Chinese values in English translations: issues on cultural accuracy and compatibility and their impact on communication

Valores chineses em traduções para o inglês: questões sobre precisão e compatibilidade cultural e seu impacto na comunicação

Abstract:

Philosophical ideas infused with traditional Chinese culture improve the accuracy and compatibility of English translations. “Compatibility” is a very important concept in English translation. Cultural compatibility of language is a factor that cannot be ignored due to language habits and cultural differences. Therefore, this paper presented a study of the accuracy and compatibility of philosophical and cultural thought to English translation. This article mainly analyzed the accuracy and compatibility of philosophical and cultural thoughts to English translation, and combined the existing problems and shortcomings to propose some solutions. The paper aimed to improve the level of English translation, promote communication between different cultures and enhance China’s overall cultural soft power. This article found that adhering to cultural compatibility and adopting both stable and appropriate flexible methods to guide different cultures have a positive impact on promoting cultural exchange.

Keywords:
Philosophy and Cultural Thought; English Translation; Accuracy and Compatibility; Literal Translation.

Resumo:

As ideias filosóficas incorporadas à cultura tradicional chinesa aperfeiçoam a precisão e a compatibilidade das traduções para o inglês. “Compatibilidade” é um conceito muito importante, na tradução para o inglês. Os padrões de uso do idioma e as variações culturais tornam a compatibilidade do idioma uma consideração crucial. Portanto, o presente artigo expõe um estudo sobre a precisão e a compatibilidade do pensamento filosófico e cultural com a tradução para o inglês. A fim de apresentar algumas soluções, o presente artigo integra os problemas e as deficiências atuais com uma análise da precisão e da compatibilidade das ideias filosóficas e culturais com a tradução para o inglês. O artigo busca aperfeiçoar o nível da tradução para o inglês, promover a comunicação entre diferentes culturas e aprimorar o poder cultural geral da China. De acordo com o presente artigo, manter a compatibilidade cultural e adotar abordagens adequadas, adaptáveis e constantes, para liderar várias culturas, possuem um efeito favorável no incentivo à interação cultural.

Palavras-chave:
Filosofia e Pensamento Cultural; Tradução para o Inglês; Precisão e Compatibilidade; Tradução Literal.

Introduction

In English translation, what needs to be understood and mastered is the author’s writing background, social environment and era, as well as the author’s personal feelings when writing (Erik; Schoonvelde; Gijs, 2018, p. 417). During the translation process, the author’s writing background can be understood and the content of the work can be better understood and grasped. Therefore, in English translation, it is necessary to understand and master the writing background of the work, as well as the era and social environment in which the author lives, because different periods and countries have different cultural backgrounds. In English translation, it is necessary to accurately understand the meaning that the author intends to express in the text and improve the language expression ability of the translated text through language analysis. This can make the translation more consistent with the meaning of the original expression. For example, in the novel The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, there are many classic sentences (Cuiping, 2021, p. 97). If the background of the novel The Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the meaning the author wants to express are not understood, the profound meaning contained in its sentences cannot be understood. Only when people combine the original text with the translation, they can truly understand the meaning of their sentences.

In the context of global economic globalization and the increasingly close ties among countries and regions, business English has become increasingly prominent in the communication of economic and trade organizations (Luong; Quah, 2021, p. 969). Therefore, how to effectively use business English to achieve “seamless” communication between economic and trade organizations has become an urgent problem to be solved. Translation technology is a method used by translators to solve the problem of transmitting information from the mother tongue/first language to be translated. Translation techniques can reveal the essence of the mother tongue/first language and be applied at the level of words, phrases, clauses, or sentences. The results of Simanjuntak Marudut Bernadtua’s research indicated that the translation techniques, used by translators, included transposition (intra system transfer), modulation (including transfer of meaning range), ellipsis and cultural equivalence (Bernadtua; Lumingkewas; Sutrisno, 2021, p. 70). The existing translation work has proved the potential of large-scale multilingual machine translation by training a single model that can translate between any language pair.

