A Comparative Study of Animal Words between English and Chinese[Abstract] In the history of developing process of human beings, some animals always keep relation with human and deeply influence human survival and development to some extent. This close relation repose human’s abounding emotions, like love, joy, hatred, fear and jealousy in animals, so there are lots of animal words in different languages. Words can reflect differences of culture and words are influenced by history, customs, values, and religion. Animal words are given special cultural connotations in different languages. There are many words of animals, such as dogs, birds, sheep, dragons, etc, used in metaphors in the human languages. These animal metaphors have explained the origins of different cultures. Research on comparisons of animal metaphors between Chinese and foreign language provides an answer to the explanations of cultural generalities. Cognitive interpretations of cultural differences or coincidence in different animal metaphors have been reflected from different language levels. Therefore, a reasonable explanation can only be found from the point of view of cognitive science. There are a lot of animal words in both English and Chinese. Their modes of thinking and background are different and they result in the implied meanings of animal words are possibly different. As we known, language is a culture carrier. Culture loaded words play an important role in paper focuses on the similarities and differences of animal words in both Chinese and English. Different cultural backgrounds and ways of thinking result in the different connotation of animal words. To be aware of the different cultures and ways of thinking in the two countries will help us understand the usage of the animal words better, thus understand the language itself much better.[Key Words] Animal words; cultural connotation; similarities and differences 英汉动物词的对比研究 【摘 要】在人类历史发展的漫长进程中, 有些动物一直与人类保持着密切联系并对人类的生存、发展有着深刻的影响。这种关系使得人类对动物产生喜爱、同情、厌恶、恐惧等错综复杂的情感, 人们也常常借动物来寄托和表达人的感情, 所以在英汉两种文化中都有许许多多与动物相关的词汇。同时语言中的词汇反映了文化发展的差异, 由于受历史、习俗、价值观念、宗教信仰等诸方面文化因素的影响, 中英两种语言赋予动物词汇以各自特定的文化内涵众所周知, 在不同语言和不同文化背景下, 每个词除了具有字面意义外, 还有丰富的文化内涵, 即该词所隐含的附带的联想义、比喻义、象征义及带有感情色彩的褒义和贬义等。许多同一动物在不同语言中其语词有着不同的文化内涵。从文化语言学和对比语言学的角度来分析对比中英两种语言中动物词的文化内涵之异同会有助于语言学习。动物词在英汉两种语言中的出现频率都很高。英汉民族思维方式和文化背景不同,同一动物所承载的意义也就会出现差异。通过对动物词文化意义的揭示和研究,不仅可以避免交际中的语用失误,而且对于不同文化的比较与导入有一定的理论和实践意义.语言是文化的载体, 不同民族的语言使世界上的文化呈现出千姿百态。文化差异赋予同一动物词语不同的内涵, 词汇反映了特定的社会文化, 不同的社会背景和文化差异造成了词汇在文化内涵上的差异。通过比较, 人们可以更清楚地感受到英汉文化在动物词语上留下的历史文化差异。本文从同一个动物词代表相同的意义;同一个动物词代表不同的意义; 不同的动物词代表相同的意义; 英汉特有的动物词涵义这四个方面来讨论英汉动物词汇涵义的相同点和不同点。【关键词】动物词;文化内涵; 异同 1. IntroductionIn the history of developing process, human beings keep close relation with animals. They live together on the same earth, and they have great impact on each other. This close relation reposes human’s abounding emotions, like love, joy, hatred, fear and jealousy in animals and results in the emergence and enrichment of animal words in different languages. However, different people from different countries have different ways of thinking and social backgrounds. Therefore, the implied meaning of the words that have the same denotations may be totally different. They are given special cultural connotations for the different social backgrounds and national conventions. And as it is well-known, both English and Chinese have a sea of animal words, which are endowed abundant cultural connotations. So, this paper tries to discuss the cultural connotations of animal words both in English and Chinese from the following aspects: the words refer to the same animal with the same connotations; the words refer to the same animal but with different connotations; the words refer to different animals with the same connotation; the words refer to the same animal but only has connotation in English or Chinese. With comparison, the English learners can better understand the usage of the animal words. 2. The worth for the comparison of animal words between English and Chinese“Cultural connotation refers to the general meaning including connotative meaning and cultural meaning carried in different cultural circumstance. It includes the meaning added and the amplified meaning under special social and cultural background, and also includes the emotions and attitudes of some particular cultural colony.”[1] As we have mentioned above, different social backgrounds render diverse cultural connotations to different languages. Therefore, even if animal words of different languages have the same conceptual meanings, their connotative meanings are not totally the same. As we all know, English has become one of the most open languages around the world. Since it was born, it has never stopped its self-development and meanwhile assimilated other’s cultural essence from different countries. As the result, it can be sure that the animal words in English language have rich cultural implications. And Chinese, as one of the oldest languages in the world, has evolved over 5000 years. The animal words in Chinese have their own specific cultural connotations as well. Fore these reasons, it is worthwhile to make a good comparison of animal words between English and Chinese both for the English language learners and Chinese language learners. It can help them get a better comprehension of the intercultural communication as well. 3. The similarities and differences of animal words between English and . Similar words or similar . The words refer to the same animal with the same connotation It is sure that people around the world live in similar surroundings, so they will have similar thinking on some aspects. When they learn some animal words from their basic cognition to the world, these animal words are endowed with the same cultural connotation. For example, regardless of English or Chinese culture, the animal, fox is the symbol of crafty. Phrases: old fox; play the foxSentences: (1) She is as cunning as a fox, you’ve got to watch her. [2] (2) I could not help reflecting on the strange by which the old fox had saved himself. (3) Are you sure you can trust that man------he is such a sly old fox. [3] Fox also means sly crafty and doubtful in Chinese, for example: (1) 狐假虎威: the ass in the lion’s skin;(fig) bully people by flaunting one'spowerful connections.(2) 狐狸尾巴: fox's tail-cloven hoof; something that gives away the evil intention of somebody like a fox tail(3) 狐朋狗友: a pack of rogues; a gang of scoundrels(4) 狐狸精: fox spirit symbolizing a seductive woman(5) 狐疑: doubt; suspicion [4]In Chinese, “old fox” means someone who is very crafty. For example:(1) 他是一只老狐狸,不要轻易相信他说的话。(He is an old fox, whose words cannot be believed.)(
