英汉言中动物词语的对比

英汉言中动物词语的对比（精选6篇）

篇1：英汉言中动物词语的对比

世界各民族 语言中有大量有关动物的习俗语和谚语，这些 语言背后蕴藏着深厚的文化积淀，反映不同民族对动物相同或不同的情感态度。文章在前期对中国传统文化中十二生肖动物及其它 动物词语研究的基础上，主要对汉语和英语 语言中有关动物的成语、习俗语和谚语进行对比分析，从有关 动物词语的字面意义出发，探讨挖掘他们的比喻意义、联想意义，寻找出英汉 语言中 动物词语的共同点和差异，揭示两种 语言中 动物词语在语义表达上的主要特点。指出英汉 语言中包含动物名称的词语语义形成的基础，两种 语言中运用 动物词语进行语义表达的对等性特点，以及这些包含动物的词语所蕴涵的文化特征。

动物是自然界的一部分，是人类生活中密切相关的重要组成部分。世界各民族 语言中出现了大量有关动物的成语、习俗语、格言等词语，它们反映了不同民族对动物的认识，体现人们对动物大致相同或不同的情感态度，因而这些 语言中蕴涵着丰富的文化内涵。笔者以中华民族传统的的十二生肖动物为切入点，通过查阅词典、文献资料等，搜集整理了大量含有动物名称的相关词语，在进一步分析对比的基础上，探讨这些词语所表达的各种意义，进而挖掘它们隐含的文化内涵。

一、动物词语的语义基础

之所以在汉语和英语中人们借助动物构成各种 语言形式，表达丰富的 语言意义，是和其生活地域、生活习性、人与自然关系、文化价值观等因素有关联，有着深厚的语义形成基础。

（一）根据形体、生活习性特征表达的语义

英汉 语言都有根据动物的形体生理特点及生活习性所形成的词语。它们形象逼真地反映了这些动物的生活规律，以感性认识为基础，从而引申出一定的 语言意义，例如，蛇（snake）是一种爬行动物，体形柔软易弯曲，在行走时，蜿蜒曲折前行，因而英汉 语言中都有“蛇行（snake its way through）”。另外蛇能分泌毒液，隐匿于草丛中，因而有“阴险、狠毒”的联想意义，英语中有“a snake in the grass”，比喻伪装成朋友的阴险之人。又如，鸡（cock）的生活习性之一是清早鸣叫，因而汉语中有“闻鸡起舞、雄鸡一唱天下白”等词语，英语中有“cock-crow（黎明）”等词语。［1］260根据“蜜蜂（bee）”、“猪（pig）”、“猴（monkey）”等的生活规律和生理特点，英汉 语言中都有“忙碌”、“懒惰”、“精明、淘气”等语义。

（二）根据人们对待动物的情感态度所表达的语义

现实生活中，人们和各种动物发生着各种各样的关系，人们对动物形成一定的情感态度，进而影响到这些 动物词语的褒贬意义，赋予 语言以丰富的感情色彩。

对待某些动物，由于各民族呈现大致相同或完全相同的态度，体现在这些词语上，它们表达相同的 语言意义。例如，英汉民族都把“羊（sheep）”看成一种善良、温顺、柔弱的动物，因而在其意义表达中包含了相同的情感态度。汉语中有“像小绵羊一样温和、乖巧”，英语中有“as gentle as a lamb / as meek as a sheep”。“猪（pig）”的生活习性、环境决定了中西文化中都认为猪是懒惰、肮脏的动物，因而有关猪的词语都含有贬义的感情色彩。

对待另外一些动物，不同民族由于其生活习惯、民族心理、意识形态及文化价值观的差异，产生截然不同的情感态度。表现在这些词语上，它们呈现不同的、个性化的褒贬语义。例如在对待“鸡（chick）”、“鱼（fish）”、“蝙蝠（bat）”等词语方面，由于这些动物名称发音同“吉（luck）”、“余（abundance）”、“福（happiness）”，因而深受中国人的青睐，被赋予褒义色彩。［2］33-36而在英语民族中则无此谐音，这些词语的褒贬色彩便产生分化，英语 语言中此类词语多含贬义，例如“chick-hearted（怯懦、胆小）”、“fishwife（泼妇）”等。“龙（dragon）”在中国几千年的历史上有着深厚的文化积淀和丰富的文化传承。在中国人的民族心理和价值观中，“龙”是帝王、权力、富贵的象征，因而汉语中有关“龙”的词语都被赋予积极的含义。如：“潜龙”、“卧龙”、“龙凤呈祥”、“卧虎藏龙”、“望子成龙”等，中国人常以龙的传人、巨龙自称。而英语中“龙”则是贬义，象征魔鬼、邪恶。所以西方人在看到中国人如此钟爱雕刻有龙的东西时会表示诧异。在对待“狗（dog）”的情感上，中国人多持消极态度，含有“狗”的词语几乎都含贬义色彩，如：“走狗、落水狗、癞皮狗、狗头军师、狗仗人势、狗彘不若、狗急跳墙、狼心狗肺”等。［3］391而西方文化中，狗是人们的宠物，人们对狗充满了爱怜、褒扬之词，如：“a lucky dog（幸运的人）”、“a clever dog（聪明的人）”、“love me, love my dog（爱屋及乌，爱吾及犬）”。［4］269-271

二、动物词语语义表达的对等性特点

对等性是指英汉 语言在表达某一语义时，词语中所涉及动物名称的一致性或相同性，其 语言中使用的动物名称所代表和体现的相同或相近的比喻、联想意义和文化特征。

（一）英汉 语言中有关 动物词语的语义完全对等性

不同国家和民族，虽然生活方式、文化背景不同，但由于某些动物的共同体形特征、生活特征或行为习性，人们在表达某一语义时，两种 语言会借用同一动物名称。英汉 语言中的确存在这些在语义表达和文化内涵上具有对等性的 动物词语，他们有着同样的比喻、象征和联想意义。

1.利用动物形体特征形成的语义对等性。

例如，根据蛇的体形及运动特点，英汉 语言中都用“蛇”表示一种行进路线和行进方式，“蛇行”和“snake its way through /across（蜿蜒斗折，沿曲折道路行进）”。又如“as slippery as an eel（像泥鳅一样圆滑）”。［5］293-295

2.由于 语言翻译、词语借用和文化交流形成的语义对等性。

例如，汉语中有“纸老虎”之说，英语中有“a paper tiger”。英语中有“a bird’s view”，汉语中就出现了“鸟瞰”一词。又例如：“a dark horse（黑马）”，“an ugly duck（丑小鸭）”，“bull market（牛市）”等。［1］107

3，根据动物的生活习性和行为特征形成的语义对等性。

中西方文化中对于“猴、蛇、狐狸、狼”等动物都有相同的态度，因而他们在两种 语言中表达着大致相同的意义。例如，英语中可以用“horse”指各类人，“a dark horse（黑马）”，“a willing horse（积极工作的人）”，“a Trojan horse（潜伏在内部的敌人）”。汉语中有“犬马、驽马、响马、马贼、探马、马前卒、老马识途”等。汉语中有狡猾的狐狸，英语里有“a sly/ crafty fox”，“as cunning as a fox”等。又例如：“a fish in troubled water（浑水摸鱼）”，“as timid as a mouse（胆小如鼠）”，“as busy as a bee（像蜜蜂一样忙碌）”［6］161-162，“as strong as a horse（人强马壮）”，“wolf down（狼吞虎咽）”，“a case of dog eat dog（狗咬狗）”等。此类例子都体现了两种 语言在借用动物名称表达语义的完全对等性。

（二）英汉 语言中 动物词语语义表达的部分对等性

所谓 动物词语的语义表达部分对等性，是指在表达同一语义时，不同 语言在使用动物名称会不尽相同。一种 语言中有关动物的习俗语、成语、谚语表达相同语义时，在另一种 语言里会变为借用其他动物名称的词语。但两种 语言在表达同一语义都借助了动物名称，因而在表达形式上是部分对等的。

