Language Aesthetic Perception of Idiom Translation and Its Impact on College Eng

【中图分类号】G623.31 【文献标识码】B【文章编号】2095-3089(2012)03-0042-02

Introduction

Idioms are fixed phrases that go through the test of history and cannot be treated separately. In order to be loyal to the original text, the translation of English idioms should not only keep the original taste of the source, but also meet the standards of writing. From the process of idiom translation, we can find out the language aesthetic perception. Also we can make full use of them in college english learning.

1. idiom translation and Language Aesthetic Perception

Translation, as a tool to bridge different cultures, is playing a very important role in promoting global economic and cultural development. Like painting, translation enables us to reproduce the fine thought of somebody, not in colors, but in words, of different language. It helps people to better communicate with one another. But, how to reflect the aesthetic perception of the language in the process of translation is a tough task. At the same time, it has great impact on the English language teaching and learning.

According to Oxford Advantaged Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary, an idiom is a phrase or sentence whose meaning is not clear from the meaning of its individual words and which must be learnt as a whole unit (3215).. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the translation of English idioms.

Some Methods on Idiom Translation

Idioms are heavily culture-loaded. They have manifested different national flavors. Therefore, the translation of idioms must try to keep the original taste and also conform to the demand of writing in target language. The principle of translation between English and Chinese has developed for a long time. There are some concrete skills of translation between English and Chinese which are cited as follows.

Literal Translation

Literal translation means to retain the metaphor, image; national and local color of English idioms in translation, in the position of not violating the standard of translation or causing the readers misunderstand. This way of translation can retain the original intention.

The Use of Synonymous Idioms in Chinese

English idioms have the same form and connotation with Chinese idioms, and a few of them have the same significance and construction. This is because these two languages and culture share similarities. Take “burn one’s boats” as an example. In 55B.C. the ancient Rome, when great Caesar commanded his troops to cross the Rubicon, he issued an order to fire the boats to express their determination, “Not wins, rather die”. This is similar to a Chinese idiom：“破釜沉舟”,which means “break the cauldrons and sink the boats (after crossing)”. The overlord Xiang Yu in the Spring and Autumn Period did it to let his subordinate be determined to win. These two idioms carry the same cultural connotation. So when translating idioms like this, to adopt the synonymy idioms in Chinese is better. Such cultural phenomenon is called cultural overlaps. Borrowing the similar images in the target language culture to replace the original images is much easier to understand for the target language readers.