集美大学毕业设计(论文)开题报告学院 (系) 专业 年 月 日论文题目 On Translating English Metaphors into Chinese(英语隐喻汉译)学生姓名 学号 指导教师一、本选题的目的和意义:本选题旨在研究隐喻在英语日常用语中存在的普遍性、可译性及其翻译的方法,重点从文化交际的角度对日常用语中隐喻的汉译进行深入的理论探讨。本选题突破了历来将隐喻的汉译局限在诗学、修辞学、文学等范畴。由于“翻译是跨语言、跨文化的交际活动”(陈宏薇:1996),翻译对各民族之间文化的传播起着非常重要的作用。我们对日常用语中隐喻的汉译研究应与英语语言文化背景的研究结合起来。二、本选题国内外研究的现状和发展趋向:对隐喻的研究在国外已形成较为完整的体系,其中以Lakoff &Johnson(1987)的研究最具有代表性,而对于其汉译的研究却凤毛麟角。国内对于隐喻的研究主要受Lakoff & Johnson理论的影响,其中以胡壮麟、朱永生为主要代表。在隐喻翻译的研究方面,李国南(1990),胡文仲(1994)对于英汉成语或谚语中的习用性比喻的喻体进行过比较,并探讨了其翻译的途径。在近期出版的刊物中有对隐喻翻译研究方面的文章,其中以徐莉娜的《隐喻的翻译》为主要代表。但其研究的范围也只局限于文学、修辞用语的隐喻翻译。三、主要研究的内容:本文分五个部分。一、简要介绍隐喻与语言以及语言与文化之间的关系,提出日常用语中隐喻的汉译不可忽视文化背景,并简述本论文的主要内容。 二、重点论述隐喻在英语日常用语中存在的普遍性。三、分析隐喻的特点,从人类文化的共性论述其可译性。四、讨论隐喻的汉译标准、难点、过程、基本方法以及根据语境而确定译法的原则。五、详述隐喻汉译的方法和技巧,指出在翻译实践中,对每种方法的使用都不能走极端。结论部分,总结研究隐喻汉译所具有的实用价值。1.引言2.英语日常用语中隐喻存在的普遍性隐喻的定义关于隐喻研究的常用术语英语日常用语中的隐喻3.英语日常用语中隐喻的特点日常用语中隐喻的分类习用性隐喻新生隐喻英语隐喻与汉语隐喻英语日常用语中隐喻的可译性4.英语日常用语中的隐喻的汉译翻译的标准日常用语中隐喻汉译的难点日常用语中隐喻汉译的过程日常用语中隐喻汉译的基本方法及原则5.日常用语中隐喻汉译的方法与技巧直译法意译法转译法直译和意译结合法四、参考文献:[1]Aristotle. “Rhetoric” (W. R. Roberts, Trans.) In W. D. Ross (Ed.) The Works of Aristotle. Oxford: Clarendon Press. (Original Work Written ca. 330 .), 1924.[2]Brodkey, Linda. Review: The Languages in Metaphor. College English, 1988, (1): 89-94 [3]Goatly, Andrew. The Language of Metaphors. London: Routledge, 1997.[4]Jin Di and Eugene, A. Nida. On Translation. Beijing: China Translation Publishing Company, 1984.[5]Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. Metaphors We Live by Chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987.[6]Nida, Eugene A. & William, Reyburn. Meaning Across Cultures. New York: Maryknoll of N. Y. Orbis Book, 1981.[7]Soskice, . Metaphor and Religious Language. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985.[8]Tylor, Edward Burnett. Primitive Culture. London: John Murray, 1871.[9]陈宏薇(不加汉语拼音,下同).新实用汉译英教程 [M],武汉:湖北教育出版社,1996.[10]陈文伯.英语成语和汉语成语 [M],北京:外语教学与研究出版社,1980.[11]陈望道.修辞学发凡 [M],上海:上海教育出版社,1983.[12]邓炎昌,刘润清.语言与文化 [M],北京:外语教学与研究出版社, 1989.[13]范家材.英语修辞赏析 [M],上海:上海交通大学出版社,1992.[14]冯明之. 英文成语故事 [M],香港:万里出版社,1992.[15]冯庆华. 实用翻译教程 [M],上海:上海外语教育出版社,1997.[16]胡文仲. 文化与交际 [M],北京:外语教学与研究出版社,1994.[17]徐莉娜. 隐喻的翻译 [J],中国翻译,1999,(3):18-22.五、预期的课题进度计划:1.2007年4月25日 完成初稿,并上交指导教师审阅。2.2007年5月9日提交论文第二稿。3. 2007年5月16日提交论文第三稿。3.2007年5月17日-6月9日继续修改论文直至定稿。5.2007年6月13日提交毕业论文。6.2007年6月14日-23日准备论文答辩。7.2007年6月24日进行毕业论文答辩(进度计划不能照抄,应根据实际情况从3月5日起至6月24日止编写计划。)六、完成论文的条件、方法及措施:(一)条件1.已经修完英语专业的所有课程,对英语国家概况和跨文化交际有较全面和深入的了解;2.学校图书馆和学院资料室具备有关本论文研究所需的丰富的书籍、期刊等参考文献;3.已经收集较丰富和全面的文献资料;4.具有上网条件及丰富的网上资源。(二)方法及措施1.利用图书馆和互联网进行资料的检索网;2.小组讨论交流。指导教师的意见及建议:签名:年 月 日注:此表前六项由学生填写后交指导教师签署意见,否则不得开题;此表作为毕业设计(论文)评分的依据
这题目英文翻译的就有问题。。
怎么写开题报告呢?首先要把在准备工作当中搜集的资料整理出来,包括课题名称、课题内容、课题的理论依据、参加人员、组织安排和分工、大概需要的时间、经费的估算等等。第一是标题的拟定。课题在准备工作中已经确立了,所以开题报告的标题是不成问题的,把你研究的课题直接写上就行了。比如我曾指导过一组同学对伦教的文化诸如“伦教糕”、伦教木工机械、伦教文物等进行研究,拟定的标题就是“伦教文化研究”。第二就是内容的撰写。开题报告的主要内容包括以下几个部分:一、课题研究的背景。 所谓课题背景,主要指的是为什么要对这个课题进行研究,所以有的课题干脆把这一部分称为“问题的提出”,意思就是说为什么要提出这个问题,或者说提出这个课题。比如我曾指导的一个课题“伦教文化研究”,背景说明部分里就是说在改革开放的浪潮中,伦教作为珠江三角洲一角,在经济迅速发展的同时,她的文化发展怎么样,有哪些成就,对居民有什么影响,有哪些还要改进的。当然背景所叙述的内容还有很多,既可以是社会背景,也可以是自然背景。关键在于我们所确定的课题是什么。二、课题研究的内容。课题研究的内容,顾名思义,就是我们的课题要研究的是什么。比如我校黄姝老师的指导的课题“佛山新八景”,课题研究的内容就是:“以佛山新八景为重点,考察佛山历史文化沉淀的昨天、今天、明天,结合佛山经济发展的趋势,拟定开发具有新佛山、新八景、新气象的文化旅游的可行性报告及开发方案。”三、课题研究的目的和意义。课题研究的目的,应该叙述自己在这次研究中想要达到的境地或想要得到的结果。比如我校叶少珍老师指导的“重走长征路”研究课题,在其研究目标一栏中就是这样叙述的:1、通过再现长征历程,追忆红军战士的丰功伟绩,对长征概况、长征途中遇到了哪些艰难险阻、什么是长征精神,有更深刻的了解和感悟。2、通过小组同学间的分工合作、交流、展示、解说,培养合作参与精神和自我展示能力。3、通过本次活动,使同学的信息技术得到提高,进一步提高信息素养。四、课题研究的方法。在“课题研究的方法”这一部分,应该提出本课题组关于解决本课题问题的门路或者说程序等。一般来说,研究性学习的课题研究方法有:实地调查考察法(通过组织学生到所研究的处所实地调查,从而得出结论的方法)、问卷调查法(根据本课题的情况和自己要了解的内容设置一些问题,以问卷的形式向相关人员调查的方法)、人物采访法(直接向有关人员采访,以掌握第一手材料的方法)、文献法(通过查阅各类资料、图表等,分析、比较得出结论)等等。在课题研究中,应该根据自己课题的实际情况提出相关的课题研究方法,不一定面面俱到,只要实用就行。五、课题研究的步骤。课题研究的步骤,当然就是说本课题准备通过哪几步程序来达到研究的目的。所以在这一部分里应该着重思考的问题就是自己的课题大概准备分几步来完成。一般来说课题研究的基本步骤不外乎是以下几个方面:准备阶段、查阅资料阶段、实地考察阶段、问卷调查阶段、采访阶段、资料的分析整理阶段、对本课题的总结与反思阶段等。六、课题参与人员及组织分工。这属于对本课题研究的管理范畴,但也不可忽视。因为管理不到位,学生不能明确自己的职责,有时就会偷懒或者互相推诿,有时就会做重复劳动。因此课题参与人员的组织分工是不可少的。最好是把所有的参与研究的学生分成几个小组,每个小组通过民主选举的方式推选出小组长,由小组长负责本小组的任务分派和落实。然后根据本课题的情况,把相关的研究任务分割成几大部分,一个小组负责一个部分。最后由小组长组织人员汇总和整理。七、课题的经费估算。一个课题要开展,必然需要一些经费来启动,所以最后还应该大概地估算一下本课题所需要 的资金是多少,比如搜集资料需要多少钱,实地调查的外出经费,问卷调查的印刷和分发的费用,课题组所要占用的场地费,有些课题还需要购买一些相关的材料,结题报告等资料的印刷费等等。所谓“大军未动,粮草先行”,没有足够的资金作后盾,课题研究势必举步维艰,捉襟见肘,甚至于半途而废。因此,课题的经费也必须在开题之初就估算好,未雨绸缪,才能真正把本课题的研究做到最好。
那么,不同国家的文化差异,究竟应该怎样来表示呢?霍夫斯坦特从其调查数据的分析中,得出了以下描述各种文化差异的指标: (一)权力距离(power distance) 权力距离即在一个组织当中,权力的集中程度和领导的独裁程度,以及一个社会在多大的程度上可以接受组织当中这种权力分配的不平等,在企业当中可以理解为员工和管理者之间的社会距离。一种文化究竟是大的权力距离还是小的权力距离,必然会从该社会内权力大小不等的成员的价值观中反映出来。因此研究社会成员的价值观,就可以判定一个社会对权力差距的接受程度。 例如,美国是权力距离相对较小的国家,美国员工倾向于不接受管理特权的观念,下级通常认为上级是“和我一样的人”。所以在美国,员工与管理者之间更平等,关系也更融洽,员工也更善于学习、进步和超越自我,实现个人价值。中国相对而言,是权力距离较大的国家,在这里地位象征非常重要,上级所拥有的特权被认为是理所应当的,这种特权大大地有助于上级对下属权力的实施。这些特点显然不利于员工与管理者之间和谐关系的创造和员工在企业中不断地学习和进步。因而要在中国的企业当中采纳“构建员工与管理者之间和谐的关系”以及“为员工在工作当中提供学习的机会,使他们不断进步”这两项人本主义政策,管理者有必要在实践当中有意识地减小企业内部权力之间的距离,才会更好地实现管理目标。 (二)不确定性避免(uncertainty avoidance index)
集美大学毕业设计(论文)开题报告学院 (系) 专业 年 月 日论文题目 On Translating English Metaphors into Chinese(英语隐喻汉译)学生姓名 学号 指导教师一、本选题的目的和意义:本选题旨在研究隐喻在英语日常用语中存在的普遍性、可译性及其翻译的方法,重点从文化交际的角度对日常用语中隐喻的汉译进行深入的理论探讨。本选题突破了历来将隐喻的汉译局限在诗学、修辞学、文学等范畴。由于“翻译是跨语言、跨文化的交际活动”(陈宏薇:1996),翻译对各民族之间文化的传播起着非常重要的作用。我们对日常用语中隐喻的汉译研究应与英语语言文化背景的研究结合起来。二、本选题国内外研究的现状和发展趋向:对隐喻的研究在国外已形成较为完整的体系,其中以Lakoff &Johnson(1987)的研究最具有代表性,而对于其汉译的研究却凤毛麟角。国内对于隐喻的研究主要受Lakoff & Johnson理论的影响,其中以胡壮麟、朱永生为主要代表。在隐喻翻译的研究方面,李国南(1990),胡文仲(1994)对于英汉成语或谚语中的习用性比喻的喻体进行过比较,并探讨了其翻译的途径。在近期出版的刊物中有对隐喻翻译研究方面的文章,其中以徐莉娜的《隐喻的翻译》为主要代表。但其研究的范围也只局限于文学、修辞用语的隐喻翻译。三、主要研究的内容:本文分五个部分。一、简要介绍隐喻与语言以及语言与文化之间的关系,提出日常用语中隐喻的汉译不可忽视文化背景,并简述本论文的主要内容。 二、重点论述隐喻在英语日常用语中存在的普遍性。三、分析隐喻的特点,从人类文化的共性论述其可译性。四、讨论隐喻的汉译标准、难点、过程、基本方法以及根据语境而确定译法的原则。五、详述隐喻汉译的方法和技巧,指出在翻译实践中,对每种方法的使用都不能走极端。结论部分,总结研究隐喻汉译所具有的实用价值。1.引言2.英语日常用语中隐喻存在的普遍性隐喻的定义关于隐喻研究的常用术语英语日常用语中的隐喻3.英语日常用语中隐喻的特点日常用语中隐喻的分类习用性隐喻新生隐喻英语隐喻与汉语隐喻英语日常用语中隐喻的可译性4.英语日常用语中的隐喻的汉译翻译的标准日常用语中隐喻汉译的难点日常用语中隐喻汉译的过程日常用语中隐喻汉译的基本方法及原则5.日常用语中隐喻汉译的方法与技巧直译法意译法转译法直译和意译结合法四、参考文献:[1]Aristotle. “Rhetoric” (W. R. Roberts, Trans.) In W. D. Ross (Ed.) The Works of Aristotle. Oxford: Clarendon Press. (Original Work Written ca. 330 .), 1924.[2]Brodkey, Linda. Review: The Languages in Metaphor. College English, 1988, (1): 89-94 [3]Goatly, Andrew. The Language of Metaphors. London: Routledge, 1997.[4]Jin Di and Eugene, A. Nida. On Translation. Beijing: China Translation Publishing Company, 1984.[5]Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. Metaphors We Live by Chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987.[6]Nida, Eugene A. & William, Reyburn. Meaning Across Cultures. New York: Maryknoll of N. Y. Orbis Book, 1981.[7]Soskice, . Metaphor and Religious Language. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985.[8]Tylor, Edward Burnett. Primitive Culture. London: John Murray, 1871.[9]陈宏薇(不加汉语拼音,下同).新实用汉译英教程 [M],武汉:湖北教育出版社,1996.[10]陈文伯.英语成语和汉语成语 [M],北京:外语教学与研究出版社,1980.[11]陈望道.修辞学发凡 [M],上海:上海教育出版社,1983.[12]邓炎昌,刘润清.语言与文化 [M],北京:外语教学与研究出版社, 1989.[13]范家材.英语修辞赏析 [M],上海:上海交通大学出版社,1992.[14]冯明之. 英文成语故事 [M],香港:万里出版社,1992.[15]冯庆华. 实用翻译教程 [M],上海:上海外语教育出版社,1997.[16]胡文仲. 文化与交际 [M],北京:外语教学与研究出版社,1994.[17]徐莉娜. 隐喻的翻译 [J],中国翻译,1999,(3):18-22.五、预期的课题进度计划:1.2007年4月25日 完成初稿,并上交指导教师审阅。2.2007年5月9日提交论文第二稿。3. 2007年5月16日提交论文第三稿。3.2007年5月17日-6月9日继续修改论文直至定稿。5.2007年6月13日提交毕业论文。6.2007年6月14日-23日准备论文答辩。7.2007年6月24日进行毕业论文答辩(进度计划不能照抄,应根据实际情况从3月5日起至6月24日止编写计划。)六、完成论文的条件、方法及措施:(一)条件1.已经修完英语专业的所有课程,对英语国家概况和跨文化交际有较全面和深入的了解;2.学校图书馆和学院资料室具备有关本论文研究所需的丰富的书籍、期刊等参考文献;3.已经收集较丰富和全面的文献资料;4.具有上网条件及丰富的网上资源。(二)方法及措施1.利用图书馆和互联网进行资料的检索网;2.小组讨论交流。指导教师的意见及建议:签名:年 月 日注:此表前六项由学生填写后交指导教师签署意见,否则不得开题;此表作为毕业设计(论文)评分的依据
翻译专业开题报告
开题报告是毕业论文答辩委员会对学生答辩资格审查的一个重要依据材料。下面是我为大家收集整理的翻译专业开题报告,欢迎阅读。
How to Deal with Ellipsis in English-Chinese Translation
I. Purpose and Significance
With the development of globalization, the world’s political, economic and cultural communications are becoming increasingly frequent. Therefore, the role of translation cannot be ignored. However, the differences between English and Chinese cultures that are reflected in the two languages pose considerable difficulty.
It is acknowledged that when doing translation one can not translate word for word, or sentence by sentence. Therefore, we must use some translation strategies such as amplification, ellipsis, conversion and so on. Ellipsis as one of the basic translation methods plays an essential role in English-Chinese rendition. Translators apply it in order to make their versions more coherent and understandable.
According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary, ellipsis means leaving out a word or words from a sentence deliberately, when the meaning can be understood without them. Ellipsis in translation does not mean cutting some content from the original articles. What could be omitted are words that are useless in translated works or else they will make the versions redundant or disobey the manner of expression in another language.
