Cultural_Differences_in_the_Translation_of_English_and_Chinese_Idioms

Cultural Differences in the Translation of English and Chinese Idioms

Abstract: Idioms are unique and fixed expressions which are formed in

using a language .Idioms are the essence of a language, and also the quintessence of a nation’s culture and wisdom .The translation of English

and Chinese idioms occupies a prominent place in the whole translation.

This paper probes into the cultural differences between the two languages

in living environments, translational customs, material cultures,

religious beliefs, and historical allusions. It also includes the

translation skills of English and Chinese idioms.

Key words: English; Chinese; idioms; difference; translation.

摘要：习语是某一语言在使用过程中形成的独特的固定的表达方式。习语是语言

的精华，也是一个民族文化与智慧的结晶。英汉习语的翻译在整个翻译中占着突

出的地位。文章探讨这两种语言在生存环境、风俗习惯、物质文化、宗教信仰等

方面的文化差异，以及习语在翻译中的具体技巧。

关键词：英语；汉语；习语；差异；翻译

Introduction

Idioms are a set of fixed expressions peculiar to a nation formed through

the use of language over along period of time ,including colloquialisms,

proverbs, slang expressions and so on, making up one of the essential parts

of language of that country. Chinese and English speaking countries

especially Great Britain have a long history of languages and the

background of cultures. Most of idioms are vivid, carrying strong local

color or national features. Some of them are explicit; some are implicit

and can arouse varieties of associations; some may contain more than one

meaning and must be judged from the context. If language is the minor of

culture, idioms, as the essence of language, are the quintessence of

culture. Therefore, the quality of translation largely depends on the

translation of idioms. Translation is a rendering from one language into

another, i.e. the faithful representation in one language of what is

written or said in another language. However, language and culture are

closely are connected. On the one hand, language is part of culture and

carrier of culture. On the other hand, culture has great influence on

language. Therefore, with the development of translation, people no longer consider translation merely as a switching of language symbols, but as a cross-cultural communication. That is to say, the switching of language symbols is the surface level of translation, whereas cultural transmission is the essence of translation. Idiom translation is the most typical in translations field.

Eugene A. Nita divided the character of language culture into five groups: Ecology, Material Culture, Social Culture, Religious Culture, and Linguistic Culture. So we summarize the cultural differences of English and Chinese idioms into five aspects: living environment, traditional customs, material cultures, religious beliefs, and historical allusions.

1. Cultural differences of English and Chinese idioms

1.1 Different living environment

Geographical environment plays an important role in shaping one country’s culture and human beings have no choices and capacities to change the geography. As a result, idioms based on geographical features appear different.

Britain is an island country, which does not share land border with any other countries except the Republic of Ireland. In history, its navigation industry has ever been the first one for a long time. So, British people have a special passion for water. However, the most part of China belongs to inland place where people cannot live without earth. This very geographical difference results in different idioms in the two languages. For example, to show somebody being extravagant, there is a Chinese idiom ‘挥金如土’, but in English the idiom is ‘spend money like water’. Take the other instance, in southern China with mild and moisture weather, bamboo is a familiar plant for people there, so they use the idiom ‘雨后春笋’ to describe the new things cropping up in grea t numbers. Correspondingly, English have the idiom ‘spring up like mushrooms’ to tell the same meaning, since in England mushroom in spring can be seen everywhere. Besides the different idioms expressing the same notion in the two languages, there are a lot of idioms related to water in English and earth in Chinese which have no corresponding counterpart in the other language, like the English idioms ‘to rest on one’s oars’, ‘to keep one’s head above water’, ‘all at sea’ and etc.

1.2 Different traditional customs

The differences of traditional customs of the two nations exist in different living customs, productive pattern, and i.e. These two peoples are used to raising dogs. Most of idioms about dog in Chinese contain derogatory sense. For example: ‘狼心狗肺’ ‘狗急跳墙’ ‘狐朋狗友’ ‘狗腿子’and so on.

Although in these recent years the number of population who take dogs as pets is largely increasing and the dog’s status seems to change, the derogatory meaning of dog has been deeply rooted in the culture of Chinese language.

