Culturalbridge：translation-2019年文檔

1、Cu1tura1bridge:trans1ation1、Languages,CultureandTranslationLanguagedoesnotdevelopinemptyplace.Languageisthecarrierofapeopleandthechiefwaybywhichthemembersofasocietycommunicates.Togivethebarestofdefinition,languageisameansofverbalcommunication.Itisinstrumentalinthatcommunicatingbyspeakingorwritingisa

2、purposefulact.Itissocialandconventionalinthatlanguageisasocialsemioticandcommunicationcanonlytakeplaceeffectivelyifalltheusersshareabroadunderstandingofhumaninteraction.Translationmaybedifficulttodefined.Theoretically,agoodtranslationshouldgivethereaderasmuchthesameconceptionaswhatanativegetstheorig

3、inal.Nidaremarkedthathowtodetermineagoodtranslationistheresponseofthereceptortothetranslatedmessage,andthismessagemustthenbecomparedwiththewayinwhichtheoriginalreceptorspresumablyreactedtothemessagewhenitwasgiveninitsoriginalsetting.Perhapsitismostdifficulttodefinethetermculture.Differentpeopleindif

4、ferentsocietiesorcountrieshavedifferentdefinitions.Acultureisasocietysystemofcommonheritage.Ourcultureisexposedcontinuouslyinourdress,food,work,languageandotheractivities.Toputitsimply,culturemeansthetotalwaysoflifeofacommunity.Therefore,alanguageisbothapathofcultureandabridgeconnectwithotherpartsof

5、cultureandcultures.Thismakeslanguagethedistinctivefeatureofhumansociety.Butlanguageisalsoinseparablewiththefunctionofacultureandfortransmittingittosucceedinggenerations.Thatistosay,languageplaysaveryimportantroleinculture,withoutlanguage,culturewouldnotexist.Ontheotherhand,languageisinfluencedandsha

6、pedbyculture.Languagecannotexistwithoutculture.2、ImageandFunctionTheChineseputemphasisonintuitionandimages,theIndo-Europeanemphasisonreasonandlogic.SoChineseisimageabewhileEnglishisfunctional.Chineseiswrittenwithcharacters(alsocalledideograms),which,intheirearliestform,werepicturesofthingsorideas.Ch

7、inesecharactersintheirpresenthighlydevelopedformarenotasystemofpicturewritingbutacomplexmeansofconveyingideasvividlythroughimages.Forexample,人(man)isexactlythe?imageofamanstandingwithlegsparted,雨(rain)hasfordotstrokessymbolizingraindrops.日(sun)and月(moon)resemblethesunandmooninthesky.日and月combinetogi

8、ve明(brightness),從(tofollow)veryvividlydepictsonemanfollowinganother.ThemeaningofsomeChinesewordscanbeunderstooddirectlybytheir?visualpresentation,suchas短發(fā)(shingle,bobbedhair),假發(fā)(wig),硬幣(coin),紙幣(note,bill),圓形針(paperclip),高跟鞋(stilettos,high-heeledshoes),短襪(socks),無袖外衣(tabard),and露背裝(haltertop).Alarge

9、amountofChinesewordsareveryvividlypresentedinimages,shapesandqualities;butwhentranslatethemintoEnglishversionitcanonlysurveytheirmeaningandfunctioninthesourcetextandneglecttheimage.ideas,metaphorsorsentimentsandambitionsusuallybeexpressedthroughimages.蠶食(tonibble)meansgradualaggressionandoccupationt

10、othewaysilkwormseatmulberryleavesbitetheleaveslittlebylittle.手忙腳舌Lvividlydescribesapersondoingsomethinginaflurry.Thecompounddepictsageneralflurryofactivitywithoutanyspecificrelationto手and腳.InEnglish,itwouldbetranslatedas“withirresistibleforce"or“l(fā)ikesplittingbambooor“l(fā)ikea?hotknifecuttingthough

11、butter;thislastoptionborrowsanimagefromwesternculturethathasasimilarconnotation.AlargenumberofmeasurewordsalsomakeChinesevocabularyveryimageable;forinstance,一支筆(apen),一張報紙(anewspaper),一朵花(aflower),一把椅子(chair),一面鏡子(amirror),一匹馬(ahorse),一盞燈(alamp),一棵樹(atree),一口鍋(awok),etc.Themeaningandthequantityofthe