Some words and phrases are useless in Chinese but necessary in English. Articles in English are the most significant phenomenon from this aspect. They are very important in English, but we can hardly see any reflection of this part in Chinese. Ellipsis is designed on the basis of faithfulness to the original text, making it more fluent, smooth, concise, thus conforming to idiomatic Chinese. The paper will explore ellipsis in English-Chinese translation from five aspects, which are ellipses of pronouns, conjunctions, articles, prepositions, modifications, so as to achieve smoother and clearer communications among China and English-speaking countries.
II. Literature Review
Long before, some people began to learn other countries’ languages to understand others cultures. In China, Xuanzang was the first translator who not only translated the Sanskrit sutras into Chinese, but introduced the first Chinese writings to foreign countries, making foreigners understand China’s ancient culture. Meanwhile, he was the first to translate Lao Tse's works into Sanskrit. Indian scholars had a high opinion of Xuanzang, "In China, there is no such great translator, and also in the human cultural history, we can only say that Xuanzang is the first great translator."(Ye Lang, 2008) We can say that it was Xuanzang who motivated people to know the different parts of the world, their cultures and the peoples who live there. Then, some big countries such as America, China, and so on became a melting pot.(Gu Zhengkun, 2000) People have imperceptibly spent thousands of years in knowing each other.
With China’s entry into WTO and its open-up policy, cross-cultural exchanges are increasingly frequent between this country and others. A lot of foreign tourists come to visit China. While traveling, these foreigners are not satisfied with the translations of the scenic spots. Sometimes, they even feel confused. A lot of problems exist in the translation, such as misuse of words, poor expression of meaning and so on. All of these poor translations do harm to our country’s international image, and cause a lot of inconveniences for the foreign visitors. (Ma Zuyi, 2000). I am fond of tourism and being a free tourist like the others who are good at enjoying their wonderful lives. The love of tourism makes me feel the need to improve the translation. But every time when I have a trip, many unsuitable translations of the names of those scenic spots will embarrass me. Tourism is part of intercultural communication, so proper translation of the scenic spots become more and more important to our country.
Communication plays a significant role in the globalized society. In order to know each other better, people from all over the world have tried a verity of ways. Of course, translation is one of them. All translators have done their best to make the translated works more consistent with the needs of people.(Gu Jinming, 1997) From my perspective, they really have done a great job. And I want to retrospect the cause of their development. After a thorough evaluation, I choose a branch of translation—ellipsis in translation from English to Chinese, then I did the following jobs.
I put all my researches and other stuffs together, and then I found that it is a common case in English and Chinese which draws much academic interest. In 1976, Halliday and Hsan classified ellipsis into nominal, verbal and clausal ellipsis. This classification exerts great influence in academic circle. Thereafter, ellipsis in Chinese and English has been studied according to this theory, which is based on different layers of structure. This kind of study underlines differentiations and similarities of ellipsis in Chinese and English.
Another famous theory to explain ellipsis is Economy Principle. Economy Principle was put forward by Chomsky (1991,1993, and 1995) in his Generate Crammer. It maintains that language and linguistic study follow Economy Principle, which means using the least effort to express the most information. This principle just coincides with ellipsis in function.
In this thesis, I think that brevity is the most obvious and common function of ellipsis, especially in daily language. And in both English and Chinese, people advocate brevity. Shakespeare once remarked, “brevity is the soul of wit”, and in Chinese there are numerous idioms like “yan jian yi gai” (meaning compendious). However, apart from the function of brevity, ellipsis embodies other functions which are also pretty common in the two languages but less noticed.(Hua Xianfa,2002)These functions distribute in both English and Chinese unevenly and represent great colorfulness of language. Exploring other functions of ellipsis and searching for functional recreation in translation will be of much benefit to both English to Chinese and Chinese to English translation.
I found that when Chinese authors try to analyse ellipsis in English to Chinese translation, they always initially put articles in the list. They consider that it is a common phenomenon that Chinese always leave out personal articles. While it is obviously different in English that almost every sentence has a subject, we can see articles fluently. That is because when we translate from English to Chinese, personal articles can be omitted, even though sometimes it may appear once, it can also be omitted if necessary. Furthermore, if the objects can be seen obviously, personal articles should also be omitted. However, it never happens in English. From this point, it is not only allowable but also necessary when we translate personal articles which are objects in sentences into Chinese.
In my point of view, the development of society has in some way has deliberately promoted the way of people’s thinking, translation system has become more and more perfect, people from all over the world have enjoyed the convenience. However, we can not neglect that there are still some problems in this field in China, and we have less influential Chinese translators in the world. Therefore, we still have a long way to go in translation.
III. Feasibility Analysis
This academic paper is a feasible project and the reasons are as follows:
have great interests in the way of English-Chinese translation.
have already studied translation methods and have been familiar with the functions and applications of ellipsis .
have collected enough references both Chinese and Western on ellipsis in
translation and do a scrupulous study of the relationship between them.
have a carefully planned schedule and have worked out a detailed outline of this thesis.
have acquainted myself with the correct format, a clear and complete structure required by the academic paper, and my adequate English competence will enable me to write in fluent and precise English.
instructor is a qualified translator who is familiar with the subject I havechosen.
IV. Problems of the research and solutions
1. Problems
Despite the references I have collected and read, a thorough study of ellipsis in English-Chinese translation from the point of freely using still needs far more. What’s more, owing to the limited ways of getting references in Xinjiang, I will have to make full use of my present resources. Also, this is the first time I have ever written such a serious academic paper. I am therefore a learner and lack the needed training and experience.
2. Solutions
(1) I shall make full use of my already acquired references which come from books, magazines and the Internet as well.
(2) I shall value my own original thoughts and mainly rely on detailed analysis that I have read from the books which have closely idea with my purpose.
(3) When I have difficulties in the writing process, I shall consult my instructor and seek for help.
V. Necessary conditions
1. Our university and school of foreign languages have provided the basic study and research conditions and facilities, including books and journals in the library and reading rooms.
