A Perspective of culture into the Translation of Chinese and English Idioms英语本科专业毕业论文.docxVIP

A Perspective of culture into the Translation of Chinese and English IdiomsThe definition of idiom: an idiom is an element of a language that possesses a unique way of expression based on its time-honored use. (Li Funing, 1979: 4) In other words, an idiom is a fixed group of words or a single word, or even a sentence, with a special meaning that cannot be guessed from its structure. That is to say, the meaning of an idiom must be leant as a whole. A simple definition of the idiom would be the use of common words in a special sense. “To spill the beans”, for instance, is not at all connected with beans; it means “to tell something that is secret”.In English Idioms and How to Use Them, J. Seidle et al point out that idioms “are not a separate part of the language which one can choose either to use or omit, but they form an essential part of the general vocabulary of the language.”(Seidle et al, 1978)Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition), published in 2003, gives four definitions of the term idiom. The first sense of the word idiom is “the language peculiar to a people or to a district, community, or class: DIALECT.” The second sense is “the syntactical, grammatical, or structural form peculiar to a language.” The third sense is “an expression in the usage of a language that is peculiar to itself either grammatically (as no, it wasnt me) or having a meaning that cannot be derived from the conjoined meanings of its elements (as Monday week for “the Monday a week after next Monday”).” The fourth sense is “a style or form of artistic expression that is characteristic of an individual, a period of movement, or a medium or instrument the modern jazz idiom; broadly: MANNER, STYLEa new culinary idiom.” (Lin Liu, 2005)Definitions of English Idioms According to Warren, the word “idiom” in English is used to describe special phrases that are an essential part of a language. These phrases need not follow normal grammar rules in the language and can have both