A Contrastive Study Of English And Chinese Thought Patterns And Their Impact Upon Translation

Translation is considered not only as a transformation of linguistic forms, but more important as an activity of cultural communication. Since the end of the 20th century, with the flourishing of translation of cultural school, translation began to be studied in a cross-subject and cross-cultural context. Therefore, translation should not be restricted to linguistic equivalence only, and the interrelations between the two cultures should also be regarded as an important factor that cannot be ignored. Thought pattern is one of the most important aspects of culture, so study of dissimilarities between English and Chinese thoughts will exert great influence upon translation. Especially, with the globalization of international economy, politics and culture, a high tide of learning English is surging in China. Due to the disturbance of thought of mother tongue, whether in oral English or in written English, including E-C and C-E translation texts, exists a great deal of Chinglish. in order to avoid communicational breakdown caused by the awkward and nonstandard English, it is essential for us to make a contrastive study of English and Chinese thoughts so as to further improve quality of versions effectively.This paper is divided into four chapters. Chapter one first explores the relations among thought, language and translation. Language is the carrier of thought, and thought is backbone of language. Without language, thought cannot be shaped; without thought, language cannot deliver rich meanings. Translation, a transform process from one language to another, is both linguistic and thinking activity. Different thinking patterns have great impact on transformation in translation. Then the author puts forward the necessity of contrasting English and Chinese thoughts in E-C and C-E translations, on the basis of analyzing causes of Chinglish.Chapter two carries out a general comparison between English and Chinese thought patterns from four typical pairs in a macro way such as abstract thought vs. image thought, analytical thought vs. synthetical thought, object-centered thought vs. subject-centered thought, and linear thought vs. spiral thought.