chinese abstract
Idiom is a kind of language structure with stable structure and meaning. Idioms are incisive, vivid, beautiful, vivid and profound. They are a mirror that reflects the general situation of culture and have distinctive national cultural characteristics. Chinese and western cultures have given birth to idioms with their own national characteristics. This paper analyzes the meanings of English and Chinese idioms from three aspects: regional environment, national customs and values, and points out that different languages carry different cultures and habits, so that English learners can understand the deep cultural differences on which English and Chinese idioms depend. The author suggests that cross-cultural awareness should be established in English teaching, and teachers should impart cultural knowledge while spreading language to students, thus strengthening the teaching of cultural awareness. At the same time, referring to Nida's transformational generative translation method, this paper discusses how to correctly handle the cultural differences between China and Britain in the process of learning English and Chinese idioms, so as to help learners use the language more appropriately and freely in cross-cultural communication.
Keywords: idioms; Chinese and western cultures; conflict
I. Introduction
Language is the container and carrier of culture. Idioms are the core of language essence, which embodies strong cultural characteristics and cultural load. "Idioms refer to fixed phrases, phrases and short sentences extracted from the long-term use of language. It includes fixed phrases, allusions, proverbs, proverbs, slang, slang and two-part allegorical sayings or expressions after a pause. It is concise and vivid. " [1] (p119) Idiom is a relatively stable language structure in meaning and structure. This structural stability should be attributed to the fact that it is the product of historical and cultural precipitation and has a distinct cultural brand. Every nation has idioms that reflect its own culture. These idioms reflect the nation's views on the world and life, and are a small window to counter the cultural differences among different ethnic groups. There are many cultural factors in idioms. This paper tries to analyze and compare them from three aspects: regional environment, national customs and their significance and values.
Second, English and Chinese idioms reflect the cultural differences
(A), regional environmental differences
"Every language has many words to express the characteristics related to its geographical environment. The geographical ecological environment in English and Chinese idioms has an important influence on the formation, development and evolution of a national cultural model. What kind of language will be produced in what kind of environment people live and work in. " [2](p70)
1. Regional living environment differences
Many drops of water will sink the ship.
Many piles will sink the ship. (Corresponding to the China proverb: Drops of water pierce the stone)
② The mouse escaped from the sunken ship.
The ship sank and the mouse tried to escape. (The corresponding China proverb: the tree falls apart)
A small leak will sink a big ship.
A small leak will sink a big ship. (The corresponding China proverb: A levee of a thousand miles collapses in an ant nest)
(4) any port in the storm.
The ship didn't choose a port in the storm. (Corresponding China proverb: hurry)
Let someone else's sunken ship be your beacon.
Someone else's sunken ship is your lighthouse. (Corresponding China proverb: a lesson from the past)
All the above proverbs can reflect the cultural characteristics of English-speaking island countries, while the corresponding Chinese proverbs have the characteristics of mainland culture. Britain is an island country surrounded by the sea and occupies a certain position in British culture. So for the British, sailing has always been important. The British navy ranks first in the world for a long time. "In World War II, when the Allies were defeated by the Germans to the French coastal city of Dunkirk, 300,000 British and French troops were rescued because the British were familiar with the sea and navigation. The British managed to transport them across the English Channel to England. This surprised Germans who didn't know how to sail. As Churchill said, the British are sea creatures. Many English proverbs originated from their sailing experience. " [3] (P142) The terms sunken ship, sunken ship, giant ship, port and shipreck are all closely related to navigation. Although China is near the sea and has a long coastline, the birthplace of the Chinese nation is in the Yellow River Basin, which is far from the sea. In the history of China, there was only one large-scale sailing activity with a national background (Zheng He's voyage to the West). Although its voyage and tonnage scale were stronger than those in the European navigation era, China's navigation industry failed to make good use of Zheng He's achievements in his voyages to the West due to the implementation of the sea ban policy from the middle and late Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. Although there are some idioms related to navigation, the number is small, and the word "sea" has mysterious, distant and incredible meanings in Chinese. Stones, trees, dams, roads and cars are all related to land activities. Of course, these expressions, whether in English or Chinese, are figurative. When expressing these similar meanings, the sharp difference between English and Chinese lies in that the British take their own sailing experience as the source of vivid and humorous proverbs, while the China people draw nutrition from the experience of land activities and produce proverbs.