英语中“owl”是智慧、庄严的象征，例“as wise as an owl”（猴精）。而汉语里它是不祥之鸟，倒霉、厄运的象征，汉语用“猴”象征聪明、机灵。“bat”在英语里具有消极否定意义，象征盲目，丑陋、罪恶和吸血鬼，例“as blind as a bat”。［1］207-217而汉语里“蝙蝠”具有褒义色彩，象征幸福、好运、富裕，因为它和“福”谐音。又例如下列词语里，表达同一意义英汉 语言里分别使用不同的动物名称。

Lead a dog’s life——过着牛马般的生活

have /hold a wolf by the ears——骑虎难下

a fly in the ointment——一只老鼠害了一锅汤 ike acat on hot bricks——热锅上的蚂蚁 like a drowned rat——落汤鸡 beat the dog before the lion——杀鸡儆猴

donkey’s years——猴年马月［8］（57-59）

牛饮——drink like a fish 吹牛——talk horse 害群之马——black sheep 对牛弹琴——cast/ throw pearl before swine 一丘之貉——birds of the same feather

（三）英汉 语言中 动物词语语义表达的非对等性

一种 语言中有关动物的习俗语、成语、谚语表达某一语义时，在另一种 语言里这些动物名称则完全消失，不借助任何动物名称。反映两种 语言在表达同一语义时，选择词语的不同，即语义表达的非对等性。由于不同的文化背景，某些 动物词语在另一种 语言里根本找不到对应的动物名称去表达，这些词语不能盲目的直译和套用。例如，汉语里“白象”是一种电子产品，由于“white elephant”在英语里意为“累赘，昂贵而无用的东西”，所以不可译为“white elephant”。汉语里有很多有动物名称的词语，英语里不能用具有动物名称的词语表达。例如： 拍马屁——lick sb’s boots

蜻蜓点水——scratch the surface 黔驴技穷——at one’s wit’s / at the end of one’s rope 马到成功——immediate success upon arrival 英语里也有很多有动物名称的词语，在汉语中不能用具有动物名称的词语表达。例如：

put the cart before the horse——本末倒置

a dog in the manger——占着茅坑不拉屎

a cat-and-dog life——经常吵架的生活

rain cats and dogs——倾盆大雨

money will make the mare to go——有钱能使鬼推磨

三、动物词语体现的文化特征

本研究中涉及到中国传统文化的十二生肖动物鼠、牛、虎、兔、蛇、龙、马、羊、猴、鸡、狗、猪以及猫、狼、狮子、鱼、蜜蜂、鸟、蝙蝠等31种动物形成的各种词语，包括成语、习俗语、俚语、格言。就英汉 语言中这些动物所代表的语义进行了对比和分析，通过对这些词语的比喻、联想、象征意义的探讨，挖掘了它们深层次的文化内涵。在这些有关动物的词语中，中国文化侧重品德和人格意义，注重他们的内在特征，而西方文化侧重外在形象和体征意义，注重他们的外在特征，因而产生了这些词语文化方面的差别。通过以上研究，有助于更深刻的了解了不同国家、不同民族、不同文化中这些动物代表的形象及比喻和象征意义的差异，找到产生这些 语言差异的文化根源，避免 语言交流的障碍和误解。

参考文献：

［1］HORNBY AS.Oxford advanced learner’s English-Chinese dictionary［M］.Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.［2］ 陈美芳.英汉词文化差异对比分析［J］.Us-China Foreign Language，2005（1）:33-37.［3］ 中国社会科学院 语言研究所.现代汉语词典［M］.北京：商务印书馆，1988.［4］ 张廷芳.狗年话狗［M］//教育与文化发展新论.北京：中国科学技术出版社，2006.［5］ GU YUEGUO.Cross-cultural communication［M］.Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2000.［6］ 张培基.英汉翻译教程［M］.上海：上海外语教育出版社，1991.［7］ 朱亚军.动物生肖的国俗语义研究［A］.外语与文化研究［C］.上海：上海外语教育出版社，2001.［8］ 覃先美.英语动物文化考释［M］.长沙：国防科技大学出版社，2002.1.cat(猫)

俗话说“猫有九命”，这是汉语的说法。此外，中国人常戏称嘴馋的人为“馋猫”。

cat在西方是人们宠爱之物(pet)，但令人奇怪的是，在英语俚语中，cat的含义为a spiteful or unpleasant woman(心地恶毒或令人讨厌的女人)。照此看来，似乎是中国的猫可亲，西方的猫可恶了。

2.dog(狗)

在英语中dog的形象一般不差，常可泛指“个人”。如谚语：Every dog has his day.(人人皆有得意日。)又如：a gay dog(快活的人、好玩的人)。

但dog也有形象不佳之时。如：dog eat dog(注意eat为原形)，意指“人们自相残害”;同样，a dog in the manger喻“占着茅坑不拉屎的人”。

在汉语里，尽管狗在某些地方也为宠物，但“狗”的形象总是不雅，因而用来指人时多含贬义。如“狗咬狗”、“哈巴狗”、“走狗”、“狗仗人势”、“癞皮狗”等等。

3.pig(猪)

pig所受待遇可谓最糟，人们总是一边吃猪肉(pork)，一边又对猪恶语相加。

汉语里，猪集“懒、笨、馋”于一身，借此喻人具有刻毒之意，其用语不胜枚举。

英国人也给pig以丑恶的形象。a pig意为a greedy，dirty or bad-mannered person(贪婪、肮脏或无礼貌的人)。注意，最后一喻意似乎未进入汉语。

4.rat(鼠)

汉语中的“胆小如鼠、鼠目寸光、鼠肚鸡肠”及“鼠辈”等词语，皆有“畏琐、卑微”及“心胸狭窄”等含义，可见鼠在汉语中简直一无是处。

作为俚语，英语的rat指人时喻意与汉语稍有出入，但也含贬义：a rat即a person who behaves selfishly(自私的人)或a person who is disloyal(不忠的人)。

5.ass(驴)

汉语有“笨驴”之说，用来指人，则表达“愚、笨”之意。

英语同汉语在这一点上有相通之处：an ass意为a foolish person(傻瓜)，同义语还有donkey，但常用来指小孩。

6.bear(熊)

在中国人的心目中，熊的形象一般是“行为缓慢”，因而具有“呆傻”之态;指人时常有“熊样”之说;目前形容股市不景气乃称“熊市”。

但英语用bear指人时，则为a bad-tempered or bad-mannered person(粗鄙之人、鲁莽之人);另一习惯用语be like a bear with a sore head则表示“脾气暴躁”。

7.lion(狮)

百兽之王狮子在中西方文化中有一点是相通的，即“勇猛”，借此喻人时，汉语有“勇猛如狮”之说;英语也有习语as brave as a lion。

在英语中，a lion亦用来指“名流、社交场合的宠儿”。

8.rabbit(兔)

“兔”在中国人心中可谓形象复杂，有好的一面，如“形如脱兔”(喻快捷);也有差的一面，如“狡兔三窟、兔子尾巴长不了”。后者用来形容人时则分别暗示“狡猾”与“难以持久”之意。

对英国人来说，rabbit的形象亦不美。不过用来指人时，所取喻意同汉语大相径庭：a rabbit意为a person who plays a game badly(蹩脚的运动员

参考文献:

[1]中国社会科学院语言研究所.现代汉语词典[M].北京:商务印书馆,1988.李华.议英汉互译中文化差异引起的空缺.南京工业职业技术学院学报,2003.12.

篇2：英汉言中动物词语的对比

英汉动物词语的文化意义对比分析与翻译

语言是文化的载体,而词汇是语言最活跃的成分.本文通过对英汉两种语言中动物词的内涵意义的异同进行分析和比较,揭示了在两种语言种动物词汇的`内涵意义的非完全对应性.

