從中英文化差異談英語隱喻的漢譯 英語學(xué)專業(yè)

從中英文化差異談英語隱喻的漢譯[Abstract]Inrecentyears,moreandmorescholarshavemaderesearchesonmetaphorandan“upsurgeofmetaphor”hasbeenformedgraduallyinmodernsociety.Thestudiesonmetaphorinforeigncountrieshavedevelopedacompletesystem,whichistypicallyrepresentedbyGeorgeLakeoffandMarkJohnson.AndthestudiesonmetaphorinChinaarealsoinfluencedbythetwo.However,ifsurveyingtheseresearchachievements,wewilleasilyfindthatfewofthemstudythetranslationofmetaphorfromEnglishintoChinese.Moreover,mosttraditionaltheoristsbelievethatmetaphorisonlyafigureofspeechandbelongstothecategoryoflinguistics.Butinfact,metaphorisnotonlyalinguisticphenomenon,butalsoaculturalandcognitivephenomenon.ThisthesisbreakstheserestrictionsandtrytoresearchintothetranslationofmetaphorfromEnglishintoChinesefromtheperspectiveofculturaldifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglish.Thewholethesisisdividedintofiveparts.Thefirstpartisanintroduction.Basedonthenewbeliefthatmetaphorisaculturalandcognitivephenomenon,thispartstatesthesignificanceofstudyingmetaphorfromtheculturalperspective.Thesecondpartfocusesontheanalysisofthecloseinterrelationsbetweenlanguage,cultureandtranslation.Thethirdpartintroducessomemajorfactorsaboutmetaphor,suchasitsdefinitions,characteristicsandclassification.ThefourthpartemphaticallyillustratestheapproachestothetranslationofmetaphorfromEnglishintoChineseintermsofdifferentcorrespondingrelationsbetweenChineseandEnglish.Thelastpartsummarizesthemainpointsofthisthesis.

[KeyWords]metaphor;translation;culturaldifferences;culturalconnotations;correspondingrelation

【摘要】近年來，越來越多的學(xué)者對隱喻進(jìn)行了研究，在現(xiàn)代社會逐漸形成了一股“隱喻熱”。對隱喻的研究在國外已形成較為完整的體系，其中以GeorgeLakeoff和MarkJohnson的研究最具有代表性。國內(nèi)對隱喻的研究也主要受這兩個人的影響。而縱觀這些研究成果，我們不難發(fā)現(xiàn)，很少有對英語隱喻漢譯的研究，而且大多數(shù)傳統(tǒng)的理論家認(rèn)為隱喻僅僅是一種修辭格，屬于語言學(xué)的范疇。但是事實(shí)上，隱喻不僅是一種語言現(xiàn)象，也是一種文化現(xiàn)象、認(rèn)知現(xiàn)象。本論文克服了這些局限，試圖從中英文化差異的角度來研究英語隱喻的漢譯。整篇論文分為五個部分。第一部分是導(dǎo)入。該部分立足于認(rèn)為隱喻是一種文化和認(rèn)知現(xiàn)象這一新觀點(diǎn)，闡明了從文化角度對隱喻進(jìn)行研究的意義。第二部分重點(diǎn)分析了語言、文化與翻譯之間的密切關(guān)系。第三部分介紹了隱喻的一些要素，如隱喻的定義，特征及分類。第四部分根據(jù)不同的英漢對應(yīng)關(guān)系，著重闡述了英語隱喻的漢譯方法。最后一部分總結(jié)了此論文的一些要點(diǎn)。

【關(guān)鍵詞】隱喻；翻譯；文化差異；文化內(nèi)涵；對應(yīng)關(guān)系

1.Introduction

Onseeingthetitleofthisthesis,thereadermayeasilyfindoutthreekeywords:translation,metaphor,andculturaldifferences.Intheviewofmostpeople,metaphorbelongstothecategoryoflanguage,butasweknowthatlanguagehasverycloseconnectionwithtranslationandculture.AsProfessorWangZuoliang,amasteroftranslation,pointedout,translationinvolveslanguageaswellasculture.[1]Translationisnotmerelyataskofreplacingonelanguagewithanother,butalsoneedstohaveagoodcommandofthetwodifferentculturesrepresentedbythetwodifferentlanguages.Whenweconcentrateontranslationstudies,weshouldattachgreatimportancetobothlanguageandculture.

