人民邮电出版社 摘要：隐喻作为人类语言的共同特征，存在于各种语言中。他们始终影响着我们的思维方式，在不同的文化背景下，隐喻的使用是不同的。因此，翻译实际上是在翻译文化。因此，在翻译中，我们不仅要注意句子和单词的字面意思，更要注意句子在整个语境中的涵义。
关键词:隐喻翻译文化差异
As the common feature of human language,metaphors exist in all languages.They influence our way of thinking from time to time.With the help of metaphor,we can use them clearly and smoothly express our ideas.Since translation involves two languages and two cultures,and in different cultural backgrounds,there are different languages.Not only Chinese but also English has long history and rich cultural backgrounds.Metaphor,as an important component of language,is a common linguistic phenomenon in both Chinese and English,meanwhile metaphors is very different under the two different cultural background.As a result,it"s not easy to translate metaphors.When you have translate a metaphor,you have to be careful.You"d better show the real expression instead of translate a metaphor sentence by sentence.Translation is more like doing some communication on intercultural,therefore when you are translating a language,you are translating a culture actually.Thus,in translation we should not only pay attention to the literal meaning of sentences,but also understand their cultural meanings in the whole texts.
1.the Origin and Application of Metaphor
With the development of technology and society,people has strengthened the ability of communication.To express their thoughts clearly,metaphor came into being.We use metaphors to make indirect comparisons,but without using “like”or “as”.A metaphor very often uses the verb “to be”：“Life is a journey”,for example.“I am a rainbow”is also an example of metaphor because it is comparing two nouns,a person,and a rainbow,but does not use like or as.As un important part of the culture,metaphor is a kind of widespread sentences,with specific implications,extracted and purified from the spoken language and labor experience of the people and the classical works.Metaphors are frequently used in the spoken language and literary works.They were transmitted from generation to generation for years and centuries.They are the scientific summary of people"s experience and the crystallization of people"s wisdom.
Originally metaphor was aGreek word for “transfer”.It came from meta （“change”） and pherein （“carry”）.So the word metaphor in English was a metaphor,too.Today in Greek,metaphor is a trolley （a thing that is pushed for carrying shopping or bags）.About two thousand years ago,the famous Greek philosopher Aristotle has made the definition of metaphor in his books.Here are some of the common metaphors we usually used in our daily life.（1）They are the flowers of the human brainwork.这是人类思维的花朵。（2）The handsome boy became the sun in her heart.这个英俊的男孩成了她心中的太阳。（3）She gave a crystal explanation.她解释的清晰明了。
In spite that we come from different culture background,there would be large intersection in the culture,since people have the same living conditions,certainly they have many common feelings on it.The examples above can be translated nearly in equivalent effect.However they cannot stand for all the others.There are lots of metaphor cannot be translated exactly the same words.Following is the examples.if translating into Chinese word for word,such as the following：（1）You"ve caught the sun.wrong:你已经抓住了太阳。Right：你晒黑了。（2）He is a sour person.wrong:他是个酸溜溜的人。Right：他老讲反话。（3）You"ve got me.wrong:你得到了我。Right：你把我问住了。
From these Chinese translation,you can see the fartetched translation sentence by sentence obviously.While you should handle these kind of sentences flexibility.From these examples,we can see,sometimes the metaphors of one culture will be different from those of another,so they are very difficult to translate.Language.is closely connected by thoughts.Since the thought patterns of Chinese and English are quite different,the structures of the two languages are not the same.Thus,during the translation we should not only translate sentence by sentence,but also pay special attention to their cultural meanings in the whole texts.In order to understand correctly the real meanings of sentences,we should not only improve our skills on translation ,but make great efforts on the culture of English.
2.Relationship of Language,Culture and Translation
Several problems exist in translating metaphors,the most obvious is that it have no existing “equivalence”in target language because metaphor in source language is a semantic novelty.There are many ways in which the phenomena of language and culture are intimately related.Both phenomena are unique to humans and have therefore been the subject of a great deal of anthropological,sociological,and even memetic study.Language,of course,is determined by culture,though the extent to which this is true is now under debate.The converse is also true to some degree：culture is determined by language-or rather,by the replicators that created both,memes.
Language is an important component of culture.Language can represent a certain culture,so when you translate a language,you are spread over different cultures.Culture can be developed frequently by the usage of language,so they cannot be separated partly,and they influence each other.Also they should develop together.
Cultureis the basis of language,so differences in culture will affect the translation.In this sense,translation is not only the translation of languages,but also the culture.As a result,you should learn more about the different cultures from English countries,including the history,the society,and the laws,and also the living conditions.For example,you can read lots of English books written by the native authors,watch more English movies,and listen to English radio more frequently.Before a learner starts to write in a language,he needs to read a lot in order to learn the language and to get familiar with certain patterns or rhetorical structures.It is often said that wide reading and imitation can contribute to native like writing.