作 者：张卫萍 ZHANG Wei-ping 作者单位：顺德职业技术学院,外语系,广东,顺德,528333刊 名：顺德职业技术学院学报英文刊名：JOURNAL OF SHUNDE POLYTECHNIC年，卷(期)：4(2)分类号：G05关键词：动物词 内涵意义 翻译

篇3：英汉动物词语的文化喻意对比分析

在中英文化中, 人们时常根据动物的生活习性而把它们同一定的品质或特性联系起来, 自然会产生相同或相似的联想, 赋予动物词汇相同的文化内涵。如:as sly as a fox--像狐狸般狡猾, 都是用狐狸来形容人的奸诈、狡猾;as slow as a snail--慢得跟蜗牛似的, 都是用蜗牛来形容动作缓慢, 拖拉;再比如:鹦鹉 (parrot) 是一种会模仿人发音的鸟, 在汉语和英语中都用来指那些人云亦云, 没有独立见解的人。

二、相似的文化喻意

不同的动物词汇在中英文化中具有相同的文化喻意, 即汉语与英语中用不同的动物词来表达同样的意思。如:比喻“说大话”, 汉语说“吹牛”, 而英语中却用talk horse;汉语一般用牛来形容力气大, 而英语却用horse, 如:He is as strong as a horse;比喻“顽固”, 汉语通常说“犟的象头牛”, 而英语却用as stubborn as a mule (顽固得像头骡子) ;再比如:Lock the barn after the horse is stolen即亡羊补牢, 为时未晚;to kill two birds with one stone即一箭双雕。

三、对等空缺 (同一动物词汇在汉英两种语言中没有相关对应词)

由于东西方文化传统迥然不同, 有些动物词在一种语言文化里具有丰富的内涵和外延, 且能引起美好的联想, 而在另一种语言文化里却平淡无奇, 毫无文化意义。文化差异造成了动物词汇语义空缺现象的出现, 所谓空缺是指原语所载文化信息在译语中无“对等语”。

1、同一动物词在英语中有着丰富的文化内涵, 而在汉语中却没有。

猫 (cat) 在英语文化中是一种有着丰富喻义形象的动物, 但在中国文化中并没有赋予它太多的文化内涵, 尽管中国人认为猫不忠诚, 给予它“奸臣”的绰号。在西方, 人们对于黑猫非常忌讳, 常把黑猫与巫婆联系在一起, 一方面觉得它可以通神, 施展巫术;另一方面又觉得它是不祥之物, 随时会坑害人。英语中有很多与猫有关的习语, 如:bell the cat (为别人冒险) , a cat in the pan (叛徒) , be the cat’s whiskers (了不起的人、东西、主意) , like a cat on hot brick (像热锅上的蚂蚁, 非常紧张, 如坐针毡) 等。

2、同一动物词在汉语中有着丰富的文化内涵, 而在英语

中却没有。鹤 (crane) 在英语中虽因其颈长而具“伸长脖子”的引申含义, 但几乎没有什么文化意义, 而在汉语中鹤却有独特的文化内涵。对中国人而言, 它首先是长寿的象征, 如“鹤发童颜”, “松鹤延年”。另外, 鹤暗含“归隐”之意, 如“闲云野鹤”表示自由自在, 不受红尘俗事所烦。

四、不同的文化喻意

1、中国龙与西方dragon文化内涵差异

龙文化是中华民族文化的象征, 中国“龙”与西方“dragon”字面概念虽相同, 但其来源、象征意义以及民族文化内涵却大相径庭。

汉语中一些与“龙”有关的词语如:指皇帝身体的“龙体”, 表示父母对子女怀有厚望的“望子成龙”, 描述一个人活泼矫健, 生气勃勃的“生龙活虎”等无不体现着龙在中华民族文化中代表的是皇权, 吉祥等积极意义。龙是中华民族文化最主要的吉祥物, 是中华民族的文化标志。龙文化源远流长, 博大精深, 是中华民族独特的民族特征和社会文化心理的体现。然而在西方文化中, 人们却认为dragon是邪恶的代表, 是一种狰狞的怪兽, 是恶魔的化身。甚至这两者的图形也不大相同:西方dragon比中国龙多了一对翅膀。正因为这迥然不同的喻意, 在翻译“亚洲四小龙”时, 正确的译文应是“Four tigers of Asia”, 而不是“Four dragons of Asia”。

通过对汉英动物词汇文化喻意的比较, 我们可以清楚地看到任何一种语言中的动物词语都不是动物形象的符号代表, 文化差异给动物词汇以深深的文化烙印, 动物词汇也因此具有丰富的文化喻意。因此, 在英语学习, 英汉翻译及交际中, 我们不仅要掌握字面意思的各种搭配, 更要了解其深层的文化喻意, 把词语的应用置于文化背景之中, 只有这样我们才能地提高语言的综合应用能力, 才能顺利地进行沟通交流, 在跨文化语言交际中真正做到胸有成竹。

摘要：动物是地球的生灵, 人类的朋友, 人类语言中有关动物词语的运用更是数不胜数。然而, 不同语言中同样动物词语所蕴含的意义却不尽相同, 但也非全然不同。因此本文从相同, 相似, 相反及对等空缺四个方面对英汉动物词语的文化喻意进行比较分析。

关键词：语言,英汉,动物词语,文化喻意

参考文献

[1]罗明燕:《文化因素对汉英谚语中动物形象的影响》, 《西南科技大学学报》 (哲学社会科学版) , 2006, (9) 。

[2]曹曦颖:《试论英汉谚语中动物比喻形象的文化差异》, 《西南师范大学学报》 (哲学社会科学版) , 2006, (3) 。

篇4：英汉言中动物词语的对比

【关键词】动物隐喻词语 隐喻认知 动物商标翻译策略

【中图分类号】G623.31 【文献标识码】B 【文章编号】1001-4128(2009)09-0022-03

引言

西方社会对隐喻的探究源远流长,经历了修辞学研究、语义学研究和多科学研究等三个时期。尤其20世纪70年代以来,隐喻成为哲学、符号学、认知心理学、语用学、语义学阐释学等众多学科研究的热点,造就了一个“隐喻的时代”(李国南 2001:41)。传统的语言学将隐喻视作一种语言现象,视作语言形式上的修辞,是语言装饰的手段。而当代认知语言学则认为,隐喻不仅仅属于纯语言范畴,而应属于更广的思维和认知的范畴。换言之,隐喻不仅是一种语言现象,而更是一种认知现象,是人类一种基本的思维、认知和概念化方式(Ungerer & Schmid, 1996: 118-122; 蓝纯,1999:7)。由此可见,隐喻根植于人类的语言、思维和文化中,是人类赖以形成、组织和表达概念的基础与手段。

从认知语言学的角度来看,“隐喻的本质是指借它类事物理解和体验该类事物”(Lakoff & Johnson, 1980:5)。这里所说的“它类事物”指的是人类所熟悉的领域,即隐喻的“始源域”(source domain);而“该类事物”则是指人类所陌生的领域,即隐喻的“目标域”(target domain)。隐喻的形成是从始源域向目标域之间的投射,即人类通过熟悉的概念来理解另一个不熟悉的领域。动物作为人类十分熟悉的事物之一,是人类实现隐喻化的一种重要的始源域,对人类的思维和认知具有重要的意义。人们常用动物词汇喻指周边的人和事。本文拟通过对英汉动物词语的隐喻认知的分析,进一步讨论包含动物隐喻的商标的翻译。

1 英汉动物词语的隐喻认知对比分析

英语及汉语中都不乏用动物来构成隐喻的现象。由于人的认知能力、思维过程大致相同,并且享有共同的世界知识和社会经验,进而对动物的感知和认知也有相似之处。但是受到英汉两民族不同的历史文化传统、民族风俗习惯、社会地理环境和思维方式的影响,两种语言中关于动物的隐喻表达方式亦存在着许多个性和差异。

1.1 语义重合:英汉动物词隐喻认知的对应性

英汉两种语言中动物词汇的隐喻有些是相同或基本相同的,也就是说,英汉动物词汇的联想意义全部或部分重合。例如:英语单词“pig”(猪)喻义“贪婪的”、“肮脏的人”;“ass”(驴)指代“笨蛋”、“傻瓜”;以“wolf”(狼)比喻“残忍凶狠的人”等,汉语喻义也基本对应。特别是以“fox”(狐狸)喻义“狡猾的人”,英语和汉语中有着惊人的一致。例如: Be on your guard! He's a sly old fox. 提高警惕,他是一个狡猾的老狐狸。