12、objectscanbewelltranslatedintoEnglish,butthe?vividnessoftheChinesemeasurewordscanneverbereproduced.AsChineseisanideographicwritingsystemandatonallanguage,everyChinesecharactercanberegardedasatrinityofpictographideographandphone.Itisindeedagreatpitythatitsbeautyofimageandsoundiscompletelylostwhentran

13、slatedintoEnglish,analphabeticwritingsystemwithwordscomposedoflettersthathave?nosymbolizedmeaning.ThemeaningofChinesewordsisusuallygeneralwhilethemeaningofEnglishwordsisspecific.摩托車isusedto?refertoalltypesofmotorcycle(ormotorbike).InEnglishthereareotherspecifictermssuchaslightmotorcycle輕型摩托車,heavymo

14、torcycle重型摩托車,sidecarmotorcycle帶側(cè)邊的摩托車andtouringmoped旅行摩托車.車mayrefertoacar,abus,aminibus,atram,alorry,avan,ataxianymeansoftransportationwithtwoormorewheels.ItispossibletodistinguishbetweentheminChinese,butaChinesepersonismuchmorelikelytouseageneraltermthanaspecificoneindailycommunication.車meansavehi

15、cle"inEnglish,butthisgeneraltermisrarelyusedbynativeEnglishspeakersexceptinofficialorlegaloccasion.NativeEnglishspeakersprefertobemorespecificintheirreferencestocars,buses,minibuses,trams,lorries,vans,taxis,etc.ThedifferencecomesoutoftheWestern'sautomobileindustryismoredevelopedthanChina,so

16、manymoretypesofvehicleareavailable?WestthaninChina.筆isanotherexample.WhenaChinesepersonwantssomethingtowritewith,itisquitenaturalforhimtoask“有筆嗎"thoughmorespecificwordslike圓珠筆、鋼筆、鉛筆、粉筆areavailable.Theuseof筆onitsownisperfectlynormalandsatisfactoryinChinese,whereastheuseofwritingimplement,rathert

17、hanaskingHaveyougotsomethingIcanwritewith?Chinesewordsalsohavesomeveryspecificreferents,whichareinfluencedbyhisenvironmentandmaterialculture.大米themainfoodforChinesewhenitisgrowing,itisaplantcalled稻米or稻米;havingbeenharvested,itiscalled谷子or稻谷;oncethechaffisremoved,itiscalled大米,whichcanbeeaten;itiscalle

18、d米飯whenitiscookedforfoodandwhenitisemployedasseed.AllthesespecifictermscanberenderedintooneEnglishword:rice.NotonlyinChinesevocabulary,butalsoinotheraspectsofthelanguage,Chinesehasapreferenceforthegeneralwords.Chinesedonotmuchcarewhetheranounissingularorplural,definiteorindefinite.Withoutacontext,it

19、isimpossibletojudgewhichtranslationiscorrect.Hence,“你有杯子嗎？“canberenderedas:Haveyougotacup?Haveyougotcups?Haveyougotthecup?Haveyougotthecups?Haveyougotanycups?Haveyougotsomecups?SometimequiteafewthingsonlybelongtoChineseandusedinourcommunityorpartofthecommunity.Thenweshouldgiveanexplanationaboutthemi

20、nbriefwhentranslatingthem.我屬雞.我從來不吃雞.雞是我的本命年.IwasbornintheyearoftheRooster.Inevereatchicken.TheyearofRoosterwillbringmegoodlickorbadlick.(Chinesepeopletraditionallyuse12animals,representingthe12EarthlyBranches,tosymbolizetheyearinwhichapersonisborn.)憑你的李杜文章,顏曾的品行,卻是也沒有一個來問你.YoumighthavethegeniusofLi

21、BaiorDuFuandthemoralworthofYanHuiorZengShen(bothofthemweredisciplesofConfucius),onewouldaskyouradvice.EmptywordsinChinesehaveimportantgrammaticalfunctions,buttheirmeaningsarefuzzyandvaryindifferentcontexts.Inthefollowingexamplestheemptywords啊bearsvariousmeaningswhichbetranslatedaccordingly.你這杯牛奶還喝不喝??？(Question)Areyougoingtohavethiscupofmilk?這究竟是怎么回事啊？(Surprise)Whatonearthisthisallabout?啊,原來是你！(Wi