3.Culture Difference between the Countries
The word culture has many different meanings.For some it refers to an appreciation of good literature,music,art,and food.For a biologist,it is likely to be a colony of bacteria or other microorganisms growing in a nutrient medium in a laboratory Petri dish.However,for anthropologists and other behavioral scientists,culture is the way of life,especially the general customs and beliefs among the members of a community.If culture is symbolic,Language is the most typical symbolic system within it.There are many ways in which the phenomena of language and culture are intimately related.Language communication is actually a kind of cultural communication and the communication between different languages is indeed communication between different cultures.From this perspective,the translation of language is essentially the translation of culture,and translation studies should beconducted in the context of culture.
Culture is the basic of language,metaphors exists in the language.So that metaphors is on closely relation with the culture.In another word,the culture created metaphors.Different culture gave birth to different metaphors.On the other hand,metaphors reflect the culture.In this sense,to learn about some metaphors helps to understand the culture of different countries.Culture is formed in the course of people"s work,their common life,history,custom,the ways of thinking,and so on.The same thing happened to language.Metaphors,as un important part of language,has a long history,and has been used by the people from long ago.For some case,translation of metaphors rely on the social cultural meaning more than the connotation from the words themselves.Various culture factors caused the difference between languages.They are living conditions of geography,history character,religion,and also classic legend and literary works.Following recount is in the detail.
3.1 LivingConditions of Geography
Language is closely relationship with people"s living condition.Different living conditions of geography can create much different language.As we all know,England is an island nation,and its navigation is famous in the world history,So many English idioms are connected closely with navigation.Such as （1）Never offer to teach fish to swim.不要班门弄斧。（2）“Salt water and absence wash away love.”日久情疏。（3）Make fish of one and flesh of another厚此薄彼,偏爱一方.（4）Let others ship be your seamark.别人的沉船是你的航向标。The island country is rich in rain,wind and fog,so there are lots of metaphors in English.Here is one example：It never rains but it pours.From the sentence meaning,it is translated into不雨则已，一雨倾盆,maybe the original meaning is not so properly expressed while it has the similar meaning of Chinese sayings“祸不单行”.While On the contrary,Chinese is a continental nation with its people living on the land.There are seldom rain in some area especially in spring.So there is a famous saying“春雨贵如油”。面朝黄土背朝天”（work hard in the field）。
3.2 Different History Character
The social history has a enormous impact on the language.With the development of society The different historical situations often produce certain historical expressions.Since every language can create new words to describe new situations and objects,more and more new language will come out.After all,nothing in the world is static.However,they change at different rates at different times in response to new social,cultural,and environmental situations.While the metaphor of a certain langue can tell us the history clearly.So that we must consider on the historical factors during the translating.For example,fifty-five years B.C.,Britain was conquested by cippus,and was occupied for 400 years.So the roman culture has influenced British culture greatly.These are showed in many metaphors.For examples,Do in Rome as the Romans do.喻为入乡随俗。All roads lead to Rome.条条道路通罗马，喻为殊途同归。
3.3 Customs and Tradition
Different thoughts and habits are decided by different tradition and customs.For example,different countries have different ideas on the pat animals.Such as dog.In English,the dogs are the faithful friends of human beings and be loved by the people.so there is English idiom like “She is a lucky dog.”她是个幸运儿。Love me,love my dog.爱屋及乌。While in Chinese,it is usually used as a bad thing,such as “狗眼看人低”、“走狗”。Another famous example is “dragon”.Dragon is stands for powerful and lucky symbol in china,while in western countries,it is regarded as evil,horrible animal.The same thing happened on the color of yellow.It stands for elegance in china,while it is not lovely in some western countries.The color of while ,blue,all of them have different meanings between the different countries.and so on.
3.4 on the Impact of Religion
As un important part of culture,religion has influenced the thoughts and language of people.In English speaking countries,most people has the Christian religion,so God has the highest situation in their mind,if you read the bible,you can find many idioms daily life.For example,（1）Every man must carry his own cross.每个人必须背他自己的十字架。Since it"s the cross of jesus,so it stands for the suffering,so the whole sentence means每个人都要承担各自的苦难。（2）Keep me as the apple of the eye视为掌上明珠，Even the nations are like a drop from the bucket沧海一粟。while in china,the region of Buddhism has a long history and insteadily,they believe in heaven instead of god.so many metaphors are influenced by Buddhism,such as临时抱佛脚，老天有眼,天无绝人之路 and so on.
3.5 Classic Legend and Literary Works
BothChina and western countries have long history,so does the literary culture.So they both have numbers of literary works and classic legend.All these classic works have un enormous influence in the language,and the same thing happened on the use of metaphors.At the same time,these metaphors can show the national spirits vividly.One of the most famous literary works of Shakespeare,we can find the words “green-eyed”，it means jealous,we cannot translate it to绿眼睛,while it has the almost same meaning in Chinese红眼病（妒忌）。There are also numbers of classic metaphors in Chinese,for instance黑发不知勤学早，白首方悔读书迟,黑发and白首stand for the youth and the old men.