Overthepasttwodecades,translationstudieshaveassumedasoundmomentumofadvancement,andculture,asanindispensablefactorintranslation,becomesincreasinglyimportant.Throughthoroughanalysis,wecanfindthattherearetwotendenciesintoday’sdevelopmentoftranslationstudies:firstly,translationstudieshavebeenmoreandmoreintegratedwithcommunicationtheories;secondly,thefocusoftranslationhasbeenshiftedfromlinguistictransfertoculturaltransfer.Basedonthesetwotendencies,manyscholarsengagedintranslationstudiesagreewiththeideathattranslationisanactofinterculturalcommunication.

Sincetranslationinvolvestwolanguagesandtwocultures,andindifferentculturalbackgrounds,therearedifferentlanguages.BothChineseandEnglisharegreatpeopleswithlonghistoryandrichculturalresources,andnaturallycolorfullanguages.Metaphor,asacategoryoflanguage,isacommonlinguisticphenomenoninbothChineseandEnglish,butmetaphorsinthesetwodifferentculturalbackgroundshavegreatdifferences.

Metaphordoesn’texistonthebirthofhuman.Withtheadvancementofhumancivilization,thelinguisticcompetenceofourancestorshadbeengreatlystrengthened.Theygraduallyacquiredthecapabilitytoexpresstheirideasthroughassociation.Inthisway,metaphor——oneofthemostimportantmeansofexpressioninhumanlanguagecameintobeing.Asthefoundationofmankind’sconceptualsystem,metaphoristhecommonfeatureofhumanlanguage.Ifthereisnometaphorinourlanguage,itwillbeveryhardforustoclearlyandvividlyexpressourideas,letalongsmoothandsuccessfulcommunication.[2]Traditionaltheoristsviewedmetaphorsimplyasanimportantstylisticdeviceofthepoeticimaginationandrhetoricalflourish,moreoveramatterofwordsratherthanthoughtoraction,butinfact,“metaphorispervasiveineverydaylife,notjustinlanguagebutalsointhoughtandaction.”[3]Ourordinaryconceptualsystem,intermsofwhichweboththinkandact,isfundamentallymetaphoricalinnature.JustasI.A.Richardscontends,“alllanguageandthoughtaremetaphorical,andmetaphoristhe‘omnipresentprincipleoflanguage’.”[4]

Fromtheimportanceofmetaphor,wecanseethattranslationofmetaphorhasgreatsignificancetotheculturaltranslation.PeterNewmarkhasstatedinApproachestoTranslationthatmetaphorisatthecenterofallproblemsoftranslationtheory,semanticsandlinguistics.[5]EspeciallyinEnglish,thereareagreatnumberofmetaphors.Ithadbeensaidthatthree-quartersoftheEnglishlanguageconsistsofmetaphors.InordertomasterEnglishandsuccessfullycompletethetaskoftranslationfromEnglishintoChinese,successfultranslationofEnglishmetaphorisessential.Therefore,inthispaper,theauthorattemptstodiscusstheproblemoftranslationofmetaphorfromEnglishintoChinesefromtheculturalperspectiveindetail.

Asfarastranslationtheoryisconcerned,thispaperadoptsEugeneA.Nida’sfunctionaltheory,i.e.“FunctionalEquivalence”:theresponseofthereceptorstothetranslatedmessage=theresponseoftheoriginalreceptorstothemessagewhenitwasgiveninitsoriginalsetting.[6]Fromthispoint,weknowthatfortrulysuccessfultranslation,biculturalismisasimportantasbilingualism,andevenmoreimportantattimes.