However, most of the work is English-centric, and they only train on data translated from or translated into English. Although this is supported by a large number of training data sources, it does not reflect the world’s translation needs. created a true multi language translation model that could translate directly between any 100 languages. He also opened up a training dataset that contained parallel data in thousands of language directions created through large-scale mining. He then explored how to effectively increase model capacity through a combination of dense scaling and language specific sparse parameters to create high-quality models (Fan; Shruti; Holger et al., 2021, p. 4839). Zhang Biao conducted experiments on Chinese English, English German and English French translation tasks, and in-depth analysis of the translation of important contextual words further showed that the deep attention model significantly improved the reliability of systematic translation (Zhang; Xiong; Su, 2018, p. 154).

As a key factor in achieving substantive breakthroughs in business English translation, cultural compatibility indicates that business English translation should be consistent with traditional Chinese cultural values. Song Yang’s research integrated key theories of cognitive decolonization from Asia, Africa and Latin America to investigate the teachers and international students’ decolonization awareness and curriculum practices in a Chinese philosophy and cultural English teaching project at a top university in China. In cultural English teaching classes and tutorial courses, the flexible shuttle between Chinese and English helps whistleblowers observe decolonization awareness, which is inherent in their understanding of subject specific ontologies. The research results showed that teachers and international students cultivated the agency potential of cognitive justice in the design and implementation of cultural English teaching curricula to counter the hegemony of English as a colonial power. Finally, Song Yang also discussed the impact of decolonization on cultural English teaching policy formulation and curriculum internationalization (Song, 2023, p. 437). Carleo III found that this skill based analysis method has produced many philosophical results. In addition, someone has done this without subjecting text, ideas and arguments to other frameworks that have more academic advantages. Or more positively, there are those who allow and encourage students to engage in critical philosophical thinking about early Confucian and Taoist texts in their own way, and then creatively bring these unique insights and perspectives into contemporary life (Carleo III, 2022, p. 13).

In section 1, the paper explained the necessity of integrating Chinese culture into English translation, including the current problems and response options in Chinese English translation. In section 2, it introduced the accuracy of philosophical culture and translation thought, including the characteristics of philosophical and cultural thought, as well as English translation thought. Section 3 is the conclusions.

1 Necessity of Integrating Chinese Culture into English Translation

Current Problems in Chinese English Translation

Philosophical thinking is the contemplation of life, the world, and so on. This idea is related to the natural and human thinking in Greece, the relationship between people in China, and India’s thinking about gods. Philosophy is a knowledge about worldviews, a systematic and theoretical worldview. Many people are exposed to English in their daily lives. Especially with the development of the internet information era, many people begin to learn English through the internet. In current English translation, many Chinese people focus on English vocabulary translation, grammar translation and sentence translation, with little attention paid to the philosophical and cultural thoughts contained in English (Alrumayh, 2021, p. 1). In the process of learning and using English, people want to integrate the philosophical and cultural thoughts contained therein into real life and improve their cultural literacy. However, at this stage, many people only focus on the accuracy of language translation, but ignore the philosophical and cultural thoughts behind the language. Therefore, many problems arise during the translation process. For example, in the process of translation, cultural differences lead to different linguistic meanings.

Therefore, in the process of translation, it is necessary to accurately understand the meaning of the original text and ensure a correct understanding of the meaning of the original text. At the same time, during the translation process, it is necessary to clarify the cultural background and relevant content of the target language to ensure mutual coordination between the translation and the original text. However, from the perspective of current English translation activities, some Chinese translators do not have an accurate and profound understanding of the English translation when conducting translation work. Some translators lack in-depth research on the translated content and only conduct simple translation expressions (Kirkland; Tchkonia, 2020, p. 518). Some translators can only accurately understand the meaning of the original text when translating cultural background knowledge and related content, but cannot make the target readers better understand its meaning. In addition, some translators often make simple changes or deletions to the content in the translation process in order to make the translation more consistent with the Chinese readers’ reading habits and receptivity.