However, to the western, dog could be taken as doorkeeper or used to hunt as well as human pet, friend or partner. In English language, most of idioms about dog contain dual sense. For instance: You are a lucky dog. [你是一个幸运儿。] Every dog has his day. [人人都有得意日。] Old dog will not learn new tricks. [老人学不了新东西]; to be a top dog[居于要位]，and so on. ‘Dog tired’ means ‘very tired’. Its literal meaning is ‘tired like a dog’. Because English people usually see their dogs coming back, and then the dogs will lie on the ground as dead if they are very tired. Therefore, the idiom has been used to describe human tiredness. On the other hand, dog in English culture also means hostility and sneer. Like the following:

You are going to the dogs.你就要像狗一样完蛋了。［It means somebody will degenerate or go to the bad.］

This is a dog’s life.这简直不是人过的日子。[It means the very poor life.][1]

From above off, the meaning of dog differentiates greatly between Chinese and English, which make some trouble in the inter-translation of the idioms.

1.3 Different material cultures

With the economic globalization and the increase of international communication, western cultures about diet, residence, and closing, i.e., have increasingly influenced on every aspect of Chinese traditional culture. For example: ’‘coffee’, ‘sofa’, ‘chocolate’ have been translated as ‘咖啡’‘沙发’‘巧克力’.These words have been usually used in our daily life. Meanwhile, Chinese has the similar influence on western language. For example:‘豆腐’‘麻将’have been translated into ‘tofu’ ‘mahjong’.

Therefore, with the development of translation, people no long consider merely as a switching of language symbols, but as a cross-cultural communication. That is to say, the switching of language symbols is the surface level of translation, whereas cultural transmission is the essence of translation. That is a say ing in China: ‘巧妇难为无米之炊’.Somebody translated it into“ Even a clever housewife can not cook a meal with no rice.” The version and the original are equivalent in form. It caters for the Chinese readers who understand Chinese diet habit, but the English and American, for those readers who do not know much about this habit. Because “rice” is not the staple food of English and American. They would probably make this response: Why not cook a meal with flour? For flour is more popular than rice in their diet habit.

1.4 Religious differences

Religion exists in every county and nation and affects much in people’s belief and life, especially before the modern civilization. Numerous idioms were generated from the fountain of religion. The people in different countries mostly believe in different schools of religion. Therefore, some differences of idioms between Chinese and English can be traced back to the origin of religion.

Religion played a key role in British society especially before capitalization. The majorities of the English people believe in Christianity and regard the Bible as one of the most important classical works in their life. The Bible is comprehensive of nearly all the matters in life so that it acts not only a classic in religion but also an important supporter of British culture, or even of western culture. Innumerable idioms are originated from the Bible, such as the idiom referring to the unwise act of forcing the extremely conservative person to accept new conceptions, ‘to put new wine in old bottles’, the i diom describing thrilling horror caused by something, ‘to make one’s hair stand on end’, another idiom denoting revenge in the same way, ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’ and etc. Besides, the idiom ‘as poor as a church mouse’ also is somewhat influ enced by religion. In Christian church, there is no devoted food, which is not the same case in Chinese temples. Therefore, the mice in the church, which have no food, can be said as poor. Different from Britain, Chinese culture evolved from Confucian School, Taoist School. There are traces of Taoist principles and Confucian principles in Buddhist doctrines. Therefore, although Buddhist culture originated from the other country, it has been assimilated in Chinese culture through a thousand years of spreading and accepting Chinese feathers at the same time. It has been a part of Chinese culture and exerted enormous influence on Chinese traditional culture and present life as well. In language, a large number of Chinese idioms can be traced back to

Buddhist School. For example, the idiom "道高一尺, 魔高一丈" is originally the warning in Buddhism to warn Buddhist disciples of the outside temptations, which remind the disciples of the hard prospect to overcome all the difficulties both inside and outside in order to make the slightest development. Now it is used to tell there is always at least one power stronger than the other. For another instance, “一尘不染” is also a Buddhist term. Buddhist School calls sex, sound, smell, flavor, touch and rule as “六尘” and Buddhist disciples should not be affected by the above six. Now this idiom evolved to describe a person who is pure and honest or a thing which is clean and in order.