2. The Internet is another source of information and on the campus we have easy access to the Internet.
3. I have been assigned an instructor to guide me through the whole process of planning and writing.
VI. Outline
I. Introduction
A. A Brief Introduction of Ellipsis in Translation
B. What Should We Pay Attention to When Dealing with Ellipsis
C. The Reason Why Ellipsis Is So Widely Used in Translation
1. Chinese Expressions Are Much Briefer Than That of English
2. English Grammar Is Wee-Knit and Complete in Sentence Structure
II. The Principles of Ellipsis
A. Omitted Words Must Be Useless And Unnecessary in the Translated Works
B. The Meaning of the Omitted Words Is Implied in the Test
C. Omitted Words Which Are Self-Evident
Ш. The Functions and Applications of Ellipsis
A. The Coherence of the Meaning of Expression
B. The Coincidence of the Manner of Expression
1. Ellipsis of Articles
a. Ellipsis of Definite Articles
b. Ellipsis of Indefinite Articles
2. Ellipsis of Prepositions
3. Ellipsis of Pronouns
a. Ellipsis of Personal and Impersonal Pronouns
b. Ellipsis of Indefinite Pronouns
c. Ellipsis of Relative Pronouns
4. Ellipsis of Conjunctions
a. Ellipsis of Coordinating Conjunctions
b. Ellipsis of Subordinate Conjunctions
5. Ellipsis of Rhetoric
a. Ellipsis of Repeated Words
b. Ellipsis of Synonyms
选题的原因、基本内容:
英语成语(idiom)是英语的核心与精华。其内容丰富,寓意深刻,具有浓厚的感情色彩。如果能在文章、谈话或对外交往中,恰当地加以运用,会大大增加语言的表达能力,收到良好的效果。英语谚语是英语语言的'精华,是英国艺术宝库的瑰丽明珠。英语谚语的句式特点是句式简单,语言精炼,富于形象比喻,充满浓郁的民族色彩。学习和研究英语谚语有助于启迪思想,开拓视野,了解英国的历史文化、风土人情,以及英国人民的人生哲理,同时还可以学到生动活泼的大众语言。
本文通过比较英汉成语及谚语这两种语言的相似及不同之处,详细的介绍英语成语及谚语。第一部分主要从内容和形式两方面谈谈英语成语及谚语的基本特色;第二部分谈及英语成语及谚语的一般翻译方法和翻译时应该注意的一些问题。
相关资料收集情况:
陈亚光。小议英谚语和成语的创新。上海外国语学院学报,1983。
黄粉保。英汉成语翻译漫谈。云梦学刊,1999/2
顾雪梁。语成语英译探索。广州师范学院学报,1993/2。
张培基,喻云根,李宗杰,彭谟禹。《英汉翻译教程》。北京:中国外语教育出版社,xx/8
杨永和。英语谚语的修辞特点研究。重庆工学院学报,xx/3。
论文提纲:
thesis statemen:this essay discourse the features and translation of english
idioms and proverbs. and from the society culture to find out the basic different between chinese.
outline
ⅰ. introduction: for chinese students, english idioms and proverbs is a stumbling block. so the characteristics and translation of idioms and proverbs should be studied.
ⅱ. the characteristics of english idioms and proverbs
a. the characteristics of english idioms
1. simple but rich
2. harmonious phonology
3. vivid metaphor
b. the characteristics of english proverb
1. concise and clear
2. symmetrical sentence pattern
3. rich and varied rhetoric
ⅲ. the translation of english idioms and proverbs
a. the theories of translation
1. literal translation
2. free translation
3. mechanical application of the synonym chinese proverb
4. literal translation and free translation
b. the points of translation
1. the literal translation of proverbs prohibited
2. the translation of proverbs to keep the original text style
3. the translation of proverbs to notice the national characteristic
4. the translation of proverbs to notice the artistic characteristic
ⅳ. conclusion
指导教师意见:
指导教师签名:
年 月 日
英汉谚语文化差异及翻译我们写
论文题目 On Translating English Metaphors into Chinese(英语隐喻汉译) 学生姓名 学号 指导教师 一、本选题的目的和意义: 本选题旨在研究隐喻在英语日常用语中存在的普遍性、可译性及其翻译的方法,重点从文化交际的角度对日常用语中隐喻的汉译进行深入的理论探讨。 本选题突破了历来将隐喻的汉译局限在诗学、修辞学、文学等范畴。由于“翻译是跨语言、跨文化的交际活动”(陈宏薇:1996),翻译对各民族之间文化的传播起着非常重要的作用。我们对日常用语中隐喻的汉译研究应与英语语言文化背景的研究结合起来。 二、本选题国内外研究的现状和发展趋向: 对隐喻的研究在国外已形成较为完整的体系,其中以Lakoff &Johnson(1987)的研究最具有代表性,而对于其汉译的研究却凤毛麟角。国内对于隐喻的研究主要受Lakoff & Johnson理论的影响,其中以胡壮麟、朱永生为主要代表。在隐喻翻译的研究方面,李国南(1990),胡文仲(1994)对于英汉成语或谚语中的习用性比喻的喻体进行过比较,并探讨了其翻译的途径。在近期出版的刊物中有对隐喻翻译研究方面的文章,其中以徐莉娜的《隐喻的翻译》为主要代表。但其研究的范围也只局限于文学、修辞用语的隐喻翻译。 三、主要研究的内容: 本文分五个部分。一、简要介绍隐喻与语言以及语言与文化之间的关系,提出日常用语中隐喻的汉译不可忽视文化背景,并简述本论文的主要内容。 二、重点论述隐喻在英语日常用语中存在的普遍性。三、分析隐喻的特点,从人类文化的共性论述其可译性。四、讨论隐喻的汉译标准、难点、过程、基本方法以及根据语境而确定译法的原则。五、详述隐喻汉译的方法和技巧,指出在翻译实践中,对每种方法的使用都不能走极端。结论部分,总结研究隐喻汉译所具有的实用价值。 1.引言 2.英语日常用语中隐喻存在的普遍性 隐喻的定义 关于隐喻研究的常用术语 英语日常用语中的隐喻 3.英语日常用语中隐喻的特点 日常用语中隐喻的分类 习用性隐喻 新生隐喻 英语隐喻与汉语隐喻 英语日常用语中隐喻的可译性 4.英语日常用语中的隐喻的汉译 翻译的标准 日常用语中隐喻汉译的难点 日常用语中隐喻汉译的过程 日常用语中隐喻汉译的基本方法及原则 5.日常用语中隐喻汉译的方法与技巧 直译法 意译法 转译法 直译和意译结合法 四、参考文献: [1]Aristotle. “Rhetoric” (W. R. Roberts, Trans.) In W. D. Ross (Ed.) The Works of Aristotle. Oxford: Clarendon Press. (Original Work Written ca. 330 .), 1924. [2]Brodkey, Linda. Review: The Languages in Metaphor. College English, 1988, (1): 89-94 [3]Goatly, Andrew. The Language of Metaphors. London: Routledge, 1997. [4]Jin Di and Eugene, A. Nida. On Translation. Beijing: China Translation Publishing Company, 1984. [5]Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. Metaphors We Live by Chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987. [6]Nida, Eugene A. & William, Reyburn. Meaning Across Cultures. New York: Maryknoll of N. Y. Orbis Book, 1981. [7]Soskice, . Metaphor and Religious Language. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985. [8]Tylor, Edward Burnett. Primitive Culture. London: John Murray, 1871. [9]陈宏薇(不加汉语拼音,下同).新实用汉译英教程 [M],武汉:湖北教育出版社,1996. [10]陈文伯.英语成语和汉语成语 [M],北京:外语教学与研究出版社,1980. [11]陈望道.修辞学发凡 [M],上海:上海教育出版社,1983. [12]邓炎昌,刘润清.语言与文化 [M],北京:外语教学与研究出版社, 1989. [13]范家材.英语修辞赏析 [M],上海:上海交通大学出版社,1992. [14]冯明之. 英文成语故事 [M],香港:万里出版社,1992. [15]冯庆华. 实用翻译教程 [M],上海:上海外语教育出版社,1997. [16]胡文仲. 文化与交际 [M],北京:外语教学与研究出版社,1994. [17]徐莉娜. 隐喻的翻译 [J],中国翻译,1999,(3):18-22. 五、预期的课题进度计划: 1.2007年4月25日 完成初稿,并上交指导教师审阅。 2.2007年5月9日提交论文第二稿。 3. 2007年5月16日提交论文第三稿。 3.2007年5月17日-6月9日继续修改论文直至定稿。 5.2007年6月13日提交毕业论文。 6.2007年6月14日-23日准备论文答辩。 7.2007年6月24日进行毕业论文答辩 (进度计划不能照抄,应根据实际情况从3月5日起至6月24日止编写计划。) 六、完成论文的条件、方法及措施: (一)条件 1.已经修完英语专业的所有课程,对英语国家概况和跨文化交际有较全面和深入的了解; 2.学校图书馆和学院资料室具备有关本论文研究所需的丰富的书籍、期刊等参考文献; 3.已经收集较丰富和全面的文献资料; 4.具有上网条件及丰富的网上资源。 (二)方法及措施 1.利用图书馆和互联网进行资料的检索网; 2.小组讨论交流。
英语专业翻译方向论文开题报告范文
以下是由我整理的.英语专业翻译方向论文的开题报告范文,供大家参考!
How to Deal with Ellipsis in English-Chinese Translation
I. Purpose and Significance
With the development of globalization, the world’s political, economic and cultural communications are becoming increasingly frequent. Therefore, the role of translation cannot be ignored. However, the differences between English and Chinese cultures that are reflected in the two languages pose considerable difficulty.
It is acknowledged that when doing translation one can not translate word for word, or sentence by sentence. Therefore, we must use some translation strategies such as amplification, ellipsis, conversion and so on. Ellipsis as one of the basic translation methods plays an essential role in English-Chinese rendition. Translators apply it in order to make their versions more coherent and understandable.