(1) Poor post translation editing

When translating English source language and target language, due to the significant differences between the two languages, there are many problems and shortcomings in the translation process (Uldis; Hale; Cheng et al., 2020, p. 69). For example, when translating an English source language, there are differences between the translated text and the original one. Some translators pay insufficient attention to the content of the translated text when editing it. Due to the lack of attention paid by some translators to the quality of the translated text and the inability to effectively edit the content of the translated text, there are significant differences between the translated text and the original one. Some translators modify and adjust the translation in order to achieve the smooth completion of the translation. Some translators negligently proofread the language after handling it well.

(2) Cultural differences in literary works

Translation is no longer viewed as simple linguistic transference between two languages. Cultural factors should be taken into consideration in translation process. There are scholars tried to analyze how the cultural differences should be dealt with in translation process. Three concrete methods are proposed to deal with different kinds of cultural factors: literal translation with cultural explanation, loan translation and faithful translation. It is the translator’s responsibility to choose the best strategy to render cultural differences (Yang; Lihua, 2014, p. 39).

The difference in the way of geography, history and mode of thought leads to the heterogeneity of culture, which is called cultural difference. The difference in the translation activity has the phenomenon of “lack of culture” (Zhou; Ying, 2019, p. 25). Due to the significant differences between different cultural backgrounds, there are significant differences between literary works produced under different cultural backgrounds. For example, the philosophical and cultural thoughts, contained in traditional Chinese cultural thoughts, are not suitable for use in English translation work. At the same time, if cultural differences, in different literary works, are simply and roughly replaced and modified, it affects the reader’s understanding of the content of the work.

For example, traditional Chinese philosophical ideas are difficult to translate correctly in English. Confucianism is the most influential school of thought in ancient China, and its representative figure, Confucius’ core ideology, is to respect “Ren and yi” and advocate “Li”. Among them, Ren: the basic meaning of the term is love for others. Its extended meaning refers to the state of harmony among people, and the unity of all things under heaven. Righteousness: the basic meaning of yi is “reasonable” and “proper”. It has two extended meanings. One is the proper basis and standard for people’s actions. The other is to adjust one’s words or deeds to meet certain standards, under the guidance of moral judgments. Li (Rites/Social Norms/Propriety): it is a general term for social norms which regulate an individual’s relationship with other people, everything else in nature, and even ghosts and spirits.

For example, “sān sī ér hòu xíng” (it was originated from “The Analects of Confucius” in pinyin) is translated as “think twice before you act”. “Look before you leap” or “Second thoughts are best” can be translated for sentences with the same lexical meaning but different cultural meaning. The alternative translation method can be used, that is, to replace the words in the source language with words with the same cultural meaning in the target language. For example, “I know, Dad”, she said, “I’m a selfish pig.” I’ll think about it”. It is incomprehensible to say that someone is a pig in Chinese, especially if a girl claims to be a pig. So, she said, “I know, Dad,” she said, “I’m selfish, it’s stupid”; But “I’ll think about it.” You can replace “pig” with “stupid”. In this way, we can basically achieve the correct transmission of cultural information, that is, “seek common ground in differences” (Zhou; Ying, 2019, p. 25).

The Yin Yang School of Thought combines ancient mathematical thinking with the Yin Yang “Wuxing”, and further develops it to construct a large-scale cosmic schema, attempting to explain the causes and changing laws of natural phenomena. Among them, Wuxing means the five fundamental elements that make up all things: metal, wood, water, fire and earth.

During the Warring States period, Zhuangzi became the main representative figure of the Taoist school after Laozi. With his rich imagination and magnificent writing style, Zhuangzi carried rich ideological connotations, among which famous works, such as “Carefree” and “Seeing Things as Equal”, were even more popular. Among them, “Carefree” means a state of mind totally free from all constraints. “Seeing Things as Equal” refers to a worldview of lifestyle that seeks to reconcile differences and contradictions among things.

