英汉动植物词语的文化涵义与翻译_贺建荣.docx

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1、硕士学位论文 英汉动植物词语的文化涵义与翻译 The Cultural Connotations and Translation of Animal and Plant Words in Chinese and English 湖南师范大学学位评定委员会办公室 学科专业 英语语言文学 学位类 型 H 科学学位 专业学位 研究生姓名 贺建荣 _ 导师姓名、职称 刘学明教授 论文编号 _ 二 零 零 三 年 十 月 The Cultural Connotations and Translation of Animal and Plant Words in Chinese and English 英

2、汉动植物词语的文化涵义与翻译 By He Jianrong Supervisor: Prof. Liu Xueming A Thesis Submitted to The College of Foreign Language Of Hunan Normal University In Partial Fulfillment Of The Requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts On Translation Theoiy and Practice October, 2003 在漫长的社会历史进程中，人与动植物相依共存，接触频繁，因 此在人类的语

3、言中存在大量的反映动植物名称的词汇。在英汉两种语 言中都存在大量的以动植物为喻体的比喻性短语。这些短语的使用频 率极高，使得英汉两种语言形象生动，性格鲜明，色彩丰富。由于 英汉文化的相通性和思维方式的相似性 ,人们对同一种动植物会产生 相同或相似的喻义。但由于英汉民族在风俗习惯、宗教信仰和生态环 境等方面的不同，形成了各具特色的民族文化。文化的 差异，导致人 们对同一种动植物赋予不同的情感，不同的动植物可能产生相同或相 似的喻义。 本文从文化语言学和认知语言学的角度，分析了文化和翻译的定 义及文化与翻译的关系，并对英汉动植物词语的文化内涵异同及其形 成的社会文化背景因素进行了对比分析 ,并对该

4、类词的翻译方法进行 了初步探讨。 全文分三章： 第一章简要阐述了文化与翻译的定义及文化与翻译的关系，以及 词语的文化内涵特点。 第二章主要论述了英汉动植物词语的文化涵义的对应关系：词义 相同；词义相似；词汇空缺和词义冲突。分析了动植物词语的文化内 涵形成的社会文化因素，其中主要有中西神话传说、宗教信仰、风俗 习惯、文学作品、生态环境和物质生产劳动等。 第三章分析了翻译的基本原则，回顾了古今中外的翻译理论家提 出的翻译原则，并通过大量的例子对英汉动植物词语的互译进行了具 体的分析。 文章最后强调，对英汉动植物词语的文化涵义的对比分析可以加 强对异域文化的了解，促进民族文化融合，并对外语教学具有实

5、际指 导意义。 关键词： 文化；文化涵义；动植物词语；翻译； 原语；译语 Abstract During the long period of the process of society, man contacts with animals and plants frequently, and they are interdependent. So there are lots of words denoting animals and plants， especially, there are a large number of metaphorical phrases containin

6、g animals and plants as the vehicles both in English and Chinese. These kinds of phrases are used frequently, which makes English and Chinese vivid in images, plain in characters and rich in flavors. Because human experiences are very much alike throughout the world， everyone eats， sleeps， works， ex

7、periences a lot of common things, there is a common core in different cultures and languages. It is possible for people of different cultures to give the same or similar metaphorical meaning to same animals or plants. But because of the differences in customs, religions and ecological surroundings,

8、the particular national cultures have formed. The cultural differences make people give different figurative meanings to the same animal or plant words, or even use different animal or plant words to express the same associations. From the perspective of cultural linguistics and cognitive linguistic

9、s, this thesis analyses the definitions of culture and translation and their relationship, and makes a contrastive analysis of the cultural connotations of animal and plant words in English and Chinese and the social cultural factors of the formation of the connotations, and finally explores the met

10、hods of translating these kinds of words. This thesis consists of three chapters: Chapter One deals with the definitions of culture and translation and their relationship and the cultural connotations of words and phrases. Chapter Two mainly demonstrates the corresponding relationships of the cultur

11、al connotations of animal and plant words in English and Chinese: lexical identity; lexical similarity; lexical gap and lexical conflict. Then it explores the social cultural factors of the formation of the cultural connotations: from mythology and folklore; from religions; from customs; from litera

