On Translation Of English Idioms From The Perspective Of Different Thought Patterns

Idioms are the cream of a language. When people of different cultures interact, idioms serve as a very useful and dominant medium of cross-culture communication, and best manifest the colorfulness, forcefulness, tenseness and connotative richness of the language. Through the use of idioms, we can see the cultural discrepancies in social customs, religious beliefs, the state of mind and historical development.With the influence of, among others, communication theory, a shift from a linguistic approach to a cultural approach has been found in translation studies. With the two strategies integrated, translation has now been broadly seen as an act of intercultural communication. Since no linguistic text can exist out of a certain context, translation rightly involves culture as well as language. A qualified translator should not only have language proficiency but also adequate cultural awareness.Thought patterns are closely related to cultures and embody the characteristics of cultural psychology. On the other hand, thought patterns are also closely connected to languages and the deeper mechanisms of language production and development. In addition, different ways of thinking reflected in English and Chinese language, to a large extent, affect the language in turn. Therefore, it is worthwhile to make a comparative study of English and Chinese idioms from a cultural perspective and the different thought patterns in East and West so as to have a good grasp of the meaning of the language.Moreover, a proper rendering of an idiom also cannot be achieved without due consideration of the cultural factors, because translation equivalence in its every sense should be matched in meanings, functions, national flavors and feelings in the two cultures, in other words, the"spirit"of the language. Therefore, a translator should make a continuous comparison between the two cultures and together with the divergent thought patterns in order to achieve a smooth and successful transfer of different thought patterns of different cultures.In this thesis, the author shall attempt a brief comparative study of the cultures embodied in English idioms and the different thought patterns of East and West, followed by an illustration of some concrete translation principles of semantic-equivalence of translating English idioms in inter-cultural communication, which can retain the"spirit"of the source language to the best.