When dealing with such polysemous single or few word terms, terminology engineering usually adopts transliteration and interpretation, and if necessary, also includes free translation. The primary principle of terminology translation is to be faithful to the original text. However, due to the polysemy and richness of many terms, the complete translation of a term, although accurate, may become lengthy, far from the concise and comprehensive nature of Chinese. For example, Confucius summarized the main function of the “Book of Songs” with the phrase “Xingguanqun grudge”. After discussing with Chinese experts, we have determined the translation of “Xingguanqun grudge” as four words: “Stimulation”, “Contemplation”, “Sociality” and “Criticism”.

(3) Relatively simple translation method

Many English majors use literal translation and free translation methods in English translation, but there are some problems in this translation method. Although literal translation can help people better understand the content of the original sentence, it also brings some problems, such as incomplete sentence meaning (Butler, 2019, p. 1). Therefore, when conducting English translation work, English majors need to combine specific analysis. Traditionally, the literal approach to translation has often been located in the domain of scientific, technical texts, that is, texts which supposedly would not allow metaphors or irony. Literal translation was seen in contrast to free translation, which was seen as preferable in the translation of poetry, literature and texts, which allow metaphors, irony and the like. Interestingly, throughout translation history, the literal translation approach has also been applied to the domain of literature in order to maximize the foreigner’s experience. No text dictates its means of translation, only forces outside the text do (publishers, intended readers, economics, etc.). These external requirements change along with time, fashion and advances in science, so that, with the change of a culture, new metaphors appear. Nevertheless, it is obvious that translation requirements change with each text. Literal and free represent only rather inaccurate and questionable descriptive terms, and do not constitute a real distinction (Barbe; Katharina, 1996, p. 328).

(4) Lack of understanding of Western culture

CBK (cultural background knowledge) markedly alleviates the cognitive load imposed and thus facilitates the process of translation by shortening the processing time and improving the translation quality (Zheng; Binghan; Xiang; Xia, 2014, p. 5). Due to factors, such as the social environment, many Chinese people are exposed to Western culture in their daily lives. However, due to China’s long-term status of being relatively closed and independent, people do not have the opportunity to deeply understand Western culture. The cultural translation view considers translation as a cross-cultural communication activity. The paradigm and thinking of translation will also have profound changes in different cultural contexts (Zhang, 2021, p. 11). Therefore, some problems often arise when conducting English translation work. Although China has a certain degree of connection with Western countries, many Chinese people do not have a comprehensive understanding of the world due to factors, such as the Eastern and Western countries’ different development levels of understanding the world. Therefore, in order to improve the quality and level of English translation work, it is necessary to pay attention to the understanding and analysis of factors, such as Western culture, so as to further improve China’s understanding of the world.

In summary, by analyzing their influencing factors, it can be seen that philosophical and cultural ideas have a great impact on the accuracy and compatibility of English translation activities (Shahram; Kizi, 2020, p. 43). Aiming at the problems and shortcomings in current English translation work, this paper proposes effective strategies and methods to enhance China’s overall cultural soft power while achieving the goal of promoting the level and quality of English translation work. The specific strategies include: in English translation work, it is necessary to combine philosophical and cultural connotations and use various ways to enhance the accuracy of translation activities. By integrating philosophical and cultural thoughts into English translation, it can enhance its accuracy and compatibility. In the specific translation process, it is necessary to focus on the mutual transformation between the source language and the target one to achieve the goal of recombining and transforming language, culture and spirit. In this process, it is necessary to select appropriate translation methods, techniques and methods based on specific situations, in order to enhance the accuracy and compatibility of English translation work.

