On Translating Chinese Four-character Phrases

IntroductionFour-character phrases are indispensable components of Chinese language. They appear everywhere—in newspapers, magazines, advertisements, literary works, etc.Four-character phrases possess a vital position in Chinese. In E-C translation, people often employ them to improve the translation. And many researches have been done on it. However, few researches have been done on translating Chinese four-character phrases into English. In view of this, the author of present thesis believes that it is necessary to do some researches in this aspect and attempts to propose several strategies for translating four-character phrases into English.Chapter OneAs a starting point, this chapter is a general introduction to Chinese four-character phrases, including their definition, classification, function, etc.Four-character phrases are composed of four Chinese characters. They are usually divided into free phrases and set phrases. Free four-character phrases are composed of four free Chinese characters. The four characters are assembled temporarily and can be broken up to form a new phrase. Set phrases are frozen patterns of language and allow little or no variation in form. Their meanings cannot be deduced from their individual components.Four-character pattern has a long history and great vitality. They appeared more than two thousand years ago, in the first poetry anthology Book of Songs. Literary works after Book of Songs also employ four-character phrases widely.Not only are they used in literary works, they also play a vital role in people's daily communication.Chapter TwoThere are three reasons of four-character phrases' popularity in Chinese language. First, the appearance of a great number of four-character phrases largely owes to the unique feature of Chinese language itself. Being monosyllabic, Chinese characters form fixed-character words, phrases and sentences easily, such as four-character phrases and poems with five or seven characters to each line and so on. Second, the characteristics of four-character phrases themselves distinguish them from other language patterns. People love the conciseness, balanced pattern, classical simplicity and syllabic beauty of four-character phrases. Last, but not least, long influenced by the philosophical idea of the Golden Mean (or Central Harmony), the Chinese developed their peculiar aesthetic values, one of which is unique emphasis on the balance of beauty. The balance structure of four-character phrases happens to meet people's pursuit.Chapter ThreeIn E-C translation, people often employ Chinese four-character phrases to enhance the translation. This highly expressive means, if used properly, achieve a hard-to-come-by figurative effect. There have already plenty of examples. But the employment of four-character phrases in E-C translation should be handled carefully; overuse of them may spoil the translation. Too many four-character phrases in the translation may change the style, even the content of the original text. So we should first analyze the text, then decide whether to use four-character phrases or not.Chapter FourTranslation is an arduous job. It is understood as a transfer process from a foreign language—or a second language—to the mother tongue. However, requirements of the market and culture exchange are increasingly demanding that translators transfer texts to a target language that is not their mother tongue, but a foreign language. This process is even more difficult. The striking difference between English and Chinese makes the translation hard. Besides the difference between languages, people have certain presuppositions about what a translated text should be like. They are never satisfied with a translation.The ideal translation should be accurate, natural and communicative. The translation of four-character phrases should follow these principles. A rigid word-for-word translation can hardly obtain an exact equivalent of the original. To secure the original it is necessary to make some adjustments. The surface structure of four-character phrases has to be broken.Chapter FiveThis chapter is the principal part of the paper. Strategies of translating four-character phrases are proposed in this chapter. We should first be clear that the surface structure could be simplified without running the risk of noticeable semantic distortion. Five strategies are proposed: first, translating four-character phrases into one English word; second, translating them into various English phrases; third, translating the figures of speech in Chinese four-character phrases such as simile, metaphor, personification, antithesis, parallelism, transfer of feeling, so on and so forth, into corresponding or different figures of speech in English; fourth, translating four-character phrases to "There be"... pattern or passive voice or imperative sentences; last, comprehensive method is often employed when several four-character phrases are used together.ConclusionThis thesis has made an attempt 1) to introduce Chinese four-character phrases, including their definition, function, characteristics, etc., 2) to discuss the reasons of four-character phrases' popularity in Chinese language, 3) to propose strategies for translating four-character phrases into English.With the previous discussions, the author hopes that present thesis could prompt more detailed and more systematical studies on the translation of Chinese four-character phrases.