浅谈英语习语的汉译_英文_

5960take courage to hold an optimistic view toward the prob-lems.2.1From the Cultural Point of ViewExperts of cross-cultural communication have said that human experience of life is actually alike throughout the world,“Language is the direct reality of thought”“No matter it is thought or language,they are only the reflec-tion of realistic life”“No matter what thought will come into produce,they can produce and exist only on the base of language materials,technical terms and words and phrases.”Language is the reflection of reality.That is to say,different languages may describe the same reality and the same phenomena.The ideas expressed in English can also be said in Chinese,and that is quite possible.What people of different cultural backgrounds in common is much greater than their differences.Although they may have differences in some superficial aspects,what separ-ates them apart is not so queer and unconquerable.Thus those research results have laid the theoretical foundations for the possibility of cross-cultural translation of idioms.2.2From the Linguistic Point of ViewThough idioms are the special material in English, they are still part of the language and are fixed,expressive language elements.So idioms have no difference from common language material for the function in the orig-inal.They are similarly translatable.All the languages with long history contain rich idioms.If denying the trans-latability of idioms,it is equal to deny the translatability of languages.When we do the translation work,we should not transmit individual elements of a composition,but to translate it as a whole.Thoughts and contents should be the prerequisite for the translatability of idioms.If transla-tors focus on every aspect and details of the source lan-guage,it is of course ideal,but if they can not,it does not matter.Because this does not influence the ideological contents and artistic quality of the original.Those who think idioms are untranslatable have made a formalistic mistake.They ignore the thoughts and contents of the sou-rce language which have distinctive national features. They attend to the individual elements which are owned in Chinese but not in English.So,they could not translate well.2.3From the Realistic Point of ViewAlong with the communication of the English and Chinese nations,the differences between the two nations are reduced greatly,this add to the possibility of idiomatic translation between the two nations.For example,in west-ern society,religious has a strong influence on people. There left a large number of idioms representing religious beliefs.Once we know about the religious background, we could translate such curse words as“Go to hell”and “damn you”.Another example is the different attitudes that Chinese people and English people hold toward dogs. The Chinese people look down upon dogs,but the wes-terners look dogs as their best and honest friends.But after learning this,we could understand that“dog-tired”means“very tired”,“sick as a dog”means“very sick”, and“love me,love my dog”means“爱屋及乌”in Chin-ese.The more we communicate,the more we know each other.Thus the translation of the English idioms is not as difficult as before.3Standards for the translation of Eng-lish Idioms3.1Standards for the idiomatic translationThe translation of English idioms as well as that of the ordinary passages are all subject to the criteria of translation proposed by Yan Fu in the late19th century. Yan Fu’s proposal could be summed up into three words :“faithfulness,expressiveness,elegance”.How this criteria is reflected in the translation of English idioms will be discussed in the following.3.2FaithfulnessFaithfulness means that translators should be loyal to the original text,distortion or preservation is not allowed .Since what a translator really does is expressing other pe-ople’s idea in a different language,so the content of his or her translation must strictly comply with that of the orig-inal.So it is very clear that“faithful”is the most import-ant among the three,and it is the first responsibility to a translator.Translating superficially is one thing needs our attention.Some idioms can not be understood by the meanings of the words that compose them,they may have more profound meanings.Translation of English Idioms into Chinese61第6卷第2期Translation of English Idioms into Chinesee.g.it rains cats and dogs.Literally it means“天上下猫和狗”in Chinese.But we all understand that actually it means“大雨滂沱”.This is just a simple example.Some idioms have rat-her complicated structures that need careful analysis.Another aspect of translating English idioms concer-ning faithfulness is the maintaining or preservation of the features of the English nation.As we have mentioned, idioms can reflect a nation’s characters.The translation of them should also reveal and convey its national features ,life and customs to another nation without mixing with that nation’s own traditions.e.g.Don’t cross the bridge until you come across it.If this English idiom is translated into“不要杞人忧天”,the Chinese translation is smooth and has almost the same meaning as the English idiom,but we all know that “杞人”(Qiren)is a literary figure in the traditional Chin-ese writing.If we translate this idiom in this way,Chin-ese people may feel very confused and think that maybe there is also a Qiren in Britain.Thus it is much better if we translate it in another way,that is“船到桥头自然直”,for the latter one has no Chinese features in it and it can be un-derstood by us Chinese as well as the first translation. 