英漢顏色詞的翻譯和比較(英文版)

ComparisonandTranslationofEnglishandChineseColorWordAbstractThetendencyofworldwideeconomicglobalizationhasbeenintensified,andpeoplehavecloseexchangesinalmosteveryfields.Theroleofcultureintheinteractionbetweenpeoplefromallnationsisbecomingextremelycrucial.ThispaperdiscussesthetranslatingandcontrastofcolorwordsinChinaandtheWest,whichmostlyinvolvesthreesections,thedefinitionandthedifferencesofcolorwords,thecontrastwithcolorwordsandmethodsusedintranslationinEnglishandChinese.Meanwhile,thefirstpartcontainsthreerespects,namely,thedefinition,categoriesthatconsistsofbasiccolorwords,colorwordswithcolorsofobjectsandcolorwordsinshades,aswellasthereasonsforthediscrepanciesincolorwords,whichincludesthedifferentethnicbeliefsleadtodifferencesincolorwords,influenceofdifferentmodesofthinkingandrepresentationoncolorwordsandinfluenceofdifferentpoliticalsystemsandsocialdifferencesoncolorwords.Andthesecondpartmainlycoverssixrespects,namely,thevariousimplicationandusageofcolorwordsinthesetwolanguages,suchasred,black,white,yellow,blueandgreen.Ultimately,thelastpartinvolvestworespects,namely,literarytranslationandfreetranslationthatcontainsculturalequivalenceandfunctionalequivalence.Bycomparingandtranslatingcolorwordsaboutthesetwokindsoflanguages,thisessay,foronething,willaimatmakingaprofoundanalysisofthediscrepanciesabouttheutilizationofcolorwordsaboutthetwolanguagesandthereasonsforthediscrepancies;foranother,thewriterexpectstooffertinyadviceandreferencesoncolorwordsinthefuture.KeyWords:ChineseandEnglishcolorwords,comparison,translation摘要隨著世界經(jīng)濟(jì)全球化的發(fā)展，各國人民在政治、經(jīng)濟(jì)和文化之間的交往日益密切。文化在各國人民相互交往過程中的作用變得越來越突出。本篇論文主要是針對英漢顏色詞的翻譯和比較，主要包括三個(gè)方面，即色彩詞的定義和不同，英漢色彩詞的對比和英漢色彩詞翻譯過程中所使用方法。同時(shí)，第一部分包括三個(gè)方面，即定義，分類，其中包括基本色彩術(shù)語，色彩詞的對象色彩和色差顏色詞，和造成英漢色彩詞差異的原因，其中包括不同的倫理信念導(dǎo)致色彩詞的差異，關(guān)于色彩詞思維和表達(dá)差異的影響和政治體制和社會差異的影響。其次，第二部分包括六方面的內(nèi)容，即英漢色彩詞內(nèi)涵及使用的差異，如紅色，黑色，白色，黃色，藍(lán)色和綠色。最后，第三部分包括兩方面的內(nèi)容，即直譯和意譯，其中意譯又包括文化對等和功能對等。本文通過對比和翻譯英漢色彩詞，一方面希望可以更加深刻的剖析英漢色彩詞使用的差異以及造成這種差異的原因；另一方面，希望為以后從事英漢色彩詞的研究學(xué)者提供借鑒和參考。關(guān)鍵詞：中英顏色詞;比較;翻譯IntroductionItisinextricableforlanguageandculture,whichinfluenceseachother.Languageistheproductofculturalevolutionanditssurvivalcannotbepartedintheenvironmentofsocietyandcultureonwhichitrelies.Throughthetranslationandcomparisonofcolorwordsinvariousculture,thispaperwillexplorethediscrepanciesbetweencolorwords,reasonsforthesediversities,andmeansintranslating.Thisarticleaimstoanalyzetheinternaldifferencesaboutcolorwordsinthesetwolanguages,andhowtousethesecolorwordsappropriatelytoavoidmisuseormisconceptionincommunicatingorwriting.LiteratureReviewIntermsofthestudyoftheChinesecolors,therearesomeofthestudies.LiuYunquan（劉云泉,1990）discussestherelationshipbetweentheevolutionofChinesecolorvocabularyanditsessentialattributessuchascharacteristicsandart,literature,scienceandsociety,whichhasafar-reachinginfluenceonstudyingcolorwordsinthenearfuture.YinYonglong（尹泳龍,1997）,elaboratesacomprehensiveanalysisofChinasinceancienttimesspreadmorethan2000colornames,andheisthefirsttoclassifycolorsasthreecolornamesystems.Mr.Yinnotonlyexplainsmorethan2000kindsofcolorsindetail,butalsoconveysthecolortoneandsaturation.AsregardtothestudyofEnglishcolorwords,therearesomelistsofstudies:ZhangPeiji（張培基,1980）commitshimselftoresearchingwesterncolorwordsfromtheperspectiveofChineseandcomesupwithacomprehensiveexplanationfromtheetymology,compositionandevolutionaboutEnglishcolorwords.Inrecentyears,therearemoreandmorecomparativestudiesonChineseandEnglishcolorwords:GuJiazu（顧嘉祖,2002）,probesintotheinfluenceofChineseandwesternnationalcultureonthedevelopmentofChineseandEnglishcolorwordsfrommacroandmicroperspectives.Simultaneously,heputsforwardtheethnicdiversitiesrevealedbycolorwordsininterculturalexchange.ChenJiazhen（陳嘉珍,2011）deemsthatcolorwordsnotonlyexpresssimpleobjectattributes,butalsoconveyssomeimplicationsaboutsocietyandculture.Throughthepointofcolor,peoplecanseethereligiousbeliefs,moralcodeandaestheticconceptionsofvarioussocieties.ScholarsandresearchersmentionedabovehaveprovidedahostofresearchmethodsandtheoriestostudycontrastandtranslatingaboutcolorwordsinEnglishandChinese.TheircontributionsareofgreatsignificanceandareveryhelpfultoourresearchonChineseandEnglishcolorwords.TheDefinitionofColorWordsandtheDifferencesDefinitionColorwordsarepartofspeechclassifiedaccordingtotheconceptualmeaning.Theyareservedtorepresentvariousthings'naturalcolorinmostinstances.However,languageistheproductofcultureanditsexistenceandevolutionismarriedtightlywiththesocialandculturalsurroundings.Therefore,colorwordspossesstheirspecificsensesindifferentstatesandregionsbecauseitisaffectedtremendouslybytheseculturalelements.Throughcolorwords,peoplewillcomprehendtheirrichimplicationandextension,aswellastheprofoundnationalculturalpsychologyandemotionalcolorcontainedinthem.ClassificationAlthoughthevarietyandquantityofcolorwordsareextremelyabundantandthedifferencesamongthemaregreat,thereareobvioussimilaritiesinthecognitionofcolorwordsamonghumanbeings,andthesortofcolorislargelyalike.Colorwordsisgenerallyclassifiedintothreekinds:BasicColorWords,ColorWordswithColorsofObjects,andColorWordsinShades(DingFeng,JiangLijun,2005:85-86).BasicColorTermsThebasiccolorwordsarewhatspeciallyutilizedtorepresentthings'color.Onbehalfoftheextensivecolors,theyhaveaspecialgeneralityandarefrequentlyusedincommunication.ThegeneralbasiccolorwordsinEnglishcangenerallybediscoveredinChinese.Peoplehavethesameconceptofbasiccolorbecauseoftheiraesthesiaofcolor.Itreferstothosecolorwordswhichexpressesthefeelingofthings.Thebasiccolorwordshaslittledifferencebetweentwolanguages.Thereare赤橙黃綠青藍(lán)紫,andtherearered,white,black,green,yellow,blue,purple,gray,browncorrespondingly.ColorWordswithColorsofObjectsColorwordswithcolorsofobjectsareusedtorepresentthecolorofnaturalobjects.Thecolorofthemisdistinctive,anditsnamerepresentstheobjectandreferstoacolor.Thenaturalobjectrepresentsthenaturalcoloroftheword.Thephysicalcolorwordsarefarmorethanthebasiccolorwords,andmostEnglishphysicalcolorwordshavethecorrespondingwordsinChinese.Forexample,silvermeans峙艮白”goldmeans“金色”andlead-graymeans“鉛灰"(DingFeng,JiangLijun,2005:86).Thesecolorsarewidelyemployedinlifeandliterature.ColorWordsinShadesColorWordsinShadesrefertothedifferencesbetweenlightandshadebythenaturallightorwhitelightfromthesunshiningonvariouscolors.InEnglish,weusetheword“shade”toindicateaslightshadeofthiscolor.Thesekindsofwordsare:(1)deepexpression:deep,dark;(2)lightexpression:light,pale;(3)clearexpression:brightandvivid.TheReasonfortheDifferencebetweenEnglishandChineseColorWordsOwingtothecontrastsingeographicalfeatures,customsandfolkwaysandreligiousfaithsindifferentconditions,diversecolorshaveindividualvisuallinksandmeaningsforpersons.Therefore,itisnecessarytogivegreatlyparticularfocusaboutthedifferencesintranslation.Inaddition,inEnglish,wordsorphrasescomposedbycolorwordsoftenhavetheirspecialmeaningoridiomaticusage,whichshouldn'tbeneglectedinthetranslatingofcolorwords.DifferentEthnicBeliefsLeadtoDifferencesincolorwordsItisinextricablebetweencolorwordsanddailylife,andeachcolorwordholdsauniqueaestheticfunction.Inaestheticjudgment,peopledevelopaspecificstandardtotheformfactorofcolor,andeachnationhasafolkloricinterestincolorandevenworship.Differentnationscomprehendthisadorationdistinctlycorrespondingly.TheInfluenceofDifferentWaysofThinkingandExpressiononColorWordsSinceeachnationorcountryhasitsownunusualwayofexpressionandthought,andthisdifferencewillaffectpeople'sexpressionandcognitionofthings.Therearemanydifferentconceptsfortheobservationanduseofcolorwords.PeopleinBritishcultureareusedtoformalanalysis,highlightingthesubjectiveroleandtakingthesubjectasthecenter,whilethethinkinghabitsoftheChinesepeopleareoftengraspedasawhole,startingfromrealityandpayingattentiontotheintegrationofsubjectandobject.Forexample,blackteaisnotcalled“黑茶”inChina.TheInfluenceofDifferentPoliticalSystemsandSocialDifferencesonColorWordsLanguage,asocialphenomenon,proceedsanddevelopswiththesociety.Theinnovationofthepoliticalsystemandtheeconomicsystem,andthesocialdiversityandunification,willadvanceitsdevelopment.Thesamecolorwordmayaddnewmeaningswiththedevelopmentofsociety,andthesamesocialandculturalsystemcanalsobeusedwithdifferentcolorwords.Colorwordsareutilizedregularlyineconomicandpolitics.Forexample,redinkisthedeficitandintheblackistheprofit.TheComparisonwithEnglishandChineseColorWordsBecausecolorwordsoriginatedfrompeople'sconceptionandunderstandingofthenaturalscenetheyarefamiliarwith,whentheymentionsomething,peoplecanoftenthinkofitscolor.whensomespecificcolorsarementioned,theyoftenrecallpublicofparticularthings.Therefore,itissafetosaythatcolorwordsareconnectedwitheachother.Inallcountriesorregions'languages,thereareabundantmeaningsaboutcolorwords.ColorwordsinEnglishandChineseareaffluentinmeaningandwideinutilization.Therearesomebasiccolors,suchasred,orange,yellow,black,green,cyan,blue,purpleandwhite.Thispaperaimstousesixbasiccolorincludingred,black,white,green,blueandyellowinthepsychologicalassociationofmeaning,symbolicmeaning,positiveandnegativemeaning,implicationmeaningetc.RedRed,asweallknow,isanimportantcolorwordinbothcultures,whileithasthecontrastingmeaninginsomecases.InChinese,redisoftenlinkedwithhappinessandauspiciousness,suchasthetraditionalredweddingsymbol,redcandle,redveil,andtheredrobeofthebrideandgroom(DengYanchang,1989:64).Theseexpressionsbringatmosphereofweddingsfestiveandwarmness,butalsomakepeoplethinkofthedayaftertheweddingoverthemoreprosperous.Inaddition,“red”isoftenlinkedwithpoliticsbyallaccounts,whichembodiestherevolutionandprogress,suchas“China'sredarmy”istheEnglishexpressionof“紅軍”,“redregime”means“紅色政權(quán)”.However,fromtheviewpointofwesterners,redisthesignofbloodandfire,whichcanbeimpliedasaderogatoryterm,showingviolence,blood,crueltyandfire,suchas“redhands”isthetranslationof“血腥的手”.Redcanevenmeanlasciviousorvulgar,forexample,“redlightdistrict”is“紅燈區(qū)”.Thisisawell-knowneuphemismforthecity'ssexscene.Arepresentativeexample,theDreamofTheRedChamber,isoneofthefourmasterpiecesofChina.Ithastwoversions:DreamofTheRedChamberandTheStoneStory.Thelatterismorewidelyknownforforeignerbecauseitconsiderstheculturaldifferencesbetweenthetwoaspectsofthered.Thelatterversionismorelikelytopreservethestyleoftheoriginalwork.(LuoFeng,2004:152)BlackContrarytothemetaphoricalmeaningofthewordred,blackisfeaturedwithidenticalmeaningamongdifferentcultures.Itmanifestsdeath,sufferingandgriefforthemostpart.InChinesetraditionalpsychology,blackisalwaysassociatedwith“bad,dark,viciousanddirefulthings”.Forexample,“gang,gangway,slang”oftenreferstogangstersorthelanguagetheycommunicatewithinChinese.The“blackshop”isoftenassociatedwiththe“murderandrobberyoftheinn”inearlyvernacularnovels,ThemeaningofblackinEnglishissimilartothatofChinese.Andsomeofthemareevenequivalentinmeaningandform:“blackmarket”refersto“黑市”（指非法交易）,“blackhand”means“黑手黨”,“blackhearted”is“黑心腸的”.Blackalsosignifiesdisaster,gloomandmisfortunesuchasthe“blacksheep”,whichmeans“敗家子，害群之馬”inEnglish.ThefirstdaystudentsgotoschooliscalledblackMonday,itsChineseexpressionis“黑色星期一”.OnSeptember13,1873,thestockmarketinNewYorkCityplunged,accompaniedbythecosmopolitaneconomiccrisis,andgiantbusinessbuildingsbecameknownasBlackFriday,namely'黑色星期五”.WhiteThemeaningofwhitehasagreatsimilarityinmanycultures,whichmainlyreferstoinnocenceandchasteness.However,therearesomesubtledisparitiesinsomecases.IntraditionalChinese,itrepresentspurity,justice,lightandkindness.Whiteisalsorelatedtofuneral,evil,lowliness,povertyandothersemantics.Besides,whitestillhasderogatorysensesthatislinkedwithvain.The“whiteface”isoppositetothe“blackface”,symbolizingtreacheryandbetrayalintraditionalChineseoperas.Thesymbolicmeaningofwhitemainlyrestswiththecoloritselfinthewesternculture,whichisthemanifestationofgodandangels,purityandgoodliness,happinessandbeauty.Itwasbelievedthatsleepinginwhitepajamaswouldensureagoodnight'ssleepinancientGreece.Theangelsalwaysownwhitewingsandwhiteringssuspendedabovetheirheadsinthebiblestories.Whiteweddinggownsandgloveswillbewornbybrides.Inawesternstory,thereisaherowhowinsthesympathyandloveofchildrenallovertheworld.SheiscalledSnowWhiteandistherepresentationofwisdomandbeauty.Whitealsocarriesthemeaningofgoodwill,luckorpeaceinEnglish.Forexample,anauspiciousdaycanberepresentedasawhiteday,Akindliecanberepresentedaswhitelie,andahappydaycanberepresentedasadaymarkedwithawhitestone.Inaddition,whitealsoreflectspowerinEnglishsuchasTheWhiteHouseintheUnitedStates.WhitehallreferstotheBritishgovernmentonbehalfoftheBritishgovernment,whichisthemarkofBritishpower.Thewhitepaperisanofficialrecorddrewbywesterncountries.YellowIntheHan,yellowmanifeststheemperor,theparamountpowerandstatusrepresentingauthorityandmajesty,whichholdsabitterlycrucialpartinmostChinesepeople'shearts.Exceptfortheemperor,ordinarypeoplecannotuseyellowcasually.Duetothesimilarityofyellowandgold,yellowsymbolizeswealth,brillianceandauspiciousness.Inaddition,whenitcomestotheword“yellow”,fromChinesepeople'sperspectives,itwillbeassociatedwithvulgar,obsceneandvulgarwordsrelatedtosex,orwithunhealthybooks,works,songsandpictures.Forexample,“yellowbooks”isthemeaningof“黃色書籍”and“yellowmusic”is“黃色音樂”.InEnglish,yellowisconnectedwiththeclotheswhichiswornbyJudawhobetrayedJesus.Therefore,itsconnotationisnotauspicious.Inaddition,thiscolorwordalsoreferstothevulgarpressandbooks.Forexample,yellowpressreferstovulgarbooks,andyellowpagesrefertothetelephonebookofshops,restaurants,merchantsandorganizations.Besides,yellowmainlymeansunreliableandtimid.Forinstance,thetimidpersonisyellow-livered.BlueTheassociationofblueinvariousculturesisextremelydistinct.BluehaslittleaugmentedmeaninginChinese,whileinEnglishitisacolorwithabundantmeaningsChinesepeopleliketoassociatebluewithgoodreverieandvisionbecauseoftheseaandsky.Therefore,blueinChineseculturegivespeopletheassociationof“tranquilityandhappiness”like“bluedream”,referstoawonderfuldream.BlueisspecialinEnglish.Therefore,weshouldfocusmoreonitsspecialmeaninginthecourseoftranslating.Forexample,“bluebook”inAmericanEnglishreferstobluebookscontainingthenamesofcelebritiesandgovernmentalofficials.Also,blueinEnglishisoftenusedtorefertoaperson'smoodofdepressionandsadness.BlueisalsocommonlyemployedinEnglishtoindicatehighsocialstatus,powerorroyalpeople.Bluealsohaspornographic,vulgarandnastymeaning.However,itisworthnotingthatsomephrasesinEnglishcontainingtheword“blue”donothavethemeaningof“憂郁”.Forexample,abluemoviedoesnotrefertoasorrowfulmovie,butindicatesanindelicatecontent,suggestiveordescriptiveaction,whichisequivalenttotheChineseword“yellowfilm”(WangLing,2004:92).GreenGreensymbolizeskindness,hopeorvitality.Itssymbolicmeaningisalmostthesame.Itisnormalthatgreenhasbecomethetopicoftheenvironment(JiangBingqing,2002:66).Itsymbolizesthetranquilityofthecountrysideandtheharmonyofthenature.Forexample,“greenpeaceorganization”istranslatedinto“綠色和平組織”.However,greenhasaquitedistinctmeaninginEnglish,whichreferstojealousyandenvy.Itisalwaystransferredinto“green-eyed”ratherthan“red-eyed”inChinese.Furthermore,duetothecolorofdollarbills,fromAmericanpeople'sperspectives,greenrepresentsfortuneandpower.Therefore,thedollarbillcouldbeexpressedasgreenback.Moreover,itisreferredtoyoung,ignorantandinexperiencedunseasonedpeople.Forexample,themeaningofthesentence“thenewteacherisgreenatherjob”isthat“這位新來的老師對她的工作還沒有經(jīng)驗(yàn)”.MethodsUsedinTranslationofChineseandEnglishColorWordsThetranslationisnothingmorethanexpressingtheculturalinformationofalanguageintoanother,thatisforsurethateverytranslationcannotbeseparatedfromculture.Throughthedisparityofcolorwords,wecanseethatduetodifferentnationalpsychologyoraestheticstandards,