| Idiom is a special form of language expression, and also a deposit of human culture. Different from proverb, slang, etc., Chinese four-character idiom is a unique form of Chinese language unparalleled elsewhere in the world. It originated from various sources and enjoys quite a lot of distinctive features, among which rhetoric is most prominent. As Chinese four-character idioms are mostly symmetrical in form and embody the aesthetical function, they pose great difficulty to translation. Despite the fact that absolute translatability is impossible between people of different cultures, an adequate degree of effective mutual intelligibility is indeed possible. Translatability, actually, is a matter of degree.The study on semiotics has undergone a long history. Charles Morris adopted the Semantic Triangle and divided the meanings of semiotics into three different ones, i.e. designative meaning, linguistic meaning and pragmatic meaning. Eugene Nida advocates sociosemiotic approach, pointing out that it is the most comprehensive in dealing with meaningful relationships and it focuses primarily on the functions of language and how these relate to other codes.After a careful study of various theories related with semiotics and sociosemiotics, the author illustrates several basic principles of sociosemiotic approach which can be applied to the translation of Chinese four-character idioms. With the sociosemiotic approach, we can analyze how the three semiotic meanings and the six language functions can be perfectly transferred, thus proposing relative translation strategies in this regard. Some restrictive factors, like text-type, readership, etc., should also be paid special attention to.Based on the theories of social linguistics and semiotics, sociosemiotics has provided a new and broader perspective for translation. With the sociosemiotic approach, we can solve the problem of cultural obstruction from a different angle, thus further promoting cultural exchange and prosperity.
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