近代中國俗語的直譯與意譯-Literal Translation and Free Translation of Modern Chinese Idioms 
　　　　　　

I. Introduction  引言:

 

Language translation is conducive not only to mutual cultural exchanges between the countries but also more conducive to language development. In translation work, idiom translation, especially the modern Chinese idiom translation, is so common but so complex. In order to string along with the original, the target translation must be have what the holders of its foreign flavor, but also meet the requirements of their own text, however, it is difficult to join these two aspects together to achieve the standards when translating modern Chinese idioms. Modern Chinese idiom is an unique and fixed way of expression formed in the development of some languages; and it has a strong cultural characteristic and it is the core and essence of languages. Modern Chinese idiom has a very wide meaning which includes the phrase, xiehouyu, proverbs, literary quotation and other allusions. Besides, the modern Chinese idiom is also the load of the national culture of information, and it reflects the unique way of nationality's life style and the custom .In the following, this paper mainly talks about modern Chinese idioms from literal translation and free translation.
  

II the Literal Translation and Free Translation of Modern Chinese Idiom  #p#分頁標題#e#近代中國俗語的直譯與意譯

 

1 the definition of literal translation
　　　Literal translation refers to translate a sentence originally, keeping the original forms, including construction of sentences, meaning of the original words, and metaphor of the original and so on. It can not only reproduce the meaning and frame of language, but also keep its vivid image figure of speech and novel and unique expressive ways so that readers can comprehend the origin’s literal grace.
　　　
2. The definition of free translation
　　　Free translation means a method of making the target text smooth and perfect .On the basis of them, places of word and constructions of sentence have to be almost changed to suit real meanings of original text.
　　　

III the source and feature of modern Chinese idioms  近代中國俗語的起源和特點

 

1. The source of modern Chinese idioms 
　　　Most of modern Chinese idioms come from general public. It is true of word manufacturing, idioms mainly rely on non-class intellectuals, we have the best idioms and the best words, which are not produced in the library, reception room or theater, but from factories, farms and kitchens. So most of them are from civil, and they are summarizing of working people's life experience and wisdom of public. It closely related with a nation's historical background and economic life, geography, customs, social psychology and so on, Working people arrange some vivid combination of words and phrases from familiar things, and create some lively and thought-provoking metaphor to express their thoughts. These lively words and phrases and metaphors are liked by everyone, gradually, it becomes engaged in an activity or occupation of the terminology. Later it was discovered that many of these expressions can be applied to a broader sense, then they are used in all kinds of similar situations, as time gone, it has become an important part of custom languages which enjoys great popularity in the modern Chinese idioms. This is the source of modern Chinese idioms.#p#分頁標題#e#
　　　
2. The features of modern Chinese idioms
　　　China is a multi-ethnic country and it has more than 50 minorities. Idioms can reflect the feature of a nation or a place and modern Chinese idioms usually have suitable trope with the language to arouse people's association, and this trop and association are decided by the real life and social environment of the nation. Different ethnic groups have different experiences of life, and maybe some are also the same. Therefore, some idioms are synonymous or nearly have the same meaning, while others obviously present distinct national features. For instance, with the increase in practical activities and the accumulation of life experience, more and more people are aware of the objective contradictions and antagonistic things that exist in the world, such as high and low, beautiful and ugly, true and false, good and evil, and so on.
　　　

IV literal translation and free translation on modern Chinese idiom 近代中國俗語的直譯與意譯?

