不同的地理特征對漢英習語影響

1、不同的地理特征對漢英習語影響    【Abstract】 The geography environment is connected to the human's lives closely. From the ancient times, the human tried their best to conquer the nature, to rebuild it. At that time, the most important function was to improve the production. So in this perio

2、d, the human's civilizations were influenced by the geography. China is located in the east of the Eurasia and on the west bank of the Pacific Ocean-which could not be crossed at that time. In the southwest of China, there is the Himalayas, and the southwest is a large desert, because of these,

3、we can say that China was relatively isolated from the outside world. Meanwhile, China has a large of field for tillage and the climate suits to it. So the Chinese civilization is the geography civilization. But in England and the western countries, they lack of the inland but near the Mediterranean

4、 and the Atlantic Ocean, these were suited to develop the sea civilization.The idioms are the flowers of the Chinese and English culture. So this paper will list the idioms about the geography in Chinese and English languages. Let everyone know more the geography Chinese and English idioms【Key Words

5、】geography; idioms; Chinese; English  【摘 要】 地理環(huán)境與人類的生存密切相關(guān)，遠古的人類就是在不斷地征服自然，改造自然中，發(fā)展、壯大起來?？梢哉f，古代人類最重要的活動就是征服自然，發(fā)展生產(chǎn)。當時的人類的文化受到地理環(huán)境的影響。中國位于歐亞大陸的東部，東邊是難以逾越的太平洋，西南是有世界屋脊之稱的喜馬拉雅山，西北是一片大沙漠，可以說中國是相對地與外界隔離。并且中國有大片土地供耕耘，氣候也適合農(nóng)耕，因此中國的文化是農(nóng)耕文化，其文化偏向土地。而英國，乃至整個西方，適合耕耘的土地少，而且面向地中海，大西洋，適合發(fā)展海洋文化。而西方文化的發(fā)源地古希臘，更

6、可以被稱為是典型的海洋文化，因此，英國的文化更偏向海洋。習語是中西文化中的精華，本篇將列出中西習語中受地理影響的部分。旨在弄清地理環(huán)境與文化之間的關(guān)系?！娟P(guān)鍵詞】 地理；習語；漢語； 英語 1、IntroductionThe environment influences the culture. Human and the nature are related closely. For one thing, human depends on the nature, and is bound by the nature. For anther, human  always t

7、ry to master the nature and rebuild it. 1 As we all know, the Chinese culture and the English culture have different nature environments. China has a large plain for tillage. But in the western countries, especially in the Greece, the mother of the western civilization, has small land for tillage, t

8、he land is for the stock breeding. While the Greek have less land to develop the agriculture, they live near the sea, the Mediterranean, so they can sail in the sea for commerce. Because of the differences, the Chinese culture and the English culture are different. The Chinese culture is the agricul

9、ture civilization 2 and the English culture is from the Greek civilization, so the English culture is the sea civilization.32、The similarities between English idioms and Chinese idioms about the geographyThe idioms are the fossils of the Chinese and English cultures. In the Chinese and English idiom

10、s, there are many idioms about the geography. Some of the Chinese and English idioms have the similar meanings, but others are in different meanings.In the group of idioms, which have similar meaning, many of them use the same images, while others use the different images to explain the same thing.

11、2.1The similarities between English idioms and Chinese idioms about the geography In many of the Chinese and English idioms, they have the same meanings. Coincidently, many of them use the same images. It shows that the Chinese people and English people experience the similar conceptions. Meanwhile,

12、 some of them have the same meanings, but they use the different images to explain. From that, we could know that although the Chinese and English people have the same experience, they have the different cultures. So the idioms always use the different images.2.1.1 The Chinese-English geography idio

13、ms that use the similar images   In the ancient China and England, the people may have the same experience, and coincidently use the same image to describe the same thing. It is very coincidental.(1) Fish in trouble waters4  and "渾水摸魚"5Meaning: to profit in a confused enviro

14、nmente.g. Dont fish in trouble waters; that does you no good.(2) Pour /throw cold water on 6and "潑冷水"Meaning: to discouragee.g. The board of director poured cold water on his new investment proposals in that region.(3) Make waves7 and "興風作浪"8Meaning: to make trouble e.g. They lif

15、t it was not the time to make waves by staging a sit-in.(4) Go with the stream9 and "隨波逐流"10Meaning: do as others doe.g. He listened to the same music and dressed the same way as his friends. He went with the stream, for he lacked confidence in making his own decision.(5) Burn ones boat/ b

16、ridges11 and "破釜沉舟"12Meaning: to do something that make it impossible to go backe.g. Starting your own business has a lot of risk , so think twice before you burn your boat. The idioms in this group reflect that the English idioms and Chinese idioms are nearly coincidental. People in diffe

17、rent cultures experience the similar conceptions. The examples (1) to (4) are using the same images. The example (5),in Chinese we use “釜” and “舟” but, in English they just use “boat” or “bridge”. In both Chinese and English the boat, the cooking pot and the bridge are all very important to people l

18、ives.2.1.2The Chinese-English geography idioms that use different images    While the ancient Chinese people and English people coincidently use the same image to explain the same thing. Most of the time, the Chinese and English people use the different images to explain the same thin

19、g.(1) Be in /get in hot water 13 or In deep water14 and "泥菩薩過江"Meaning: to be in or get into troublee.g. She has got into hot water again for her inquisitive nature recently.(2) A drop in the bucket/ocean15  and "九牛一毛"Meaning: a negligible or tiny quantity; something that ma

20、ke little differencee.g. Ten cents means a lot of money to the beggar on the street, but is a drop in the ocean for most people.(3)  Paddle ones own canoe16 and "自力更生"Meaning: to depend on oneselfe.g. Dont worry too much about your son ; he is big enough to paddle his own canoe.(4)

