Abstract:Idioms, especially the animal idioms, are the essence of language. They convey the message of the social and cultural development, and take shape from cultural heritage and human’s creativeness. There are great numbers of animal idioms in both Chinese and English, which are characterized by their brevity, vividness and humor. With the deepening of the international cultural exchange, animal idioms are more and more popular with common people in daily life. However, the same animal image may convey different meanings because of the differences between Chinese and western cultures, which poses as a huge difficulty as to people’s comprehension and the translation work. This essay, first, describes the definition of idiom, culture and their relationship, followed by the comparison of the typical animal images and their cultural connotation under different backgrounds. Analyzing the causes with respect to the difference in religion, custom, history and geography helps to find the solution of animal idioms’ translation. Nida’s translation theory, dynamic equivalence, provides a way of achieving the goal of good translation by attaching considerable importance to readers’ response. On the basis of the theory, this essay provides the following methods of animal idioms’ translation: Literal translation, Substitution, amplification and Liberal translation. The author aims to remain the original flavor of idioms and convey their core meanings at the same time. The study on the features of Chinese and English idioms, their cultural connotations and translation strategies is expected not only to help improve native people’s cultural awareness but also promote the cultural communications between different nations.

Keywords: Chinese and English animal idioms, cultural connotation, dynamic equivalence theory, translation strategies

Contents

中文摘要

Abstract

Chapter 1 Introduction-1

1.1 The Structure of This Thesis-1

1.2 The Purpose and Significance of the Study-1

Chapter 2 Literature Review-2

2.1 An Overview of Previous Studies on Idioms-2

2.2 Idiom, Culture and Translation-2

2.1.1 Definition of Idiom and Culture-3

2.2.2 The Relationship between Language , Idioms and Culture-3

Chapter 3 The Cultural Connotation of Animal Idioms in Chinese and English-5

3.1 A Comparison of Animal Idioms between Chinese and English-5

3.1.1 Basic Correspondence of Cultural Connotation-5

3.1.2 Partial Correspondence of Cultural Connotation-6

3.1.3 Completely Different in Cultural Connotation-7

3.1.4 No Correspondence of Cultural Connotation-7

3.2 The Causes of the Discrepancy in Cultural Connotation between Chinese and English-8

3.2.1 Religion-8

3.2.2 Literature-8

3.2.3 Geographical Environment-9

3.2.4 Customs-10

Chapter 4 Some Methods of Translating Animal Idioms-11

4.1 Nida’s Dynamic Equivalence Theory-11

4.2 Translation Methods on Animal Idioms-11

4.2.1 Literal Translation-11

4.2.2 Substitution-12

4.2.3 Amplification-12

4.2.4 Liberal Translation-13

Chapter 5 Conclusion-14

References-15

Acknowledgements-16