Exploring Several Aspects Cultural Differences Lie in

楊曉艷

【Abstract】Being a good translator， knowing the cultural differences is essential. Therefore， in the paper， such aspects as certain sayings， certain affairs and behaviors ，etc about cultural difference to support the influence of culture on translation and the translation between English and Chinese will be focused on， which can help to overcome cultural barriers and try to track our brains for the close natural equivalent.

【Key words】cultural differences； cultural barriers

Translation means intercultural communication by means of which one culture can be transmitted into another， so the cultural characteristics unavoidably influence translation and translation is more and more regarded as the communication of culture. In the following， some types about cultural differences will be focused on.

A. Reflection of certain sayings

Some sayings are limited to one country， and other countries have no such expressions. For example， in China， there are some special sayings such as “炒冷飯”， “跑龍套”， “班門弄斧”， “三教九流” etc. But in Britain， they also have these special expressions like cowboy， a skeleton in the cupboard， a green eye and so on.

From above expressions， we know that each country has its own saying with national features， whichs called cultural blocks. Because of them， some mistranslations will happen. Taking “Milk way” for example， some Chinese translators translate it into “天河” . But in the cultural logic of western people， Milk way is a road without water， just spilling with the milk of fairy queen， but “天河”is a river our Chinese people imagine in the sky which depart “牛郎” and “織女”.

From the above， it is easy to conclude that if we cant deal with such special sayings in each country， it will lead to cultural misreading.

B. Reflection of certain affairs and behaviors

Some affairs or behaviors exist in China， in Britain or in other countries， but they are given another meaning or they have different connotations.

For instance， there is a sentence like “中國是塊肥肉，誰都想吃.” The foreign students will be hard to understand， for they may think why comparing China to fat meat but not lean meat， and the latter is more delicious than the former. When a Chinese people meet each other， they may say “你最近胖了”， which is a flattering， but if English people hear that， they may think it is a warning that he or she should be on a diet.

The above examples show that due to different cultural habits， the same things or phrases， are different not only in imagination， but also in complex expressions， feelings and images the whole parole expresses.

C. Reflection of certain idioms

Owing to different customs or habits， the angle of observing things or ways of expression vary from one another， and the figurative meanings of idioms are also different.

In western countries， dog is peoples pet， friends and loyal companies， but in China， dogs often make people disgusted， even utterly detest， so many derogatory idioms are always connected with the dog， such as狗仗人勢，狼心狗肺，狗腿子等等. In China， people once translated “走狗” into a running dog， but this kind of translation does not stir up the western peoples hatred， but makes people feel this running skipping dog is very lively. Later on， in order to avoid misunderstanding， they translate “走狗” into “lackey”.

As stated previously， due to different social experiences， its not surprising that people from different nations employ different objects to express the shared connotations.

D. Reflection of certain customs

As mentioned in the previous part， idiom is a mirror of a nations culture， and there are also some other customs having national features so strong that if not knowing them， translators will ruin the original cultural connotation completely.

For example， in China， dragon is regarded as auspicious thing， which has the supreme power， thus it becomes the symbol of great emperor. Chinese are all proud of descendants of dragon， even regarding it as the bright future “望子成龍”， but in Britain， they treat the dragon as a ferocious monster which can give out smoke and fire.

Some geographic features or historic stories also influence its culture in different countries. For instance， in Britain， the weather changes a lot， and so people have a special feeling for weather. “Lovely day， isnt it？” becomes the most convenient and safe greeting. In China， the problem of daily bread has been the subject people have been concerned about.

There are cultural differences between Chinese and English because of different beliefs， religious， customs and so on， so we should pay much attention to these factors in translation. A translation can never equal the original， but it can approach it. That is to say， we have to overcome cultural barriers and try to track our brains for the close natural equivalent to make up the semantic zero.

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