3.3ExpressivenessExpressiveness refers to the popularity of the idio-matic translation.The translation should be as popular as the daily language,clear and terse.Because many Eng-lish idioms have become part of the daily expression,they have been used in English people’s colloquial speech. For the style and manner of the target language should be in accord with the original language,the translation of the English idioms should be like the colloquial talks.No matter how learned the readers are,this translation prin-ciple should be followed.e.g.Bad workmen quarrel with their tools.If we translate it into拙工咎器,then this rendering is too literary.It is obvious that no workman in either Eng-land or China will speak in such a literary way,this trans-lation make them sound like well-educated people,but in fact this is not the case.But it is not to say that all idioms should be translated colloquially.The idioms in the Bible or some other literary works should be translated literally.e.g.Soft answer turneth away wrath.This is an idiom from the Bible.It should be trans-lated into“婉言可以息怒”.Because the Bible is a holy book which has religious background,only be translated in this way,can its formality be revealed.e.g.Enough to make the angels sweep.This is an idiom from Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure.The Chinese translation for this is“足以令天使垂泪”.Thus the style of the Chinese version should be the same as the English expression,classical versus classical ,literary versus literary and colloquial versus colloquial.3.4EleganceElegance represents the aesthetical value in transla-tion.As we have seen that idiom is a vibrant part in the language,it gives color and life to the language.How pale and weak a language is without the decoration of the ually idiom is witty,humorous,rhythmic and figurative,thus the translation of it should reflect these characters.How to translate the idiom elegantly is a hig-her request for the translators after they achieve the goal of faithfulness and expressiveness.Translators should ad-opt concisive,symmetric and rhythmic language accord-ingly.e.g.Good wine needs no bush.(酒好客自来)This is a very good example to show the rhythmic and explicit translation of the idiom.e.g.Old friends and old wine are best.If it is translated into Chinese,two versions are available.The first version is“老朋友与陈年老酒是最好的”.While the second version is“陈酒味醇，老友情深”.By comparing these two versions,I believe that most Chinese people will choose the second version. Why?Because although the first version gives a precise translation,it does not take the elegance and rhythm of the translation into consideration,which does not make the first version read like an idiom.4Skills for the Translation of English IdiomsThe criteria of translation has been discussed,we now come to the skills or principles of idiomatic transla-tion.Generally speaking,all skills of translation could be62第6卷第2期Translation of English Idioms into Chineseused in the idiomatic translation,but here I would like to introduce four mostly used principles for the translation of idioms.4.1Principle of Literal TranslationThe purpose of literal translation is to maintain the original flavour of the source language,while not to bre-ach the grammatical rules of the target language.In the translation of the English idioms,the translator should do their utmost to retain the style,image and even rhetorical methods employed in them.That is the principle of first importance.Because the translation work is not only to convey the other nation’s idiom but also its national char-acters.Many English idioms can be translated literally, here I only list a few of them.e.g.A wolf in sheep’s clothing（披着羊皮的狼）To be led by the nose（被牵着鼻子走）To pull the chestnut out of the fire（火中取栗）Numerous examples could be found in the E-C trans-lation of the idioms.Idiom is the scintilla of a language which possesses much more national features than other forms of this language does.Literal translation is the translation principle that could to the largest extent pre-sent the national features of the source language,thus the literal translation of the English idioms should be consid-ered in the first place.4.2Principle of EquivalenceAs we have discussed,people live in different coun-tries may have the similar experience in life.Human be-ings