2.Cultureandtranslation

2.1Culture

“Whatisculture?”isaverydifficultquestion,becausecultureissuchacomplexconceptionandanenormoussubjectthatitisextremelyhardforpeopletogiveanexactdefinitiontoit.OneoftheoldestandmostquoteddefinitionsofculturewasformulatedbytheEnglishanthropologistSirEdwardBurnettTylorinPrimitiveCultures(1871).“Hedefinedcultureas‘a(chǎn)complexwholewhichincludesknowledge,belief,art,law,morals,customsandanyothercapabilitiesandhabitsacquiredbymanasamemberofsociety’.”[7]

Althoughcultureisverycomplicated,wecanroughlyclassifyitintothreecategoriesinscope:(a)materialculturewhichreferstoalltheproductsofmanufacture;(b)institutedculturewhichreferstosocialsystem,religioussystem,ritualsystem,educatedsystemandkinshipsystemetc;(c)mentalculturewhichreferstopeople’smentalitiesandbehaviors,theirbeliefs,perceptions,conceptsofvalue,thoughtpatternsetc,

Intheviewofmostanthropologists,culturepossessesthefollowingfeatures:(a)cultureissociallyacquiredinsteadofbiologicallytransmitted;(b)cultureissharedamongthemembersofacommunityinsteadofbeinguniquetoanindividual;(c)cultureissymbolic.Languageisthemosttypicalsymbolicsystemwithinculture;(d)cultureisintegrated.Eachaspectofcultureistiedinwiththeotheraspects.[8]

Sincelanguagesymbolizesandreflectsculture,languagecommunicationisactuallyakindofculturalcommunicationandthecommunicationbetweendifferentlanguagesisindeedcommunicationbetweendifferentcultures.Fromthisperspective,thetranslationoflanguageisessentiallythetranslationofculture,andtranslationstudiesshouldbeconductedinthecontextofculture.Inthenextsection,theauthorisgoingtodiscusstheinterrelationsbetweenlanguage,cultureandtranslation.

2.2Language,cultureandtranslation

Nobodywillsuspectthecloseinterrelationsbetweenlanguageandculture.Alanguagemaybeasmallbutindispensablepartofaculture.Therelationbetweenlanguageandcultureismutuallycauseandeffect.Theypenetrateintoeachotherandcannotexistwithouteachother.Cultureembracesandinfluenceslanguage.Intheprocessofcommunication,themeaningoflanguageisusuallydeterminedbyitsculturalcontext.Ontheotherside,languageistheimportantconstituentofcultureanditisalsoanessentialtoolforthereservation,communicationandreflectionofculture.[9]Inasense,languagecarriesculture,mirrorsculture,spreadscultureandhelpsdevelopculture.Itisnoexaggerationtosaythatlanguageisthelifebloodofcultureandcultureisthetrackalongwhichlanguageformsanddevelops.

Justbecauseofthecloserelationbetweenlanguageandculture,wehavetopayattentiontotheculturalcontextwhenweresearchintolanguage.Accordingtolinguistics,theoriginofhumanlanguageisalwaysconnectedwiththeoriginofhumanandhumansociety.Therefore,ifweneedtounderstandcertainlanguageandthelawsofitsdevelopment,wemustcloselyrelateittothehistoryofsocialdevelopmentofthislanguageandtothepeopleusingitanditshistory.Theexistenceofculturecannotdepartwithitscertainculturalcontext.[10]

Asfortherelationbetweencultureandtranslation,theauthorhasmentionedabove.Translationis,inessence,anactofinterculturalcommunication,andthetranslationoflanguageisthetranslationofculture.Nidaholdsthatbothlanguageandculturearesymbolicsystems,andtranslationistheinteractionbetweenthesetwosystems.Thus,intranslationweshouldnotonlyfocusontheliteralmeaningofwordsorsentences,butalsopayspecialattentiontotheirculturalconnotationsincertainculturalcontext.Therefore,translationstudiesatleastcontaintwotypes:innarrowsenseitisliteraltranslation,whichaimsatturningthecontentinonelanguageintoanother;inbroadsenseitisculturaltranslation,whichexploresinturningtheculturalconnotationinonelanguageintoanotherculturalform.[11]