1.5 Different historical allusions

There are many idioms shaped by historical allusions in English and Chinese languages. The structure of these idioms is sample but the meaning is profound. They can not be apprehended and translated literally. For instance: ‘cry wolf’ means ‘狼来了’.This idiom comes from The Fables of Aesop《伊索寓言》.It said about a shepherd boy usually shouted ‘ wolf is coming’ to deceive his neighbors to help him to strike wolf. He felt happy from this behavior. One day, a wolf truly came. Although he cried out ‘wolf is coming’ again and again, no neighbor believed what he said. As a result, his sheep had been eaten out by the wolf. From that on, this idiom has been used to inform the people who like to deceive other person will hurt himself at last. For example: The newspaper placards that had cried ‘wolf’ so often, cried ‘wolf’ now in vain.［报纸广告经常虚张声势，大喊‘狼来了’，现在已经没人信了。］Most of English idioms about allusions come from The Bible and Roman myths. For example:

① hole and corner 偷偷摸摸

②wash one’s hand of a thing洗手不干

③eye to eye, tooth for tooth.以眼还眼，以牙还牙

④ The Achilles heel of the Australian economy today is that, although its structure is geared to international trade, its participation in trade has declined.［致命的弱点，要害部位］

Many Chinese idioms derived from Chinese ancient codes and records, stories of Aesop, and legends. For instance:‘守株待兔’ ‘叶公好龙’ ‘画龙点睛’ ‘精卫填海’ i.e.. These idioms embody the unique ancient culture of China’s nation. It is very difficult to find out their equivalent idiom in English. That is a great distinction between the two cultures.

If ‘东施效颦’ in Chinese allusion is literally translated into ‘Dong Shi imitates Xi Shi’, the version does not show its original inner connotation. Yang Xian Yi translated it into ‘Dong Shi imitates Xi Shi’ [Xi Shi was a famous beauty in the ancient kingdom of Hue Dong Shi was an ugly girl who tried to imitate her way.] He used the method of the translation with notes to translate it faithfully. Another example: ‘三个臭皮匠，合成一个诸葛亮’ is translated into ‘The cobber with the ir wits combined would equal Zhu Geliang the master mind’. It points out that the masses have great creation. If the version does not explain who is Zhu Geliang, it would make readers confused .Readers have no idea about its social meaning and the relationship between Zhu Geliang and cobber.

As a translator, who has double responsibility to the author of original and Chinese readers, he or she has to know both English and Chinese as well as cultural differences between English and Chinese. It is undoubtedly true that the translation of idioms is no easy job, involving differences in culture as well in language. Therefore, some translation skills must be adopted in translating idioms so as to make our versions faithful and smooth.

2 Specific strategies used in idiom translation

2.1 Literal translation

Literal translation refers to a full representation of the original when the original coincides with the target language idiom in the sequence of lexical items, grammatical structure and rhetorical device. Literal translation faithfully conveys the meaning of the original and at the some time keeps the full flavor of English idioms. This is the ideal solution. Let us look at two examples:

① She refused several offers of marriage, and then, at the age of forty, found herself left on the shelf.

A.她拒绝了多次求婚，到四十岁，发现自己‘没有结婚的希望’ 了。

Ｂ.她拒绝了多次求婚，到了四十岁，发现自己被‘束之高阁’了。

Here ‘on the shelf’was translated literally as‘束之高阁’.In this way, the translation expresses the content of the sentence smoothly and faithfully and at the same time retains the figure of speech .If it is translated liberally as‘没有结婚希望’,though smoothly ,but translation loses the original form and the figure of speech and seems to be inferior.

② When she was young, she was an ugly duckling, but now she is a beautiful lady. A. 小时候，她长得很丑，而现在成了一位美丽的妇女。

Ｂ．小时候，她是个丑小鸭，而现在成了一位美丽的妇女。

This original sentence contains a metaphor. She is compared to an ugly duckling. Although in China duckling can not represent ugliness, her fairytale is well known by every family, particularly to the children, that is to say, this English idiom has been assimilated by Chinese culture after a long time of translation. Therefore, B adopts literal translation, it does not cause confusion, and the expression_ is vivid and living. A omits the metaphor of the origin, produces the loss in cultural meaning, and violates ‘faithfulness’’ of translation standard.

