National Thinking Differences Between English And Chinese And Their Impact On Sentence Translation

It is known that translation has long been considered as a hard nut. It demands the conveyance of exact meaning and beautiful charm. The translator should devote to understanding the original spirit and expressing the writing style and characteristics. To achieve exactness and smoothness of the translation, most translators put emphasis on the study of linguistic characteristics and laws. This kind of study is useful and necessary, but it only rests on the linguistic level. Different nations have different languages and the languages own their diverse rules and features. The linguistic phenomena have been influenced by the geographic environment, social reform and cultural customs. To a great extent, the languages in different nations are influenced by respective thinking laws and modes.Hitherto, there have been many arguments over the relationship between thought and language. Among them is the famous Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which proposes linguistic determinism and linguistic relativity. Starting from Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, this thesis refutes its extreme viewpoint. The author puts forward that the right relationship between language and thought should be independent and interactive. Thought is the basis of language and language has to depend on thought for its content; at the same time, language provides the best instrument for the expression and communication of thought. The illustration of the relationship between thought and language helps to clarify the relationship between thought and translation. Translating process includes not only the transfer from one language to another language, but also the transfer from one mode of thinking to another mode of thinking. To be more exact, thought has its universality, which is the basis of translation, but it also has its individuality, namely national character, which is predominantly reflected in this fact that different nations own different modes of thinking. Then various modes of thinking give rise to various language expressive forms and this is the origin of the problems in translation.Therefore, translating process is not only a kind of linguistic activity but thinking activity. The differences in thinking modes fundamentally influence translation. In the first place, the thesis discusses the relationship of thinking, language and translation; indicates that the essence of translation is a kind of thinking activity. Then from the angle of philosophic thought, the thesis analyzes the main causes of the different thinking modes between English and Chinese. The characteristics Western and Chinese philosophic thought are tentatively generalized as two typical pairs: mathematical atomism and intuitive oneness; individualism and collectivism. The differences developed in the social and historical process profoundly influence the formation of English and Chinese thinking systems. Based on the theoretic and philosophic basis, the thesis makes an analysis of the main differences between English and Chinese thinking modes, and adopts sufficient and effective examples to illustrate how to adjust the differences of thinking modes and adapt to the expressive habits of the target language. In a word, the discussion of thinking modes goes a deeper level than pure linguistic study. It could supply some beneficial illumination and help for translation practice.