Sofarasnow,theauthorhasillustratedtheintimateinterrelationsbetweenlanguage,cultureandtranslation.Andamongtherelationsbetweenindividualconstituentoflinguisticsystemandsocialdevelopment,themostdirectoneislexicon.Itisbecausethatlexiconismostsensitivetothedevelopmentofsociety.Andmetaphor,astheminorsystemoflexicon，ismostdeeplyaffectedbysocialculture.AsdiscussedinIntroduction,metaphoristhecommonfeatureofhumanlanguageandthefoundationofmankind’sconceptualsystem.Sowhenwedotranslationstudies,metaphorisnecessarilyenlistedinourconsideration.Althoughmetaphordiffersgreatly,theacceptanceofmetaphorfromanaliencultureispossible,becausehumanbeingsallliveintheEarth,andtheysharemoreorlesssimilarlivingenvironmentandsimilarfeelingsandsentiments.However,theacceptanceofmetaphorisusuallyincomplete,becauseitislimitedbythediversityofculture.Asweknow,differentnationshavedifferentculture,andindifferentculturalcontext,metaphorissurelydifferent.What’smorethinkingitselfismetaphoricalandmetaphoricalconceptsconstitutepeople’svaluesandthoughtpatterns.Therefore,howtodealwithmetaphorintranslationisapragmaticproblemintranslationstudies.Inthefollowingchapter,theauthorisgoingtofirstintroducemetaphorthoroughly.3.Metaphor

3.1Definitionofmetaphor

“Theword‘metaphor’derivesfromtheGreekword‘metaphora’,whichmeans‘transference,carryingover’.ItisaverycommonfigureofspeechinEnglish.”[12]Metaphor,whosebasicconstituentsaretenor,vehicleandground,useswordstoindicatesomethingdifferentfromtheirliteralmeaning-----onethingisdescribedintermsofanothersoastosuggestalikenessoranalogybetweenthem.

Onthedefinitionofmetaphor,differentscholarsandacademicworksgivetheirdifferentopinions.Nexttheauthorisgoingtolistsomeofthem:

(a)Afigureofspeechcontaininganimpliedcomparison,inwhichawordorphraseordinarilyandprimarilyusedofonethingisappliedtoanother.(Webster’sNewWorldDictionary)[13]

(b)Afigureofspeechinwhichonethingisdescribedintermsofanother.Thebasicfigureinpoetry.Acomparisonisusuallyimplicit;whereasinsimileitisexplicit.(ADictionaryofLiteralTerms)[14]

(c)Theuseofonereferencetoagroupofthingsthatarerelatedinaparticularwayinordertodiscoverasimilarrelationinanothergroup.(I.A.Richards,1936:89-90,ThePhilosophyofRhetoric)[15]

(d)Thefigureofspeechinwhichanameordescriptivetermistransferredtosomeobjectdifferentfrom,butanalogousto,thattowhichitisproperlyapplicable;aninstanceofthis,ametaphoricalexpression.(OxfordEnglishDictionary,SecondEdition,2002)

(e)ATextbookofTranslation(PeterNewmark,1988:104)definesmetaphorasfollows:“Bymetaphor,Imeananyfigurativeexpression:thetransferredsenseofaphysicalword;thepersonificationofanabstraction;theapplicationofawordorcollocationtowhatitdoesnotliterallydenote,i.e.,todescribeonethingintermsofanother.Allpolysemouswords(a‘heavy’heart)andmostEnglishphrasalverbsarepotentiallymetaphorical.Metaphorsmaybe‘single’-viz.one-word——or‘extended’(acollocation,anidiom,asentence,aproverb,anallegory,acompleteimaginativetext)”[16]

(f)Afigureofspeechinwhichawordorphrasethatordinarilydesignatesonethingisusedtodesignateanother,thusmakinganimplicitcomparison,asin“aseaoftroubles”or“Alltheworld’sastage”(Shakespeare)(TheAmericanHeritageoftheEnglishLanguage,FourthEdition,2000)[17]

(g)Afigureofspeechinwhichatermorphraseisappliedtosomethingtowhichitisnotliterallyapplicableinordertosuggestaresemblance,asin“AmightyfortressinourGod”.(RandomHouseCompactUnabridgedDictionary,SpecialSecondEdition,1996)[18]

