Ｃｕｌｔｕｒａｌ ｂｒｉｄｇｅ：ｔｒａｎｓｌａｔｉｏｎ

摘要：In recent years， many researchers study on the relation between culture and language， language and translation， or culture and translation. Indeed， the three subjects are inseparable. It's incomprehensive to look into just two of them for a linguist. It's more useful for us to study on the relation between them， because we can extend our eyesight and searching scope and propel our translation business. Moreover， studying on them provides a rich material for other fields， such as sociology， translation， cross-cultural communication as well as give other subjects a lead to deep further.

關鍵詞：Cultural bridge Languages Image and Function

【中圖分類號】I253.4 【文獻識別碼】A 【文章編號】1002-2139（2009）-15-0060-2

1、Languages， Culture and Translation

Language does not develop in empty place. Language is the carrier of a people and the chief way by which the members of a society communicates. To give the barest of definition， language is a means of verbal communication. It is instrumental in that communicating by speaking or writing is a purposeful act. It is social and conventional in that language is a social semiotic and communication can only take place effectively if all the users share a broad understanding of human interaction.

Translation may be difficult to defined. Theoretically， a good translation should give the reader as much the same conception as what a native gets the original. Nida remarked that how to determine a good translation is the response of the receptor to the translated message， and this message must then be compared with the way in which the original receptors presumably reacted to the message when it was given in its original setting.

Perhaps it is most difficult to define the term culture. Different people in different societies or countries have different definitions.A culture is a society system of common heritage. Our culture is exposed continuously in ourdress， food， work， language and other activities. Toput it simply， culture means the total ways of life of a community.Therefore， a language is both a path of culture and a bridge connect with other parts of culture and cultures. Thismakes language the distinctive feature of human society. But language is also inseparable with the function of a culture and for transmitting it to succeeding generations. That is to say， language plays a very important role in culture， without language， culture would not exist. On the other hand， language is influenced and shaped by culture. Language cannot exist without culture.

2、Image and Function

The Chinese put emphasis on intuition and images， the Indo-European emphasis on reason and logic. So Chinese is imageabe while English is functional. Chinese is written with characters (also called ideograms)， which， in their earliest form， were pictures of things or ideas. Chinese characters in their present highly developed form are not a system of picture writing but a complex means of conveying ideas vividly through images. For example， 人(man) is exactly the?image of a man standing with legs parted， 雨(rain) has for dot strokes symbolizing raindrops. 日(sun) and 月(moon) resemble the sun and moon in the sky.日and 月combine to give 明(brightness)， 從(to follow) very vividly depicts one man following another. The meaning of some Chinese words can be understood directly by their?visual presentation， such as短發 (shingle， bobbed hair)，假發(wig)，硬幣(coin)，紙幣(note， bill)，圓形針(paperclip)，高跟鞋(stilettos， high-heeled shoes)，短襪(socks)，無袖外衣(tabard)，and 露背裝(halter top). A large amount of Chinese words are very vividly presented in images， shapes and qualities; but when translate them into English version it can only survey their meaning and function in the source text and neglect the image.

Abstract ideas， metaphors or sentiments and ambitions usually be expressed through images. 蠶食(to nibble)means gradual aggression and occupation to the way silkworms eat mulberry leaves——bite the leaves little by little. 手忙腳亂vividly describes a person doing something in a flurry. The compound depicts a general flurry of activity without any specific relation to手 and 腳. In English， it would be translated as “with irresistible force” or “like splitting bamboo” or “like a?hot knife cutting though butter”; this last option borrows an image from western culture that has a similar connotation.

