发布时间 : 星期四 文章英汉动物习语比较及其翻译更新完毕开始阅读
happy bird. It is a messenger of good news. When it calls out, something good are going to happen. The bird will bring good luck to you. So there are expressions such as “晴色先从喜鹊知”, “今朝闻鹊喜，家信必有归”, “喜鹊报喜”，etc. On the contrary, westerners pay more attention to the physiological characteristics of this black and white bird that is, noises it makes. They used it to describe a person who chatters a lot.
From the above, one can see that the English-speaking people have very different associations with most animals from the Chinese. This is a reflection of different culture. The associations of most animals in English are varied with those in Chinese. In fact, the matter is not as simple as just complete parallel or different as it is.Let’s take the dog for example. The “dog” has a very close relation with people in both cultures. This is reflected in the saying “love me, love my dog.” in English and “打狗看主人” in Chinese. Most of Chinese idioms about dogs are deprecated, as is reflected in sayings like “act like a snob(狗眼看人低)”, “mistake a good man for a bad one(狗咬吕洞宾，不识好人心)”, “a filthy mouth can not utter decent language.(狗嘴吐不出象牙) ”,etc. Even though most Chinese now think the dog is man’s faithful friend. In most cases, the word “dog” is neutral in its connotation in English language. It is all right to refer to certain people as big dog, top dog, lucky dog, etc. in English. “To help a lame dog over the stile” means “to help someone in difficulty”. “To let sleeping dog lie” means “to make no trouble” or “not to disturb people”. “Every dog has its day” means “every person will some day succeed or become fortunate”. Such usage does not contain derogatory connotation. That is why the English proverb “you can’t teach old dog new tricks” should not be translated as 你教不会老狗新把戏，as no Chinese will like to be called a “狗”,nor is it proper to translate “watch dog” into 看家狗. But in some cases, the word “dog” may have derogatory sense in English, as is shown in the following sentences: (8) the dog returns to his vomit 狗改不了吃屎 (9) dog eat dog 自相残杀
(10) yellow dog 卑鄙的家伙，胆小鬼
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(11) a black dog on one’s shoulder 脾气暴躁
1.2.2 Different animals with same reflected meaning
Diversities of environment and cultural background cause another phenomenon in
the two languages.
(12) as mute as fish 噤若寒蝉(cricket)
(13) like a cat on hot bricks 像热锅上的蚂蚁(ant) (14) talk horse 吹牛(cattle)
(15) wet as a drowned rat 落汤鸡(chick) (16) a rat in a hole 瓮中之鳖(turtle) (17) goose flesh 鸡皮疙瘩(chicken)
According to the meanings the animal idioms carry, we can find that a image in Chinese have the corresponding one in English.
1.2.3 Meaning gap
Cultural default happens in cross-language communication frequently. Owing to different cultural background, one image cannot find the corresponding symbolic meaning. An animal that has connotations in one language may be no connotation in another.
In English, the “cat” is also used to refer to a person with a different connotation and color, such as “a fat cat”, “a queer cat” and “a copycat”, etc. It’s considered as a symbol of a cunning, mean and low animal. So it has a derogatory sense. There’re some phrases and sayings like “old cat” (an old woman with bad temper), “cat around” (a guy has been seen with many women), “cat’s paw” (a person who is duped or deceived), “a cat in the pan” (traitor), and “let the cat out of the bag”(to disclose the secret). Besides these, let’s take one other saying for an example to explain. “People all say that she is a cat”. In English it means “she is a cruel and fierce woman.” But in Chinese we think she is gluttonous. So by comparison, it’s easy to find that “cat” has plentiful cultural connotations in English but there are few expressions in Chinese.
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“Bull”, for most Chinese, it does not have any association，while in English, idiom “a bull in a china shop” means person who is rough and clumsy when skill and care are needed. So when it is translated into Chinese, it is better to explain its implication.
“Beaver”, is a hard-working animal with strong teeth in northern America. It is seldom seen in China. Therefore, most Chinese cannot understand what the idiom “eager beaver” means. “Eager beaver”, for westerners means keen, hard-working, and enthusiastic person; sometimes it carries derogatory meaning for the person who is too eager and anxious to succeed.
“Crane”, in Chinese tradition, has various connotations and colors. Firstly, it is a symbol of longevity. So parents like to give their names with crane, like “鹤年” or “鹤龄” . They wish their children good health and long life. It is usually drawn with pine trees, and given to oldsters as a welcome present with the metaphorical meaning of “松鹤延年”. Secondly, it also means eminence, as Chinese idiom “鹤立鸡群”implies somebody is so unusual that it can be pick out in a crowd. Thirdly, crane is a metaphor for hermit. “闲云野鹤”in Chinese means somebody is withdrawn from society and lives freely.
Besides, “turtle” or “tortoise” also has the meaning of longevity. In some ancient Chinese temples or palaces, people often see this image. In Chinese, another image of it is “a tortoise”, which means someone is too stupid or witless. It is a pejorative term. However, in western culture, we cannot find any idioms about the “crane”, because it doesn’t have such kind of metaphorical meaning.
Chinese people like to use the mandarin duck as the symbol for love. But the image of the mandarin duck in the phrase “棒打鸳鸯”has to be turned into “love birds” as the mandarin duck is a kind of duck that has no symbolic meaning at all to westerners.
These examples are only used to show non-equivalence of the same animal words in English or in Chinese language. According to this analysis about the cultural connotations of animal words, one can clearly find animal words in every language that not only represent animals’ images, but also are deeply ingrained with traces of
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culture. Therefore, similarity and dissimilarity in the connotation of animal words in the two languages should be taken into consideration in cross-cultural communication and translation. It is necessary to find in English and Chinese cultural equivalents rather than translate the animal words directly, as what we are to convey to the target language is the symbolic images in the source language rather than reference of particular animals.
Ⅱ. The reasons of the differences between Chinese and English animal idioms
Just as discussed above, animal words have different cultural connotations in
English and in Chinese. What are the main reasons causing such differences in cultural connotations? English and Chinese animal words convey different cultural features and messages of their own nations, and reflect their own culture. The following analysis may help understand cultural connotation differences in animal words.
2.1 Different living surroundings and conventions
China is an agriculture-cultivating country. From the invention of the farming, the agricultural culture is on the dominant role in China. Ox is the main farming tool in the agricultural history in China. The “ox” is the symbol of power and hardworking in Chinese culture. For example, “健壮如牛”, “牛劲”, “老黄牛”, “孺子牛”etc. But in Britain, the English people always attach importance to the livestock husbandry, so the horse plays an important role in the western culture. Here are the English idioms associated with the horse, for example, (18) work like a horse 辛苦地工作 (19) eat like a horse 狼吞虎咽
(20) lock the stable door after the horse is stolen 亡羊补牢
What is more? Britain is a sea-rounded country, and there is a vast seacoast so its
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