Eachoftheabove-quoteddefinitionspointsoutmoreorlesstheessenceofmetaphor.Thecommonfeatureofthesedefinitionsisthatallofthemthinkthatmetaphorisafigureofspeech,containinganimplicitcomparison.Amongthesevendefinitionsofmetaphor,thefirstisveryconcise;thesecondmakesacontrastbetweensimileandmetaphortopointoutthefundamentaldifferencebetweenthesetworhetoricaldevices;thethirdpointsoutthatinmetaphor,thetenorandthevehiclearerelatedthroughtheirsimilarityinaparticularway;thefourthisabstractforitprovidesnoconcreteexamplestohelpthereaderbetterunderstandthenotionitintendstoconvey;thefifthseemstobethemostcomprehensiveandthemostspecificoftheabove-quoteddefinitionsasitincludesseveralwaysofmanifestationswhichallbelongtometaphor;thesixthissomewhatclearwithtwoexamplesprovided;thelastoneisquitesimilarwiththefirstone.

ButthisthesisismainlybasedontheviewofGeorgeLakeoffandMarkJohnson.“TheyclaiminMetaphorsWeLiveby,‘……metaphorispervasiveineverydaylife,notjustinlanguagebutinthoughtandaction.’Theypointout,‘Ourordinaryconceptualsystem,intermsofwhichweboththinkandact,isfundamentallymetaphoricalinnature.’”[19]ThispointofviewisveryconsistentwithI.A.Richards’“metaphorisomnipresentprincipleoflanguage”mentionedinIntroduction.

3.2Characteristicsofmetaphor

Fromthesevendefinitionsonmetaphoraboveandaccordingtoourknowledgeofmetaphor,wemayconcludethatmetaphorpossessesatleastthefollowingfourcharacteristics:

(a)Unlikesimile,metaphordoesn’tcontainsuchlinkingwordsas“as”and“l(fā)ike”,sothecomparisonisimplicitratherthanexplicit.

(b)Inametaphor,thetenoriscomparedtothevehiclebecausetheyshareanabstractquality,whichfunctionsasatieconnectingthetwotogether.Inotherwords,thetenorandthevehiclepossessasimilarabstractfeatureorquality,whichservesasthebasisoftheircomparison.

(c)Thetenorandvehiclearebynaturedifferentfromeachother,thoughtheypossesssomethingabstractincommononwhichtheircomparisonisbased.

(d)Thevehicleinametaphorcreatesaspecificimage,whichisusuallyvividandimpressive.Bycomparingthetenortothevehicle,wenotonlygetaconcreteimageofthetenorbutalsomakeitstypicalqualityorfeaturestandout.

Tosumup,theauthorwouldratherbelievethatmetaphorisnotjustamatteroflanguage,afigureofspeech,whichimpliesaresemblancebetweenoneobjectandanother,butacognitivemodefromtheperspectiveofcognitivelinguistics,whichhelpspeopleunderstandtheworld.

Sofarasnow,thisthesishasthoroughlyillustratedsomemajorfactorsofmetaphor.Inthenextpart,theauthorwillpayspecialattentiontodiscussthetranslationofmetaphorfromEnglishtoChinesefromtheperspectiveofculturaldifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglish.4.TranslationofmetaphorfromEnglishintoChinesefromtheperspectiveofculturaldifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglish

4.1Culturaltranslationofmetaphor

Aswehavediscussedabove,metaphorisnotonlyamatterofwords,butalsoakindofcognitivemode.Thus,itisnotenoughtoexplorethetranslatabilityofmetaphoronlyfromtheperspectiveoflinguistics,butalsofromotherperspectives.“Cultureisthemostimportantoneoftheminthatinmetaphors,thesemanticingredientsrestrictedbycontextcanstimulatereaderstoassociateothers,especiallycertainmajordefinitionalones,whichcanshapeanimageinreaders’mind,thenmaketheimpartedinformationmoreclearandvivid.”[20]Whileimageandculturearecloselylinked.Therefore,itisnecessaryforustodiscussthetranslatabilityofmetaphorfromtheculturalperspective.

Whetherametaphoris“translatable”(i.e.whetherliteraltranslationcouldcreateidenticaldimensions),howdifficultitistotranslate,howitcanbetranslatedandwhetheritshouldbetranslatedatallcannotbedecidedbyasetofabstractrules,butmustdependonthestructureandfunctionoftheparticularmetaphorwithinthetextconcerned.Thetranslatabilityofanygivensourcelanguagemetaphordependsontwofactors:oneisparticularculturalexperiencesandsemanticassociationexploitedbyit;theotheristheextenttowhichthesecan,orcannot,bereproducednon-anomalouslyintargetlanguage,dependingonthedegreeof“overlap”ineachparticularcase.Let’slookatanexample:

(1)“Don’tbescared,chickens!”camehervoicewithteasinggaiety.