1.2 语义碰撞:英汉动物词隐喻认知的非对应性

所谓语言碰撞时指一种语言中的某个动物词语能够在另一种语言中找到对应词,这对词虽然字面意思完全相同,但其联想意义却不完全相同甚至相反。(王璐:2005:111)非对应的动物隐喻大致可以分为三类:

1.2.1 喻义对应,喻体不对应

在英语和汉语中,都有用不同喻体表达相同含义的现象。例如:英语中用“as timid as a hare”形容一个人胆子小,汉语里则用胆小如鼠来比喻。类似的例子还有“as strong as a horse”(健壮如牛),“a cat on the bricks”(热锅上的蚂蚁),“as slippery as an eel”(像泥鳅一样狡猾)等。

1.2.2 喻体对应,喻义不对应

英语和汉语中有时存在着相同的一个喻体,但在各自的语言中喻指的含义却不同,甚至大相径庭。例如:

从表中可以看出,“dog”(狗)和“owl”(猫头鹰)这两个在英语中具有积极喻义的动物词在汉语中的意义却截然相反。人们常用“狗仗人势”来形容坏人依靠某种势力欺侮人;猫头鹰在中国文化中被认为是“不祥之鸟”,是厄运和死亡的象征,民间有“夜猫子进宅,无事不来”的俗语。反之,汉语中象征着美丽、吉祥、尊贵的“peacock”(孔雀)、“dragon”(龙)、“bat”(蝙蝠)、“magpie”(喜鹊)在西方文化中都有消极的象征意义,有“blind as a bat”、“proud as a peacock”等习语。

1.2.3 喻体和喻义都不对应

有些动物词语在中国文化中几乎没有什么喻义,但是在西方文化中却有着深刻的象征意义。同样,在汉语中的某些动物隐喻在英语中往往找不到与之对应的喻体和意义。如英语中用“crocodile tears”(鳄鱼的眼泪)喻义“假慈悲”;用“eager beaver”(卖力的海狸)比喻做事过于卖力气以讨好上司的人,这些在汉语中都没有相对应的喻义。而在汉语中象征“长寿”的“crane”(鹤)或“tortoise”(龟)在英语中几乎没有象征意义。

2 动物商标的英译策略

英、汉民族在与动物长期的相处过程中,对动物形成了深厚的民族感情和特定的联想,动物词在两个民族中都有一些特殊的隐喻。因此中西方文化中都有很多以动物来命名的商标,以期通过动物喻体的象征意义体现商品的文化内涵和民族特色。但英汉动物词语的隐喻认知差异给动物商标的翻译造成了很大的困难,极其容易引起商标的误用和误译,产生文化冲突。这种现象在中国出口商品的商标英译中尤为突出,因此主要以中文商标的英语翻译为例。

2.1 动物商标英译存在的问题

一个成功的商标译名除了要达到音、形、意的完美结合外,还应考虑译名是否符合销售市场消费群体的文化传统和审美心理等方面,否则不单无法激起消费者的购买欲望,甚至会损害企业形象。如我国著名鞋油品牌“金鸡”牌,被译成“Golden Cock”,忽略了“cock”在英语中有“男性生殖器”的喻义,造成了对男性消费者的冒犯,给人粗俗的感觉。又如“white elephant”在英语中指“无用而累赘的东西;成为负担或招致亏损的财产”将“白象”牌电池直接翻译成“White Elephant”后,这个产品在英语国家很少有人问津,谁都不愿意买个无用而累赘的东西回去。再如,将“蝠王”这个商标直接用拼音“FUWANG”标注,虽然避免了使用“bat”(蝙蝠)这个在英语中具有“黑暗、邪恶”喻义的动物词,但是同时也失去了商标本身的文化内涵和产品特色。

2.2 动物商标的英译策略

从上述问题可以看出,商标的翻译不是生搬硬套,也不是简单的词对词的翻译,更不是拼音的直接标注。在动物商标的英译过程中应充分注意英汉动物词的隐喻映射,从认知语言学的角度出发,分析英汉动物词语的隐喻认知差异,灵活运用多种翻译方法,最大限度的体现原来商标中所承载的所有信息及功能。

2.2.1 直译法

对于在英语和汉语中文化内涵相似的动物商标,可以采用直译法。既保留了原名,也能避免商标原语的文化亏损。如“天鹅”牌(Swan)、“鹿王”牌(King Deer)、“七匹狼”(Septwolves)、“熊猫”牌(Panda)、“金鱼”牌(Goldfish)等。但英汉语中隐喻的认知意义能重合的动物词毕竟有限,更多的动物商标需要用别的翻译方法。

2.2.2 转译法

有些动物词在英汉两种语言中象征意义相同,但喻体却不同。这种情况我们通常采取“换译”,“替代”或“归化”的翻译方法或策略,即把英汉中引起误解的喻体换成能产生类似联想和含义的喻体。“使之本土化,来‘将就’读者的变通转换”切忌生搬硬造的直译,否则可能使人感到不习惯。(孙艳 2008:4)例如:3.1中提到的“白象”牌可以转译成“White Bear”,因为“bear”(熊)在西方文化中形象是憨态可掬、受人欢迎的,俚语中“bear”还有“佼佼者”的意思。该商标通过转译转换了形象,成功的打开了欧美市场。

2.2.3 改译法

这一方法主要针对英汉动物词中存在的相同喻体表达不同含义的情况。对原语中出现的在目标语中有文化冲突的词用它的近义词来代替。如3.1中的“金鸡”牌可以改译成“Golden Rooster”。类似的例子还有将“Flying Pigeon”(飞鸽)改译为“Flying Dove”,用象征“温和、和平”的“dove”代替有“傻瓜、好斗的人”等喻义的“pigeon”更贴近目标语市场的消费者的审美心理。又如现在十分受欢迎的卡通人物“喜羊羊”,在用作商标时被译成了“Pleasant Goat”。“goat”在英语中不仅指山羊,还有“老色鬼”之意,如此翻译大大损害了原商标想要传达的“快乐、机智、可爱”的含义,建议改译为“Pleasant Lamb”,“lamb”除了有“小羊、羔羊”之意外,还有“温和的人、可爱的人”之意。

2.2.4 意译法

某些动物词在原语文化中可以表达美好的喻义,但在译语文化中却出现了语义空缺。如汉语中的“鸳鸯”是经常出现在中国古代文学作品和神话传说中的鸟类。鸳指雄鸟,鸯指雌鸟,一旦结为配偶,便陪伴终生。中国人常用其喻指恩爱的夫妻。但其英语译名“Mandarin Duck”却没有相关的联想意义,所以“鸳鸯”牌翻译时可以采用意译法,译为“Love Bird”才能传递其在原语文化中的特殊内涵。又如,“玉兔”牌,不应译成“Jade Rabbit”,汉语中的玉兔并不是指“玉做的兔子”而是指的是月宫中嫦娥仙子所养的兔子,也用以指月亮。传说月中有白兔,因用为月的代称。所以译为“Moon Rabbit”更为传神。

3 结论

英语和汉语中都存在大量的动物隐喻词语,它们具有对应性,更具有非对应性。在进行动物商标的翻译过程中,应充分考虑英汉两个民族动物隐喻的差异与商标翻译的联系,运用多种翻译方法,尽可能的使原语商标所承载的文化内涵最大限度地在译语商标中体现出来,从而使商品能成功打开海外市场。

参考文献

1 李国南. 辞格与词汇[M]. 上海:上海外语教育出版社.2001.

2 Ungerer F. & H. Schmid. An Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics[M]. London: Addison Wesley Longman Limited. 1996.

3 蓝纯. 从认知角度看汉语的空间隐喻[J]. 外语教学与研究. 1999,(4).