According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary, ellipsis means leaving out a word or words from a sentence deliberately, when the meaning can be understood without them. Ellipsis in translation does not mean cutting some content from the original articles. What could be omitted are words that are useless in translated works or else they will make the versions redundant or disobey the manner of expression in another language.
Some words and phrases are useless in Chinese but necessary in English. Articles in English are the most significant phenomenon from this aspect. They are very important in English, but we can hardly see any reflection of this part in Chinese. Ellipsis is designed on the basis of faithfulness to the original text, making it more fluent, smooth, concise, thus conforming to idiomatic Chinese. The paper will explore ellipsis in English-Chinese translation from five aspects, which are ellipses of pronouns, conjunctions, articles, prepositions, modifications, so as to achieve smoother and clearer communications among China and English-speaking countries.
II. Literature Review
Long before, some people began to learn other countries’ languages to understand others cultures. In China, Xuanzang was the first translator who not only translated the Sanskrit sutras into Chinese, but introduced the first Chinese writings to foreign countries, making foreigners understand China’s ancient culture. Meanwhile, he was the first to translate Lao Tse's works into Sanskrit. Indian scholars had a high opinion of Xuanzang, "In China, there is no such great translator, and also in the human cultural history, we can only say that Xuanzang is the first great translator."(Ye Lang, 2008) We can say that it was Xuanzang who motivated people to know the different parts of the world, their cultures and the peoples who live there. Then, some big countries such as America, China, and so on became a melting pot.(Gu Zhengkun, 2000) People have imperceptibly spent thousands of years in knowing each other.
With China’s entry into WTO and its open-up policy, cross-cultural exchanges are increasingly frequent between this country and others. A lot of foreign tourists come to visit China. While traveling, these foreigners are not satisfied with the translations of the scenic spots. Sometimes, they even feel confused. A lot of problems exist in the translation, such as misuse of words, poor expression of meaning and so on. All of these poor translations do harm to our country’s international image, and cause a lot of inconveniences for the foreign visitors. (Ma Zuyi, 2000). I am fond of tourism and being a free tourist like the others who are good at enjoying their wonderful lives. The love of tourism makes me feel the need to improve the translation. But every time when I have a trip, many unsuitable translations of the names of those scenic spots will embarrass me. Tourism is part of intercultural communication, so proper translation of the scenic spots become more and more important to our country.
Communication plays a significant role in the globalized society. In order to know each other better, people from all over the world have tried a verity of ways. Of course, translation is one of them. All translators have done their best to make the translated works more consistent with the needs of people.(Gu Jinming, 1997) From my perspective, they really have done a great job. And I want to retrospect the cause of their development. After a thorough evaluation, I choose a branch of translation—ellipsis in translation from English to Chinese, then I did the following jobs.
I put all my researches and other stuffs together, and then I found that it is a common case in English and Chinese which draws much academic interest. In 1976, Halliday and Hsan classified ellipsis into nominal, verbal and clausal ellipsis. This classification exerts great influence in academic circle. Thereafter, ellipsis in Chinese and English has been studied according to this theory, which is based on different layers of structure. This kind of study underlines differentiations and similarities of ellipsis in Chinese and English.
Another famous theory to explain ellipsis is Economy Principle. Economy Principle was put forward by Chomsky (1991,1993, and 1995) in his Generate Crammer. It maintains that language and linguistic study follow Economy Principle, which means using the least effort to express the most information. This principle just coincides with ellipsis in function.
In this thesis, I think that brevity is the most obvious and common function of ellipsis, especially in daily language. And in both English and Chinese, people advocate brevity. Shakespeare once remarked, “brevity is the soul of wit”, and in Chinese there are numerous idioms like “yan jian yi gai” (meaning compendious). However, apart from the function of brevity, ellipsis embodies other functions which are also pretty common in the two languages but less noticed.(Hua Xianfa,2002)These functions distribute in both English and Chinese unevenly and represent great colorfulness of language. Exploring other functions of ellipsis and searching for functional recreation in translation will be of much benefit to both English to Chinese and Chinese to English translation.
I found that when Chinese authors try to analyse ellipsis in English to Chinese translation, they always initially put articles in the list. They consider that it is a common phenomenon that Chinese always leave out personal articles. While it is obviously different in English that almost every sentence has a subject, we can see articles fluently. That is because when we translate from English to Chinese, personal articles can be omitted, even though sometimes it may appear once, it can also be omitted if necessary. Furthermore, if the objects can be seen obviously, personal articles should also be omitted. However, it never happens in English. From this point, it is not only allowable but also necessary when we translate personal articles which are objects in sentences into Chinese.
In my point of view, the development of society has in some way has deliberately promoted the way of people’s thinking, translation system has become more and more perfect, people from all over the world have enjoyed the convenience. However, we can not neglect that there are still some problems in this field in China, and we have less influential Chinese translators in the world. Therefore, we still have a long way to go in translation.
III. Feasibility Analysis
This academic paper is a feasible project and the reasons are as follows:
have great interests in the way of English-Chinese translation.
have already studied translation methods and have been familiar with the functions and applications of ellipsis .
have collected enough references both Chinese and Western on ellipsis in
translation and do a scrupulous study of the relationship between them.
have a carefully planned schedule and have worked out a detailed outline of this thesis.
have acquainted myself with the correct format, a clear and complete structure required by the academic paper, and my adequate English competence will enable me to write in fluent and precise English.
instructor is a qualified translator who is familiar with the subject I havechosen.
IV. Problems of the research and solutions
1. Problems
Despite the references I have collected and read, a thorough study of ellipsis in English-Chinese translation from the point of freely using still needs far more. What’s more, owing to the limited ways of getting references in Xinjiang, I will have to make full use of my present resources. Also, this is the first time I have ever written such a serious academic paper. I am therefore a learner and lack the needed training and experience.
2. Solutions
(1) I shall make full use of my already acquired references which come from books, magazines and the Internet as well.
(2) I shall value my own original thoughts and mainly rely on detailed analysis that I have read from the books which have closely idea with my purpose.
(3) When I have difficulties in the writing process, I shall consult my instructor and seek for help.
V. Necessary conditions
1. Our university and school of foreign languages have provided the basic study and research conditions and facilities, including books and journals in the library and reading rooms.
2. The Internet is another source of information and on the campus we have easy access to the Internet.
3. I have been assigned an instructor to guide me through the whole process of planning and writing.
VI. Outline
I. Introduction
A. A Brief Introduction of Ellipsis in Translation
B. What Should We Pay Attention to When Dealing with Ellipsis
C. The Reason Why Ellipsis Is So Widely Used in Translation
1. Chinese Expressions Are Much Briefer Than That of English
2. English Grammar Is Wee-Knit and Complete in Sentence Structure
II. The Principles of Ellipsis
A. Omitted Words Must Be Useless And Unnecessary in the Translated Works
B. The Meaning of the Omitted Words Is Implied in the Test
C. Omitted Words Which Are Self-Evident
Ш. The Functions and Applications of Ellipsis
A. The Coherence of the Meaning of Expression
B. The Coincidence of the Manner of Expression
1. Ellipsis of Articles
a. Ellipsis of Definite Articles
b. Ellipsis of Indefinite Articles
2. Ellipsis of Prepositions
3. Ellipsis of Pronouns
a. Ellipsis of Personal and Impersonal Pronouns
b. Ellipsis of Indefinite Pronouns
c. Ellipsis of Relative Pronouns
4. Ellipsis of Conjunctions
a. Ellipsis of Coordinating Conjunctions
b. Ellipsis of Subordinate Conjunctions
5. Ellipsis of Rhetoric
a. Ellipsis of Repeated Words
b. Ellipsis of Synonyms
怎么写开题报告呢?首先要把在准备工作当中搜集的资料整理出来,包括课题名称、课题内容、课题的理论依据、参加人员、组织安排和分工、大概需要的时间、经费的估算等等。第一是标题的拟定。课题在准备工作中已经确立了,所以开题报告的标题是不成问题的,把你研究的课题直接写上就行了。比如我曾指导过一组同学对伦教的文化诸如“伦教糕”、伦教木工机械、伦教文物等进行研究,拟定的标题就是“伦教文化研究”。第二就是内容的撰写。开题报告的主要内容包括以下几个部分:一、课题研究的背景。 所谓课题背景,主要指的是为什么要对这个课题进行研究,所以有的课题干脆把这一部分称为“问题的提出”,意思就是说为什么要提出这个问题,或者说提出这个课题。比如我曾指导的一个课题“伦教文化研究”,背景说明部分里就是说在改革开放的浪潮中,伦教作为珠江三角洲一角,在经济迅速发展的同时,她的文化发展怎么样,有哪些成就,对居民有什么影响,有哪些还要改进的。当然背景所叙述的内容还有很多,既可以是社会背景,也可以是自然背景。关键在于我们所确定的课题是什么。二、课题研究的内容。课题研究的内容,顾名思义,就是我们的课题要研究的是什么。比如我校黄姝老师的指导的课题“佛山新八景”,课题研究的内容就是:“以佛山新八景为重点,考察佛山历史文化沉淀的昨天、今天、明天,结合佛山经济发展的趋势,拟定开发具有新佛山、新八景、新气象的文化旅游的可行性报告及开发方案。”三、课题研究的目的和意义。课题研究的目的,应该叙述自己在这次研究中想要达到的境地或想要得到的结果。比如我校叶少珍老师指导的“重走长征路”研究课题,在其研究目标一栏中就是这样叙述的:1、通过再现长征历程,追忆红军战士的丰功伟绩,对长征概况、长征途中遇到了哪些艰难险阻、什么是长征精神,有更深刻的了解和感悟。2、通过小组同学间的分工合作、交流、展示、解说,培养合作参与精神和自我展示能力。3、通过本次活动,使同学的信息技术得到提高,进一步提高信息素养。四、课题研究的方法。在“课题研究的方法”这一部分,应该提出本课题组关于解决本课题问题的门路或者说程序等。一般来说,研究性学习的课题研究方法有:实地调查考察法(通过组织学生到所研究的处所实地调查,从而得出结论的方法)、问卷调查法(根据本课题的情况和自己要了解的内容设置一些问题,以问卷的形式向相关人员调查的方法)、人物采访法(直接向有关人员采访,以掌握第一手材料的方法)、文献法(通过查阅各类资料、图表等,分析、比较得出结论)等等。在课题研究中,应该根据自己课题的实际情况提出相关的课题研究方法,不一定面面俱到,只要实用就行。五、课题研究的步骤。课题研究的步骤,当然就是说本课题准备通过哪几步程序来达到研究的目的。所以在这一部分里应该着重思考的问题就是自己的课题大概准备分几步来完成。一般来说课题研究的基本步骤不外乎是以下几个方面:准备阶段、查阅资料阶段、实地考察阶段、问卷调查阶段、采访阶段、资料的分析整理阶段、对本课题的总结与反思阶段等。六、课题参与人员及组织分工。这属于对本课题研究的管理范畴,但也不可忽视。因为管理不到位,学生不能明确自己的职责,有时就会偷懒或者互相推诿,有时就会做重复劳动。因此课题参与人员的组织分工是不可少的。最好是把所有的参与研究的学生分成几个小组,每个小组通过民主选举的方式推选出小组长,由小组长负责本小组的任务分派和落实。然后根据本课题的情况,把相关的研究任务分割成几大部分,一个小组负责一个部分。最后由小组长组织人员汇总和整理。七、课题的经费估算。一个课题要开展,必然需要一些经费来启动,所以最后还应该大概地估算一下本课题所需要 的资金是多少,比如搜集资料需要多少钱,实地调查的外出经费,问卷调查的印刷和分发的费用,课题组所要占用的场地费,有些课题还需要购买一些相关的材料,结题报告等资料的印刷费等等。所谓“大军未动,粮草先行”,没有足够的资金作后盾,课题研究势必举步维艰,捉襟见肘,甚至于半途而废。因此,课题的经费也必须在开题之初就估算好,未雨绸缪,才能真正把本课题的研究做到最好。
英语专业翻译方向论文开题报告范文
以下是由我整理的.英语专业翻译方向论文的开题报告范文,供大家参考!