“別害怕，你們這些膽小如鼠的東西！”只聽得她用戲謔的口氣說道。

Inthisexample,“chickens”shouldnotbeliterallytranslatedinto“小雞”inChinese,becauseinwesternculture,“chicken”isoftenusedtorefertoacowardlyandfearfulperson.Thus,“膽小如鼠”isabettertranslation.

4.1.1ManagementofculturalfactorsintranslatingEnglishmetaphors

EnglishmetaphorscontainabundantandvividculturalconnotationofthenationandstronglyreflecttheculturalcharacteristicsofthenationwithEnglishasitsnativelanguage.ThekeyofsuccessfultranslationofEnglishmetaphorsliesintheextenttowhichthetranslatorunderstandstheculturalcontextandthetranslationoftheculturalfeatures.Thus,thetranslatorshouldtrytomasterthesourceandculturalcontextofEnglishmetaphorsasmuchaspossible,whichisverynecessarytoexactlyunderstandtheirconnotationsandtheculturalcharacteristicstheyreflect.Thenthetranslatorcanusepropermethodstotranslatetheseconnotationsandcharacteristicsinordertoachievethemostfaithfulandperfecttranslation.

Astotranslationstandardandapproach,inforeigncountries,thereareNida’s“formalcorrespondence”and“functionalequivalence”,andC.F.Newmark’s“semantictranslation”and“communicationaltranslation”;inChina,thereexists“directtranslation”and“indirecttranslation”.Althoughtheyaredifferentstandards,allofthemdonotconflictwitheachotherbutcomplementwitheachother.Therefore,therearemanyapproachestotranslatingmetaphors.Whileintheprocessoftranslatingmetaphors,whichapproachisthebestchoice?Itwilldependonthenatureandpositionofmetaphorsintext,ontherelationbetweenmetaphorandcontextandonthetypeofthetextitself.

Aboveall,duringtheprocessoftranslationofmetaphors,thetranslatorshouldtrytoflexiblykeeptheculturalfeatureswhiletranslatingmeaning.Asaresultofculturalsimilaritiesanddifferences,thetargetlanguageandthesourcelanguagehavedifferentcorrespondingrelations:sometimesfull-corresponding,sometimessemi-corresponding,andsometimesnon-corresponding.Suchaphenomenonwillfurtheraffecttheaccuracyoftranslation.Infact,anytranslationmaybringaboutthelossofmeaningand/orimage.Therefore,weshouldadoptdifferentcomplementalmethodsinordertoachievewhatNidacalled“functionalequivalence”.[21]

4.1.2Culturalconnotationofmetaphor

“BothNidaandNewmarkclassifylinguisticcultureintofivecategories:(a)ecology(b)materialculture(c)socialculture(d)religiousculture(e)linguisticculture.”[22]Itclearlytellsusthat:culturalinformationcarriedbyallkindsoflanguagesiscertaintobedifferent,becausetheecology,material,socialandreligiousenvironmentwhichdifferentnationsownareimpossibletobeidentical.Theculturaldifferencesdirectlyinfluencethethinkingmodeandvalueorientationofhumanbeing,thusbecomethemainreasonforthedifferencesofmetaphoricalconceptsofthetwonations.Throughresearchesonmetaphors,wecanfindtheculturaldifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglish.

Firstly,metaphorsreflectgeologicalandnaturalconditionsofanation.Differentnationshavedifferentgeologicalenvironmentandnationalcircumstances,andthisdifferenceoftenfindsexpressioninmetaphors.Forexample(2),whendescribingtheemergenceofalargeamountofnewobjects,Chinesealwayssay“雨后春筍般地”,whileinEnglishpeopleusuallysay“growlikemushrooms”(像蘑菇一般).Fromthisexample,wecanfindthatforthesamephenomenon,ChineseandEnglishusedifferentimagestodescribe.Thereasonjustliesinthedifferentenvironmentofthetwonations：Chinaaboundswithbambooshoots,whiletheEnglishspeakingcountrieswithmushrooms.

