1、A Study of E-C Color Term Corresponding Translation Strategies 英汉互译中颜色词的非对应翻译策略研究Abstract and Key Words Abstract: Language is the reflection of culture. English and Chinese exist in two different cultures, and has its own history and society, living environment and experiences, customs and religions
2、, and so on. However, all of these factors result in the different associative meanings in same vocabulary or different words, in other words, the culture-loaded words. In western and Chinese societies, there are many words or phrases with same word meaning but different associative meanings which c
3、aused by cultural differences. In fact, the differences in associative meaning is actually the gap between cultural information. As people live in different environments with different cultural background and customs, for the same object or thing, they usually have different associations. This paper
4、 analyzes the influence of cultural difference on color associative meanings and its translation from perspective of vocabulary, through comparative analysis on associative meaning differences in Chinese and western cultures and the influences in translation, this paper points out the importance of
5、cultural differences in associative meanings and translation and thus put forward some translation methods for solving these problems in culture-loaded word translation. Key words: comparative analysis; basic color terms; cultural connotations; differences; reasons 摘要：语言是文化的反映。英汉两种语言存在于两种文化之中，因此它们有着
6、各自的历史、社会、生活环境、生活经历、习俗和宗教等。而这一切就导致了英汉两种语言中相同的词汇具有不同的联想意义，即文化负载词。在西方社会和中国，有许多词汇或短语有着相同的字面意思，但却因为不同的文化而具有不同的联想意义.其实，联想意义的不同就是文化信息的鸿沟。人们由于生活在不同的环境，有着不同的文化背景和习俗，对同一个事物通常都会有不同的联想。本文通过对比分析不同文化间颜色词汇联想意义的差异，及这些差异对词汇翻译造成的影响，指出了注重这种差异的重要性，提出了解决由这些差异给翻译带来的问题的一些解决办法。关键词：比较研究；基本颜色词；文化内涵；差异；成因CONTENTS1. Introducti
7、on .12. Definition of Color and Basic Color Terms .12.1 Definition of Color .12.2 Definition of Basic Color Terms.13. Comparative Analysis of Basic Color Terms between English and Chinese.23.1 Black and white.23.2 Red and Green.33.3 Blue and yellow.34. Reasons for Differences in Associations of Basi
8、c Color Terms in English and Chinese .54.1 Geography Living Environment.54.2 Different Religion .64.3 Natural and Social Background.75. Strategies for Color Translation between English and Chinese 5.1 Literal Translation .75.2 LIberal Translation.75.3 Amplification .85.4 Adaptation .86. Conclusion.9
9、Bibliography.100A Study of E-C Color Term Corresponding Translation Strategies 1. IntroductionThe world is full of colors. There are blue sky, white cloud, green trees, red sun and so on. Our world is so connected with colors that colors play an important role in our life. Make an example of the fol
10、lowing sentences: “Mr. White is a very white man. He was looking rather green the other day. He has been feeling blue later. When I saw him, he was in a brown study. I hope he will be the pink again.“ This is a classic description in English used to express sensations by using color terms. As a part
11、 of language, color terms carry a large amount of cultural information, such as history, religion, and customs. They are related to almost all aspects of social lives and play an important role in cultural communications. In this thesis, the author intends to make a comparative analysis of color ter
12、ms between English and Chinese, finding their similarities and differences in culture. In this way, cultural understanding and communication will be realized.2. Definition of Color and Basic Color Terms2.1 Definition of ColorIn dictionary, Color is the element of art that is produced when light, str
13、iking an object, is reflected back to the eye. There are three properties to color. First is hue, which simply means the name we give to a color (red, yellow, blue, etc.). The second property is intensity, which refers to the strength and vividness of the color. For example, we may describe the colo
14、r blue as “royal“ (bright, rich, vibrant) or “dull“ (grayed). The third property of color is its value, meaning its lightness or darkness. The terms shade and tint are in reference to value changes in colors.2.2 Definition of Basic Color TermsAccording to the survey, our eyes are able to distinguish
15、 seven million different colors, and for most of the colors we do not have any linguistic expressions available 1at all. However, it is estimated that there are over three thousand color terms in English and more in Chinese. To categorize all the color terms is impossible. But generally speaking, co
16、lor terms can be divided into two categories: basic color terms and object color terms. It is impossible to discuss them one by one, thus in this thesis, the discussion will take some of the basic color terms as “black, white, red, yellow, green and blue“.3. Comparative Analysis of Basic Color Terms
17、 between English and Chinese3.1 Black and WhiteBecause of the special material nature, black makes people think of depression and freight. “Black” 黑色 has the associative meaning of “Evil and Bad” in both English and Chinese cultures; In China, since ancient times, it metaphors the ferocious situatio
18、n and cruel dominance as 乌云、黑暗、黑夜 and so on, for people who cannot tell the right and wrong or good people suffer damage is 颠倒黑白; black also make people think of evil. For instance, in Chinese culture, people calls the criminal group into 黑社会 . At the same time, in English, black also symbolize 痛苦、灾
19、难 bitter and disaster and it is connected with badness and evil. For example, a black day refers to an unlucky day 倒霉的一天. Black-hearted shows 黑心的, black market means the exchange of goods or so that is forbidden by government. Blackground means people who says dirty words or mean and bullshit. 黑钱 re
20、fers to money which comes from unclear ways without paying tax to the government.In both Chinese and English, black is not a good word, because it is often associated with darkness. In Chinese, we have such expressions as “黑暗,黑压压,黑灯瞎火,黑漆漆“, while in English such expressions as “black future and blac
21、kout“. “Black future“ refers to the slim hope in the future. And “Blackout“ refers to a period of darkness caused by a failure of the electricity supply. All of them are connected with “darkness“. In both languages, “black“ is a color full of sorrow, people have the custom of wearing black clothes f
22、or persons death. In the 14th century, there was a deadly bubonic plague in Europe, people named it the Black Death. As a result, the English people using black as the symbol of death and disaster. In addition, black is also associated with sadness and misfortune. “A black dog“ means a sad person an
23、d “in a 2black mood“ means low spirited. “Black humor“ and “black comedy“ also come from this connotation, and they refer to a story or a play that is funny, but show the unhappiness of life. Whats more, “Black Friday“ refers to an unlucky day, because to the Christian, this is the Crucifixion. In C
24、hinese, we are also using black in this sense, such as “黑色七月“, “ 黑色的心情“.In Chinese, the color term “黑“ has some special meaning. “黑“ is used to symbolize “loyalty, impartiality“. For instance, “黑脸包公“ refers to “being loyal and impartial“. In Beijing opera, black facial makeup is the symbol of charac
25、ters who are upright and impartial, such as “Bao Zheng(包拯), Li Kui(李逵)“ .In English, there is an expression with “black“ expressing a commendatory sense. In business English, “in the black“ has a good meaning of running a business profitably. The opposite of it is “in the red“, meaning running a bus
26、iness at a loss. These terms come from the color of the ink used in keeping accounts; deficit is recorded in red ink while surplus written in black ink.White has some similar connotations in both Chinese and English: purity, brightness and innocence. White is the sacred color in Christianism, becaus
27、e Jesus and his angels wear white dress in the belief. In Chinese, there are many phrases of “white“ connected with purity, such as “洁白,白璧无瑕 “. Nurses are also called “白衣战士“ because their white uniforms looks like angels. “white“ and “白“ also have the meaning of innocence. If someone is said to be “
28、white-handed“, he or she is honest or innocent. “Mark ones name white again“ means making somebody innocent. Meanwhile, “清白,不白之冤“ contains the same meaning. “White“ and “白“ also means “failure“. In a war, the losing party will hang a “white flag“ or “白旗“ as a sign of accepting their failure.In Chine
29、se, “白“ refers to “reaction“. For example, “白色政权“ means the reactionary government; “白军 “ refers to the reactionary army. “白“ is also reflected in the theatrical makeup of Beijing opera, and symbolizes the person who are sinister, crafty and evil, such as Zhao Gao (赵高) and Cao cao(曹操). In addition,
30、there are some expressions such as “百搭,白费,白干“, which has the meaning of bearing no results.In English, “white“ is connected with politics and government, such as “The White House“ is the symbol of the US and “the White Hall“ is a street full of government organizations and “white paper“ refers to th
