On Translating Metaphor from Chinese to English
Abstract
Metaphor is commonly used in daily language; it is one of the most important and basic method in human cognition domain. Metaphor is cognitive in essence, and it is a thought pattern manifested by language. This thesis firstly compares cognition linguistics with traditional rhetoric in the view point of metaphor, and sums up the classification, features and functions of metaphor in cognition linguistics. Then the thesis studies the correlations between culture and metaphor. On the basis of that, in light of corresponding metaphor cultural discrepancies and translation criteria, namely “faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance”, the thesis puts forward some translation strategies from Chinese metaphors to English. According to different geographical environments, color languages, religious beliefs, image association and allusions, the thesis respectively employs conversion, liberal translation, literal translation, substitute and literal translation adding annotation and so on. Finally, this thesis points out other factors hindering the translation from Chinese to English and some problems existing in translation strategies.
Key Words: metaphor; translation principle; language; culture; translation
strategies
摘 要
隱喻無處不在，它是人類認知重要的和基本的方式之1。隱喻在本質上是認知的，它是1種通過語言表現出來的思維方式。該文首先對隱喻在認知語言學和傳統修辭學不同觀點作比較，歸納了隱喻在認知領域的.1些基本理論如它的分類、特點以及功能，然後該文又研究了隱喻與文化之間的相互關係，在此基礎上，根據隱喻文化差異和翻譯標準——信，達，雅，本文提出了隱喻中譯英相應的主要翻譯技巧。同時，該文又根據不同的地理環境、語言色彩、宗教信仰、形象聯想和典故，採用不同的翻譯方法，如分譯、意譯、直譯、替代法、直譯加註法等。該文在最後還提出了影響隱喻中譯英的其它因素以及存在於翻譯技巧上可以進1步研究的問題。
關鍵詞：隱喻、翻譯理論、語言、文化、翻譯策略