。 (

57、3) I cannot stand that man; Hes as sleek as a cat. 我對那個人簡直無法忍受，他花言巧語，油頭滑舌。 It is difficult for Chinese people to understand the above examples. However, the Chinese people use “cat” as metaphors to refer to persons in different senses such as “饞貓”; “夜貓子”. (ii) Gap in English All the Chinese people k

58、now the “crane” in Chinese stands for longevity. So Chinese parents name their child as “鶴年”or “鶴齡” to show their hope that the child will live to a ripe old age. The crane is often paired with the pine tree, which is a symbol for sturdiness and long life. But to western minds, crane is thought to b

59、e an ugly bird, which does not arise any such association. “Tortoise” in Chinese peoples minds has two meanings, one symbolizes longevity; the other means “foolish people”. However, “tortoise” doesnt have such kind associative connotations in English culture; the tortoise is just a slow-moving and n

60、ot very attractive creature. “鴛鴦” i n Chinese usually refers to the couple, but in English , the mandarin duck doesnt have such cultural connotations . 3. Causes for Differences Just as discussed above, animal words have different cultural connotations in English and in Chinese. What are the main re

61、asons causing such differences in cultural connotations? English and Chinese animal words convey different cultural features and messages of their own nations, and reflect their own culture. The following analysis may help understand cultural connotation differences in animal words. 3.1 Influence of

62、 region China is an agriculture-cultivating country. From the invention of the farming, the agricultural culture is on the dominant role in China. Ox is the main farming tool in the agricultural history in China. The “ox” is the symbol of power and hardworking in Chinese culture. For example, “健壯如牛”

63、, “牛勁”, “老黃?！? “孺子牛”etc. But in Britain, the English people always attach importance to the livestock husbandry, so the horse plays an important role in the western culture. Here are the English idioms associated with the horse, for example, (4) work like a horse 辛苦地工作 (5) eat like a horse 狼吞虎咽 (6)

64、lock the stable door after the horse is stolen 亡羊補牢 What is more? Britain is a sea-rounded country, and there is a vast seacoast so its resources in fishery are very rich. Because of this, there are so many idioms about fishery such “ a big fish(大人物)”; “ a poor fish(倒霉的家伙)”; “have other fish to fry(

65、有另一見更重要的事要做)”; “make fish of one and flesh of another(偏愛一方；厚此薄彼)”; “never after to teach fish to swim(不要班門弄斧)”; “ a whale(聰明的人)”. 3.2 Influence of convention Due to different living conventions, different nations have obvious cultural differences in concept of value and aesthetic standards. For instance, in Chinese, the animal word “magpie” is considered as good luck because “magpie” in Chinese, is pronounced “喜鵲(Xi Que)”.“喜(Xi)” in Chinese means good and happy. In Chinese tradition, there exist such idioms as “喜鵲叫，好事到(when magpies are calling, it must have good news)”. However, in