Customs and habits can also influence idioms, such as "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". Generally speaking, westerners are unlikely to know that she is a beauty in the history of China, so it is impossible to understand the metaphorical meaning of this idiom with China cultural characteristics. Love is blind. Another example is "when in Rome, do as the Romans do." Only when English idioms are translated into "do as the Romans do" can they be understood and accepted by the target readers.
English and Chinese cultures are also obviously influenced by religion, because religious belief is an important part of human culture. In China culture, people are deeply influenced by Buddhism, and many idioms contain unique things of Buddhism, such as "When you get home, you ring the bell one day." British culture is deeply influenced by Catholicism and Christianity, and the related idioms are: penniless.
Therefore, a good translation of English and Chinese idioms requires not only a solid language foundation, but also familiarity with and understanding of the cultural background, exotic customs, ethnic colors and religious beliefs of the two languages.
Second, the translation methods of English and Chinese idioms
English and Chinese are two languages in different language families. Idioms come from different works, different authors, different countries and different nationalities, so the translation of idioms is very difficult. Mr Wang Zuoliang said, "What is the biggest difficulty in translation? It is the difference between two cultures. Some things are self-evident in one culture, but it takes a lot of effort to explain them in another culture. " Translation involves the conversion between two different languages. As long as we study the characteristics of idioms from all aspects and accurately understand the ideas of the original text, we can roughly grasp the laws of idiom translation. The following are some translation methods of English and Chinese idioms.
1 1 literal translation. It refers to the method of keeping the metaphor, image and national color of idioms on the basis of conforming to the target language norms without causing wrong associations or misunderstandings. Barnstone believes that literal translation can try to keep the original meaning, image and grammatical structure of English and Chinese idioms, basically
Give consideration to "formal equivalence" and "functional equivalence". There are many idioms with similar shapes and functions, so literal translation can keep the original style in translation. For example:
1) Now I heard that Zhou Rui's family tied up his in-laws, adding fuel to the fire. (A Dream of Red Mansions)
Now the news that Zhou Rui's wife tied up one of her relatives made her even more indignant.
Blood is thicker than water. Blood is thicker than water.
3) Strike while the iron is hot.
2 1 translation method. Due to the differences between English and Chinese and different national and cultural backgrounds, it is impossible to keep the figurative images in the source language, but it needs to be translated into images familiar to the target readers. Although the images in the set translation are different, the metaphorical meanings are similar or corresponding, which can also maintain the inherent salience and initiative of idioms and achieve the effect of semantic equivalence. For example:
4) Tools rush into places where angels are afraid of treatment. The more wit, the less courage.
5) there is specialization in the industry. Lao Wang sells melons to brag.
6) Mom and Dad don't need to scold me. I didn't buy it from my father's mother's mother's mother. Xiang Mei became sworn brothers-all slaves! Why bother!
(A Dream of Red Mansions)
You have no right to swear to me, madam. You didn't buy me. We are all birds of a feather-we are all slaves here.
Why are you looking for me?
These idioms are consistent in content and form, that is, the way of thinking, the result and the specific expression of a specific problem coincide. They not only have the same implied meaning, but also have roughly the same images and metaphors.
3 1 free translation method.
There are many idioms with strong national cultural color, including figurative names, place names, allusions, etc., and some of them come from the unique customs or religions of the nation. If translated literally, it will be tedious and protracted, which is very difficult for target language readers who don't understand the cultural background. So give up the image and visualize the translation, which is concise and clear. For example:
7) "I won't die until I reach the Yellow River," she whispered, shaking her head helplessly. (cold night)
"You really refuse to give until all hope is gone." She murmured, shaking her head helplessly.
This sentence has obvious regional color of China. If translated word for word, the target language readers will find it difficult to understand because they don't know its background, while free translation can accurately express the original intention.
When the Greeks met the Greeks, the tug-of-war began. When two males compete, their fights will be fierce.
If the literal translation is "Greeks meet Greeks, they will definitely fight." Foreign readers will mistakenly think that Greeks are very aggressive. Generally speaking, it is not appropriate to use Chinese idioms containing China place names or names to translate English idioms. Similarly, we should try to avoid western place names or names appearing in Chinese idioms.
Proper nouns in idioms should be adjusted accordingly to help target readers understand and accept idioms.
4 1 literal translation and free translation. Some idioms are widely spread in people's daily communication and are very close to daily spoken English in style. In translation, literal translation is often unable to express its meaning. If the literal translation method is adopted, the meaning can be translated freely and make the finishing point. For example:
Every bird likes its own nest. Birds love their nests, and people love their homes.
The small pot will soon heat up.
Supplementary translation of 5 1 Due to the different cultural backgrounds of English and Chinese, some idioms that are easy to understand for native readers are difficult to understand for target readers. By adopting supplementary translation, that is, translating idioms directly first and then annotating them, the translation can be kept close to the original "meaning" and have the feeling of "similarity in form and spirit". For example:
Their move opened Pandora's box.
It was their practice that opened Pandora's box in Greek mythology, causing chaos and misfortune.
Pandora was originally the first woman who came from the Heavenly Palace in Greek mythology. On the surface, Pandora's box is a valuable thing, but it is a scourge in its bones, which means "the root of all evil" and "causing great chaos" If you directly translate Pandora's Box, some target readers will find it difficult to understand its true metaphorical meaning.
Generally speaking, idioms are the essence of a national language and the part with the most national cultural characteristics. Translation involves not only two different cultural backgrounds, but also the expression habits of two languages. Accurately understanding the pragmatic meaning of idioms in a specific context and mastering the correct translation methods are the keys to translating idioms well.