12、ry works; from ecological environment and material productive labor, etc. Chapter Three analyses the principles of translation, reviewing the famous principles proposed by the translation theorists both abroad and at home. Then it analyses in detail the methods of translating animal and plant words

13、by means of large numbers of examples. In conclusion the thesis stresses that the contrastive analysis and translation of the cultural connotations may strengthen the understanding of the foreign cultures and promote the cross-cultural communication, and it is significant and instructive to English

14、teaching and learning. Key words: culture; cultural connotations; animal and plant words; translation; source language; target language Contents +錢要 . I Abstract . 11 Introduction . 1 Chapter One Cultural Connotations of Words and Phrases and Their Translation 2 1.1 Culture and Translation . 2 1.1.1

15、 What is Culture . 2 1.1.2 What is Translation. 3 1.1.3 The Relationship Between Culture and Translation 4 1.2 The Cultural Connotations of Words and Phrases 5 Chapter Two Contrastive Analysis of the Cultural Connotations of Animal and Plant Words in English and Chinese 6 2.1 The Sameness and Discre

16、pancies of Cultural Connotations 6 2.1.1 Lexical Identity . 7 2.1.2 Lexical Similarity . 7 2.1.3 Lexical Gap . 9 2.1.4 Lexical Conflict . 10 2.2 The Social Cultural Factors of the Formation of Cultural Connotations . 12 2.2.1 From Mythology and F o l k l o r e . 1 2 2.2.1.1 From Chinese Mythology an

17、d Folklore _ 12 2.2.1.2 From English Mythology and Folklore13 2.2.2 From Religions . 14 2.2.2.1 From Religions in C h i n a 1 4 2.2.22 From Religions in Britain . 14 2.2.3 From Customs . 14 2.2.4 From Literary Works. 15 2.2.5 From Ecological Environment and Material Productive Labor . 16 Chapter Thr

18、ee The Translation of Animal and Plant Words 19 3.1 Principles of Translation . . 19 3.1.1 Principles of Translation Put Forward by Chinese Scholars 19 3.1.2 Principles of Translation Put Forward by Western Countries, Scholars . 20 3.2 The Methods of Translating Animal and Plant Words . 21 3.2.1 Ret

19、aining the Original Image by Literal Translation 21 3.2.2 Changing the Image by Substitution . 28 3.2.3 Dropping or Adding the Image by Free Translation . 32 3.2.4 Keeping the Image with Explanation . 37 Conclusion . 40 Bibliography . 41 Acknowledgements Introduction Man has been living in nature si

20、nce ancient times, and couldnt live without the animals and plants regulating the ecological surroundings. Animals and plants are the material basis of mans existence and development. They are good friends of human beings. Language is one of the tools that man has ever created, which records the pro

21、cesses of the social civilization. Since man contacts with animals and plants frequently, languages of all nations contain a lot of words denoting animals and plants, and so do Chinese and English. Along with the development and process of human society, many animal and plant words gradually got the

22、ir established connotations in Chinese and English. People associate their feelings and emotions, even happenings and natural phenomena, with various animals and plants, which are thought to represent different characters like people, or serve as omens. Many animals and plants have become a kind of

23、symbolism in peoples thinking, and this symbolism is reflected in the language. Sayings like “as cunning as the fox”， “as busy as a bee”， “as stupid as a pig” appear both in English and Chinese. However, because of different historical and cultural settings, the connotations of animal and plant word

24、s in one language do not always coincide with those in another. Sometimes people will use different animal or plant words to express the same feelings or figurative meanings. While on some occasions, people will give different figurative meanings and connotative meanings to the same animal or plant

25、words. These metaphorical phrases of animals and plants are yielded from certain cultural settings, and the pragmatic meanings which they reflect depend on the understanding of the cultures of Chinese and English. This thesis mainly focuses on the differences and similarities of the cultural connota

26、tions and translation of animal and plant words in Chinese and English, as well as the sources of the cultural connotations. Chapter One Cultural Connotations of Words and Phrases and Translation In different languages, the individuality of culture is reflected on the cognition to the objective worl

27、d. As to the same animal or plant, it may denote different value and bring us different associations and connotations. As we know, culture plays an important role in translation. For the sake of further studying of the connotations of animal and plant words, it is necessary to clarify the terms “cul