 

　　　For the features of modern Chinese idioms mentioned above, when translating those idioms which have unique features in one language and not available in different language, people always can’t find a proper way. In fact, the idiom is also a special material in language, and it is also part of the universal language. 
　　　For the features of modern Chinese idioms discussed above, literal translation and free translation are widely used in idiom translating. This paper divides modern Chinese idioms into 4 different parts to research this translation form.#p#分頁標題#e#
　　　
1. The four words phrases
　　　The four words phrases usually have four elements, and usually are divided into two parts: before and after. The grammar between the two parts can be the subject and predicate, verb and object, and paratactic words and so on. Therefore, the four words phrases can be divided into subject and predicate phrase, verb and object phrase, and paratactic phrase and so on. 
　　　　The advantages of literal translation are compared to keep metaphor meaning, national colors and language styles in four words phrase. But literal translation must not cause misunderstanding and not contrary to customary expressions.
For instance:
（1）處理人民內部的矛盾，必須堅持和風細雨的方法，堅持“團結——批評——團結”的方法。
It is essential to persist in using methods as mild as a drizzle and as gentle as a breeze, and to adhere to the formula of “unity—criticism—unity”, in dealing with contradictions among the people.
（2）所以這李執雖然青春喪偶，且處于高粱錦繡之中，竟如“槁木死灰”一般，一概不問。
#p#分頁標題#e#So this young widow living in the lap of luxury was no better off than withered wood or cold ashes, taking no interest in the outside world.
     From the examples above, 和風細雨translate into as mild as a drizzle and as gentle as a breeze can show that when solve the problem, people should gentle, it can give the original meaning of the context, and it can show the feature of four words phrase. And 槁木死灰 translate into withered wood or cold ashes, because in English, people could not find a right word to express the original meaning ,people can say 槁木 dead woods, but they can not say 死灰 dead ashes, ashes could not die. Therefore, literal translation is used to give people the artistic conception.
　　　On contrary, free translation mainly pay attention to the original content and implied meaning to seize the important aspect, join the above and the following to convey the original meaning. 
　　　For instance:
（1）劉雨生回到鄉政府，把老謝的話，一五一十，告訴了鄧秀枚和李月琴。
  When Liu Yusheng got back the township government, he recounted everything Lao Xie said in detail to Deng Xiumei and Li Yuhui.
（2）他講起話來總是眉飛色舞。
  He always beams with joy when speaking.
#p#分頁標題#e#　　　The example translate 一五一十 into recounted everything in detail, it can accord with the context, but if translate into one five one ten, readers especially the non-speak Chinese people can not understand what did the speaker say and it is wrong in grammar. Also, the second example if translate 眉飛色舞 into eyebrow flying and expression dancing, reader may consider it is a wrong sentence, so free translation is used here.
　　　
2 .Modern Chinese proverbs
　　　Proverb is a kind of expressions which is a comprehensive summery of the variety of life and widespread use in popularity. In China, most of these proverbs are the scientific summary of the long-term life experience of working people. These proverbs have such characteristics: vivid metaphor, pregnant meanings, concise language, not a single superfluous word, single-sentence emphasizes rhythm, two-sentence stress parallelism, very colloquial style and so on. Then how can people translate proverbs? Is literal translation better? Or paraphrase better? It depends on the characteristics of the language and cultural backgrounds of the proverbs.
The following example can give some elicitation. 
（1） 明槍易躲，暗箭難防。
It is easy to dodge a pear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow shot from hiding.
（2） 城門失火，殃及池魚。#p#分頁標題#e#
A fire on city wall brings disaster to the fish in the moat.
（3）路遙知馬力，日久見人心。
As a long road tests a horse’s strength, so a long task proves a person’s heart.
（4） 初生牛犢不怕虎。
New-born calves make little of tigers. (Young people are fearless)
（5）失之東隅，收之桑榆。
What one loses on the swings one gets back on the roundabouts.
（6） 塞翁失馬，安知非福？
A loss may turn out to be a gain.
（7） 此地無銀三百兩。
A guilty person gives himself away by conspicuously protesting his innocence.#p#分頁標題#e#
　　　The 1—4 are literal translations. From the example above, we can learn that literal translation is not word-for-word translation. It remains the content and the form of the original language in accordance with the cultural tradition. 明槍易躲，暗箭難防translate into it is easy to dodge a pear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow shot from hiding, it is not only necessary to retain the original meaning of original, but also translate lively and be consistent with grammar, so literal translation is used here.
　　 The rests are free translation, and free translation remains the meaning of its source language. Free translation is a translation skill which is active but can not add personal emotion to the original meaning. If塞翁失馬，安知非福 translate into a man lost his horse, but he didn’t know it was a lucky thing, the grammar is OK, but the meaning is not the original meaning, it has changed a little. The original sentence is a rhetorical question, literal translation is not proper, so free translation is used.
　　　
3. xiehou yu
　　　Xiehou Yu is a special form of language which is widely circulated among the masses, and the language feature is vivid and witty humor. It generally has two components, the former is vivid metaphor, and the after is the explanations of the former. In Chinese, we often have to deal with Xiehou Yu whatever literary or oral languages. And in idioms translation, Xiehou Yu is also a very important part. 
　　For example:
　　白骨精騙唐僧——一計不成又生一計 the White Bone Demon deceiving Monk Tang——when one scheme failed, she turned to another (程永生，2005，29)#p#分頁標題#e#
　　　On his way to the west to obtain Buddhist scriptures, Xuanzhuang, a famous monk of Tang Dynasty, met the White Bone Demon, who thought out one scheme after another to deceiving the monk so that she could eat the monk and then would prolong her life forever. However, this is the story contained in the fiction entitled Journey to the West。If the reader doesn’t know the story, he will not understand the meaning, so literal translation is used here to gain more information about the text. Here is another example: 像熱鍋上的螞蟻——走投無路 like ants in a hot pot, they find nowhere to escape. Here literal translation is used to describe the plight of ants.