4 Lakoff. G. & M. Johnson. Metaphors We Live By[M]. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1998.

5 王璐. 汉英色彩词汇联想碰壁与跨文化交际 [J]. 山东社会科学. 2005,(3).

篇5：英汉言中动物词语的对比

A Comparative Study of English and

Chinese Animal

Proverbs I.Introduction In Longman Modern English Dictionary, proverb is “a brief familiar maxim of folk wisdom, usually compressed in form, often involving a bold image and frequently a jingle that catches the memory.” A proverb, which succinctly sums up human experience and observation of the world, states a general truth and gives advice or warning.A proverb, often involving a bold image, musical rhythm and compressed form, can bring vividness to the readers and so they are easy to remember and spread.Proverbs are summing up of folk wisdom, they are usually pithy, and have universal appeals.People love to pick up proverbs when they try to reason things out and the proper use of proverbs can make their views more convincing.Proverbs are the crystal of the national wisdom.They are an important part of a national language and they appropriately reflect the relation between culture and language.They have been connected closely with the national characteristics ever since their coming into being and in their development.It is generally acknowledged that different peoples have great differences in their cultures.But since different peoples live on the same earth with roughly similar needs and some of them have even experienced similar social development stage, their experiences, emotional reflection and observation of the world are in many aspects similar.This shows that different peoples may have cultural generality besides cultural difference.Proverbs, as the cream of a language, inevitably carry the imprint of cultural difference and generality.The difference and generality respectively lead to the dissimilarities and similarities between English and Chinese animal proverbs and making a comparative study of them is of great significance.A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Animal Proverbs 2

II.Animals Proverbs with Identical Meanings Some animal proverbs in English and Chinese are identical in meaning.The proverbs in this category are limited in number.They are the result of either coincidence or translation loans from one language to another.These proverbs are not hindered by national boundaries or culture barriers, instead they have take on universal significance.The following are some examples.1.English: An ass is known by his ears./ Chinese: 见耳识驴，听话知愚。2.English: It is a sad house where the hen crows louder than the cock.Chinese: 牝鸡司晨，家之不详。

Many factors have contributed to the emergence of fully corresponding pairs in English and Chinese proverbs.Firstly, although different nations live in varied natural environments and diversified geographic conditions, they still share quite a lot in common.They have more or less the same species of animals.And the common ground of human cultures is larger than the individual feature of each culture.Although, people’s concrete ways of life are varied in different places, the fundamental ways of living and thinking are the same for the whole human race.Secondly, owing to culture exchange, translation loans are borrowed from each other, which are not limited to the root ideas but sometimes include the “clothing of the idea”.As a result, some proverbs with identical animal image come into existence in different language, for instance, “He who rides a tiger is afraid to dismount” and “骑虎难下”.III.Animal Images with Different Meanings in Proverbs

A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Animal Proverbs 3

Some English and Chinese proverbs share the same images, and people take it for granted that they should have the same connotation, but actually, they contain different or even opposite meanings.For example, “It is a good horse that never stumbles.” and “好马不失蹄”.In this example, the English proverb “It’s a good horse that never stumbles”, is easy to be translated into Chinese “好马不失蹄”.In fact, the English proverb means even a good horse will stumble, so the right translation should be “好马也有失蹄时”.In the following part, the reasons for misunderstandings and the different choice of animal images will be clarified.A.Reasons for misunderstandings

Firstly, sometimes, the old use of grammar remains in the proverbs, and it may mislead our comprehension.The preservation of the old grammatical structure “it’s...that...” is similar to the modern structure in form, but opposite in meaning.The misunderstanding of the English proverb “It’s a good horse that never stumbles” as Chinese proverb “好马不失蹄” is due to this old grammatical structure.Secondly, when people hold different views and attitudes to animals, and their different worldviews toward the same situations, the same animal images may have different or even opposite meanings in different culture, and proverbs containing the same animal images will possibly have different meanings.The seemingly corresponding English and Chinese proverbs may have different connotations.For example: “Dog eats dog” and “狗咬狗”.“Dog eats dog” is always regarded as “狗咬狗”.But actually “Dog eats dog” refers to the phenomenon that people hurt those of the same group, while “狗咬狗” means bad people fight with bad people, so the two proverbs mean differently.B.Factors influencing the choice of animal images in proverbs

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The languages have some universality, but more importantly, they have their own culturally specific features.The culturally specific features are closely related to their religion, special geography, literature and psychology.1.Different religious beliefs Different nations usually believe in different religion.Thus proverbs of diverse nations surely express various religious beliefs.In the west, Britain and America are Christian countries with a long history.And Christian as the main belief of them has already taken roots in their lives for ages.Christians believe in the God.The God is the unique and supreme god, while people are born with a sin, and are the same and equal in the face of the God, so the common people respect and worship the God, but disregard the majesty.“A cat may look at a king” reflects this kind of thought.Furthermore, there are some animals endowed with different religious meanings.In Christianity the serpent is the symbol of devil and Satan, while the lamb is the symbol of the God’s people and timidity, and the dragon is the symbol of evil and danger.Serpent enticed Eve to steal fruit of Tree of conscience and she then shared with Adam.In the end they two were kicked out of the Garden of Eden.So in English proverbs, snake has a meaning of cunning.In China, Buddhism has been spread over one thousand years, and the Buddhist culture has been melt into the daily life of the Chinese for a long time.As a result, it is very common that quite a number of Chinese believe in Buddhism.Some Chinese proverbs are about Buddhism.There are proverbs about the strict social classes and roles.Here are some examples.狗肉烧酒穿肠过，佛在心中留。(Buddha in heart, wine and meat will pass through intestines.)狗咬吕洞宾，不识好人心。(Don’t snap and snarl at me when I’m trying to do my best for you.)

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2.Different geographic conditions Geographically England is located in the Western Hemisphere, while China lies in the Eastern Hemisphere, thus England and China have different climate.They form different living styles.England is an island country, so most Englishman make livings by fishery or navigation.Chinese formed their living style----farming and stock rising.Therefore, there are a great many different proverbs.Firstly, there are some animal proverbs about the special climate in England.If the cock crows on going to bed, he’s sure to rise with a watery head.(公鸡傍晚叫，早晨有雨到。)March comes in with adder heads, and goes out with peacock tails.(三月来如猛狮，去如羔羊。)Furthermore, fishery and navigation are of great importance to English people and it is no wonder that plenty of English proverbs are on fishery or navigation, and a lot on fishes.But in China, the fish does not carry so many national meanings.The following are some English fish proverbs.All is fish that comes to his net.(进网都是鱼。)Fish begins to stink at the head.(鱼烂头先臭。)3.Different literary backgrounds Different nations have different literature, which makes up particular cultural backgrounds of proverbs.On the basis of this, a great many proverbs are often simple in structure but deep in meaning.In order to grasp and translate their deep meanings accurately, we must be clear about the literature.In Chinese there are a lot of animal proverbs originated from various classical works, such as: 二者不可兼得，舍鱼而取熊掌.A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Animal Proverbs 6

On the other hand, English proverbs also take in the quintessence of many literal works and are in fact the well-known remarks of some famous writers, such as some proverbs of Shakespeare: All cats love fish but fear to wet their paws.(欲吃龙肉，又怕下海。)Patience perforce is medicine for a mad dog.(不得已的忍耐是疯狗的药方。)In brief, both China and English have their diverse and colorful literature, which is vividly reflected in their proverbs and as well have constituted the historical and cultural backgrounds of their proverbs.Thus whenever we translate proverbs, it is helpful for us to look into histories and origins of the proverbs and make proper judgments according to the backgrounds.4.Different psychologies Although mankind shares many life experiences and thoughts, and different cultures occasionally have some cultural overlaps, yet on the whole different cultures have different psychology, and people of different cultures hold different attitudes to the same animals.Here we will take animals for examples to explain the different psychology in proverbs of different nations.With the development of human society, many animals play an important role in human life and some of them have become a particular kind of symbolism in people’s mind, and animals in various countries symbolize diverse meaning.The connotations of animals in proverbs of one language do not coincide with those in other languages.The different connotative meanings which the animal words carry in different countries are called cultural implication of the word by the famous Chinese professor Wang Dechun, a noted linguist at home.National cultural meaning is an essential signified meaning of the words tinged with an ethnic group’s cultural connotations.In English and Chinese animal images, both similarities and differences exist in national cultural meanings.However the dissimilarities are absolute while the similarities are relative.Both universality and individuality lie in different cultural connotations loaded in English and Chinese