Response Options: First of all, when translating, it is necessary to understand the content of the original text, and then translate according to the meaning of it. This requires the translator to stand on a neutral position and try to eliminate the interference of mother tongue on the translator’s thinking. Secondly, the communication of cultural connotations and philosophical ideas should be emphasized (Holt Christine; Kelsey; Erin, 2019, p. 557). It is necessary to organically combine the content of the original text with the translated one, and try to maintain the consistency in the style of the original text and the translated one. Finally, it should also be noted that English translation should try to maintain consistency in language style. In order to express the unique way of thinking and philosophical ideas in traditional Chinese culture, people should pay attention to the unity of language style when conducting English translation. Finally, translators need to possess certain professional knowledge and cultural literacy, as well as certain cross-cultural communication skills and certain understanding and expression skills.

It can be seen that English translation is not an easy task to complete. In order to improve the level and quality of English translation, people must master some relevant skills and methods. First of all, it is necessary to combine the characteristics of different regions and cultural backgrounds, and pay attention to the integration of specific knowledge, philosophical ideas and other content in traditional Chinese culture into the translation process (Bayer, 2007, p. 6). Secondly, it is also necessary to pay attention to the differences between Chinese and English to improve English translation skills. Finally, it is necessary to pay attention to the impact of cultural differences between China and the West on English translation (Hauer; Grzegorz, 2020, p. 7895). In addition, it is also necessary to learn some relevant professional knowledge and cross-cultural communication skills. Only in this way, the level of English translation can be continuously improved and one’s own quality and ability can be improved. To sum up, this article mainly analyzes and studies the problems and shortcomings in Chinese English translation. Through the research and analysis of this article, it can be seen that philosophical and cultural thoughts have a certain impact and important significance on English translation.

2 Validity of Philosophical Culture and Translation Thoughts

With the times’ development of and the society’s progress, people find that more and more English translations appear around them and are used by more and more people. However, due to the current low level of English translation in China, there are some problems and shortcomings, among which the relationship between language expression and philosophy, culture, and ideology, which is interrelated, integrated and interactive. Therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention to English translation in order to improve the accuracy and compatibility of it. In addition, in the process of English translation, some representative and influential philosophical and cultural thoughts from traditional Chinese culture and the philosophical thinking, contained in the author’s language, can be integrated, which can improve the level of English translation and integrate traditional Chinese culture with Western one. Therefore, in the process of English translation, it is necessary to analyze language expression from the perspective of integrating it with philosophical and cultural thoughts, which can improve the level of English translation. The accuracy and compatibility of philosophical culture and translation ideas are a complex issue that requires consideration of multiple factors.

Cultural compatibility and accuracy are important concepts in cultural translation, which refer to the grasp of accurate cultural meaning (or connotation), reader’s good acceptance and aesthetic judgment of adaptation. Translation, in essence, is a manifestation of different cultures. Language is the carrier of culture, and different ethnic groups have nurtured different cultures. Once any cultural expression is detached from or incompatible with the nation’s cultural reality, acceptance and absorption are impossible. Firstly, the accuracy of philosophical culture and translation ideas depends on the specific content and context involved. Different philosophical cultures and translation ideas may have different effects in different cultural and linguistic environments. For example, some philosophical cultures and translation ideas may be more enlightening to Western culture, while others are more suitable for Eastern culture. Secondly, the compatibility of philosophical culture and translation ideas also depends on the culture and background of the recipient. Different cultural and social backgrounds may affect people’s understanding and acceptance of philosophical culture and translation ideas. Therefore, when conducting cross-cultural communication and translation, these factors must be taken into account to ensure that the information conveyed is correctly understood and accepted. To sum up, the accuracy and compatibility of philosophical culture and translation ideas are a complex issue that requires in-depth understanding of the differences between different cultures and linguistic environments, and adopting appropriate strategies to ensure that the information conveyed is correctly understood and accepted.