4. Phrases
　　　The phrase is a language which is commonly used succinct and implicit in oral language, the phrase is more stably than common words and more flexible than four words phrases. What is more, it is more subtle and active than the written language. Phrases are more often used in people's daily oral language, it appears in novels, movies, television programs and the dialogue of drama. It also appears in other places such as prose and the discussion in the text. Thus, both the interpreters and written translations will encounter phrase translation.
For example:
九牛二虎之力
the strength of nine bulls and two tigers
     The literal translation show the real lives of the masses. If translate the above 九牛二虎之力 into tremendous effort, the meaning is not wrong, but it is not give a intuitionist impression to readers. On the contrary, look at the free translation:#p#分頁標題#e#
咬耳朵
whisper in one’s ear
     if translate 咬耳朵 into bite ears, reader may think that some one bite another one’s ears, it is an action, however, the original meaning is to show some said to another in a low voice, it is completely another meaning between literal translation and free translation. Here are some more example about this: 
門外漢
the uninitiated or a layman (a man outside the gate)
 小廣播
spreading of hearsay information or bush telegraph (a small broadcast station)
　　　All the examples above are used free translation to express the real meaning of the text, the brackets are translated literally, they are wrong meaning of the sentence.

V how can people use literal translation and free translation in modern Chinese idioms  近代中國俗語中人們怎么使用直譯和意譯#p#分頁標題#e#

 