2. Differences in geographical location, climate and mountains and rivers.
The famous dispute between East and West in translation field is an example. In Chinese, "Dongfeng" often refers to praise. In China people's mind, the east wind is warm and warm, representing spring and beautiful things, because the east wind blows through everything to revive, and the return of spring symbolizes progress and upward. The west wind is cold, symbolizing desolation. In the East, the "east wind" comes from the ocean, bringing rain and harvest, so there are words such as "west wind is cold", "east wind is warm", "east wind overwhelms west wind" and "east wind opens thousands of trees at night". There are even stars falling like rain "(Xin Qiji) and" the old road is sparse and the west wind is sparse "(Ma Zhiyuan). In the west, the word "east wind" was introduced into the inland, bringing diseases and germs, so British poets and writers have always praised the west wind and sneered at it. "Shelley's" ode to the west wind "eulogizes the west wind that indicates the coming revolutionary storm and shows people's yearning for a better future. There is a saying in England that the west wind sends spring. Just like the east wind in China, Charles Dickens once wrote how many winters I saw him standing in the snow and the east wind with a black face. " [4] (P180) The reason is that Britain is located in the western hemisphere, bordering the Atlantic Ocean and the European continent in the east. The west wind blows slowly from the Atlantic Ocean, bringing spring to the British Isles. It is said that the west wind indicates the arrival of spring. The east wind blowing from the northern part of the European continent symbolizes "cold" and "unpleasantness". China has mountains in the west and the sea in the east. Summer is a hot summer in China culture, which is called the saying that the sun burns like a fire. Britain, on the other hand, is located in the western hemisphere and the northern temperate zone, with a maritime climate, and its summer is a warm and pleasant season. People often use "beautiful", "lovely" and "gentle" to describe it. For example, "one swallow does not make a summer" means that only one lucky or beautiful thing does not mean that everything is fine.
At the same time, English and Chinese idioms also clearly reflect the differences between mountains and rivers. China is rich in bamboo, and there are many idioms related to bamboo in Chinese. Such as "I have a plan", "unstoppable", "childhood friends", "Zhu Bao Ping An" and so on. China people often use "like mushrooms after rain" to describe the vigorous reappearance of new things. The Chinese-English Dictionary published by FLTRP translated like mushrooms after rain. "Moreover, China literati always worship bamboo, chant bamboo, worship bamboo noble and honest. For example, Zheng Banqiao's famous sentence "Insist that the green hills will not relax, the roots will break through the rocks, and the tempering will remain firm, leaving the east, west, north and south winds" to chant bamboo, which has been passed down through the ages. The charm of bamboo, tall and straight bamboo, high winds and bright festivals and cool breezes reflect the noble taste of China people and condense the cultural psychology of people with lofty ideals in China. " [5](p 103) Britain is not the origin of bamboo. The British have never seen bamboo at home. They don't know whether bamboo grows fast or slow, and they can't imagine the momentum of mushrooming. Even the word bamboo in English is borrowed from French, so bamboo has no associative meaning in English, and there can be no idioms related to bamboo.
(B), the meaning of national cultural differences
"The meaning of national customs refers to the meaning of adding national cultural color on the basis of the direct meaning of vocabulary. It reflects the semantic nationality, reflects the historical, cultural and psychological characteristics of the people who use the language, and has national cultural characteristics. Words with the same entity reference meaning in the two languages often have completely different national and cultural meanings. " [6](p 1 19)
A typical example is the idiom about dogs in English and Chinese idioms. In Chinese, "a dog jumps over a wall" means that when the bad guys are cornered, they will do whatever it takes; "Dogs rely on human potential" is a metaphor for running dogs, and slaves rely on their masters' evil forces to oppress the masses. "Dogs are cowards" describes the behavior of bad people as despicable as pigs or dogs. There's a saying in China called "selling dog meat by hanging sheep's head", which reflects the traditional view of Han people that sheep are preferred to dogs. People in China generally think that dogs are relatively humble animals, so dogs are often used to describe bad people. English idioms about "dog" are: a gay dog; Every dog has its day; Help the lame dog cross the fence; A lucky guy. "Dog" is a pet kept by people in English-speaking countries and is deeply loved. English-speaking people generally dislike that orientals eat dog meat. Another example is "Old Dog" and "Old Dog" seem to be corresponding words, but their national and cultural meanings are different: the former is abusive, and the latter contains praise, which refers to an old and experienced person. " [7](p200) These all reflect the totally different traditional views of dogs between the East and the West. Then there are western idioms about "bats", such as "have bats in the belfry", which shows that bats usually bring bad associations to westerners. For China people, bats are symbols of good luck, health and happiness. These associations come from the name of the bat, which is homophonic with "Fu". Some pictures or patterns draw "Bat" and "Deer" together, which are very popular, because "Bat Deer" symbolizes auspiciousness, happiness and strength, just like "Fulu". The red bat is particularly popular because of its homonym "Hongfu". She is a cat (she is a very vicious woman. ), but many people in China will think she is as docile as a cat. The reason for this mistake is that in China, the cat is a kind and lovely image, while in the west, the cat means cunning.