The study of the accuracy and compatibility of philosophical and cultural thoughts to English translation can provide methodological guidance for translation practice and further highlight the importance of translation in the process of cultural communication. Translation activity is a process of recombining and transforming the language, culture, and spirit of the source and target languages. Among them, philosophical and cultural thoughts have unique ideological connotations and significant characteristics, reflecting to varying degrees the accuracy and compatibility of philosophical and cultural thoughts in English translation activities.

Translation is an effective means and an important way of communication among different languages and cultures. Therefore, in the process of social development, by effectively transforming between the source language and the target one to realign language, culture and spirit, it can maximize the efficiency of communication between the source language and the target one, and promote the integration of different cultures. At the same time, if philosophical and cultural thoughts can be incorporated into the translation process, the importance of philosophical and cultural thoughts, in English translation activities, can be reflected from multiple perspectives. Therefore, this article intends to explore from this perspective.

2.1 Characteristics of Philosophical and Cultural Thoughts

Philosophy is the most basic and important viewpoint and knowledge system about the world formed by human beings in the long-term social practice process, and it is the people’s understanding of the universal laws and the world’s essence. Philosophical and cultural thought is a unique way of understanding formed by deeply summarizing one’s own culture in different periods, countries and regions. It is based on philosophical theories, which can reflect various countries’ development history and thinking context and of regions in the long-term social practice process. Therefore, philosophical and cultural thoughts have distinctive national and contemporary characteristics. With the times’ development, they constantly enrich their connotations, presenting characteristics, such as continuity and hierarchy.

In essence, philosophical and cultural thought is a social and cultural phenomenon, which is influenced by factors, such as social and historical conditions, geographical environment, customs and national psychology in its formation process. Therefore, in the practical application process, it can display its unique aspects from different levels. At the same time, with the continuous development and progress of China’s social economy, deepening exchanges among countries and significant changes in people’s ways of thinking and values, the study of philosophical and cultural thoughts also needs to be adjusted accordingly, fully reflecting its characteristics of the times, ethnic characteristics, humanistic spirit and values.

To sum up, in the process of translation, in order to ensure the smooth progress of translation work, the translation subject needs to effectively grasp the philosophical and cultural thoughts involved. At the same time, in the actual process of translation work, in order to ensure the accuracy and compatibility of translation activities, it is necessary to take the translator as the main body to carry out the work. For example, when translating English texts, it is necessary to ensure that the translator has a certain level of philosophical and cultural literacy. It is also necessary to strengthen the translator’s in-depth exploration of the differences between different cultures and their influencing factors, and to carry out accurate and effective English translation work based on their actual situation. At the same time, in order to ensure accuracy, integrity and smoothness throughout the process, this article also proposes a series of effective solutions. Although incorporating philosophical and cultural thoughts into English translation activities is an effective strategy and method, it is still necessary to continuously explore these strategies in the practical process if they are to truly play a role. Language is an important carrier of human culture and a major medium for people to exchange ideas. Language contains rich philosophical and cultural thoughts, which provide new ideas and methods for English translation. Based on this, this article focuses on the research on the accuracy and compatibility of philosophical and cultural thoughts to English translation, and conducts a relevant analysis of English translation work from four aspects: “polysemy in one language”, “synonymy in two languages”, “synonymy in three languages” and “synonymy in four languages”. Moreover, from the perspective of philosophical and cultural thoughts, this paper expounds the accuracy and compatibility of philosophical and cultural thoughts to English translation work from the perspectives of literal translation and free translation, in order to provide some reference for people to better conduct English translation work, thereby improving people’s translation quality and level.