21、60; A big fish (in a little pond)17 and  "頂天立地"18Meaning: an important person (in a small community) e.g. I told you when George came to our department two years ago that hed soon job-hop. He is a big fish.    The idioms in this group reflect that the English idiom

22、s and Chinese idioms have the same meaning, but use the different images. In the example (2) in English they use “ocean”, while in Chinese we use “?！? The example (4), in English they use “fish”, but in Chinese we use “地”. The example (5), in English they use “fish”, but in Chinese we use “?！? These

23、 show that the English culture belongs to the sea civilization, and the Chinese culture belongs to the agriculture civilization. Because fish is the normal thing in sea civilization, and the ox is a very important animal for the agriculture. 3 The differences between English idioms and Chinese idiom

24、s about the geography  The environment influenced the idioms very much. For example , in China ,there a large land for tillage ,so in Chinese idioms , there are many idioms about “tu” (土)、“di”（地）、 and “niu”（牛）-these are all connected closely to the agriculture.  But the western culture is

25、different. In the western countries, especially in the Greek the mother of the western civilizations, there are many mountains and small land for tillage. They had to develop the business at sea. So in the English idioms, there are many idioms about the sea, the boat and the fish.There is a typical

26、example, which could explain this. In China ,we say “hui jin ru tu” （揮金如土）， but in English ,they say “spend money like water”. These two are all describing that someone spend money very much, but in Chinese we use “tu”, while in English they use “water”.3.1 The different images about the geographica

27、l words in Chinese and English idiomsNo matter whether the idioms have the same meaning, or have the different meanings, their images are all about the geographical words. In Chinese idioms, many of the images are connected to the land. In English, many of the images are connected to the sea.3.1.1 T

28、he Chinese geography idioms    The land is very important to the peoples live. Also the agriculture is the most important activity in the peoples common live. There are so many idioms use the geographical words to explain something. There are some example could show it. (1) Juan tu ch

29、ong lai (卷土重來)19Stage a comeback(2)Mian ru tu se (面如土色)20Look ashen; look palee.g. turn pale with fright(3) Yi bai tu di (一敗涂地)21Fail completely; suffer a crushing defeat; be routed.e.g. We just cant possibly fail completely, after all the  preparation weve made.(4) Hu tian qiang di (呼天搶地)22Lam

30、ent to heaven and knock ones head on earthutter cries of anguish.        From this group of idioms, we could see that the land is very important to the Chinese. So in the Chinese idioms, there are many idioms about the land. The Chinese culture belongs to the agric

31、ulture civilization.  3.1.2 The English geography idioms     In England, the sea is connected to the peoples life closely. England is an island country. In England, the field is less, the land is for stock breeding. The English people always make their living on the sea. So there

32、 are many idioms about the sea and the ship.(1) At sea23 On a ship, etc on the sea e.g. spend three months at sea Not know what to do; confusede.g. Im all at sea ; I have no idea how to repair cars.(2) Miss the boat24Miss an opportunity; be too late to participate in somethinge.g. She put her applic

33、ation in for her interview one day late. Unfortunately for her the university authorities could do nothing and she had missed the boat(3) At bottom 25In reality; really basicallye.g. He seems aggressive but at bottom he is kind and good-natural(4) Another kettle of fish (a different kettle of fish )

34、 26A completely different person or thing from the one previously mentionede.g. He is good at playing tennis in private, but playing in public is a different kettle of fish.    This group of idioms reflect that the sea、the boat、the fish are very important to the peoples lives. The Eng

35、lish culture belongs to the sea civilization. People live in the different geography environments will create different cultures. All the cultures could not be separated from their environments. Because of its region, climate and environment, every culture has its own character.27  The environm

36、ent influences the culture deeply. The Chinese agriculture civilization makes the Chinese idioms use the geographical words as the images. And the English sea civilization makes the English idioms use the image about the sea.3.2The causes of the Chinese and English idioms using the  different i

37、magesThe idioms are accepted through common practice. They have come into being for a long time. Today most of the idioms were formed in the ancient times. Why does the Chinese culture belong to the agriculture civilization? Why does the English culture belong to the sea civilization. If we want to

38、know these clearly, we had better look into the origins of the Chinese and English civilizations.3.2.1The difference of the origins of the Chinese and western civilizations(i) The origins of the Chinese civilizationPeople in different environments will create different cultures. In the origins of th

39、e Chinese civilization, the tillage is the most important thing in people live. So the Chinese culture is connected to the field closely.“金風玉露一相逢，便勝卻人間無數(shù)?！边@兩句可謂是上闋的點睛之筆，大意是牛郎織女在美好秋夜的匆匆一晤，其深切情愛卻勝過人間無數(shù)朝夕相伴的戀人。“金風玉露”四字充分體現(xiàn)了中國文字的不可言傳的美感，既點明了七夕之期，又烘托出二星愛情的純潔美好。在對這兩句詞的處理上，各個譯者采取了不同的策略。許譯幾乎是字對字的直譯，固然“信”也，卻有“寧信而不順”之嫌，這對于不知“金風玉露”為何意的譯語讀者而言，可能會丈二金剛摸不著頭腦，引起文化誤讀了。張譯和黃譯相似，把“金風玉露”譯成了“Heavenly dews”和“celestial winds and dews”，與原詞的含義已相去甚遠了。而王譯則把這四個字的翻譯省去，避而不譯，只把原詞的大致內(nèi)涵譯了出來。相比較而言，似乎王譯更為明智和容易為譯文讀者所接受。在詩詞翻譯中，與其受制于原文的語言形式和文化負荷，一味追求“