The differences of national cultural meanings are also reflected in the different carriers of metaphors in English and Chinese idioms. For example, the British use lions, while the Han people use tigers to describe strength, courage and danger. [8](p200) This is because in China culture, the tiger is the king of all animals. For example, the tiger in the words "Dragon Pan Tiger" and "Tiger Jumping Dragon" means "the king of beasts". "Tiger" is also used to describe "brave and mighty", such as "energetic", "crouching" and "the tiger's mouth is alive and kicking". In Chinese, "huwei" is represented by a lion, not a tiger in English. The lion symbolizes "strength" and "courage", and the central pattern of the British national emblem is the lion. Therefore, Britain is also called "the lion of England". "Twist the lion's tail" means "offending Britain". The idiom "putting one's feet on the ground" (that is, visiting an important person to ask questions and getting some benefits) and "the biggest share" (the biggest or best share) both reflect the authority of the lion in English culture.
(C), the differences in values
In the book "Practical English Language and Culture" edited by Wang Zhenya, this paper introduces the six-tuple theory put forward by Zhang Dainian and others in 1994. "These six theories are divided into material, social system and organization, science and art, language and other communication systems, customs and behavior patterns, and value systems (including world outlook, nationality, aesthetics and thinking patterns). These six components or levels summarize the main characteristics of people. It is these characteristics that distinguish people from animals and nature, and naturally constitute a broad culture. " [9](p2) The following is an example of value difference.
The courtesy, self-restraint and civilization of China people in handling things are "up to you". "As a guest, you should obey the arrangement of the host, don't embarrass the host, and don't make demands that the host can't make. This is respect for the host. According to the traditional way of thinking of China people, this is reasonable. However, in the eyes of Europeans, "guests at home" is a very chaotic way of thinking. " [10](p92) China people are good at overall planning and pay attention to collective comprehensiveness, that is, they are used to considering all aspects of things as a whole. Confucius advocated "love for humanity", Sun Yat-sen advocated "the world is public", and Mao Zedong advocated "serving the people" and "many hands make light work". The social value that China people attach importance to only regards people as a member of the group, and people can only entrust their own destiny and interests to the group they belong to unconditionally. "One of the most basic and important issues in China's philosophy is the relationship between man and nature, or the relationship between man and nature. "[11] (p110) There is an old saying in China that" everything is ready except the east wind ". "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" Forty-ninth time "Zhuge Liang took a pen and paper, the screen retreated around, and the secret book was sixteen words:' If you want to break Tsao Gong, attack it with fire; Everything is ready except the east wind. "It emphasizes the close combination of nature and man-made. The idea of "harmony between man and nature" makes China culture emphasize man's adaptation, coordination and gratitude to nature, and take the affinity between man and nature as its cultural value basis.
However, westerners' way of thinking often emphasizes "individuality", so opinions are often too scattered and difficult to adjust. Western culture emphasizes the opposition between heaven and man and pays attention to outward exploration, thus forming the outlook on life of British and American people who dare to explore, forge ahead, conquer nature and dominate heaven and earth with human wisdom, so knowledge of idioms in English is power; ; British and American people like to seek change and difference, and are good at seizing opportunities and taking risks boldly. Therefore, the mantra of British and American people is "I will try" and "God help them." Western cultural spirit has promoted the worship of rights and the pursuit of material economy abroad, and formed the utilitarian values and individualism-centered creed of pursuing material interests.