How to Deal with Ellipsis in English-Chinese Translation
I. Purpose and Significance
With the development of globalization, the world’s political, economic and cultural communications are becoming increasingly frequent. Therefore, the role of translation cannot be ignored. However, the differences between English and Chinese cultures that are reflected in the two languages pose considerable difficulty.
It is acknowledged that when doing translation one can not translate word for word, or sentence by sentence. Therefore, we must use some translation strategies such as amplification, ellipsis, conversion and so on. Ellipsis as one of the basic translation methods plays an essential role in English-Chinese rendition. Translators apply it in order to make their versions more coherent and understandable.
According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary, ellipsis means leaving out a word or words from a sentence deliberately, when the meaning can be understood without them. Ellipsis in translation does not mean cutting some content from the original articles. What could be omitted are words that are useless in translated works or else they will make the versions redundant or disobey the manner of expression in another language.
Some words and phrases are useless in Chinese but necessary in English. Articles in English are the most significant phenomenon from this aspect. They are very important in English, but we can hardly see any reflection of this part in Chinese. Ellipsis is designed on the basis of faithfulness to the original text, making it more fluent, smooth, concise, thus conforming to idiomatic Chinese. The paper will explore ellipsis in English-Chinese translation from five aspects, which are ellipses of pronouns, conjunctions, articles, prepositions, modifications, so as to achieve smoother and clearer communications among China and English-speaking countries.
II. Literature Review
Long before, some people began to learn other countries’ languages to understand others cultures. In China, Xuanzang was the first translator who not only translated the Sanskrit sutras into Chinese, but introduced the first Chinese writings to foreign countries, making foreigners understand China’s ancient culture. Meanwhile, he was the first to translate Lao Tse's works into Sanskrit. Indian scholars had a high opinion of Xuanzang, "In China, there is no such great translator, and also in the human cultural history, we can only say that Xuanzang is the first great translator."(Ye Lang, 2008) We can say that it was Xuanzang who motivated people to know the different parts of the world, their cultures and the peoples who live there. Then, some big countries such as America, China, and so on became a melting pot.(Gu Zhengkun, 2000) People have imperceptibly spent thousands of years in knowing each other.
With China’s entry into WTO and its open-up policy, cross-cultural exchanges are increasingly frequent between this country and others. A lot of foreign tourists come to visit China. While traveling, these foreigners are not satisfied with the translations of the scenic spots. Sometimes, they even feel confused. A lot of problems exist in the translation, such as misuse of words, poor expression of meaning and so on. All of these poor translations do harm to our country’s international image, and cause a lot of inconveniences for the foreign visitors. (Ma Zuyi, 2000). I am fond of tourism and being a free tourist like the others who are good at enjoying their wonderful lives. The love of tourism makes me feel the need to improve the translation. But every time when I have a trip, many unsuitable translations of the names of those scenic spots will embarrass me. Tourism is part of intercultural communication, so proper translation of the scenic spots become more and more important to our country.
Communication plays a significant role in the globalized society. In order to know each other better, people from all over the world have tried a verity of ways. Of course, translation is one of them. All translators have done their best to make the translated works more consistent with the needs of people.(Gu Jinming, 1997) From my perspective, they really have done a great job. And I want to retrospect the cause of their development. After a thorough evaluation, I choose a branch of translation—ellipsis in translation from English to Chinese, then I did the following jobs.
I put all my researches and other stuffs together, and then I found that it is a common case in English and Chinese which draws much academic interest. In 1976, Halliday and Hsan classified ellipsis into nominal, verbal and clausal ellipsis. This classification exerts great influence in academic circle. Thereafter, ellipsis in Chinese and English has been studied according to this theory, which is based on different layers of structure. This kind of study underlines differentiations and similarities of ellipsis in Chinese and English.
Another famous theory to explain ellipsis is Economy Principle. Economy Principle was put forward by Chomsky (1991,1993, and 1995) in his Generate Crammer. It maintains that language and linguistic study follow Economy Principle, which means using the least effort to express the most information. This principle just coincides with ellipsis in function.
In this thesis, I think that brevity is the most obvious and common function of ellipsis, especially in daily language. And in both English and Chinese, people advocate brevity. Shakespeare once remarked, “brevity is the soul of wit”, and in Chinese there are numerous idioms like “yan jian yi gai” (meaning compendious). However, apart from the function of brevity, ellipsis embodies other functions which are also pretty common in the two languages but less noticed.(Hua Xianfa,2002)These functions distribute in both English and Chinese unevenly and represent great colorfulness of language. Exploring other functions of ellipsis and searching for functional recreation in translation will be of much benefit to both English to Chinese and Chinese to English translation.
I found that when Chinese authors try to analyse ellipsis in English to Chinese translation, they always initially put articles in the list. They consider that it is a common phenomenon that Chinese always leave out personal articles. While it is obviously different in English that almost every sentence has a subject, we can see articles fluently. That is because when we translate from English to Chinese, personal articles can be omitted, even though sometimes it may appear once, it can also be omitted if necessary. Furthermore, if the objects can be seen obviously, personal articles should also be omitted. However, it never happens in English. From this point, it is not only allowable but also necessary when we translate personal articles which are objects in sentences into Chinese.
In my point of view, the development of society has in some way has deliberately promoted the way of people’s thinking, translation system has become more and more perfect, people from all over the world have enjoyed the convenience. However, we can not neglect that there are still some problems in this field in China, and we have less influential Chinese translators in the world. Therefore, we still have a long way to go in translation.
III. Feasibility Analysis
This academic paper is a feasible project and the reasons are as follows:
have great interests in the way of English-Chinese translation.
have already studied translation methods and have been familiar with the functions and applications of ellipsis .
have collected enough references both Chinese and Western on ellipsis in
translation and do a scrupulous study of the relationship between them.
have a carefully planned schedule and have worked out a detailed outline of this thesis.
have acquainted myself with the correct format, a clear and complete structure required by the academic paper, and my adequate English competence will enable me to write in fluent and precise English.
instructor is a qualified translator who is familiar with the subject I havechosen.
IV. Problems of the research and solutions
1. Problems
Despite the references I have collected and read, a thorough study of ellipsis in English-Chinese translation from the point of freely using still needs far more. What’s more, owing to the limited ways of getting references in Xinjiang, I will have to make full use of my present resources. Also, this is the first time I have ever written such a serious academic paper. I am therefore a learner and lack the needed training and experience.
2. Solutions
(1) I shall make full use of my already acquired references which come from books, magazines and the Internet as well.
(2) I shall value my own original thoughts and mainly rely on detailed analysis that I have read from the books which have closely idea with my purpose.
(3) When I have difficulties in the writing process, I shall consult my instructor and seek for help.
V. Necessary conditions
1. Our university and school of foreign languages have provided the basic study and research conditions and facilities, including books and journals in the library and reading rooms.
