中英習語的差異對比研究

1、畢業(yè)論文題目：中英習語的差異對比研究Title : A Contrastive Study of the Differences of English and Chinese Idioms2009年5月25日AcknowledgementsI would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the teachers who have taught me and given me help in the past 3 years and to the Department of Foreign Language of Wen Hua Colle

2、ge HZUST.First and foremost, Id like to express my heartfelt thanks to Mr. Xiong Dunli, my academic supervisor, whose valuable criticisms, helpful suggestions and scholarly inspiring guidance and careful modification have greatly contributed to the completion of this thesis. He has taken all the tro

3、ubles to go through and improve my draft. Without his selfless help, this paper could not have come into being in such a smooth way.I am also greatly indebted to all the other teachers who have helped me to improve my English competence from all aspects, particularly to Mr. Cai Dingzhong who helped

4、me decide the topic of the paper, and Ms.Liu Qiaoyun who gave many useful inspairations for me.I would like to extend my great indebtedness to my undergraduate classmates who encouraged and urged me to go on with my study and provided a lot of invaluable advice on my thesis.Finally, I would like to

5、thank all the writers whose works are referred to in this thesis.AbstractLanguage is the vehicle of culture. Idioms are cream of language, so idioms are more typical than other elements on reflecting cultural characteristics of language. Cultural differences in different languages are always one of

6、the barriers in intercultural communication. Idioms are crystallization of human wit and wisdom, and gems of a language. In a broad sense, idioms are composed of set phrase, proverb, common saying, two-part allegorical saying and so on. Language can reflect cultures, so by analyzing English and Chin

7、ese idioms, we can see the cultural differences between China and western countries, which include the differences of living conditions, conventions, religions, and historical allusions. Associated with the differences of the two kinds of idioms, their corresponding relations are mainly classified i

8、nto three kinds: full-corresponding, semi-corresponding and non-corresponding. Based on the understanding of the definition, the characteristics of idioms, and the differences between Chinese and English idioms, this paper explores some contrastive studies between Chinese and English idioms.Key Word

9、s intercultural communication idioms differences 摘 要不同語言包含的文化差異一直是跨文化交際的障礙之一。語言是文化的載體，習語又是語言的精華，因而習語在體現(xiàn)語言的文化特征方面，比之其他成分更具典型性。從廣義上講，習語包括成語、諺語、俗語和歇后語等。語言反映文化，通過分析英漢習語可以理解中西方文化差異，包括：生存環(huán)境、傳統(tǒng)習俗、宗教信仰、和歷史典故。包含不同文化背景的英漢習語主要存在三種對應關系：完全對應關系、半對應關系、非對應關系。本文在理解英漢習語的定義、特征和對應關系的基礎上，對比研究了英漢習語的差異。關鍵詞 跨文化交際 習語 差異Cont

10、entsIntroduction.1 The relationship between language, culture and idiom.2 Definition and range of English and Chinese idioms.2 The characteristics of idioms and the corresponding cases between Chinese and English idiom.33.1The characteristics of English and Chinese idioms.33.1.2 The diversification

11、of expressive forms and rhetorical ways.53.1.3 Harmonious rhyme and rhythm.53.2 The corresponding cases between English and Chinese idioms63.2.1 Full-corresponding.63.2.2 Semi-corresponding73.2.3 Non-corresponding.7 Cultural differences between English and Chinese idioms84.1 Differences in living co

12、nditions.84.2 Differences in conventions.94.3 Differences in religions.104.4 Differences in historical allusions.11Conclusion13Bibliography.14IntroductionIn our country, the study of intercultural communication began in the early 1980s. Though the time is not very long, the development speed is quit

13、e quick. Some of the domestic works focused on the research of the problems from the aspects of verbal communication and nonverbal communication in different cultural context. And others placed special emphasis on some important aspects of intercultural communication, such as values, living ways, fa

14、mily ethics, marriage customs, and religious beliefs and so on . Idioms are the cream of a national language. Derived from the language of native speakers, idioms carry profound cultural implications. Generated and refined by long usage, idioms have been described as the crystallization of human wit

15、 and wisdom and the essence of a language. Without idioms our language would be dull and dry, and our speech and writing would lack color. An appropriate use of them in our speech or writing will add strength and vividness to our language, but overuse or improper use will make the language sound abn

16、ormal and unnatural. Idioms can be compared to a mirror reflecting the characteristics of a nation or a culture. Idioms contain rich cultural connotation, reflect the natural environment, living habits and customs, religious beliefs as well as historical background of the people. However, the great

17、differences in many aspects between English and Chinese influence the correct understanding and the proper usage of idioms, so someone with only a superficial knowledge of English or Chinese idioms will find it difficult for himself to grasp the real meaning in his reading and communication, even so

18、metimes the misuse of idioms will embarrass the speaker. Therefore, we should pay attention to the image when we understand and translate idioms. People living in different cultural circumstances have different thinking ways, and idioms expressions also have differences in many aspects. Therefore, w

19、e should analyze and compare the sources of English and Chinese idioms from aspects of social and natural conditions, living ways, historical background, religious beliefs and literary works and so on. Translation is the bridge of intercultural communication. We should have the consciousness of inte