2.2 Liberal translation

If liberal translation is also called free translation, which does not adhere strictly to the form or word order of the original. When there exist in dissimilarities or great difference bet and Chinese in the sequence of vocabulary, in grammatical structure and art device, free translation would be employed. For example:

① The teenagers do not invite Bob to their parties because he is a wet blanket.

Ａ．青年们不邀请他参加他们的聚会，因为他是个扫兴的人。

Ｂ．青年们不邀请他参加他们的聚会，因为他是块湿毯子。

Comparing these two versions A and B, A employed liberal translation,

B used literal translation, from the view point of the sentence structure and grammar, they are all right, but according to the meaning of the original, `a wet blanket` is a reason that the teenagers do not invite Bob to their party.‘湿毯子’this version has no link with the reason of the original logically .Although‘扫兴的人’in version,A has no meaning of ‘a wet blanket’,it might express the logical reason, moreover, he readers are not confused why they do not invite Bob .On the contrary, B would make readers have a muddled idea.

② He touched wood when he spoke of her future.

A. 讲到未来，他祝她好运。

B．讲到未来，他就会摸木头。

Here ,A is more suitable ,people who see foreign films usually find that people in the west like making ‘cross’ on their chest to beg for good luck .In this English idiom ‘wood’ stand for ‘cross’, so this idiom should be liberally translated into ‘但愿走好运’ .On the first sight of this version ,the readers would feel at a loss, but after thinking it over, they will get the exact meaning.

B belongs to ‘stiff translation’ in Chinese. The version seems to kee p the ‘flavor’ of the original, but in fact, it not only does not express the spirit of the English idiom ‘touch wood’, but also produces unreasonable Chinese expression _r, which lets reader’s taster boredom in literary taste.

2.3 Literal plus liberal translation

Literal translation will decrease the readability of the version sometimes, leading to the feeling of boring reading as ineffective well as cultural transfer; liberal translation will often change the faithfulness of English idioms. In an effort to overcome this trouble, we may employ a combination of literal translation and liberal translation. For example:

①Make hay while the sun shines.趁着晴天晒干草，莫失良机。

‘趁着晴天晒干草’，belonged to literal translation, successfully conveys the content and flavor of the proverb. However, the reader may not perceive the implication. Thus ‘莫失良机’,a kind of liberal translation, is added. The combination of these two methods increases the readability and retains the spirit of the original.

② Until all is over, ambition never dies.不到黄河心不死。

‘心不死’is literal translation, whereas ‘不到黄河’ is liberal translation.

③ To lift a rock only to have his own toes squashed.搬起石头砸自己的脚。

④ 你要不要活？井水不犯河水，你敢再犯，明年今日是你周年。

Are you tired of living? ‘Well water and river water leave each other alone---stay o ut of things that do not concern you’. If you dare to interfere again, next year at this time will be the first anniversary of your death.

‘你要不要活’ is translated into ‘Are you tired of living’;‘井水不犯河水’is translated literally at first and liberally the lat ter. Literal translation is used to translation ‘你敢再犯，明年今日是你周年’。

‘Only when you keep the meaning and spirit of the original sentence structure and/or its figures of speech, can your translation be regarded as proper literal translation; otherwise it is mer ely ‘dead’ or mechanical translation. Similarly, only when you change the sentence structure and/or the figure of speech but make no addition to or omission of the proper free translation; otherwise, it is merely ‘random’ translation,’ said Liu Zhongde.

2.4 Translation with notes

Sometimes, it is impossible for us to apply any of the above three strategies in translation. It is difficult to find out a suitable Chinese word and express to show, for the sake of improving the sending of original meaning of backgrounds and allusions are supplied to enhance English idioms, the translation with notes may be used. For instance:

① Falstaff: I am as poor as Job, my Lord, but not so patient.[W. Shakespeare, Henry IV]

福斯塔夫：我像约伯一样穷，大人，可是却没有他那样好的耐性。

Job is a man in the Bible who was patient in spite of many misfortunes. However, Chinese people are usually not familiar with Bible, let alone Job. Therefore, it is necessary to add a footnote or endnote to explain who is Job.