2. The Internet is another source of information and on the campus we have easy access to the Internet.
3. I have been assigned an instructor to guide me through the whole process of planning and writing.
VI. Outline
I. Introduction
A. A Brief Introduction of Ellipsis in Translation
B. What Should We Pay Attention to When Dealing with Ellipsis
C. The Reason Why Ellipsis Is So Widely Used in Translation
1. Chinese Expressions Are Much Briefer Than That of English
2. English Grammar Is Wee-Knit and Complete in Sentence Structure
II. The Principles of Ellipsis
A. Omitted Words Must Be Useless And Unnecessary in the Translated Works
B. The Meaning of the Omitted Words Is Implied in the Test
C. Omitted Words Which Are Self-Evident
Ш. The Functions and Applications of Ellipsis
A. The Coherence of the Meaning of Expression
B. The Coincidence of the Manner of Expression
1. Ellipsis of Articles
a. Ellipsis of Definite Articles
b. Ellipsis of Indefinite Articles
2. Ellipsis of Prepositions
3. Ellipsis of Pronouns
a. Ellipsis of Personal and Impersonal Pronouns
b. Ellipsis of Indefinite Pronouns
c. Ellipsis of Relative Pronouns
4. Ellipsis of Conjunctions
a. Ellipsis of Coordinating Conjunctions
b. Ellipsis of Subordinate Conjunctions
5. Ellipsis of Rhetoric
a. Ellipsis of Repeated Words
b. Ellipsis of Synonyms
怎么写开题报告呢?首先要把在准备工作当中搜集的资料整理出来,包括课题名称、课题内容、课题的理论依据、参加人员、组织安排和分工、大概需要的时间、经费的估算等等。第一是标题的拟定。课题在准备工作中已经确立了,所以开题报告的标题是不成问题的,把你研究的课题直接写上就行了。比如我曾指导过一组同学对伦教的文化诸如“伦教糕”、伦教木工机械、伦教文物等进行研究,拟定的标题就是“伦教文化研究”。第二就是内容的撰写。开题报告的主要内容包括以下几个部分:一、课题研究的背景。 所谓课题背景,主要指的是为什么要对这个课题进行研究,所以有的课题干脆把这一部分称为“问题的提出”,意思就是说为什么要提出这个问题,或者说提出这个课题。比如我曾指导的一个课题“伦教文化研究”,背景说明部分里就是说在改革开放的浪潮中,伦教作为珠江三角洲一角,在经济迅速发展的同时,她的文化发展怎么样,有哪些成就,对居民有什么影响,有哪些还要改进的。当然背景所叙述的内容还有很多,既可以是社会背景,也可以是自然背景。关键在于我们所确定的课题是什么。二、课题研究的内容。课题研究的内容,顾名思义,就是我们的课题要研究的是什么。比如我校黄姝老师的指导的课题“佛山新八景”,课题研究的内容就是:“以佛山新八景为重点,考察佛山历史文化沉淀的昨天、今天、明天,结合佛山经济发展的趋势,拟定开发具有新佛山、新八景、新气象的文化旅游的可行性报告及开发方案。”三、课题研究的目的和意义。课题研究的目的,应该叙述自己在这次研究中想要达到的境地或想要得到的结果。比如我校叶少珍老师指导的“重走长征路”研究课题,在其研究目标一栏中就是这样叙述的:1、通过再现长征历程,追忆红军战士的丰功伟绩,对长征概况、长征途中遇到了哪些艰难险阻、什么是长征精神,有更深刻的了解和感悟。2、通过小组同学间的分工合作、交流、展示、解说,培养合作参与精神和自我展示能力。3、通过本次活动,使同学的信息技术得到提高,进一步提高信息素养。四、课题研究的方法。在“课题研究的方法”这一部分,应该提出本课题组关于解决本课题问题的门路或者说程序等。一般来说,研究性学习的课题研究方法有:实地调查考察法(通过组织学生到所研究的处所实地调查,从而得出结论的方法)、问卷调查法(根据本课题的情况和自己要了解的内容设置一些问题,以问卷的形式向相关人员调查的方法)、人物采访法(直接向有关人员采访,以掌握第一手材料的方法)、文献法(通过查阅各类资料、图表等,分析、比较得出结论)等等。在课题研究中,应该根据自己课题的实际情况提出相关的课题研究方法,不一定面面俱到,只要实用就行。五、课题研究的步骤。课题研究的步骤,当然就是说本课题准备通过哪几步程序来达到研究的目的。所以在这一部分里应该着重思考的问题就是自己的课题大概准备分几步来完成。一般来说课题研究的基本步骤不外乎是以下几个方面:准备阶段、查阅资料阶段、实地考察阶段、问卷调查阶段、采访阶段、资料的分析整理阶段、对本课题的总结与反思阶段等。六、课题参与人员及组织分工。这属于对本课题研究的管理范畴,但也不可忽视。因为管理不到位,学生不能明确自己的职责,有时就会偷懒或者互相推诿,有时就会做重复劳动。因此课题参与人员的组织分工是不可少的。最好是把所有的参与研究的学生分成几个小组,每个小组通过民主选举的方式推选出小组长,由小组长负责本小组的任务分派和落实。然后根据本课题的情况,把相关的研究任务分割成几大部分,一个小组负责一个部分。最后由小组长组织人员汇总和整理。七、课题的经费估算。一个课题要开展,必然需要一些经费来启动,所以最后还应该大概地估算一下本课题所需要 的资金是多少,比如搜集资料需要多少钱,实地调查的外出经费,问卷调查的印刷和分发的费用,课题组所要占用的场地费,有些课题还需要购买一些相关的材料,结题报告等资料的印刷费等等。所谓“大军未动,粮草先行”,没有足够的资金作后盾,课题研究势必举步维艰,捉襟见肘,甚至于半途而废。因此,课题的经费也必须在开题之初就估算好,未雨绸缪,才能真正把本课题的研究做到最好。
那么,不同国家的文化差异,究竟应该怎样来表示呢?霍夫斯坦特从其调查数据的分析中,得出了以下描述各种文化差异的指标: (一)权力距离(power distance) 权力距离即在一个组织当中,权力的集中程度和领导的独裁程度,以及一个社会在多大的程度上可以接受组织当中这种权力分配的不平等,在企业当中可以理解为员工和管理者之间的社会距离。一种文化究竟是大的权力距离还是小的权力距离,必然会从该社会内权力大小不等的成员的价值观中反映出来。因此研究社会成员的价值观,就可以判定一个社会对权力差距的接受程度。 例如,美国是权力距离相对较小的国家,美国员工倾向于不接受管理特权的观念,下级通常认为上级是“和我一样的人”。所以在美国,员工与管理者之间更平等,关系也更融洽,员工也更善于学习、进步和超越自我,实现个人价值。中国相对而言,是权力距离较大的国家,在这里地位象征非常重要,上级所拥有的特权被认为是理所应当的,这种特权大大地有助于上级对下属权力的实施。这些特点显然不利于员工与管理者之间和谐关系的创造和员工在企业中不断地学习和进步。因而要在中国的企业当中采纳“构建员工与管理者之间和谐的关系”以及“为员工在工作当中提供学习的机会,使他们不断进步”这两项人本主义政策,管理者有必要在实践当中有意识地减小企业内部权力之间的距离,才会更好地实现管理目标。 (二)不确定性避免(uncertainty avoidance index)
在前面的帖子中,我提到一句中国谚语“三个臭皮匠,赛过诸葛亮”。这个帖子发表后,网友vmax给我留言,问我这个谚语是否可以翻译成下面的句子。我回答他说,当然可以,但我不鼓励您这样做,主要原因是:您的译文,我们中国人看得懂,但外国人看不懂,他们根本不知道诸葛亮是什么人,如果您想让外国人也能看得懂,您就必须在译文的后面,额外增加一段注释,介绍一下《三国演义》,再介绍一下诸葛亮,只有这样,外国人才能真正理解这个谚语,您说麻烦不麻烦?! Three cobblers are more clever than Mr. Zhuge Liang.(三个皮匠会比诸葛亮先生更聪明。) 其实,我们中国的许多谚语,都有对应的英语谚语,两者意思相同或者相似,完全可以互相代替,一般情况下,不需要我们自己翻译。比如“三个臭皮匠,赛过诸葛亮”这个谚语,就有一个对应的英语谚语,请看下面第一行。另外一个与《三国演义》人物有关的谚语“说曹操,曹操到”,也有对应的英语谚语,请看下面第二行。 ①Two heads are better than one.(两个脑袋比一个脑袋更好。) ②When we talk about the devil, he will appear.(当我们谈论魔鬼的时候,他将会出现。) 看到这里,有些朋友可能会问:在哪里可以找到这些对应的英语谚语呢?我曾在北京王府井的外文书店中,看到过这方面的书,书名好象叫做《汉英谚语词典》(时间长了,记不清楚了),我们可以从这种词典中,查出大多数中国谚语的对应英语谚语。现在国内是“英语热”,英语图书(包括英语词典)多如牛毛,我想这种词典应当不难找到。 一个中国谚语,只有在词典中找不到对应的英语谚语时,我们才考虑自己翻译,不过这种情况好象并不多见。比如“周瑜打黄盖,一个愿打,一个愿挨”这个谚语,我就一直没有找到对应的英语谚语,因此我把它翻译为: One is willing to sell, and the other is willing to buy.(一个人愿意卖,另外一个人愿意买。)
1英汉语言禁忌的深层文化映现13英汉对比研究分析觉得适合联系我