20、rcultural communication and should adopt different techniques in different situations in order that the hidden meaning of idioms be expressed or understood exactly. The relationship between language and idioms Language is an intrinsic part of culture. It carries culture and plays a very important ro

21、le in it. Some consider it the keystone of culture. On the other hand, language is influenced and shaped by culture, and it reflects culture. In the broadest sense, language is the symbolic representation of a people, and it comprises their historical and cultural backgrounds as well as their approa

22、ch to life and their ways of living and thinking.Language is the means of transportation and thinking tools in human society, so people must consolidate their understandings of the world through language and spread the understandings via language. Hence, language becomes the faithful record of cultu

23、re. The relationship between language and culture can be expressed as: language is a significant part of culture, belonging to cultural system. It is the symbols that record culture. They restrict each other and influence each other. The relationship between language and culture is the kind which in

24、fluences and restricts each other, that is, language affects and restrains culture and vice versa .Idioms are the mirror reflecting the characteristics of a nationality and a culture. Idioms are heavily culturally loaded phrases or sentences, which are usually highly specialized in meaning and image

25、s tied to distinctive cultural features. Many cultural factors are implicitly, not explicitly, loaded in idioms. Cultural factors embedded in idioms are difficult problems in idiom translation. Idioms in a language are formed on the basis of a nationalitys history, economy, culture, tradition and cu

26、stom. Usually their meanings are beyond the simple sum of each word in the idioms. They are more typical in reflecting distinctive cultural features of a language than other linguistic elements, so I choose “idiom” as topic to study the cultural differences between English and Chinese. Definition an

27、d range of English and Chinese idiomsIt is quite difficult to give a clear definition to the word “idiom”, for it possesses several meanings that might cause some confusion. An idiom is a construction, expression, etc. that has a meaning different from the literal one or not according to the usual p

28、atterns of the language. Another definition is: an idiom is a group of words with a meaning of its own that is different from the meanings of each separate word put together. An idiom means “an accepted phrase, construction, or expression contrary to the usual patterns of the language or having a me

29、aning different from the language or having a meaning different from the literal. The Chinese equivalent for “idiom” is “習語”. It means a kind of set phrase or sentence, which, like a stock expression, is often quoted by people. Firstly, an idiom must be well established and accepted through common p

30、ractice. In general, no element in the idiom can be changed without destroying the sense as a whole. Thus we can only say, “to be at liberty” not “to be at freedom”. But in the phrase “to keep in touch with”, one may say “to keep closely in touch with” or “to keep in constant touch with”. Similarly

31、in Chinese we can only say: 無的放失 (to shoot an arrow without a targetto have no definite object in view） not 無的放簡, although 失and箭both mean “arrow”. Secondly, an idiom usually has an implied meaning. It cannot be interpreted only according to its literal meaning, because they contain profound historic

32、al cultures of a country or a nation. When taken literally the phrase “rain cats and dogs” is not idiom. However, in a figurative sense, it means to rain very heavily, we can translate the English idiom into “傾盆大雨”（heavy downpour) in Chinese.From the above definitions we can extract two basic criter

33、ia on which to decide whether an expression is an idiom or not. To sum up, an idiom may be defined as group of words with a special meaning different from the meanings of a free phrase. English idioms, in a broad sense, are composed of idiomatic phrase, proverbial sayings and a number of slang expre

34、ssions. Whereas Chinese idioms can be roughly divided into 成語 (set phrase), 俗語 (common saying), 諺語 (proverb), and 歇后語 (two-part allegorical saying) and some 粗俗語 (vulgar expressions). This is only a rough classification and there may be some overlap among them. The characteristics of idioms and the c

35、orresponding cases between English and Chinese idiomsIn last chapter, we initially understand the definition of English and Chinese idioms and their range. In this chapter we will further understand the characteristics of idioms and three main corresponding cases between English and Chinese idioms.3

36、.1 The characteristics of English and Chinese idiomsAs a special community of a language, idioms have their own glamour and characteristics. They are fixed and brief in form, concise and expressive in meaning. Besides, they have features of lexical integrity and semantic entirety with diversificatio

37、n of expressive forms and rhetorical ways.3.1.1 Lexical integrity and semantic entiretyFirst of all, idioms do not follow any standard rule, for they often violate conventional grammatical rules, and sometimes are wrong in logic. As most idioms have been refined through their usage in practice and h

38、ave been accepted by the common people, they possess an unusual precision and stability. They are fixed in their structure and allow no arbitrary alteration in their components. We cannot alter some idioms at our will.In English idioms, take three for examples. For “a bolt from the blue”, we can not

39、 turn “blue” into other colors. For “diamond cut diamond”, and “l(fā)ike draws like”, we can not alter the sequence and the grammatical structures.In Chinese idioms, I also would like to take three for examples.閉門造車 (to make a cart behind closed doors to divorce oneself from people and from reality and

