从中英文化差异谈英语隐喻的汉译 [5]
论文作者:佚名论文属性:短文 essay登出时间:2009-04-09编辑:黄丽樱点击率:14919
论文字数:8278论文编号:org200904092227078607语种:中文 Chinese地区:中国价格:免费论文
关键词:metaphortranslationcultural differencescultural connotationscorresponding relation隐喻翻译文化差异文化内涵对应关系
h a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison, as in “a sea of troubles” or “ All the world’s a stage”(Shakespeare) (The American Heritage of the English Language, Fourth Edition,2000)[17]
(g)A figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance, as in “A mighty fortress in our God”. (Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary, Special Second Edition, 1996)[18]
Each of the above-quoted definitions points out more or less the essence of metaphor. The common feature of these definitions is that all of them think that metaphor is a figure of speech, containing an implicit comparison. Among the seven definitions of metaphor, the first is very concise; the second makes a contrast between simile and metaphor to point out the fundamental difference between these two rhetorical devices; the third points out that in metaphor, the tenor and the vehicle are related through their similarity in a particular way; the fourth is abstract for it provides no concrete examples to help the reader better understand the notion it intends to convey; the fifth seems to be the most comprehensive and the most specific of the above-quoted definitions as it includes several ways of manifestations which all belong to metaphor; the sixth is somewhat clear with two examples provided; the last one is quite similar with the first one.
But this thesis is mainly based on the view of George Lakeoff and Mark Johnson. “They claim in Metaphors We Live by, ‘…… metaphor is pervasive in everyday life, not just in language but in thought and action.’ They point out, ‘Our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature.’”[19] This point of view is very consistent with I.A.Richards’ “metaphor is omnipresent principle of language” mentioned in Introduction.
3.2 Characteristics of metaphor
From the seven definitions on metaphor above and according to our knowledge of metaphor, we may conclude that metaphor possesses at least the following four characteristics:
(a) Unlike simile, metaphor doesn’t contain such linking words as “as” and “like”, so the comparison is implicit rather than explicit.
(b) In a metaphor, the tenor is compared to the vehicle because they share an abstract quality, which functions as a tie connecting the two together. In other words, the tenor and the vehicle possess a similar abstract feature or quality, which serves as the basis of their comparison.
(c) The tenor and vehicle are by nature different from each other, though they possess something abstract in common on which their comparison is based.
(d) The vehicle in a metaphor creates a specific image, which is usually vivid and impressive. By comparing the tenor to the vehicle, we not only get a concrete image of the tenor but also make its typical quality or feature stand out.
To sum up, the author would rather believe that metaphor is not just a matter of language, a figure of speech, which implies a resemblance between one object and another, but a cognitive mode from the perspective of cognitive linguistics, which helps people understand the world.
So far as now, this thesis has thoroughly illustrated some major factors of metaphor. In the next part, the author will pay special attention to discuss the translation of metaphor from English to Chinese from the pe
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