This strategy may decrease the readability. However, if the reader is continuously imposed to the foreign culture, s/he will eventually become familiar with these idioms and accept them naturally. For example, the translations such as ‘象牙塔’ ‘鳄鱼的眼泪’ ‘武装到牙齿’have already been assimilated into Chinese culture.

2.5 Paraphrasing translation

Some idioms, such as myths and allusions, have strong national features or local color. Therefore, the target reader may not understand them if no explanation is added. In such cases, the strategy of paraphrasing may increase the readability and avoid over-elaborate notes at the same time. For example:

① ---that the female Bobby instead of being the Gorgon he had expected, was young, and remarkably pretty.[Dickens, Hard Times II, Chap VII]

出乎他的意料，那位女的波比，并非一个看一眼就会把人变成石头的面目丑陋的女妖高根，而是一位年轻貌美的女性。

Gorgon refers to any of the three sisters in Greek myths who had snakes of hair, any eyes which, if looked into, turned the beholder into stone. Making a contrast between the ugly Gorgon and the pretty young female, Dickens produced a humorous and hyperbolic effect. If we simply put Gorgon as ‘高根’,it will certainly damage the vividness of the original and fail to transmit the specific culture.

2.6 Rhetorical devices

Rhetoric devices would be adopted in the process of translating for the aim of making the version more vivid and living and following one of the three-word translation criteria—‘elegance’ offered by Yan Fu. This device would make the version the most perfect, arousing the interest of the readers. For example:

‘rolling stone gathers no mass’ [流水不腐，户枢不蠹]

This English idiom is constructed in a simple sentence without any. Rhetorical But the version adopted Chinese idiom as well as

rhetoric-repetition and antithesis. Here is another example:

The peasants and workers were hand in glove with one another in the struggle against the landlords and capitalists who worked hand in glove with each other.

A．在反对地主和资本家联合的斗争中，工人和农民团结在一起。

Ｂ.在反对狼狈为奸的地主和资本家斗争中，工人和农民团结在一起。［或亲如手足］

Just as a glance, we know B is more suitable well, the translator not only adopted amplification but also rhetoric device—metaphor,地主和资本家－狼和狈，工人和农民－手足through metaphor, the readers are impressed by the translator in thought, motion as well as political attitude.

Conclusions

To sum up, idioms are important part of the language; we must learn about English and Chinese idioms through their different culture. Only that can we comprehend the aplenty and profound connotation of idioms in a better way. But as English idioms of particular language are hard to generalize about, they always pose a problem to non-native speakers in their comprehension and application. Generally speaking, the translation of idioms is more difficult and important. Poor translation will ultimately do harm to successful communication. For the purpose of making more Chinese readers learn about the spirit of the English culture, widening their horizons, and decreasing the readers’ confusion in the course of reading translated works, the author suggests employing above-mentioned five effective skills to handle the rendering of English idioms, but all these are not enough. To be a good translator, one must work hard at two languages and cultures concerned and do more practice in order to produce faithful, smooth, and elegant versions.

Bibliography/Works Cited

[1] 胡美云.思茅师范高等专科学校学报[J]. 2000年第1期

[2]蒋坚松.英汉对比与汉译英.湖南人民出版社[M]. 2002年第1版:P118

[3］李景韩．李健.汉英习语成语对应词典［M］．中国国际广播出版社．1990年第1 版:（P280-P497）

Acknowledgements

I hereby express my gratitude to my kind and respectable supervisor, Mr. Zhu, for his consistent guidance for my thesis writing. He has given me much helpful advice, constructive suggestions on the collection of data and materials, and a lot of correction in the structure of the paper and the sentence patterns of the thesis. I also show my thanks to my beloved colleagues from whom I received a lot of useful suggestions and information for my thesis writing..\

王逢博

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