31、e paper issued by western governments. Whats more, some expressions with “white“ in English have their 3specific meanings. For example, “white“ means “uselessness“ in “white elephant“.3.2 Red and GreenRed is the color of blood, as well as the sun and fire. It is the sun and fire that made life easie
32、r in the early period of human history. Thus, in both English and Chinese, “red“ and “红“ are associated with “dignity, love, beauty, happiness“, and so on.“红 “ is the favorite color in China. It has become the representative color of China in the phrase “中国红 “. In Chinese, “红喜事“ refers to wedding, b
33、irth and birthday and in the international sports games, the Chinese team is usually dressed in red. The following phrases are related to the above connotations: “满堂红“ refers to the situation of a person achieving good results in all aspect; “红运“ means good luck; “红粉佳人“ refers to a beautiful and you
34、ng woman. In English, “red“ is often connected with success and importance. The phrase “give somebody a red carpet of reception“ means making a warm welcome to some important person. As a result of differences of English and Chinese, “red“ has some special meaning in English, such as in “red man“ (北
35、美印第安人), “red neck“ (美国南部乡巴佬), “red-blooded“ (沾满鲜血的) and “red eye“ (便宜的威士忌 ). However, “红光满面“ in Chinese does not mean “ones face is very red“ or “he is embarrassed“, instead, it means “being healthy“.“Green“ is the color of almost all plants, and it is those green plants that have made it possible f
36、or human to exist on the earth. Therefore, both English and Chinese believe that the color green is not only a symbol of life, but also a sign of peace and hope. With the development of social economy, the pollution is becoming worser day by day, people began to realize the great importance of envir
37、onmental protection, thus “green“ and “绿“ are closely connected with the environment, such as “green peace“(绿色和平组织 ), “green revolution“(绿色革命), “green party“(绿色消费).In Chinese, “绿“ has some special meaning that is different from “green“ in English. “绿“ is often mentioned with female, e.g. “红男绿女 “. Th
38、e hair of a female is called “绿云“ or “绿鬓“. Whats more, the expression in Chinese “戴绿帽子“ means to be a cuckold.In English, the color is one of the favorite colors, and many places are printed with green color and even US dollars are green color. Therefore, the green color 4usually refers to money or
39、fortune. For instance, “green back, green power“ and “green pound“. However, in English, green is often associated with jealousy and envy, such as “Green-eyed“, “green with envy“.3.3 Blue and YellowBoth in Chinese and English, blue is the color of sky and sea. But “蓝“ in Chinese is not as complicate
40、d as “blue“ in English. In Chinese, the color term “蓝“ can be replaced by “青 “ in some cases, as a result, the blue sky is often called “青天“ or “青云“ in Chinese. The blue sky is high and extensive, far beyond the reach of people, thus “青云“ is extended to mean a high official position as in “平步青云“. Ch
41、inese also have an idiom “青出于蓝而胜于蓝“ implying the pupil surpasses his master.In English, the color of blue is related with gloom. If somebody is said to be “in a blue mood“, he or she feels gloomy and depressed. “A blue Monday“ expresses peoples depression on the first day of work or school after a h
42、appy weekend. “Blue“ is also associated with high social status. It is regarded as the symbol of nobleness. “He is a real blue blood“ means he is from an rich family. Whats more, “blue“ also refers to danger and prohibition. “Blue alert“ warns people of the coming typhoon or air raid. While in Engli
43、sh, some “blue“ phrases have nothing to do with “蓝色“ in Chinese such as “blue chip“(热门股), “blue-eyed boy“(宠儿), “once in a blue moon“(千载难逢 ), “blue coat“(警察).As people from English speaking countries and China live in the different cultural background in the long term, different social custom, cultur
44、al tradition and ways of thinking, value concept as well as geographical environment and regional appearance do not only lead to the different emphasis on color metaphor selection in the process of transition and communication in language information between different nations, it can even lead to the opposite metaphor meaning with the same metaphor object; in other words, it refers to the cultural clash which has the same metaphor object but with different pragmatic c