28、ture” and “translation” and know the relationship between culture and translation. 1.1 Culture and Translation In his essay Translation Studies in the Context of Cultural Studies, Wang Ning says: uIn the sphere of translation studies, there are some scholars both at home or abroad who have tried to

29、replace traditional literal translation with cultural translation and interpretation. Cultural translation explores in turning the cultural connotation in one language into another cultural form,”（ Guo Jianzhong, 2000:24) 1.1.1 What is Culture Culture is an extremely complex concept and an enormous

30、subject. Scholars both abroad and at home have suggested many definitions: In his Primitive Culture (1871), the English scholar Edward Tylor put forward the classical definition of culture: culture is a distinct complex of knowledge, beliefs, morals, law, customs, opinions, religions, superstition,

31、art, and any other abilities and habits developed by man as a social member. The famous American translation theorist, Eugene A. Nida classifies the language cultural characteristics as follows: A. Ecology, B. Material Culture, C. Social Culture, D. Religious Culture, E. Linguistic Culture. Obviousl

32、y, the above five types include both the material field and the spiritual one. In A Textbook of Translation, Peter Newmark defines culture as Mthe way of life and its manifestations that are peculiar to a community that uses a particular language as its means of expression”. (Newmark, 1988:94) And l

33、ater in About Translation, he defines culture as t4the total range of activities and ideas and their material expression in objects and processes peculiar to a group of people， as well as their particular environment”.（ Newmark, 1991:73) In the New World Encyclopedia, culture is also defined as the

34、totality of the spiritual, intellectual, and artistic attitudes shared by a group, including its tradition, habits, social customs, morals, laws, and social relations. In her essay Form-Changing for Faithfulness in Chinese-English Translation: A Cultural Perspective, Chen Hongwei proposes that Cultu

35、re can be roughly classified into three categories in scope: material culture which refers to all the products of manufacture, institutional culture which refers to social system etc. and mental culture which refers to peoples mentalities and behaviors, their beliefs, perceptions, concept of value,

36、thought pattern etc (Guo Jianzhong, 2000:257). 1.1.2 What is Translation Is translation simply the activity of transferring the meaning of a text from one language into another? No. It means much more than this. There are many explanations proposed by the Chinese and foreign linguists. Translation h

37、as been defined as follows: the replacement of textual material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another language (TL). (J.C.Catford, 1965:24) This definition is intentionally widenot vague. Eugene A, Nida has the view that Translating consists in reproducing in the receptor la

38、nguage the closest natural equivalent of the source-language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style.M (Nida, 1982:12) Eugene A. Nida has pointed out HFor truly successful translating, biculturalism is even more important than bilingualism, since words only have meanings in

39、 terms of cultures in which they fimction.ida, 1993:110) Translation is the activity of ree3q)ressing the thought and content correctly and fully in another language.5 (Zhang Peiji, 1983) Liu Zhongde defines translating as wthe transfer of two relevant languages and the cultures they implying.(Liu Z

40、hongde， 1994) 1.1.3 The Relationship Between Culture and Translation As we know, culture and language are interdependent, and so are culture and translation. Translation is not only a language activity, but also a kind of cultural communication. Translation is not so easy as it is imagined, because

41、language reflects culture and at the same time is restricted by culture. Some things are self-evident in a certain language, but are hard to understand in another. Therefore, translating is not only the transferring of languages. A translator should understand the deep connotations and cultural mean

42、ings as well as the literal meanings. The same phrase may have different cultural meanings in different cultures. For example, the Chinese people regard a petrel as a fighter that can struggle against storms. Mffliy youths think it as model they can learn while in western culture a petrel symbolizes

43、 a person who stirs up trouble wherever he goes, and a stormy petrel is a small sea-bird whose appearance on the surface of the sea foretells a storm. These two kinds of figurative meanings are poles apart. On the contrary, different phrases may have the same implications. For instance, Mkill two bi

44、rds with one stone” and “一箭双雕 ” have the same implications, though they differ in expressions. 1. 2 The Cultural Connotations of Words and Phrases Leech thinks that the connotative meaning is a kind of communicative value of the word relying on the content that it indicates besides its pure rational content (Leech, 1983:17).