thesymbolicmeaningandemotionalcolorofcolorwordsinthesetwolanguagesarequitedifferent,whichisabigdifficultythatEnglishlearnersandtranslatorsmustovercome.Weshouldtrytoeliminatetheobstaclesandminimizethedistortionintheprocessofcommunication.Intheprocessofreproducingthesourcelanguageofthetargetlanguage,duetothedifferences,theculturalatmosphereofthetargetandthesourceisvarious.Whenunderstandingtheoriginalinformationandtheauthor'screativeintention,wewillinevitablyhavesubjectiveintention,andsometimeswecanadoptuniqueprocessingmethodstoreflectourownstyle.Whenitcomestothedisparities,weaimtotryourbesttoholdcommonground.Onthepremisetokeeployaltotheoriginaltext,itisadvisableforpeopletoexertthemselvestoinnovate.LiteraryTranslationWhengivingthethoughtoftheoriginaltext,thebasicformandsyntaxstructureaboutthetranslatingshouldbeaccordantwiththeoriginal.Forinstance,“WhiteHouse”refersto“白宮”,“RedCross”denotes“紅十字會”,“greentea”implies“綠茶”and“yellowline”means“黃線”.FreeTranslationFreetranslationmentionsthatthecomprehensionandgraspoftheideaoftheoriginaltext,theslippingandrebuildingoftheexternalstructureoftheformerandthenleadingthetranslatingtoanexclusiveandplainformation.Inotherwords,tobreakthroughtheshellofalanguageanddigoutitsconnotativemeaning(XiaoAiping,2001:89).Freetranslationcanbeclassifiedasmanykinds,amongwhichthetwomostessentialpartsareequivalencerelatedtocultureandfunction.CulturalequivalenceSometimes,diversecolorwordsareutilizedtoconveythesamething.Therefore,translatorsshouldgivemoreattentiontothecustomaryhabitsofcolorwordsindifferentnationalculturestoavoiddeadtranslationwhendealingwithcolorwords.Forexample,“紅榜”isnottranslatableintoredroll,theidiomaticrepresentationinEnglishishonorable,andtherelativeformof“紅娘"is“go-betweenlover",notredwoman(QuanYu,2004:83).And“blacktea"cannotbetranslatedinto“黑茶"inChinese,butshouldbe“紅茶".ItisbecauseChinesegiveemphasisaboutthecontent.Thisblackteareferstothecoloroftheteaintheeyesofwesternersbecausetheyfollowtheinteresttheappearanceofthecolor.Theteaismostlyblackbeforethebubble,soforeignerscallitblacktea.Andsimilarly,“brownsugar"is“紅糖",“brownbread"means“黑面包”，and“blackandblue"means“青一塊紫一塊”.ThisphenomenonisduetothedifferentaesthetictastesinEnglishandChinesecultures.Chinesepaycloseattentiontothebeautyofsymmetry.Poemsandcoupletsaretheconcentratedreflectionofthedesireofsymmetry.TheuseofcolorwordsinEnglishtendstobeaccurate.FunctionalEquivalenceFunctionalequivalenceistotransfertextswithspecificcolorsabouttheoriginaltothatwiththeidenticalmeaningbutwithoutculturalcolorinthetarget.Theculturethatiscontainedaboutthecolorintheformerisdecidedbythespecificbackgroundabouthistoryandculture.Therefore,ifthereaderlackofsomespecificknowledgeorthebackground,itwillhavedifficultytocomprehendtherealintentionsofthecolorword.Therefore,ifthetargetlanguagecannotexpressthecolorwordsoftheoriginalatfirsthand,functionalequivalenttranslationmethodwillbeputtouse.Forexample,“blackleg"means“騙子",“blackdog"means“不開心的人”or“憂郁的人”,“blackSmith"is “鐵匠”,“whiterage"means“震怒”,“awhitelie"means“善意的謊言",“awhitenight"refersto“不眠之夜"and“awhiteelephant"is“花消巨大卻毫無實(shí)用價(jià)值的物品"(ZhangJunxing,2004:66).C