4.Metaphor of Translation
The uniqueness of metaphors appears to be the one thing translation theorists can agree upon,and it seems a bit conceited to maintain that translating a phenomenon held to be so exceptional represents no challenge at all,and can be done by a simple word to word rendition.
Our culture does,sometimes,restrict what we can think about efficiently in our own language.As metaphor comes from the living environment,the history,the tradition and also the religion of a country,it demands the translator has a rich knowledge about all these aspects.That is not simple.Not only they should reading abundant,but also learning from learned professors from English speaking countries,since not everything can be found in dictionary.For example：（1）The suggestion had been received with frosty disapproval.这项建议已经被无情地否决了。（2）A cloud of grief descended on the country and the world.这个国家乃至这个世界突然沉浸在悲伤的气氛中。（3）You"d better shape up if you want to stay on.如果你还想留下来，最好乖一点。
4.1 CombineLiteral Translation with Free Translation
It seemsobviously that the perfect translation must lie in the two opposed views,and Newmark"s diagram underpins this notion.In my opinion,language is always in a certain language environment,so that maintaining any view as to how something should be translated is useless.You should not judge each sentence separately,and before you make a decision do make clear its proper context.
Both literal translation and free translation are commonly used.They are not paradoxical,on the contrary,they are complementary.Literal translation can express the original meaning of source language,so it is the first choice,while when there is much obstacles to understand,you have to turn to use free translation.
Free translation can translate the source language in flexible way,so it can be easy understood by the readers,while it is not translate words to words.Combine iteral translation and free translation is the best way to translating.For example：（1）A fox may grow gray,but never good.江山易改，本性难移。（2）Diamond cuts diamond.强中自有强中手。（3）She gave a crystal explanation.她的解释清晰明了。
4.2 Appropriate Choice in Words
Obviously,words are the component structures of language；they combine to form sentences and come in eight different varieties called parts of speech.Counting words in a language for comparison with other languages is a difficult and imprecise task at best.For instance,a verb could be counted as a single word or each conjugation of it could be counted as a separate word.Likewise,it is not clear whether one should count words that have been borrowed from other languages or antiquated word forms that are no longer in common use.It is also unclear how commonly used a slang or technical word must be before it is counted.Relying on dictionaries for word counts is unlikely to be adequate since many words are never included.
Choosing words correctly and appropriately is very important during translation.You"d better translate the sentences nearly as possible to original version.For example：“It"s very kind of you.It"s nice to see you.”According to the context,they can only be translated like“非常感谢您。”and “见到您很高兴。”,so that they fit in with Chinese tradition,but they can"t be translated like “您太慈祥了。”and “见到你很好。”Another example is like this：“He is beginning to look his age.”And “You don"t look your age.”If translated like “他开始显老了。”and “你看上去没那么大。”,that would accord with Chinese logic.
5.Conclusion
In this thesis,we offered a simple introduction to the definition of metaphor,as we all know that they are not birth with human beings,they came out with the development of the society.And then,we found out the relationship between metaphor,language,and the culture.That is culture is the basis of language,so differences in culture will affect the translation,as a result,translation is not only the translation of languages,but also the culture.After that,we analysed on emphasis the various culture factors that influenced the difference between languages.They are living conditions of geography,history character,religion,and also classic legend and literary works.
As we all know thattranslation should be faithful to the original text.To be faithful is very important to a translator.So you would try your best to remain the faithful to the original text.However,people from different parts of the world have much different ideas on the same thing.Culture difference is the most difficult thing to understand from other countries. For many people,language is not just the medium of culture but also is a part of culture.One must understand deeply the culture at first in order to translate accuracy.It is quite common for the translator to the English speaking country to live as the local people,adapt their life as soon as possible,and then they turn to the new neighbors,from the daily life communication,and the life abroad,it"s much easier to understand the new language and even the new culture.In spite every language can create new words to describe new situations and objects.None is static.However,they change at different rates at different times in response to new social,cultural,and environmental situations.
All in all,translation is a skillful technology and elegant art,and it is not a simple thing to translate properly.Not only you should be good at English but also good at Chinese.And what"s more important,the translators should be rich in knowledge.In order to translate more perfect,you should keep on learning,exploring,focus on expand your knowledge wide,and also improve your comprehensive on different cultural.Meanwhile,handle the words and sentences flexible and faithful is important.
Bibliography
［1］Nida,E.A.,Toward A science of Translation,Netherlands,E.G.Brill,leiden,1964
［2］ Newmark,Peper.A Textbook of Translation,Shanghai Foreign Language and English.Beijing：中国对外翻译出版社,1984
［3］冯庆华，实用翻译教程，上海外语教育出版社，2002
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