Differences And Similarities Between Eastern And Western Cultures Reflected In Chinese And English Idioms

Idioms, generally regarded as the essence of language, play an important role in language. It is observed that there has been a shift from a linguistic approach to a cultural approach on the study of idioms. With a combination of the two approaches, the author shall conduct a brief contrastive study of the cultural similarities and diversities embodied in English and Chinese idioms, and explore the effective approaches of idiom translation.The present thesis starts with an analysis of the relationship between language, culture and idioms, followed by a contrastive study of the features, sources and cultural associations of English and Chinese idioms. It is found that English and Chinese idioms have similarities in their characteristics and functions. However, it should be noted that differences between English and Chinese idioms exist due to the distinction in geographical environment, custom, history, religion, literary background, and ways of thinking etc. Consequently, there are different corresponding levels between English and Chinese idioms on the formal and semantic level.During the study on this subject, the author has come to realize that many misunderstandings of idioms are culturally derived. There are an abundance of idioms with rich associations in both English and Chinese. If one is not familiar with the cultural heritage of idioms, he or she may be puzzled by the associations, and surely cannot understand and translate it properly. Therefore, an adequate knowledge of the cultural background of idioms is fundamental in the comparison of English and Chinese idioms and in the exploration of proper strategies of idiom translation.The utilization of idioms, as embedded in specific cultures, has given rise to insurmountable obstacles in translation. Idiom translation is largely a matter of cultural transmission. Therefore, how to convey the meaning of a source-cultural idiom to the target language readers with the form or image best preserved is the most important step in idiom translation. Appropriate translation and utilization of idioms is essential to cross-cultural communication.