Differentclimatesalsoplayaveryimportantroleintheuseofmetaphor.IntheeyeofChinese,summerisanuncomfortableseasonwhentheblazingsunbakestheearthallthetimebutsometimesitsuddenlyrainsheavilywithoutanynotice.Sowhenseeingthemetaphor“ShallIcomparetheetoasummer’sday?Thouaremorelovelyandmoretemperate.”inShakespeare’s18thsonnettopraisehisfriend,mostChinesemayfeelconfused.Itisveryhardforustoconnectthesummerwithagoodfriend.Atthistime,weneedtomakeresearchesontheclimateofBritain.BritainliesintheNortherntemperatezoneandisneartotheAtlanticOcean,soithasanoceanicclimateanditssummeriswarmbutneverhot.InthemindofEnglish,thesummeristhemostpleasantseasontolivein,whichformssharpcontrastwiththecontinentalclimatedecidedbythelocationofChina.[23]Therefore,thereisnodoubtthatthesamewindtriggersdifferentassociationsinChineseandEnglish.

Besidesclimate,terrainandspeciesofanimalsandplants,distributionofmineraldepositsisanimportantfactorforustoconsiderintermsofgeologicalconditions.Theancientpoem“問君能有幾多愁，恰似一江春水向東流”reflectsChina’sterrainishighinthewestandlowintheeast;andtheEnglishidiom“carrycoalstoNewcastle”(近乎做徒勞無功的事)arisesfromthebackgroundthatNewcastleisanindustrialcityinEngland’snortheast,famousforcoalexportation.[24]

Secondly,metaphorsreflecttraditionalcultureandvalues.Peopleindifferentnationshavedifferentwaysoflife,thinking,cultureandmentalities.Asshownabove,metaphorandculturehavecloserelations.Throughmetaphor,peoplecanwellunderstandtheobjectiveworld.Andmetaphor,tosomeextent,reflectsanddeterminestheshapingofanation’scultureandvalues.Itisbecausethatwhenpeoplemakemetaphorsoncertainimages,theirviewsofcultureandvaluesmustbemanifestedinthesemetaphorsconsciouslyorunconsciously.Forexample,inChineseculturethepine,thebambooandtheplumarecalledthreegentlemeninwinter.Becausethethreeofthemcansurvivetheextremelycoldwinterandremainvital.ForChinese,theyrepresentanoblespirit.WhileinEnglishculture,theyarejustthreecommonplantsandcannotgivepeopleanyassociation.

PeopleinChineseandEnglishculturehavedifferentunderstandingofcolor.Forexample(3),“red”isthekindofcolorChineseadmireandhasthemeaningofluck,success,faithfulnessandwealth,etc.Thisphenomenoncanbeexplainedfromtheangleofculture.InChineseculture,Chinesespecialadmirationforredoriginatesfrompeople’sworshipanddesireforthesuninancienttimes.Andourforebears’attachmentfortheredsunshineisnative.Thereforethepositivemeaningrepresentedbyrednaturallycomesintobeing.Forexample,inancienttimes,thehouse,theclothes,andthecartstheinfluentialofficialslivedin,woreandsatinwererespectivelycalled“朱門”,“朱衣”,“朱軒”.Inmoderntimes,peopleuse“分紅”torefertotheprofitsdistributedtothebusinesscooperators.Onthecontrary,inEnglishculture,redisanegativeword.Becauseredisalsothecolorofblood,andinthemindofEnglish,bloodistheliquidoflife,onceonebleeds,thefloweroflifewillsoonwither.Therefore,theyoftenassociate“red”with“violence”and“danger”.Thenthereare“theredrulesoftoothandclaw”,“redrevenge”,“aredbattle”,“redhand”etc.[25]AlloftheseexpressionsshowthatredisakindofunluckycolorinEnglishculture.

Besides,becauseoftraditionalculturaldifferences,metaphorsonloveinChineseandEnglishareentirelydifferent.Forexample(4),inbothChineseandEnglish,thereisametaphoricalconcept