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animal proverbs.IV.A brief Introduction of the Proverbs Involved in Several Kinds of Animals A.Proverbs of the dragon(龙)In Chinese and western culture, dragon is the animal existed in the myths and legends.In China dragon is the symbol of auspicious honor.It is a bright contrast that in English dragon is fundamentally evil and cruel.In Chinese culture, dragons symbolize good luck, authority, noble, and prosperity.We Chinese are proud to call ourselves “descendants of the dragon”.In the feudal society, dragon is the emblem of the emperor;the emperors thought they were real dragons and the sons of the heaven.Today dragon is still supreme in the heart of Chinese people.China is called “Oriental Dragon”;dragon is regarded as the totem of the Chinese nation.There are a lot of proverbs about dragon, such as “龙生龙，凤生凤”, “强龙压不过地头蛇”.All these proverbs show that dragon(龙)is a great part in the Chinese culture.However, in English people think that dragon is the representative of the evil, a ferocious monster.The distinctions between Chinese and English culture makes the same animals have different connotation and the choices of animal images are completely different.As a result of this, when we want to use English to express the “龙”, we must take this kind of distinction into consideration.“亚洲四小龙” should be translated as “four tigers” instead of “four dragons”.B.Proverbs with word “bat”(蝙蝠)In English-speaking countries, folks think bat as an evil animal and it is often used with the dark and evil force.So in English, proverbs with word “bat” commonly contain derogatory sense.In “as blind as bat”, it becomes a typical image of blind person with eyes open.Bat also has evil meanings of being absurd and odd.We use

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“have bats in the belfry” or “crazy as a bat” to say that a person is off one’s mind.In the traditional Chinese culture, bat(蝙蝠)is homophonic with “福” which means happiness, luck, and blessing.Therefore, old bat woodcarving and embroidery with bats put up people’s wish of blessing for auspicious and happy life.C.Proverbs of sheep and goats(羊)Because of the influence of The bible, the images of sheep and goat are as like as an apple to an oyster.Proverbs of goats are usually derogatory.“Play the goat” is to act as a fool.In The bible, a shepherd tried to distinguish sheep and goats, and he placed sheep right and put goat in the other side in that wild goats often infiltrated the flock to lure sheep.So that the proverb “separate the sheep from the goats” is to divide good or useful people from bad or useless ones.In the eye of Chinese, they two belong to the same species, and don’t any special implied meanings.The UK is a graziery-developed country and people there prefer to wool products.Owing to this, many wool proverbs spring up.Here are some examples: “pull the wool over one’s eyes”which means using people’s innocence to make a cheat into being, “go for wool and come home shorn”that has the meaning of overshoot oneself and “much cry and little wool” the Chinese meaning of which is “雷声大，雨点小”.D.Proverbs of the owl(猫头鹰)Owl is a clever and witty bird with wisdom, earnest and other culture connotations.Words, as “owlish” and “owlishly”, often apply to describe a man to be smart, resourceful and serious.Also in children’s books and comics, owls are often very intelligent.When dispute appears, the animals will ask owls to coordinate when there is an emergency.But in China, it is totally different.Chinese think that owl is linked with superstitious believes, and people are afraid of hearing their hoot because of a faith

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that man will be unfortunate when meeting owls.So a Chinese proverb “猫头鹰进宅，好事不来” means adversity is upcoming.An American woman came to China for the first time and knew little about what Chinese thought of owls.She loved owl pins very much and often wore them.She found people around her often point at her when she wore owl pins.Moreover, some of them even stopped to ask him why she wore owl pins which greatly puzzled her.Only when a Chinese told her about the superstitious thought of owl in Chinese eyes, did she stop wearing it in China.E.Proverbs of the cat(猫)The westerner is one of the important members of the “pet culture”.Cat is used to describe the female, model’s stage steps on the runway named catwalk.“Old cat” is old woman of bad temper.“Barber’s cat” is a person with a starved look.“Copy cat” often said by children is a metaphor to kids copying others.There is a proverb that “when the cat is away, the mouse will play”.It tells people that when a power is absent, others will lawless and naughty.Cat in Chinese does not have any similar uses in proverbs.But “山中无老虎，猴子称大王” have the same meaning with this proverb.There are much more examples, the following examples are widely used.1)English:A cat may look at a king./ Chinese:小人物也有权利

2)English:All cats are grey in the dark./ Chinese:不因为美丑就判断别人的好坏 3)English:That’s like putting the cat near the goldfish bowl./ Chinese:引狼入室

Even though cat occasionally exists in Chinese, some cat proverbs are still in use.“猫改不了吃腥” is commonly applied to a person who can not change his long-standing habits.“吃猫食” is just eating like bird.F.Proverbs of the dog(狗)

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Dog is a word that often used in proverbs and we should pay great attention to.As a matter of fact, people in western countries loves dog more than us.In these countries people loves to keep dogs and they usually call themself or others dog with no meaning of dog.Also dogs are titled with a laudatory name as “man’s best friend” in Britain and America.So in English there are many proverb of dogs such as “Every dog has its day”, “Barking dog seldom bite”, “Dog does not eat dog”, “you are a lucky dog”.But in Chinese, many proverb with dogs have bad meanings and often associate with disgusting things such as “狗改不了吃屎”, “狗咬吕洞宾，不识好人心”, “挂羊头，卖狗肉”.All these show that people have no good feelings to dog in the past.Some employers deny people born in the year of the dog.These proverbs contain a derogatory meaning against dogs, and reflect people’s bad impression to the dog.V.The Principles in the Translation of Animal Proverbs

English and Chinese proverbs are from various sources, and they give information about their culture on many social subjects, so there is necessity of a study for translation of English and Chinese proverbs to acquire more information of different nations.Translation is also becoming increasingly important as a medium of international communication.A faithful translation of English and Chinese proverbs will attract the target language readers not only for its vivid and expressive language, but also for much interesting information.Therefore, the purpose of proverb translation isn’t only to absorb and introduce the vivid expressions, but also to enrich the target readers with the culture of other nations and to learn the philosophy and views of the world and life.For this purpose, translators shall pay great attention to keeping the sense and flavor of the original and acquire the highest degree of cultural exchange.The best translation shall contain both the original image and the connotation.Traditionally, there are two major translation methods: literal translation and free

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translation.Literal translation focuses on the source language, referring to the translation based on the form, while free translation focuses on the target language, referring to the translation based on meaning.Which method shall be more important, and be put at the first place? Translators have been arguing over the question for a long time.Though there are not set rules for translating animal images, translation principles does exist.They are cultural equivalence and validity principles.A.Cultural equivalence principle As far as the cultural transmission is concerned, it implies conveying as much as possible the original cultural information in the translated texts in order to achieve the highest degree of language-culture correspondence between the source language and target language.“Equivalent effect” in translation includes linguistic equivalence, stylistic equivalence and socio-cultural equivalence.With the development of linguistics and the increasing degree of communication between different cultures, the socio-cultural equivalence is becoming more and more important.The translators are not satisfied with only transmitting the meaning, but they want to have an integration of both meaning and form.They want to introduce the original form and meaning to foreign land.In terms of transmitting cultural images, cultural equivalence includes equivalence of both the superficial form and the deep cultural content.In image translation, to convey the form and the content determines whether the superficial information or the deep connotative information of a cultural image is conveyed.The best way to convey cultural images is to combine the form equivalence and the content equivalence.However, cultural equivalence does not mean strict or rigid adherence to the original images.If the formal equivalence and the content equivalence cannot be achieved at the same time, the translation should be flexible, and they could give