(英语系毕业论文)英文谚语的文化场景在中译文中的缺失与弥合 摘 要本文从谚语文化角度着手,分析谚语中的文化因素,以及英汉谚语中的文化差异,尝试研究在谚语的英汉翻译过程中发生文化缺失时如何弥合。最终通过意译手段实现英语谚语的可译性,从而顺利完成跨文化交际活动,实现国际间的文化交流与传播。关键词 谚语文化; 文化缺失; 意译; 翻译补偿ContentsAbstract ⅠKeywords Ⅰ摘要 Ⅱ关键词 ⅡIntroduction 1I. The Brief Introducton to Proverb 3II. Proverb Culture Factors in Proverb Different Cultures Between English and Chinese Proverb. Belief Living Conditions. 8III. English Proverb Translation in English to Chinese Translation of English Proverb National Feature Art of Language Compensation 12Conclusion 14Acknowledgements 15Bibliography 16
汉语言文化差异的对比一、 英汉语句差异 (一 )英汉词汇现象对比 1 .意义差异“ 英语是综合型语言 ,词化程度相当高 ,即在英语词汇中存在大量分析型语言 (如汉语要用一个短语甚至一个句子才能表达单个词 )。 ” [ 2 ]译者熟练掌握英语的这种特点 ,就可以使译文简洁。英语中有不少单个动词隐含着“make +宾语 +补语 ” 的意思 ,“v . + adv” ,“v . + like” “v .+with” 这些复杂的意思。英语一个动词 ,汉语要用一个短语词组来表达。如果在汉译英中正确运用这种动词 ,就简洁多了。由于名词尤其是抽象名词大都是从动词或形容词派生来的 ,而很多动词或形容词都有自己习惯的主语或并与之搭配 , 因此单个抽象名词隐含一个主谓或动宾结构的内容。 2 .词类差异 “ 英汉语言的最大差异之一便是体现在动词的运用上 ” [ 3 ]。汉语动词灵活多变 ,表现力极强。沈家煊认为 ,汉语在句法上遵循时间顺序的相似原则 ,这是因为汉语缺乏形态变化而采用直接映照的方法。 [ 4 ]汉语句序体现认知次序 ,多述谓成分线性排列。因此“ 汉语中动词使用频率远比英语为高。 ” [ 5 ] 在表达一些复杂的思想时 ,汉语往往借助动词 ,按时间顺序逐步交待、 层层铺开 ,给人以舒缓明快的感觉。从使用方法上来看 ,汉语动词的连用和叠用非常普遍 ,而在英语中习惯用非谓语动词形式。例如:他出去迎接妈妈。He went out t o meet hismother . (汉语后一个动词在英语中变成不定式 )英语句子中 ,主要采用主谓结构。由于句中的谓语动词受动词形态变化的约束 ,句子中一般只能有一个谓语 ,它是句子的轴心。然后借用名词来表达 ,而名词之间则使用介词加以串通。所以英语中名词与介词等词类占优势。下例中英语中的名词、 介词等只能译成相应的汉语动词:He cried at the news . 听到这个消息他哭了。此外还有搭配方面的差异等。 (二 ) 英汉句法现象对比 1 .句型差异 英语表达常呈“ 浓缩性现象 ” ,汉语表达常呈“ 展开性现象 ” 。 “ 由于英民族常取‘浓缩型 ’ 的思维方式 ,喜欢将众多的信息靠多种手段集中于一个单位加以思考 ,因而表达时往往倾向于取较低的句法单位。 ” “ 而汉民族往往更趋向于把问题层层铺开 ,用节节短句逐点交代。 ” [ 6 ]因此 ,英语多用长句 ,而汉语中短句占优势。例如:We have achieved an extraordinary technol ogical capabil2ity which enables us t o seek out uni maginably distant civiliza2ti on even if they are no more advanced than me . (我们已经具备了一种非凡的技术能力 ,这种技术能力使我们搜索到无比遥远的文明世界 ,即使他们和我们一样不先进。 )英语表达复杂的意思时 ,偏爱借助连接词 (如上句中的 which、 even if )用长句连贯地加以表达。而汉语言则相反 ,侧重于用短句。如上例中 ,把一个长句分解成三个短句 ,使整个句子节奏分明 ,脉络清楚 ,正所谓“ 大珠小珠落玉盘 ” 。因此长句和短句的习惯差异在我们平时的翻译中要加以注意。 2 . 英汉句序差异 英语和汉语复合句中主句和从句之间的时间顺序和逻辑顺序不完全相同。彭宣维统计表明 ,在主从关系上 ,英语中的因果、 条件、 假设以及时间状语从句的位置比较灵活 ,“ 在这一点上比汉语的表达手段多出近一倍。 ” [ 7 ]但是 ,“ 复合结构中从句在前 ,主句在后仍是汉语复合句的典型顺序。 ” [ 8 ]为此 ,彭宣维对汉语的主从复合句 (包括时间、 方式、 条件、 原因等 )的分布进行了统计 ,结果表明 , 汉语基本上是按“ 从句 -主句 ” 的方式组织。如:Please tellme when you have a p r oblem. 如有问题 ,请给我打电话。 二、 英汉语言思维差异 归根到底 ,上述词句间的差异源于语言主体间的思维差异。 “ 思维方式的差异 ,正是造成语言差异的一个重要原因。 ” [ 9 ]翻译的过程 ,不仅是语言形式的转换 ,更是思维方式的变换。 (一 ) 形合思维与意合思维 “ 英语句子结构比较紧凑 ,句子内部连接之处 , 一般都要用具体的词语来体现 ,也就是王力先生所说的‘形和 ’ 。 ” “ 汉语句子结构比较松散 , 连词用得不多 ,但意思是连贯的 ,这就是王力先生所说的‘意和 ’ 。 ” [ 10 ]形合和意合是分析思维和综合思维的各自具体表现。“ 形合 ” 就是主要靠语言本身的结构手段来表达意思;“意合 ” 主要靠句子内部逻辑关系来表情达意。英汉两种语言形合、 意合思维的差异对翻译有着深远的影响。 (二 ) 抽象思维与形象思维的差异 中运用抽象词的频率大大高于汉语。汉语用具体词表达的事情 , 英语中往往用抽象词:戴安娜代表了热情 ,责任 ,风度和美丽。Diana was theessence of compassi on, of duty, of style, of beauty .现代汉语中抽象词的使用也大增 ,如以“ 性 ” 、 “观 ” 、“ 化 ” 等结尾的词 ,例如:科学性、 荣辱观、 园林化等。 (三 )被动思维与主体思维的差异英语中凡是不必说出主动者 ,或者为了使方便、 叙述客观、 语气委婉等往往都是用被动语态 ,所以被动语态极其常见。相比之下 ,汉语的被动语态使用范围窄得多 ,而主动语态用得多。 三、 英汉文化差异 沃尔夫的语言相对论认为语言类型的不同影响人们认识世界的方式。 [ 11 ]反过来说 ,一种语言的词语数量的多寡和语义所指往往因文化不同而异。在语言的形成发展过程中 ,由于语言客体的区别和语言主体心理思维的不同 ,表现在语言中必然出现某种差异甚至冲突对立 ,这种语言体现在心理上的差异即是文化差异。文化差异渗透在两个语言形式的各个方面 ,在语音、 词汇、 语句、 篇章等方面都各有表现。 (一 )英汉文化有部分重叠 “ 语言的不同层次和相当层次的语言单位具有不同的文化蕴含内容 ,其中词是文化蕴含内容的核心。 ” [ 12 ]这种情况首先体现在概念词语上。英语在概念上加以明确区分的实体 ,在汉语文化可能不加区分 ,反之亦然。英汉两种语言概念划分很少有完全一致的 , 这就给翻译带来了很大困难。亲属称谓是一个典型的例子。英语的 uncle就可以指汉语的伯、 叔、 舅、 姑父、 姨父任何人。汉语的区分较英语细致得多。 (二 )英汉文化空缺“ 以别的语言为参照 , 任何一种自然语言的词汇场中都可能有‘ 词汇空缺 ’ 。 ” [ 13 ]所谓空缺 (文化上的 ) ,是指有些表达方式是一国所独有而别国没有。这种空缺在词语的使用上显得尤为突出。英语和汉语的俗语、 谚语、 成语、 禁忌语、 委婉语所呈现出来的文化差异就更大了。 (三 ) 中英文化冲突 所谓文化冲突 ,有两种情况: (1)有些表达方式 ,一种语言有另一语言也有 ,但涵义刚好相反。 (2)含义相同的内容在两种语言表达方式上截然相反。正如柯平所说:“ 翻译理解中最大的危险在于原语和译语里有一些貌合神离的假朋友 ,它们的指称意义相同 ,但语用意义 (主要是喻义 )完全不同 ,甚至正好相反。 ” 众所周知的一个例子就是 pull one’ s leg (开玩笑 ) ,它的含义并不是“ 拉某人的腿 ”或“ 拖后腿 ” 。“ 观察事物的视点不同是造成英汉文化冲突的另一个原因 ” 。 [ 14 ] 如英语说 beat the enemy,汉语是战胜 (或战败 )敌人;英语 fight fires在汉语变成了“ 救火 ” 。由此可以看出 ,在互译中英文作品时一定要把握词语的文化内涵 ,出现文化冲突时切忌直译 ,否则 ,将严重损害原作的内容和精神。 两种语言之间的文化差异影响翻译的准确与否 ,因此 ,在翻译中必须深度挖掘词句所要表达的真实意思 ,高度重视语言差异 ,包括语句差异、 思维差异以及不同方面不同层次间的文化差异。
在前面的帖子中,我提到一句中国谚语“三个臭皮匠,赛过诸葛亮”。这个帖子发表后,网友vmax给我留言,问我这个谚语是否可以翻译成下面的句子。我回答他说,当然可以,但我不鼓励您这样做,主要原因是:您的译文,我们中国人看得懂,但外国人看不懂,他们根本不知道诸葛亮是什么人,如果您想让外国人也能看得懂,您就必须在译文的后面,额外增加一段注释,介绍一下《三国演义》,再介绍一下诸葛亮,只有这样,外国人才能真正理解这个谚语,您说麻烦不麻烦?! Three cobblers are more clever than Mr. Zhuge Liang.(三个皮匠会比诸葛亮先生更聪明。) 其实,我们中国的许多谚语,都有对应的英语谚语,两者意思相同或者相似,完全可以互相代替,一般情况下,不需要我们自己翻译。比如“三个臭皮匠,赛过诸葛亮”这个谚语,就有一个对应的英语谚语,请看下面第一行。另外一个与《三国演义》人物有关的谚语“说曹操,曹操到”,也有对应的英语谚语,请看下面第二行。 ①Two heads are better than one.(两个脑袋比一个脑袋更好。) ②When we talk about the devil, he will appear.(当我们谈论魔鬼的时候,他将会出现。) 看到这里,有些朋友可能会问:在哪里可以找到这些对应的英语谚语呢?我曾在北京王府井的外文书店中,看到过这方面的书,书名好象叫做《汉英谚语词典》(时间长了,记不清楚了),我们可以从这种词典中,查出大多数中国谚语的对应英语谚语。现在国内是“英语热”,英语图书(包括英语词典)多如牛毛,我想这种词典应当不难找到。 一个中国谚语,只有在词典中找不到对应的英语谚语时,我们才考虑自己翻译,不过这种情况好象并不多见。比如“周瑜打黄盖,一个愿打,一个愿挨”这个谚语,我就一直没有找到对应的英语谚语,因此我把它翻译为: One is willing to sell, and the other is willing to buy.(一个人愿意卖,另外一个人愿意买。)