浅谈地理环境对中英翻译的影响
资料包括： 论文(2页823字)
说明：
Abstract: many idiomatic expressions use quite different images of metaphors in different languages as people speaking different languages have different living environment, habits and customs and different cultural traditions. This thesis analyses the translation gap caused by the different environmental conditions and give some examples. This paper consists of three parts in general: brief introduction of the cross-cultural translation, some examples of this kind of translation, and the conclusion on what a translator should learn and know.
Key words: different environmental condition free translation examples
Introduction: Translation is not only a social activity but also a cross- cultural communication. This point is worthy of more attention in translation between English and Chinese, two very different languages. Culture is the carrier, reflector and situation of culture because of many extra linguistic factors, such as different environmental conditions, customs and habits, ways of life and social values and motivations. How different peoples express what they see is determined by how they perceive and interpret and react to reality. As there are inevitably cultural gaps to be filled between similar expressions or ways of expressing between the source language and target language in translation. My article is on the environmental condition’s influence on the Chinese and English language and their mutual-translation.
Mainbody: China is an agriculture and interior country in the Asia. And only the southeast part of the continent faces the sea. Farmer and farm work play a prominent part in the history of China, which decides that Chinese idioms and expressions include many farmer’s proverb or words relevant to the agriculture. Such as 槁木死灰(withered wood or cold asher), 骨瘦如柴(be lean as a rake). As the Chinese nation has long used 牛 to plough and pull carts, there are many phrases in Chinese with牛. For example, 牛头不对马嘴(horses’ jaws don’t match cows’ heads—be incongruous). However, the Britain is surrounded by the sea, and the weather there is the typical marine climate. What’s more, the British enjoy sailing. So some of their expressions origin from the sea and sail. For example, hoist your sail when the wind is fair(趁热打铁), a sea of debt(大量的债务). As for many chinese, sea is faraway and mystical. There is a cultural gap between the two countries. Sometimes we need to use the free translation. There is a good example: Tom is between the devil and the deep sea. (汤姆进退维谷). In this sentence, we have to discard the meaning of sea. 对牛弹琴is another good example, there is a corresponding phrase in the English language. That is “to cast pearls before swine”. Pearl is the sea product, which also reflects the geographic influence on the language.
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作者点评：
As this kind of gap is inevitable, the translator must be bicultural so as to convey the meaning of the source text to the reader of the target text. This means the translator must acquire enough background knowledge of the source language, their culture and even their environmental conditions.