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priority to the content equivalence, and try their best to convey the cultural information contained in the formal image.Otherwise, the rigid adherence to the original form will not get cultural equivalence in the true sense.The focus is how to change forms properly in reproducing similar effects so as to convey cultural information to the largest extent.B.Validity principle As far as image transmission is concerned, the validity principle means the conveyed cultural information must be valid when a translator tries his best to accomplish cultural equivalence principle.The validity principle requires in the first place translators should neither over-domesticate nor over-foreignize cultural images, so as to avoid imagery confrontation and achieve imagery acceptability.The validity principle and cultural equivalence principle are interrelated with and interdependent on each other, but the validity principle is more concerned with the target language readers.If the translated image makes no sense to the target language readers or causes misunderstanding to them, all the work done by the translator is futile.For example: “It’s raining cats and dogs”.If we translate it into “天上下猫和狗了”, the translation will be absurd to Chinese people.Although the original images are kept, the translation is invalid, so the better translation may be the deletion of the original images: “天上下着瓢泼大雨”.In conclusion, the translation of cultural image is complex.We shall try our best to knit the foreignization and domestication flexibly, and follow the principles of cultural equivalence and validity.VI.Conclusion

The translation of proverbs and animal images is really a complex and delicate work.It should be kept in mind that the main purpose of translation is to transmit different cultures.In translation, the traits of culture shall be remained as much as

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possible, and the two principles of cultural equivalence and validity should be followed.As translators, we shall try our best to find the most appropriate translation which is not only faithful to the meaning, but also keeps the original cultural colors.There is not a settled way as to what kind of translation is the best because the culture is forever changing with the time.The formerly strange proverbs may be considered as natural with the widening communication and rapid globalization.Therefore the translation of proverbs shall always catch up with the time.Translation should also be in harmony with the kind of the writing and purpose of writing.Also, the translation of the same proverb and the same animal image may be different if the context changes, sometimes original colors shall be kept, but sometimes they should be deleted.A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Animal Proverbs 14

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32-33.[22] 徐宏亮.英汉比喻喻体的国俗语义比较[J].广西社会科学, 2003,(9): 58-61.[23] 杨自俭.英汉语比较与翻译[M].上海: 上海外语教育出版社, 2002.[24] 张培基.英汉翻译教程[M].上海: 上海外语教育出版社, 1991.[25] 张廷芳.狗年话狗[M].北京: 中国科学技术出版社, 2006.[26] 朱文俊.现代英语语言和文化研究[M].北京: 北京语言学院出版社, 1994.A Comparative Study of English and Chinese Animal Proverbs 16

篇6：英汉词语搭配对比研究

语言学界普遍认同我国对比语言学研究始于《通过对比研究语法》 (吕叔湘1992) 。自该文章发表至今, 英汉对比研究的硕果累累, 发表了大量论文和专著, 内容涉及英汉对比理论与方法研究、英汉微观对比研究、英汉宏观对比研究、英汉对比应用研究以及中西文化对比研究。

对比分析 (contrastive analysis, CA) 是指把两种语言的体系进行比较, 例如比较音系体系或语法体系。对比分析兴起并流行于20世纪50和60年代, 是结构主义语言学在语言教学上的应用, 它以下列假设为基础: (一) 学习一门新的语言, 其主要困难来自第一语言的干扰; (二) 其困难可以通过对比分析来预测; (三) 运用对比分析来编写教材, 可以减少干扰的影响。对比分析与错误分析不同, 对比分析是对两种语言中主要不同部分进行分析比较, 可为学习者在学习语言的道路上减轻障碍, 使其少走弯路, 更快地掌握和使用目标语言。根据王宗炎 (2008b:397-398) , 对比分析可分为两种。一种是纯理论研究。这种分析应力求详尽、明白、严格, 像其他理论研究一样是长期性工作, 需要大量的人力、物力和时间。另一种是供教学用的, 只要抓住要点, 加以阐述, 不要求细大不捐, 系统也不十分严密。

对比分析有助于教学, 对这一点许多语言学家都有过精辟论述。吕叔湘 (1992:4) 曾指出, “一种事物的特点, 要跟别的事物比较才显出来”。赵世开 (2008:186) 指出, “对比研究有助于发现和解释外语学习中最难掌握的部分, 有助于排除母语的干扰, 也有助于错误分析”。赵世开还认为, “当前恐怕主要是以实用为主, 也就是说, 主要是为语言教学服务”。吕叔湘 (1980:序) 曾写道:“我相信, 对于中国学生最有用的帮助是让他认识英语和汉语的差别。”王宗炎 (2008a:304) 指出, “学外语, 必须了解其词义, 可是有些词语的意思非对比搞不清”。

词语搭配是中高级英语学习中的难点与盲点, 这一点已得到语言学界的普遍认同。在词语搭配使用上, 学习者往往错误百出, 又缺乏正确的学习方法。首先, 词语搭配集中体现了不同语言使用词汇的侧重点不同;不同语言、不同文化的认知不同。母语负迁移更是学习者在词语搭配习得上举步维艰的成因。英汉词语搭配对比研究正是以教学为目的, 对比分析英汉词语搭配的种种不同, 以引领英语学习者走出这一瓶颈。

本研究拟从英汉词义项的多寡、语义容量的宽窄、英语用词精确性和汉语用词笼统性及英汉思维模式异同等诸方面进行对比研究。

二、英汉词义项的多寡

汉语词义项少, 英语词义项多。许多统计和调查都表明, 英语不仅多义词数量比汉语多, 且多义词的义项也比汉语多。根据对英汉L词条义项的统计:汉语一个词最多义项为16个, 而英语则可达31个、46个、53个和58个 (蔡基刚2008:77) 。“英语有近60%的词都是多义词。” (刘宓庆2006:443)

词义项的多寡与语言本体有直接关系。首先, 汉语是表意文字 (象形文字) , 即文字的形式和意义有一定的联系和理据性。带有“目”部首的字一般会表达与眼睛有关的含义, 如:盹、眨、眩、盼、睁、眸、眺、盲、睹、睛等表达眼睛的种种状态和动作。带有“食”部首的字一般表达与饮食有关的含义:饥、饮、饭、饱、饯、馅、饿、馆、馒等。带有“手”部首的字一般表达与手相关的含义, 如:扔、扛、托、执、抖、护、抚、抄、抢、折、抓、拉等都需要用手来完成。而英语是拼音文字, 形式与意义没有任何必然联系。“book”意为“书”, 也可指其他任何东西, 因为从“book”书写形式上看不到意为“书”的任何理据性。这是拼音文字与表意文字最根本的区别。其次, 由于汉字的表意性 (象形性) , 意义受到字形的限制, 所以不可能无理据地给词添加义项。而英语拼音文字形式与意义没有任何联系的特性使得赋旧词以新义成为可能。例如:figure可指“数字;数据”, 可指“人物;名人”, 可指“外形;轮廓;人影”, 可指“五边形”, 也可指“示意图;图表”。这些义项之间不但没有任何联系, 且它们之间的意义也相去甚远。再如:bank既可指“银行”, 又可指“河岸”, 两个毫不相干的义项都属于同一个词。这是拼音文字的特性使然。再次, 对于新事物的表达, 汉语倾向于采用属加种差方式造新词 (由于表意文字的局限性) , 而英语则倾向赋旧词予新意。因此, 一词多义成为后者的一大特色。

词义项多寡与词语搭配能力大小密切相关, 义项多, 搭配能力强;义项少, 搭配能力差。例如, short可以有如下义项: (1) “短的, 近的”, a short distance (近距离) ; (2) “矮的”, a short woman (矮个女子) ; (3) “ (智力等) 弱的, 浅薄的”, a short memory (记忆力差) ; (4) “暴躁的, 发怒的”, a short temper (暴躁的脾气) ; (5) “波涛汹涌的”, a shor sea (波涛汹涌的大海) ; (6) “ (酒类) 不掺水的”, a short drink (烈酒) ; (7) “ (股票投机等) 卖空的, 空头交易的”, a short sale (卖空) , a short contract (空头交易合同) 等12个义项。而汉语“短”只有3个义项: (1) “尺度小”, 跟“长”相反; (2) “短少, 欠”; (3) “短处, 缺点”。又如:“strong”有12个义项;汉语“强”只有3个义项等等。

