Wen/Xiang Liang
China University of Mining and Technology Xuzhou 22 1008
Abstract: Based on the equivalence theory, this paper studies the translation of Chinese and English animal culture connotation words. Different nationalities have different cultures and languages. Due to different ways of thinking and cultural backgrounds, people have different cognition and views on the same thing, including the understanding of animal cultural connotation. This paper introduces the equivalence translation theory of cultural connotation words, discusses the inequality of some animal cultural connotation words in different cultures, and puts forward how to realize the equivalence of animal cultural connotation words translation, that is, literal translation and free translation.
Keywords: Equivalence Translation Method of Animal Cultural Connotations; A Study on Translation of Chinese and English Animal Cultural Connotations Based on Equivalence Theory
To Liang Jingchen.
Abstract: Based on the equivalence theory, this paper studies the translation of Chinese and English animal culture connotation words. Different nationalities have different cultures and languages. Due to the differences in thinking modes and cultural backgrounds, people have different perceptions and views on the same thing, including the understanding of animal cultural connotations. This paper introduces the equivalent translation theory of cultural connotation words, discusses the connotation inequality of some animal cultural connotation words in different cultures, and puts forward how to realize the translation equivalence of animal cultural connotation words, that is, literal translation and transliteration.
Keywords: translation methods of equivalent cultural connotation of animal cultural connotation words
China Library Classification. G642.0 Certificate ID number A1672-3937 (2008) 08-0081-02
Translation and translation equivalence theory
Translation is a speech activity that connects two languages, that is, the activity of transforming information expressed in one language into information in another language. Translation is to analyze all kinds of information contained in the text structure of one language and integrate it properly in another text structure, so as to realize the equivalent transmission between languages.
In contemporary translation theory, translation equivalence theory is considered as a core issue. Equivalence in translation activities refers to the description of the same thing in different languages, such as "mother" in Chinese and "mother" in English. In English, we can use "I am very happy" to express our feelings. Translated into Chinese, it can be expressed as "I am very happy." This is the equivalence between word and form in a simple sense. However, any language in the world is not simply composed of words and structures, and the true connotation of a language is often composed of the combination of words and structures and the meaning between the lines. So the equivalence of connotation is also very important.
Eugene Nida, an American translation theorist, put forward "functional equivalence" on the basis of "equivalent translation" and renamed it "functional equivalence" on the basis of "dynamic equivalence". Nida believes that functional equivalence is not a formal correspondence, but a functional equivalence between the translated text and the original text.
2. Chinese and English animal culture connotation words
Culture is a combination of group spirit, wisdom and aesthetics, which includes tradition, habit, morality, law and social relations. As the carrier of culture, language records the development process of human social civilization. In human language, there are many words about animals. According to the shapes, colors and habits of animals, people give some animal words special cultural meanings. When translating animal cultural connotation words, translators must take into account their different cultural connotations, that is, implied or incidental associative meaning, figurative meaning, symbolic meaning and emotional praise and criticism meaning. For example, in English, the word "magpie" is used to describe people's chatter, while in Chinese, it is considered as "a bird that can bring good luck". People usually associate good news with magpies.
Culture is the soil for language growth. Due to the differences between Chinese and western cultures, the connotations of Chinese and English animal culture vocabulary are also different. By analyzing the cultural meanings of the same animal in Chinese and English, the cultural meanings of animal words can be basically divided into four categories: basic overlap, partial overlap, complete incompatibility and semantic vacancy.
Words such as wolf, fox and rabbit belong to the first category, and the cultural connotations in English are basically the same. For example, Chinese words such as "Smith, the tail of a fox" are often derogatory, and the English word "fox" also means "cunning and scheming". Different animal names in Chinese and English express the same cultural meaning and belong to the second category. For example, "tiger" in Chinese and "lion" in English. In Chinese, "tiger" is not used in English, but is represented by a lion. The dragon in English and the dragon in Chinese, and the dog in English and the "dog" in Chinese are completely different in cultural sense. "Dragon" is the totem and sacred symbol of China people, which contains noble, auspicious and festive meanings in Chinese. The symbolic meaning of the dragon in the west is quite different from the cultural meaning of the dragon in China. The dragon is regarded as an ominous animal in the west, symbolizing the devil and evil, and often means "a violent and grumpy person". In English culture, dogs are regarded as the most loyal friends of human beings, and people take a positive attitude towards them, such as: love me, love my dog; A lucky guy. But in China culture, most idioms about dogs contain derogatory meanings, such as "dogs are better than people" and "pigs are worse than dogs". Semantic vacancy means that the cultural information contained in the source language has no equivalent in the target language, that is, some animal words have rich pragmatic meanings in the source language but not in the target language, so they cannot produce equivalent image association. Such as "crane" in Chinese and "crane" in English. In English, cranes have no other cultural significance except the extended meaning of stretching their necks because of their long necks. However, China's word "crane" has rich cultural connotations. It is not only a symbol of longevity, but also often used to describe people with outstanding appearance and talent.
3. How to achieve the equivalent translation of Chinese and English animal culture connotation words?
3. 1 literal translation. The so-called literal translation means that when conveying the meaning of the original text, the expression form and syntactic structure of the translation should be as consistent as possible with the original text, those that can be completely equivalent should be completely equivalent, and those that cannot be completely equivalent should be roughly equivalent. Eugene Nida thinks that different languages and cultures are 90% similar, and only 10% is completely different. The cultural connotations of most Chinese and English animal culture words basically overlap. For example, in Chinese and English cultures, foxes are full of cunning, wolves are full of ferocity and rabbits are full of agility.
3.2 Free translation. Free translation refers to breaking and reorganizing the surface structure of the original text by understanding and digesting the deep meaning of the original text, and then transforming it into a natural and smooth surface structure of the translation; In other words, it is necessary to break through the shell of language and dig out its true meaning. For example, "I cooked a little dog breakfast in that paper", if translated literally, should be translated into Chinese as "my paper is a little dog breakfast" Obviously, no one can understand the meaning of this sentence. In this example, "dog's breakfast" means "chaos", and the whole sentence means "my paper is a little confused"
There are many ways of free translation, and the following mainly introduces two ways:
3.2. 1 Cultural equivalence translation. English and Chinese sometimes use different animal words to express the same meaning. Therefore, when dealing with animal words, translators should pay attention to the usage habits of animal words in different national cultures and avoid dead translation. This is called "cultural equivalence". Its definition means that when an animal word in the source language uses its basic meaning, the target language is used to using another word to express the same meaning. Let's take "horse" as an example:
Eat like a horse. Eat like a cow.
Strong as a horse. As strong as an ox.
3.2.2 Functional equivalence translation. The so-called "functional equivalence translation method" is to translate a word with a specific cultural color in the source language into a word with the same meaning but no cultural color in the target language. The culture contained in animal words in the original language is formed by specific cultural background and historical background. Therefore, if the target language readers have no background knowledge, it is difficult to understand the true meaning of animal words. Therefore, when the target language cannot directly translate the animal words in the source language, functional equivalence translation should be adopted.
For example, "riding a tiger is difficult to get off" in Chinese, if it is directly translated into riding a tiger in the traditional way, the British can understand it, but it lacks aesthetic feeling. However, if we adopt the method of functional equivalence and translate it into in for one penny, in for a pound, it will be more in line with the habits of the British and easier to understand.
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