动物词在汉英文化中的喻义及其翻译[Abstract]As we know,animals are good friends of human beings.In the long progress of humansociety,animals contribute much to man's living.Therefore,animal words come to humanlanguage and play a very important role in human communication.Language is a cultural carrier.There are a lot of animal words in both English and Chinese but the two countries have greatdifferences in cultural backgrounds and thinking modes.These differences between the twocultures lead to different figurative meanings of animal words.This essay will try to compare thefigurative meanings of animal words both in English and Chinese from the following aspects:same animal association vehicles with the similar and different figurative meanings,the differentanimal association vehicles with the similar figurative meanings and the semantic gaps.Withcomparison,we can clearly see that these figurative meanings of animal words greatly influencethe intercultural communication.As an important means of cross-cultural communication,translation is also closely connected with culture.For the purpose of our effective communication,we should use different kinds of methods to do the equivalent translation between the twolanguages and build a bridge for the linguistic cultural exchange.[Key Words]animal words;figurative meaning;association vehicle;English and Chinese cultures;intercultural communication;translation【摘要】众所周知，动物是人类的朋友。在人类社会漫长的发展过程中，动物为人类的生存提供物质基础。而语言作为文化的载体，记录着人类社会文明发展的进程：人类的语言中必然存在着大量的反映动物名称的词汇。但由于汉英两个民族各自的社会文化背景和思维方式不同，在动物词的喻义的表现上也不尽相同。本文拟从英汉两种文化中动物词的联想喻体与喻义之间的对应关系着手，主要表现为：同一联想喻体，喻义却有同有异：不同联想喻体，喻义却相同以及一方语义空缺等来进行比较分析，从中得知汉英两个民族在以动物为比喻的应用上存在着差异，而这种差异给跨文化交际带来障碍。因此在跨文化交际中，我们必须正确理解这些动物联想喻体所负载的文化信息，采取不同的方法进行英汉两种语言的等值翻译，以便减少交际障碍，为两种语言文化的交流搭建一座沟通的桥梁。【关键词】动物词：喻义：联想喻体：汉英文化：跨文化交际：翻译1.Introduction1.1 Close relationship between animals and human beingsHuman beings and animals are both the products of natural evolution,and factually man hadevolved from animals.But since human beings created language,there have existed some greatdifferences between man and animals.Language,the result of human labor and social activities,ishuman specific,which is the major factor that distinguishes human beings from animals.In thelong progress of human society,animals,which provide food and labor force for human,havebeen closely bound up with human existence and development.Their furs were also good dressmaterials for ancient human to keep out wind and cold.In a certain stage of primitive society,manonce considered animals as Gods to worship.So far animals are still close friends of human beings.Now that animals play an important role in human lives,the animal words in human languageswill bear the deep socio-cultural imprints in the course of being used long by the human beings.1.2 Influence of animal words in both Chinese and English cultureLanguage is the carrier and container of cultural information.Human beings have beeninteracting with the world and accumulated their experience and knowledge about the world,which are represented in language.As a result,we can find in language all human knowledge andexperience which are interpreted as cultural information.[1]So in human language there exist aplenty of animal words that are often used as kinds of association vehicles.Human beings oftenassociate their feelings and emotions with various animals according to animals'features such astheir appearances,habits and characteristics so that the names or images of animals possessspecific cultural connotations.Culture is the soil of language.Sir Edward Tylor,a British anthropologist,was one of thosewho first defined culture,in Primitive Culture (1871).His definition was that "Culture is complexwhole,which includes knowledge,belief,art,law,morals,customs and any other capabilities andhabits acquired by man as a member of society."Tylor's definition has continually been the basisof most anthropological conception of culture.