浅析英汉习语翻译中的文化差异
摘 要：语言是文化的载体，也是文化交际的最主要工具。习语作为语言的精华，是一种语言在使用过程中形成的独特的固定的表达方式,英汉习语承载着不同的民族文化特色和文化信息。因此，在习语翻译过程中要注意其文化差异，理解习语所包含的文化内涵，从而达到准确运用习语的目的。
关键词：英汉习语；翻译；文化差异
language is the carrier of culture, and also is an
instrument for communication. each language is linked with
its culture. english and chinese are two completely different
languages. the coverage of culture is extremely widespread,
and language, as a part of culture, reflects the nation’s
colorful cultural phenomena. idioms form an essential part
of the vocabulary of a language, which carry a large number
of cultural information and reflect the cultural differences
between english and chinese. in order to understand the others
and express ourselves rightly in real language communication,
we should not only have bilingual ability, but also must have
a double cultural knowledge.
1 definition
an idiom is an expression whose meaning dose not seem to
follow logically from the combination of its parts and the
“rules of language”. the word idiom comes from greek and
means own or peculiar. (王颖,2007:15) so an idiom is a mode
of expression peculiar to a language which cannot be explained
grammatically.
2.the main manifestations of cultural differences
“culture is a complex whole that includes knowledge,
belief, art, law, moral, customs and the ability and habit
from which a social member would acquire.”--the classical
definition of culture, is difinited in 1817 by edward tylor,
a british anthropologist in his book primitive culture.
2.1 differences in living environments and geographical
differences
britain lays on an island. navigation is the top in the
long history, so a large number of english idioms are
originated from navigation industry.
2.2differences in customs and habits
many idioms comes from our daily life. food is the first
necessity of the people. different nations have different
foods in their daily life. english people plant wheat in
england and feed on bread, milk, butter and cheese. in england,
bread and butter means livelihood. bread and circuses means
food and entertainments. when someone says he want to break
bread with you, it means that he want to have dinner with you.
2.3 differences in religious beliefs
religious belief is a very important cultural component，and a large number of idioms about religion also appeared.
religion reflects different attitudes towards admiration and
taboo of each nation. religious belief create a lot of idioms.
buddhism has been transmitted to china for more than one
thousand years, which occupies the leading position in
chinese traditional religions.
3 translation of english and chinese idioms
“why translation is difficult? the main cause is that two
cultures is different. there are something in a culture, while
do not exist in the other kind of cultural.
3.1 literal translation
there are some similar or same idioms in chinese and
english. the cultural information which carried by these
idioms are same. when translating these idioms, we can choose
literal translation method. for example, the idiom of easy
come, easy go we can find the idiom in chinese which have the
same meaning.
3.2 literal translation plus explanation
in order to keep the image and ethnic characteristics of
idioms, some chinese idioms which include allusion often
translate into english directly, but we often add some
explanation behind it.
3.3 free translation
some images of english idioms cannot find the same words
in chinese because of different culture. according to the
semantic equivalent principles, the effect of translation of
the target language for readers should be equivalent to the
effect of original language.
4.conclusion
in a word, we should not only study language but also the
culture. as the most important component of language, idioms,
the essence of a language, are not a separate part of the
language and have strong national colors and distinctive
cultural connotations. english and chinese belong to
different language systems, and they are affected by deferent
culture. translation is not merely from one language to
another, but also to introduce the cultural backgrounds.
idioms are rich in strong national and local colors. therefore,
it is not easy to translate chinese and english idioms. by
studying the differences of idioms between english and