　　　The issue of whether to translate literally or freely has existed at the very beginning of translation but they are still controversial today. Usually, literal translation and free translation take word-keeping and motion-expressing as their priorities respectively. And, either of them has defects. Literal translation wants to keep every previous word. It seems formal and always with accuracy, and it never minds whether it is affected by the customary Chinese culture of loyalty. In comparison, free translation is not as that languid, it is more like a native saying for the being-translated and it is easier-caught, but also grotesque-prone since language is so magic to express the same idea in numerous ways. So, basically, literal translation is more mutually linguistic-affective when the other seems more efficient. How to use the two ways in modern Chinese idiom translation has become a question, and the following will prove those.
　　　
1. When and where should literal translation be used?
　　　There are many words in Chinese that have the same meaning with that in English. We need only literal translation to translate them very well. That is to say, when the meaning of a Chinese word equals to its English meaning fully, we need only literal translation. Such as: 眼不見，心不煩.（out of mind，out of sight），雪中送炭（to offer fuel in snowy weather），揮金如土（spend money like water）, 來得容易，去得快 (easy come, easy go), 趁熱打鐵(strike while the iron is hot), 熟能生巧 (practice makes perfect) , 身教勝于言傳(example is better than precept), 揮金如土(spend money like water), 破釜沉舟 (burn one's boats), 條條大道通羅馬 (all roads lead to Rome) 
　　　In the process of translating, if the translation could remain the original content and form, especially the metaphor, idioms, language style, individual style, national feature, local color and so on in original, we’d better use literal translation. For example: #p#分頁標題#e#
1. 病榻a bed of sickness 
2. 說話算數的人a man of one’s word 
3. 日本侵略者在第二次世界大戰時是武裝到牙齒的,可是幾年之后,就被中國人民徹底擊敗了
Japanese invaders were armed to teeth during the Second World War, but in a few years, they were completely defeated by the Chinese people. 
　　　The examples above tell that if literal translation can be used successfully, the original meaning would reappear completely and lively at the moment, which is able to meet the readers’ requirements with faithful and vivid words. Moreover, that can enrich the words system of our nation.
　　　So, if it wants to remain the style of the original idiom, literal translation is a better choice. 
　　　 
2. Translate literally, if possible.
　　　Since the literal translation can maintain the original form, then translate literally, if possible. (曾道明，陶友蘭，2006，34). According to the passage which is being translating, use literal translation frequently and use free translation when necessary. But what kind of translation is literal translation? And what kind of translation is free translation? For example: 紙老虎 (paper tiger)，丟臉（lose face），百聞不如一見（seeing is believing）. From the example can know literal translation is better than free translation for this literally translated sentence is more visualized. #p#分頁標題#e#
　　　The following two example are free translation.
　　　進退兩難(between the devil and the deep sea), 將相本無種，男兒當自強(Every human life is insignificant unless you make it great)
From the example can get that the free translation is better than literal translation here. Because they can make us understand clearly. But how can people use literal translation and free translation? There is a sentence: “Translate literally, if possible, or appeal to free translation. (曾道明，陶友蘭，2006，34)
　　　
3. Some situations cannot use literal translation.
     An American theorist Nida gives some situations that cannot use literal translation on his theory.
　　　　(A)If a sentence pattern has some rhetoric involvements, translating literally is not suitable. In Chinese indication, there are massive rhetoric techniques that people use frequently; including many figures of speech so that it is difficult for people to use them to express ourselves clearly by literal translation way. Even if the identical figures of speech, because of the different situations, making them literally translated is also not suitable. For example： 
　　　一貧如洗as poor as a church mouse. we use Simile here, but if we translate very poor or quite poor, the sentence would be ridiculous and it is not the original meaning we transmit. So  we can use free translation：as poor as a church mouse #p#分頁標題#e#
2). Johnson was a dark horse. we use metaphor here if we translate “Johnson是一匹黑色的馬”then the words fail to express the original meaning .Now had to use the free translation：Johnson是個不鳴則已，一鳴驚人的人。 
     (B) Metonymy can not be translated literally. For example：
從童年時起，他就開始學習英語 we can translate to
In his cradle, he started to learn English.
in this translation, “cradle” is metonymy, it is not a real cradle.
     (C)Allusion cannot be translated literally. If it is the common knowledge people can translate it literally without any explanation. But if most of the people don’t know this allusion, it should be translated freely or added some notation to its literal translation meaning. For example：“在進攻太原時，他吃了大敗仗” When invading Taiyuan, he met his Waterloo.
in this sentence ‘meet one's Waterloo’ is the European literary quotation from Napoleon ’s fiasco in Waterloo, so it must free translated ,. 
     (D). Idiomatic usage can not be translated literally. Modern Chinese expression contains rich customary idioms, which makes Chinese have the expression strength and the power extremely. Some of them can be translated literally but some can’t. Then only free translation can be used. Such as：趁熱打鐵Strike while the iron is hot，                                                                                #p#分頁標題#e#
要善始善終Good to begin well, better to end well. 