[2]Culture is also a historical phenomenon.Eachgeneration inherits the culture established by its forefathers and makes its own contributions to thedevelopment of culture;so different nations have different cultures.Universality between Chineseand English cultures and similarity in the thinking modes make people associate the same animalwords with the same or similar figurative meanings.But differences between these two culturesalways lead to different association,i.e.Chinese and English people have different figurativemeanings to same animal words or use different animal association vehicles to express same orsimilar figurative meanings.English and Chinese are rich in animal words as association vehicles,so in this paper the authormainly compares figurative meanings of animal words in English and Chinese culture andindicates translation techniques.2.Animal words as association vehiclesIt is well known that there are many figurative expressions in English and Chinese,especiallyanimal metaphors.However,because of different histories,social backgrounds and cultures,theconnotations of animal words are different.If Chinese people and English people want to use thefigurative way to express the same tenor,they would use the same or different association vehicles,so the corresponding relationships between association vehicles and figurative meanings are alsodifferent.2.1 Same animal association vehicles and similar figurative meaningsAs all human beings live in the similar environment,the Chinese people and English peoplenearly have the same knowledge of animals.Therefore,they have the same or similar figurativemeanings to animal words.For example,English people would say,"He is a fox."Similarly,Chinese people can understand the meaning of the sentence“He is a fox.”in Chinese“他是一只孤狸。”This example shows that in English“fox”can be used to describe somebody who iscunning and dishonest.This example indicates that different languages and cultures endow"fox"the same figurative meanings.The following animal words have the similar figurative meanings both in English and Chinese.“Sheep(羊)or lamb(羔羊)”can be considered as a kind of animal with a sweet and tame temper..As a result,the“sheep(羊)or lamb(羔羊)”is used to show the character with a sweet and tametemper both in English and Chinese,for example:“as lovely as a little sheep(像小羊羔一样可爱)”Wolf)is a kind of greedy,savage and cruel beast,so in Chinese there exist such expressions:“狼心狗肺”，“豺狼当道”，“如狼似虎”，“狼吞虎咽”，“狼狈为奸”，“狼子野心”.Similarly,hegreedy,sinister,dishonest character of wolf also displays vividly and incisively in western culture,e.g.:“a wolf in a sheep's clothing or a wolf in lamb's skin(披着羊皮的狼)”，“wake a sleepingwolf(自找麻烦)”；“hold a wolf by the ears(骑虎难下，进退两难)”，“keep the wolf from the door(勉强度日)”.[3]In addition,when "wolf"'is used to refer to a person,it means"a man who charms women so asto use them for his own pleasure”.Therefore,in English there is an idiom“a wolf whistle(挑逗▣哨)”.In Chinese,there is also such an expression“色狼”.“Ass(g驴)”in English and Chinese has the same connotation and figurative meaning“foolish,stupid'”.n Chinese the expression“笨g驴”is used to indicate a fool or an idiot..n English,most ofthe set phrases,idioms and proverbs including the word "ass"all imply the meaning of"foolish",eg.“ass in grain(十足的大傻瓜)”；“an ass in a lion's skin(from Aesop's Fables,.冒充聪明人的傻瓜)”；“all asses wag their ears(谚语：驴子摇耳朵，傻瓜装聪明)”；“asses'bridge(笨人难过的桥)，“act the ass(做糊涂事)”；“make an ass of oneself(做蠢事)'，“sell you ass(口语：不要这样呆头呆脑)”.[4The word "dove"in Chinese and English shares the same meaning,and symbolizes for peace.Weregard the dove as "peace dove".In some grand celebrations,we often see the scene of taking thedoves away,standing for cherished desire for peace world of all of us.[5]The following are some other familiar examples:as free as a bird(像鸟儿一样自由)；as ugly as atoad(像癞蛤蟆一样丑)方as busy as a bee(像蜜蜂一样忙碌，；as slow as a nail(像蜗牛一样慢).This kind of terms with same or similar figurative meanings show that in different cultures theredoes exist something in common,which reflects the commonness of different national cultures.2.2 Same animal association vehicles and different figurative meaningsDifferent living conditions have caused varied states of mind and ways of thinking,so Chineseand English people have different ideas and attitudes to some animals such as dragon,dogs,etc.And their figurative meanings in both languages and cultures differ greatly.2.2.1 Some animal words with commendatory figurative meaning in Chinese,but with derogatoryfigurative meaning in EnglishWe must be very familiar with the word“dragon(龙)”，which is completely opposite in Chineseand English."Dragon ()"is not a real animal but an imaginary one.In China,dragon is thesymbol of the Chinese nation,especially in the ancient time,people worshiped dragon to beg forrain.And the Chinese feudal emperors were often referred to as sons of dragons ()wearingclothes with designs of dragons )And also the Chinese all call themselves descendents ofthe dragon(龙的传人)and are very proud of being the descendents of the dragon.However,inWestern people's minds,the dragon is some evil monster with a large tail with wings and claws,breathing out fire and smoke.It symbolizes evil.