A large number of measure words also make Chinese vocabulary very imageable; for instance，一支筆(a pen )，一張報紙(a newspaper)，一朵花(a flower)，一把椅子(chair)，一面鏡子(a mirror)，一匹馬(a horse)，一盞燈(a lamp)，一棵樹(a tree)，一口鍋(a wok)，etc.The meaning and the quantity of the objects can be well translated into English， but the?vividness of the Chinese measure words can never be reproduced.As Chinese is an ideographic writing system and a tonal language， every Chinese character can be regarded as a trinity of pictograph ideograph and phone.It is indeed a great pity that its beauty of image and sound is completely lost when translated into English， an alphabetic writing system with words composed of letters that have?no symbolized meaning. The meaning of Chinese words is usually general while the meaning of English words is specific. 摩托車is used to?refer to all types of motorcycle(or motorbike). In English there are other specific terms such as light motorcycle(輕型摩托車)， heavy motorcycle（重型摩托車）， sidecar motorcycle（帶側邊的摩托車） and touring moped（旅行摩托車）.車 may refer to a car， a bus， a minibus， a tram， a lorry， a van， a taxi——any means of transportation with two or more wheels. It is possible to distinguish between them in Chinese， but a Chinese person is much more likely to use a general term than a specific one in daily communication.車 means “vehicle” in English， but this general term is rarely used by native English speakers except in official or legal occasion. Native English speakers prefer to be more specific in their references to cars， buses， minibuses， trams， lorries， vans，taxis， etc. The difference comes out of the Western's automobile industry is more developed than China， so many more types of vehicle are available?West than in China.

筆 is another example. When a Chinese person wants something to write with， it is quite natural for him to ask “有筆嗎” though more specific words like 圓珠筆、鋼筆、鉛筆、粉筆 are available. The use of 筆 on its own is perfectly normal and satisfactory in Chinese， whereas the use of “ writing implement”， rather than asking “ Have you got something I can write with?”

Chinese words also have some very specific referents， which are influenced by his environment and material culture. 大米 the main food for Chinese when it is growing， it is a plant called 稻米 or 稻米; having been harvested， it is called 谷子or 稻谷; once the chaff is removed， it is called 大米， which can be eaten; it is called 米飯 when it is cooked for food and when it is employed as seed. All these specific terms can be rendered into one English word: rice.

Not only in Chinese vocabulary， but also in other aspects of the language， Chinese has a preference for the general words. Chinese do not much care whether a noun is singular or plural， definite or indefinite. Without a context， it is impossible to judge which translation is correct. Hence， “你有杯子嗎?” can be rendered as:

Have you got a cup? Have you got cups?

Have you got the cup? Have you got the cups?

Have you got any cups? Have you got some cups?

Sometime quite a few things only belong to Chinese and used in our community or part of the community. Then we should give an explanation about them in brief when translating them.

我屬雞。我從來不吃雞。雞是我的本命年。——I was born in the year of the Rooster. I never eat chicken. The year of Rooster will bring me good lick or bad lick. (Chinese people traditionally use 12animals， representing the 12 Earthly Branches， to symbolize the year in which a person is born.)

憑你的李杜文章，顏曾的品行，卻是也沒有一個來問你。——You might have the genius of Li Bai or Du Fu and the moral worth of Yan Hui or Zeng Shen (both of them were disciples of Confucius)， one would ask your advice.

Empty words in Chinese have important grammatical functions， but their meanings are fuzzy and vary in different contexts. In the following examples the empty words 啊 bears various meanings which be translated accordingly.

你這杯牛奶還喝不喝啊？(Question)

Are you going to have this cup of milk?

這究竟是怎么回事啊？(Surprise)

What on earth is this all about?

啊，原來是你！(With a dragging voice， indicating understanding)

Oh， it's you!

這花多美啊！(Admirations)

How beautiful the flower is!

你爸爸說得對啊！(Assertion)

What your father said is right indeed!

來啊，快來啊！(To hurry sb up )

Come on! Come on!

這任務很艱巨啊！（to remind sb of sth）

The task is tough. Don't you know?

上衣啊，裙子啊，還有許多其他的東西塞滿了箱子。(Enumeration)

Coats， skirts， shoes and many other things filled the whole suitcases.

3、Conclusion

From above， we can see that culture has many categories while language is an institutional facet of culture， especially by mental culture. So differences in language are arise from differences in mental culture. Translation is obviously a transfer of language; it is also a transfer accomplished through language. Therefore， the process of transmitting cultural elements through translation is a complicated and vital task.

參考文獻：

［1］Nida， Eugene A.: Language， Culture and Translating， ShangHai Foreign Language Education Press 1993.

［2］Nida， Eugene William D. Reyburn(1981): Meaning Across Cultures， Orbis Books.

［3］鄧炎昌，劉潤清：語言與文化，外語教學與研究出版社，1989.

［4］ 李定坤:漢英詞格對比與翻譯，華中師范大學出版社，1994.

作者簡介：易菲（1984- ），女，2005年畢業于江西師范大學外語系，現為宜春職業技術學院外語系助教，研究方向為護理英語教學改革和夸文化交際。