英语毕业论文Cultural Differences between English and Chinese Idioms

习语中的英美文化差异

Cultural Differences

between

English and Chinese

Idioms

Abstract： As an important part of language, idioms are fixed phrases with particular

meanings. They are well-known and they play an increasingly important role in people’s daily life. Both oriental and Western people are accustomed to use idioms because they are concise, vivid and humorous. Idioms contain a lot of cultural information; reflect the differences in history, geography, religion, custom and thinking mode of different ethnic groups. Idioms are important means of rhetoric. Because of euphony, they are usually accessible and remembered easily. They do not have regular sentence structure, but a relatively fixed form of expression. Those characteristics of idioms make the translation more difficult. In order to enable readers to understand and use idioms better, translator must consider the underlying cultural factors in the process of translation. The same idiom in different context may have completely different translation; it reflects people’s different views on custom, thinking mode, character and color. Through the translation of idioms, this study will lay out some of the Chinese and western cultures to readers, so that people can have a better understanding with each other.

Key Words：Idioms; translation; culture; differences

摘 要：作为语言的一个重要部分，习语是一种广为流传的具有特定含义的固定的短语，在

人们的日常生活中起着越来越重要的作用。由于习语的文字通俗简练，风趣幽默，中西方人们都习惯于使用习语。它有着丰富的文化内涵，体现了不同民族在历史，地理，宗教信仰，风俗习惯和思维方式等方面的差异。习语是语言中重要的修辞手段，经常用音的和谐来达到易懂易记，生动有趣的目的。它没有规则的句子结构，却有着相对固定的自身表达形式。习语的这些特点为它的翻译增加了难度。为了使读者更好的理解并运用习语，在翻译中译者必须考虑其背后的文化因素。同样的习语在不同的语境中将会有完全不同的翻译，它反映了中西方人们在生活习俗，思维习惯，性格以及对待色彩等方面的不同看法。本论文将通过习语的翻译向读者介绍一些中西方的文化差异，以便人们能更好的交流。

关键词：习语；翻译；文化；差异

Contents

I. Introduction.........................................................................................1 II. The Differences in the Concept of “Idiom” between English and

Chinese.................................................................................................1 III. The Difficulties in Rendering Idioms into the Target Language...2 IV. Cutural Similarities and Differences between Chinese and English

Idioms..............................................................................................4

A. Similarities..........................................................................................4 B. Difference between Chineseand Western Culture ...................................4

1. Religions and Believes....................................................................5

2.Social Customs..............................................................................6

3. Fables and mythologies..................................................................7 4. Living conditions.......................................................................................8

VI. Conclusion...........................................................................................9 Work Cited…………………………………………………………11

Cultural Differences between English and Chinese Idioms

I．Introduction

What’s culture? Edward Tylor, who provided the first profound scientific understanding of the term, defined the concept of culture in print in 1871. According to him, culture is “that complex whole which includes knowledge, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as members of society” . In different counties people have different culture. This results in different life style and idioms. Compared to the gems of languages English idioms and Chinese idioms have their own linguistic features and reflecting rich cultural elements. With the development of cultural communication, more and more idioms will widely show up in English movies, books, newspapers，and real life communication. Learners will undoubtedly encounter more and more idioms in their learning not only in written from such as novels and magazines but also in spoken form like movies and plays. Take a close view of English learning in China, it is easy to find that learners are not fully aware of the importance of English idioms study. Furthermore, it should also be noted that English idioms are different from Chinese idioms, especially the four-character idioms are in most cases a cultural implications in Chinese and English. Different cultural implications in Chinese and English idioms can be said to be the contributor to the difference in their pragmatic use. In rendering idioms, there are two strategies for translating to choose. One is foreignization or domestication as the basic strategy for translating idioms in a source text, translators should not be biased to fighter of the two strategies but should take those determining factors into full consideration.

II． The Differences in the Concept of “Idiom” between English and Chinese

Both the English and Chinese languages abound with idioms and idiomatic expressions. What is the equivalent of idiom in Chinese? One would naturally associate “idiom” with“Chinese idiom”. In fact, they are not the exact equivalent of each other. Let's see dictionary definitions of the two terms at first. Third New International Dictionary defines “idiom” as: Idiom is an expression established in the usage of a language that is peculiar to itself either in grammatical construction or in

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