40、act blindly);螳臂當車 (a mantis trying to stop chariot to overrate oneself and try to hold back an overwhelmingly superior force);南轅北轍 (to try to go south by driving the chariot north to act in a way that defeats ones purpose).For Chinese idioms, we can not turn “車” into “船”, neither can not turn “螳臂” i

41、nto “螳螂”, nor “南” and “北” into “東” and “西”.Secondly, being established by its usage, an idiom generally cannot be altered. No component word can be omitted arbitrarily or be substituted by any other synonymous word in the idiom. And the arrangement of the words can rarely be modified; any attempted

42、change in the collocation will commonly destroy the idiom and perhaps render the expression meaningless. Take “a stitch in time saves nine” and “in the same boat” for instance, “one” and “ship” cant replace the words underlined although they mean the same. It is precisely the same case with Chinese

43、idioms. For example, we can say 老馬識途 (an old horse knows the way), but we shouldnt change the animal word牛into another, like 老牛識途or 老驢識途. We can only say 七嘴八舌 (,all talking at once), but not 八嘴七舌. Finally, the meanings of English idioms are not the simple combination of every word; we should not tra

44、nslate them into target language directly and mechanically. Take the following three for example, “the cats got your tongue” “black sheep”, and “a white lie”. We cant translate them into “貓得到你的舌頭”, “黑羊”, and “白色謊言” respectively. Their real meanings are “youre very quiet or you do not speak” “someone

45、 who is regarded by other members of their family or group as a failure or embarrassment”, and “a lie that is not serious or is told to avoid upsetting someone”. The Chinese equivalence are: “非常安靜” or “不說話”, “害群之馬”, and “善意的謊言”.3.1.2 The diversification of expressive forms and rhetorical waysThe abu

46、ndant expressive forms of English idioms include phrase, simple sentence, and complex sentence. Phrase refers to a group of words that together have a particular meaning, especially when they express the meaning well in a few words. Simple sentence refers to a group of words that usually contains a

47、subject group and a predicate group. And complex sentence refers to a group of words that usually contains principal clause and other subordinate clauses.“Burn ones boats to cut off all means of retreat”, “to wipe the floor to inflict complete and ignominious defeat on an opponent ”and “to cry wolf

48、to raise a false alarm” are phrases;“Time is money”, “Knowledge is power” and “Nothing is easy in the beginning” are simple sentences;“He who hesitates is lost”, “Who has never tasted bitter, know not what is sweet” and “It is the first step that is troublesome” are complex sentences.The obvious cha

49、racteristic of idioms distinguished from other language forms is the rhetorical technique, which made the images and meanings of idioms livelier. Take “the apple of ones eyes” for example, which can be translated into Chinese as “掌上明珠”, a pearl in the palmto be loved very much by someone). It is a m

50、etaphor, the image “apple” in English can be translated into “明珠” ( pearl ) in Chinese. Another case in point is “as wise as an owl”. It is a simile. We should translate it into “精得像個猴似的” because the images “owl” in English and “monkey” in Chinese are different.3.1.3 Harmonious rhyme and rhythmMost

51、of the English and Chinese idioms with rhyme and rhythm can be read aloud easily and fluently by alliteration, repetition and symmetric. Alliteration is a “repetition of initial consonant on a sequence of words, it is good for sound rhyme, musical effect and significant emphasis”. Repetition is “a p

52、owerful rhetorical device which creates good rhythm and parallelism to make the language musical, attractive and memorable”. Symmetric refers to idioms has two halves that are exactly the same. Idioms often use the harmonious of sound in order to achieve the purposes of easy understanding and memori

53、zing, easy reading and hearing and vividness. Take the following for example . In English idioms, “step by step” and “as cool as cucumber” use alliteration; “A friend in need is a friend indeed” and “as snug as a bug in a rug” use alliteration and rhythm. In Chinese idioms, “全心全意” (with ones all hea

54、rt) uses alliteration; “勤勤懇懇” （diligent and conscientious) and “熙熙攘攘” (bustle) uses repetition and symmetric; “近朱者赤，近墨者黑” (stays near vermilion gets stained red, and stays near ink gets stained black) uses alliteration.3.2 The corresponding cases between English and Chinese idiomsEnglish and Chinese

55、 idioms reflect the characteristics of the two nationalities and their cultures. According to the degree of similarity of English and Chinese idioms meanings and forms, the main corresponding relationship can be divided into three kinds: full-corresponding, semi-corresponding and non-corresponding.3

56、.2.1 Full-corresponding Idioms of full-corresponding refer to “those that correspond to each other both in meaning and in usage”. Language seems to be different from one another, but in reality, they are in many respects very much alike. Though different cultures seem at times almost incommensurate,

57、 there are more similarities than differences between cultures. English and Chinese are completely different in sound systems, forms and structures, yet some are surprisingly corresponding to each other in meaning and in usage, and they are also used in the same way. When English and Chinese idioms have similar or even the same images and the same metaphorical meanings, we can adopt literal translation . walls have ears 隔墻有耳 as light as a feather 輕如鴻毛 to add flow to the flame 火上澆油 to fish in troubled waters 渾水摸魚 to strike while the iron is hot 趁熱打鐵 troubles