throughout the world have to labor and struggle with nature in order to exist and produce the next generation. In correspondence to these phenomena,there are must be identical expressions in both the source language and the target language.The English idiom to burn one’s boats possesses a nearly identical image and meaning as the Chinese one“破釜沉舟”.These two expressions in Eng-lish and Chinese show a equivalence of each other.4.3Principle of ReplacementWe could consider this principle as the principle of equivalence in its broad sense.Because the equivalence in this principle is not so absolute.In translation,if the trans-lator could use the correspondent idioms or proverbs of the target language to express the meaning or flavor of that of the original language,so much the better.Butusually the meanings of the idioms in both languages are identical,the images or emotional feelings for the idioms are different.When that is the case,we still treat these two idioms as the equivalence.That is the principle of re-placement.We use another image to express the meaning of the source language.For example,the Chinese equiv-alence for the English saying to get blood from stone is “糠里炸油”.Both of them mean to do something imposs-ible,thus we can use the Chinese saying to replace the English one.Here we could see a replacement.That is糠(barn)for stone and油(oil)for blood.4.4Principle of Free TranslationThis is a principle that can be used by the translators when all the above principles are not suitable.In translat-ing idioms,free translation is the most flexible one.It can express a source idiom in a totally different way in images ,rhetorical devices and even in shades of meaning.If a translator use free translation,he or she should aware of a loss of those things.Translators usually want to reduce the loss to a minimum degree,they could achieve this by adding supplementary notes to the translation.By doing this,they provide an explanation to the readers in order to help readers to better understand the source idioms.This is a paradox,because an idiomatic translation should first be read like an idiom,this translation principle seldom has this feature.5Suggestions for better translation of English idiomsIn this part,I will discuss how to improve our trans-lating of English idioms.Before we go to this part,I would like to have a look at the qualities that must be possessed by a translator.Fir-st,a good translator must be good at the two languages, that is the source language and the target language.Be-sides that he or she must also have a good command of grammar,syntax,literature and rhetorical structure of the SL and the TL.Second,he or she should have some abil-ities of writing,this ability could help him or her to con-vey the meaning and style of the source language effectiv-ely.Third,he or she must know where and how to find the information that is needed in his or her translation.A63第6卷第2期Translation of English Idioms into Chinesetranslator can not possibly know all the things in the sou-rce language or even the target language,thus this ability to find the needed information is also a basic quality a translator must have.6ConclusionEnglish idioms are difficult for us to translate,but it is translatable.Before we get to translate an English idiom ,first,we need to understand it literally and clearly.Then we should take the context that this idiom is in into con-sideration,and decide what is the meaning of the idiom in this specific environment.The next step goes to the trans-lation of the idiom itself.Yan Fu’s standards can be used to judge whether the translation is good or ually faithfulness is the most important one,that is to say,the first requirement of translation is that we should choose the correct meaning for the idiom,after that,we can go on to see whether the translation is expressive,that is whether the translation is terse and concise,the third stan-dard is elegance,this standard is a higher requirement for the translators,this one is based on the former two stan-dards,it emphasizes on rhythm and rhyme.In order to better translate the idioms,we could ap-ply to some translation methods.Those principles di-scussed above function as devices that can polish our translation.If we could use these devices flexibly,it will be easier for us to reach the translation standard.The last but not the least aspect is the qualifications and daily work a good translator has to possess and do. Those points are the ones that have been neglected by most people.On effect,those aspects are also important in the translation,they can even affect the quality of a translator’s works.Bibliography：[1]辞海编辑委员会.辞海[M].上海:上海辞书出版社,1999.[2]冯庆华.实用翻译教程[M].上海:上海外语教育出版社,1997.[3]郭著章,李庆生.英汉互译实用教程[M].武汉:武汉大学出版社,1996.[4]黄龙.翻译学[M].南京:江苏教育出版社,1994.[5]张春柏.英汉汉英翻译教程[M].北京:高等教育出版社,2003.[6]张维友.英语词汇学教程[M].武汉:华中师范大学出版社,2004.浅谈英语习语的汉译卜素1，周妮2，曹晓磊1（1.中南民族大学工商学院，湖北武汉430065；2.湖北生态工程职业技术学院，湖北武汉430200）[摘要]本文从四个方面详述了英语习语的汉译问题。