Combined with the above examples, we can draw the conclusion that the differences in values between Chinese and western people are manifested in the differences in personal standard and ethical standard orientation. China people advocate "human relations standard", which can be said to be group standard or, in more modern terms, collectivism. Referring to others, leaders, family members, classmates, colleagues, relatives, friends and neighbors form a group "magnetic field". It seems that without the influence of this magnetic field, nothing can be done. [12] (p 261) and the main line of British and American culture is individual-centered, or individualism. "Individualism in English comes from the inseparable thing of Latin individualism. During the bourgeois revolution in modern western countries, many thinkers regarded individualism as an eternal human nature, the main content of morality and the main criterion for judging good and evil. As a value system, western individualism advocates that all values are people-centered, that individuals themselves have the highest value, that individuals are the highest purpose of life, that social interests are the way of personal interests, that society is the means to achieve personal goals, and that all individuals are morally equal. " [ 13](p43)
Third, the practical significance.
To sum up, we can easily see that idioms are not only a mirror of culture, but also influenced and restricted by culture. By comparing the cultural connotations of English and Chinese idioms, we can see the distinctive cultural characteristics of English and Chinese people, which restrict the emergence of English and Chinese idioms and the differences in their connotations and meanings. Therefore, only by deeply understanding the different characteristics of English and Chinese cultures can we deeply understand the meanings of English and Chinese idioms and use them correctly.
Misleading and myths about China culture abound in the West. The people of China have the responsibility to clarify the wrong information. It is not easy for the west to face it squarely. China's understanding of western culture is superficial. Without hard and equal dialogue, the cultural gap between the East and the West will be difficult to bridge, and the relationship between world culture and development and prosperity will also be empty talk. Therefore, China people should strengthen the teaching of cultural awareness. In English teaching, we should establish cultural awareness and impart cultural knowledge at the same time as language teaching. The principles and methods of strengthening the teaching of cultural awareness are as follows: "(1) English teachers must constantly improve their cultural literacy. (2) Language teaching and cultural awareness teaching should be closely combined at the same time. (3) Random teaching. According to the textbook, we should not only explain the concept, but also explain the cultural background knowledge it contains, and sometimes expand its knowledge appropriately, and tell some relevant foreign customs and common sense of communication by the way. (4) Comparison of differences. (5) entertaining. In the process of teaching, teachers should do everything possible to create a language environment for students, and take the form of entertaining to arouse students' learning enthusiasm. “[ 14](p 159)
The study of idioms is a big problem. Foreign language readers cannot combine text information with their own knowledge and experience when learning idioms, so it is difficult to establish the necessary meaning coherence for understanding words. Learning idioms that create a meaning vacuum for readers or conflict with readers' cultural psychology should not only be good at dealing with differences in expression forms, but also carefully handle their cultural information. We should not only make up for the default of the source culture to avoid obstacles in interpretation, but also interpret the source culture based on the target culture to serve the target readers. Look at Nida's transformational generative translation method here, that is, "take a sentence first and trace back to the core sentence with the simplest structure and the clearest semantics;" Second, translate these core sentences from the source language; Third, according to the translated core sentences, the surface sentences in the target language are generated. " [15](p72) Apply the transformational generative translation method to idiom learning, emphasizing the careful analysis of the cultural connotation carried by the language, finding the core meaning of idiom expression, finding the concepts and images equivalent to the source language in the target language, and expressing them in the corresponding target language.
Four. Concluding remarks
Learners can get a glimpse of the deep cultural differences behind English and Chinese idioms from the above analysis, but it is beyond the scope of this paper to elaborate on the profound cultural connotations contained in English and Chinese idioms. With the continuous expansion of globalization, the practical application function of English has become increasingly prominent. The preservation and dissemination of domestic culture and the respect and acceptance of foreign culture have become an important part and unavoidable content in international communication, which requires language learners to transcend cultural barriers and look at and understand their mother tongue culture and foreign culture from different perspectives with an open mind, that is, to cultivate their cross-cultural awareness.