英语中动物词的文化内涵及其翻译

Abstract： This paper is mainly about animal words in English from the perspective of cultural connotation and translation. Proverbially， languages are used as tools for human to communicate which at the meantime convey cultural information. Animal words， a kind of culture， play a vital part in language. Since language is considered as the carrier of culture， it is influenced considerably by history， economy and other aspects. Therefore， the cultural connotation of animal words varies from country to country. In addition， it will help readers ทimprove their cultural sensitivity and the senses of using language in a proper way in cross-cultural communication.

Keywords： animal words； cultural connotation； differences； translation methods

1 Introduction

1.1 Research Backg❧round

As we all know， language is the most significant tool of human society. In the long history of human culture， animals are always closely related to the survival and development of mankind. That is to say， animals play an important role in human society. Gradually， the expression of animal words has become a major part of the language. Of course， animal words may have some differences in cultural connotations because of different social environments， historical aspects， custom aspects， cultural aspects， ways of thinking and religious beliefs.

Due to the increasingly significant cultural differences of ani★mal words between English and Chinese， a tremendous amount of people of all ages show a great interest in them. Animal culture has become more and more popular in all respects of our daily communication.

This disserta®tion studies specific explanations of the meanings and translation of animal cultures in English. And this thesis will put forward some suggestions on how to understand cultural connotations better， and make readers get familiar with the translation of animal words in English.

1.2 Purpose

Some sociologists believe that language is the keystone of culture. There would be no culture without language （Deng Yanchang， Liu Runqing， 2003）. As is well-known， in different languages and different cultural backgrounds， in addition to denotation， each word has abundant cultural connotations. Denotation refers to the literal or basic meanings of words. However， people sometimes use the implied meanings of words， in other words， connotations， which include hidden associative meaning， figurative meaning， symbolic meaning and so on. Language and culture depend on each other in a way. Language is influenced by culture while it reflects culture. Thereupon， combining language and culture knowledge is the key to smooth communication. 2 Concept and Characteristics of Animal Words in English

2.1 Concept

Idioms， proverbs and set phrases are the essence of national language. They can be acquired in practice. In the process of using language， people create them， which make them full of ethnic and cultural characteristics. A lot of idioms in English， which are closely related with animals， come from ancient mythology， literature works and fables. As is known to all， the European civilization originated in ancient Greece and ancient Rome. Ancient Roman and ancient Greek mythologies are the foundation of the whole Western civilization. For example， “bell the cat” （to hang the bell about the cat’s neck） stems from The Mice in Council of Aesop's Fables；

2.2 Characteristics

There are 649 common animal words， according to A Classified Chinese-English Dictionary with Illustrations （Guangdong People’s Publishing House： 1981） and A Contemporary English-Chinese Lexicon （Hu Zuoqun， 1992）. However， among these animal words， English animal words with cultural meanings are double of Chinese animal words. They contain various cultural meanings， including human， conceptย， another kind of animals， fur of animals， generic class and other kind of things.

3 Cultural Connotations

3.1 Basically equivalent

Because of the ecological environment of human life， in China and Britain， according to the basic properties of animals， some animals will naturally produce the same or similar associations. Nations share common cognitions on the basic properties of certain animals. Then they give the animals the same words and the same cultural connotations. For example， cock （rooster） means “proud” in English and “骄傲” in Chinese. The phrase “as arrogant as a cock” in English equals the phrase “骄傲得像只公鸡” in Chinese. Those examples state that British and Chinese endow “cock” with the same cultural associative meaning.

3.2 Partially equivalent

A part of the English and Chinese animal words share only a fraction of their connotations. Here are two examples.

“Owl” is a kind of bird that always takes rest at day time but comes out at night. In Chinese， people call it “夜猫子”. Because of owl’s particular habit， people use it to describe a person who likes working at night and going to bed late. In English， it also refers to someone who does the night work and stays up late， e.g.， “he was naturally a night owl” and “fly with the owl” mean “他天生就是个夜猫子” in Chinese. 3.3 Widely divergent

Each nation has its specific ecological environment， history and customs， which make animal words different from each other.

3.3.1 The same kind of animal with totally opposite figures in two cultures

“Dog” and “狗” are totally opposite in two cultures. “Dog” is a loyal friend and a good companion in Westerners’ eyes， e.g.， “every dog has its day” （人人皆有得意时）， “love me， love my dog” （爱屋及乌） and “if the old dog barks， he gives counsel” （老狗叫，是忠告）. But in Chinese， dog is always derogatory， e.g.， “狗仗人势” and “狼心狗肺”.

3.3.2 Figures of certain animals replaced by other animals between two cultures

Here is the typical example.

“Lion” and “老虎” substitute each other between two cultures. Though being two different kinds of animals， they are both strong， fierce， and regarded as the king of beasts in English and Chinese cultures. “Lion” is the king of animals in the West， which is quite the same role of “虎” in Chinese culture， symbolizing valor and power. E.g.： “lion and unicorn” （雄狮和独角兽） are the animals on the Royal Badge of Britain； “beard the lion in his den” goes to “深入虎穴” or “太岁头上动土”.

4 Translation Methods

In 1969， Eugene A. Nida， the celebrated American translation theorist， put forward functional equivalence theory. The theory requires translation to express accurately what the source language means and keep its style. When we translate animal words from English to Chinese， we should considerably pay attention to cultural connotations of them.

4.1 Literal translation

Literal translation， also known as word-for-word translation， is ideally the segmentation of the source language text into individual words and target language rendering of those word-segments one at a time.

If there are similar or equivalent animal figures in Chinese， we can use literal translation. Here are some similar sayings between two languages， such as “as fat as a pig” （肥得像猪）， “as gentle as a lamb” （温顺如羊）.

4.2 Free translation

Free translation， also called sense-for-sense translation， emphasizes transfer of the meaning or “spirit” of a source text over accurate reproduction of the original wording.

Some animal words in English can not keep literal and original meanings after being translated into Chinese. In order to make readers understand the real meanings that the words contain， we need to use free translation. Some examples are displayed. “You are a lucky dog” （你是个幸运儿）， “to put a cart before the horse” （本末倒置）.

4.3 Image transformation

Indeed， image transformation has been discussed in cultural connotation. Since a few English animal figures are substituted by different kinds of animals in Chinese， it is obvious for us to make image transformation between them. E.g.： “as mute as a fish”（噤若寒蝉）， “to teach a pig to play on a flute”（对牛弹琴）.

5 Conclusion

Language and culture are closely related， due to the dissimilarities between English and Chinese cultures， animal vocabularies contain diverse cultural connotations. Through the comparative analysis of cultural connotations of animal words between the two cultures， we can obviously see that animal vocabularies in any language are not just a symbol of animal images， but a deep nonmaterial imprint. Only making a good combination between cultural and language application can we convey information about languages and cultures more accurately， so that it can make a better cross-cultural exchange.