4. How to combine literal translation and free translation properly
     When talking about phrase translation, it is easy for us to think the bilingual use. This involves the usage of the suitable methods; it usually refers to ‘Literal Translation’ and ‘Free Translation’. The literal translation may take the seat according to ticket number and word-to-word translation; however, adjusting and changing the word class are necessary, word order, sentence type and certain sentence’s ingredients. After that, people can make the translation “the end of product” becomes both “faithfully and smoothly” ”created work”. If translating literally invalid or it perhaps is not ideal, we have to use Free Translation. Some sentences only have to translate literally that can be understood easily，such as“心心相印（know each other's mind）” And so on the quite simple sentences，we don’t need to transform the word in order to translate very much well. But because of the language expression differences of some sentences, when translating , we need to carry on the large scale adjustment to the original word order, penetrate the wording meaning. Chinese sentences which organize the meaning must express truly the original author meaning. That is the so-called free transliteration .The Free transliteration includes the choice of word usage , the sentence readjusts aiming to appropriately express the concealment meaning and so on. For instance “競爭產品”, may be translated to “has the competitive power product”, but translation, “the unmatchable product”, is more expressive, and admitted easily by the readers. But, free translation is not admitted to have the capriciousness and no alternative but to give a thought to the original text original intention irrelevantly. Although some translation works are very smooth, conforms to logic, even the writing is exquisite, but a comparison to its original text, people can easily discover that the translation is actually diverges ten thousand miles and it completely carries on according to translator’s own imagination and logic arranges, this is not translating, but making up arbitrarily. #p#分頁標題#e#
　　　The most common skill of free translation is seen among the opposite translation between Chinese and English locution. We may translate “敝帚自珍” to all his geese are swans. Such examples are the same: 
(1)心情愉快，萬事順利 a merry heart goes all the way
(2) 物以類聚，人以群分 Birds of a feather flock together.
(3) 滿瓶子不響，半瓶子晃蕩 Empty vessels make the most noise.
(4)明槍易躲，暗箭難防 False friends are worse than bitter enemies.
     Although free translation plays a very important part in translation, literal translation should not be neglected. If it can be translated every character to character, it would be well, if cannot, please slightly adjust the sentence pattern structure, conforms to the translation characteristic, the maintenance of original text essence and the flavor is what we really want. 
　　　How can people make full use of literal translation and free translation in modern Chinese idioms? When translating, it may not use free translation or literal translation to translate sentences completely. In many cases, both of them are used by many translators. 
For example:
#p#分頁標題#e#In Chinese there are many phrase such as狐朋狗友”、“狗仗人勢”、“狗嘴里吐不出象牙’、“走狗”、“狗腿子”, someone may think they are so easy to translate, but in foreign countries, dogs are  good animals, they are friends of people, so they treat them as friends, when translate these phrase, combine literal translation and free translation may be a better choice.
　　　From above it can conclude that the goals of literal translation and free translation goal are the same, all must express the original author's original intention accurately, they have no division of the quality, but between both have dialectical relations. The most common translation is translated literally and freely to combine the two organics into one synthesis. Just grasping the key to the question and achieving appropriateness are the final goals of translation.

VI Conclusion  結論

 

In a word, idiom is an important and indispensable factor in the language; it is components of special nation characteristics and all kinds of rhetorical means, so the translation of idioms is very important. There are a variety of different ways to use, but it should rely on the form and the content of the original text and circumstance. 
Literal translation and free translation are two different ways in phrase translation. An excellent translation may combine these two kinds of translation together. Excellent translators could use these two kinds of ways properly and proficiently. No translators can use literal translation and free translation proficiently at beginning. All successful translators have practiced a lot. When they were translating, they accumulated experience and knowledge. After they have translated some composition, they accumulate extensive knowledge. So translators need practice. And both content and style are separately linked in any text, and success in translation means dealing creatively with both of these aspects of communication.#p#分頁標題#e#
On modern Chinese idiom translation, Literal translation and free translation have their own strong points, people should learn to use their strong points as well as to avoid their weakness. When carrying on literal translation, people must be careful enough in order not to enter the erroneous zone, where literal translation can not be used, people ought to turn to free translation. To make literal translation and free translation supplemented mutually, that is the ideal translation effect on modern Chinese idiom translation.

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