搭配能力的强弱与义项的多寡有一定的联系, 但不是绝对、唯一的联系。这只是决定词语搭配能力强弱的一个因素, 仅凭这一点不能得出英语词语搭配能力强, 而汉语词语搭配能力弱的结论。

三、英汉词语义的宽窄

词语义的宽窄与义项的多寡没有必然联系。词的语义宽, 搭配能力强;语义窄, 搭配能力弱。在英语里, 根据世纪版《新英汉词典》“enjoy”只有3个义项1: (1) “享受, 享有 (利益、权利、声誉) ”; (2) “享受…的乐趣, 欣赏, 喜爱”; (3) “经历, 把握”;若根据《麦克米伦高阶英汉双解词典》, “enjoy”则只有两个义项2。但它的搭配能力非常强, 几乎可与任何一个表达积极意义的词搭配使用, 如: (1) 保护、支持类:enjoy America’s military protection; (2) 待遇、地位类:enjoy a serious of privileges; (3) 优势、能力类:enjoy market supremacy; (4) 增长、发展类:enjoy double-digit growth; (5) 生活、境况类:enjoy affluence; (6) 影响、关系类:enjoyawarm working relationship; (7) 天气类:enjoy a sunny day (蔡基刚2008:205-206) 。义项少而语义宽的词在汉语中表现得更加普遍。例如, (1) “收拾”指“整顿、整理”, 搭配能力非常强:收拾房间, 收拾床铺, 收拾院子, 收拾草坪, 收拾花园, 收拾工具, 收拾书包, 收拾抽屉, 收拾铅笔盒, 收拾残局等等。 (2) “响了”指“发出声音”:钟响了, 铃响了, 壶响了, 锅响了, 门响了, 枪响了, 炮响了, 子弹响了, 锣响了, 鼓响了等等。 (3) “原”指“最初的, 开始的;没有经过加工的, ”几乎可与任何词搭配使用:原稿, 原画, 原版片, 原纸, 原煤, 原矿, 原水, 原糖, 原材料, 原始公社, 原始资料, 原审, 原配, 原职, 原价原动机, 原籍, 原野等等。

尽管英汉语中都有语义宽, 搭配能力强的词语, 汉语这类词的数量比英语多, 且更普遍。这也从一个方面解释了这样一个事实:汉语词总数量在七万左右, 而英语词最少也在五十万以上, 但这丝毫没有影响汉语对世界上千变万化的事物进行生动、细致地描写与表达。这与汉语中许多词表现为语义宽、搭配能力强的特性息息相关。

四、英语用词精准性和汉语用词笼统性

用词的精准或笼统直接影响词语的搭配能力。用词笼统则搭配能力强, 而用词精准则搭配能力弱。首先, 本族语为汉语的人重整体、重意合、重直感的思维方式反映到语言上表现为用词笼统;相反, 本族语为英语的人重逻辑、重推理、重形和的思维方式反映到语言上则表现为用词精准。其次, 英语词汇量大, 其中有着大量的借词。许多词至少有三个同义词, 分别来自古英语、法语和拉丁语。拉丁借词用于科学、技术和宗教等方面较多;法语用在正式文体上较多, 英语用于口语和非正式文体较多。而这些因素更加使英语用词多变化, 选择限制多, 因此表现为一词一物性。例如, (1) 汉语中的“完成”在英语里分别为finish one’s homework (完成作业) ;fulfill the plan (完成计划) ;accomplish a task (完成任务) ;do one’s job (完成工作) ;complete a project (完成项目) ;settle an account (完成结算) 。汉语一个“完成”需用英语finish、fulfil、accomplish、do和complete来表达。 (2) 在汉语里, “叫”可以表示所有动物的喊声, 在英语里不同动物的叫需用不同的词来表达:Wolves howl. (狼叫) ;Buffalo boo. (水牛叫) ;Bulls low. (牛叫) ;Lions and bears roar. (狮子、熊叫) ;Cuckoos call. (布谷鸟叫) ;Elephants trumpet. (大象叫) ;Frogs crook. (青蛙叫) ;Bees buzz. (蜜蜂叫) ;Doves coo. (鸽子叫) ;Ducks quack. (鸭子叫) ;Horses neigh. (马叫) ;Cats miaou. (猫叫) ;Dogs bark. (狗叫) 。 (3) 在汉语里, 许多东西可用“发光”和“闪亮”来形容。但在英语里:The torch flashes.“flash”指“闪光”, 形容火把、火炬。The sun shines.“shine”指 (太阳) 发光、照耀。The stars twinkle.“twinkle”指 (灯或星星) 闪烁, 闪耀。

上述实例在表明汉语用词笼统, 进而表现为搭配能力强的同时, 也深刻表明, 在英语里, 语义是搭配的基础 (当然约定俗成至关重要) :shine的语义就决定了它要与sun搭配;twinkle的语义决定它与stars连用。这一点对习得英语词语搭配至关重要。

五、英汉思维方式异同

关于英汉思维方式的差异影响和产生表达法的不同, 许多中外语言学家都有过精辟的论述。洪堡特 (1988:46) 指出:“每一种语言里都包含一种独特的世界观。”沃尔夫 (2001a:220-221) 认为, 语言不同, 思维方式不同。使用明显不同语法的人, 会因其使用的语言不同而有不同的观察行为, 对相似的外在观察行为, 也会有不同的评价。沃尔夫 (2001b:255-256) 还认为:“一个人思维的形式受制于他没有意识到的固定的模式规律。这些模式就是他自己语言的复杂的系统。”刘宓庆 (2006:510) 认为:“某一特定的特征特别是它的表现法, 无疑地与说这一语言的人的思维风格有联系。这可以说是语言生成中思维对语言的一种纵深折射, 它的影像被投射在色彩斑斓的表现法中, 汉英皆然。”

的确, 在实际语言使用中, 由于本族语为英语和汉语的人思维模式不同, 英汉词语搭配表现出很大差异。同一样东西, 观察角度不同, 使用词汇也不同。例如:汉语“这件衣服太瘦了。”强调衣服尺寸的大小;在英语里则为“This jacket is too tight.”, 是从人穿上衣服感觉的角度去表达。又如:汉语讲“考虑各种因素”, 强调的是主观的思考与认识;在英语里则为“weigh all the factors”, 强调的是客观上的重要性。再如:汉语“我举双手同意。”是非常形象的表达;而在英语里则为语言形式的使用 (比较级) “I couldn’t agree with you more.”。再看下面一组搭配:英语:main hall (抽象的功能) , 汉语:正厅 (具体的朝向) ;stop watch (抽象的功能:可停止计时) , 汉语:跑表 (形象的描述) ;英语:a long break (时间的长短) , 汉语:大课间 (笼统的描述) 。

由于讲英语人偏好抽象思维和分析思维, 而讲汉语人偏好形象思维和综合思维, 思维的差异必然反映到语言的不同结构上。同一样东西, 由于着眼点不同, 便有了不同的名称。因此, 用词的好恶比句法更能体现语言之间的区别。

六、教学启示

英汉词汇在义项多寡、语义宽窄、思维方式以及用词倾向上的种种差异和不对等, 使英汉词语搭配存在巨大差异。我们不可能期望中高级英语学习者会很自然地产生这样的联想:汉语的“奏乐”为英语的start the music;“各就各位”为take your places;“独立包装”为individual pack;“解密”为break the code。这里存在着在教学上需要引进英汉对比方法的问题。正如林语堂 (2009:35) 所讲:“句子意义不明时, 可用翻译方法, 但不可专用翻译为练习方法, 翻译句子之用处, 在于作比较, 研究本国语与外国语说法之不同。”尽管这里讲的是句子和语法, 但对习得词语搭配也非常适用。