2.2 English Translation Thoughts

The idea of translation plays an important role in English teaching and learning. Currently, the research on English translation thoughts mainly focuses on the style, accuracy and compatibility of the translation. When studying the style of a translation, it is mainly analyzed from the perspectives of grammar, vocabulary, rhetoric, and so on. When studying a translator’s literacy and ability, it is often analyzed from aspects, such as understanding and adapting to the original text, while when studying a translator’s literacy and ability, it is often analyzed from aspects, such as morphology, syntax and text (Sitora, 2022, p. 186). Currently, the research on translation mainly focuses on the linguistic level, while the research on the relationship between philosophical and cultural thoughts and English translation ones is relatively rare (Al-Mousawi, 2016, p. 187). Analyzing translation work from the perspective of philosophical and cultural thought can comprehensively reflect the translators’ own qualities and abilities, which is also an important way for translators to improve their own qualities and abilities. The study of the relationship between philosophical and cultural thoughts and translation can improve the accuracy and compatibility of the translation to a certain extent. Therefore, this article makes a relevant analysis of English translation thoughts from the perspective of philosophical and cultural thoughts.

In today’s world, people are increasingly engaged in cross-cultural communication. Therefore, how to enhance translators’ cultural compatibility has become a major issue in the current translation community. This is directly related to the “six currents” behavior (arbitrariness, duality, prolificacy, displacement, cultural transmission and interchangeability) of various languages in politics, economy and culture (Illan Castillo, 2023, p. 132). Especially at present, China is in the “golden age” of reform and opening up, which is particularly important. Translators should put readers first. Some people have pointed out that “most of the discussions on translation theory are about how to better understand the text for readers”. This is consistent with the idea of “reader centered” advocated by most people. When translating, it is necessary to take the “reader” as the core and the “reader” as the center to examine the translation to see whether it meets the readers’ requirements, achieves their communicative goals and is accepted by them. English and Chinese are two languages. Due to differences in language habits, cultural differences and other factors, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive study of cultural adaptation in C-E translation. In the process of translation, compliance with the principle of “cultural adaptation” has become an important factor affecting the quality and success of translation.

(1) Literal translation and free translation thoughts

The basic concepts of literal translation and free translation are frequently mentioned in the process of English translation, and there are also significant differences between the two. From the perspective of literal translation and free one, literal translation emphasizes the accurate translation of the content of the original text, while free translation refers to the large difference between the translation and the original text, which leads to the saying “it is impossible to translate into the same language”. In addition, there are certain differences between free translation and literal one. In the process of English translation, it is necessary to apply the relationship between literal translation and free one reasonably. In the process of English translation, in order to make the translation conform to the meaning and content contained in the original text, it is necessary to have a deep understanding of the significant differences between literal translation and free one. Through understanding and analyzing the relationship between literal translation and free translation, people can have a clear understanding of the relationship between literal translation and free one in the process of translation, thereby enabling people to better grasp the accuracy of the translation from the perspectives of literal translation and free one when conducting translation work, and achieving the goal of improving the quality and level of translation.

This approach can be used when the original text has a strong national character, but the translation does not have a corresponding translation in terms of semantics, expression, etc. The purpose of this is to maintain the strong national character of the original painting. Although the translation should seek a “best” balance between “can” and “cannot”, that is, it should consider whether the reader can accept it. However, they should not be rigidly bound by the “acceptability” of Chinese language, and stick to the “existing” language rules and language expressions. In this swamp, it is also a kind of tact to appropriately absorb foreign things for personal use. Moreover, in real life, things introduced from other countries are often accepted by some people and then promoted. Nowadays, many Chinese people have become accustomed to Western words, such as “fashion show” and “cool”. Many Chinese people are used to saying “Forbidden fruit is the sweet”, “Every road leads to Rome” and “Shed crocodile tears”. Therefore, proper direct translation does not necessarily make the source language difficult to understand. On the contrary, it can also make the translation better display its unique linguistic characteristics and national cultural ones.

(2) “One language polysemy” and “second language synonym” in English translation

“One language polysemy” mainly refers to a difficult point in the process of English translation, that is, the same word may have several different meanings at the same time, which requires the translator to appropriately transfer English words while maintaining the original meaning unchanged during the translation process. “Second language synonymy” refers to the expression of the same word in different languages with the same or similar meanings. Generally speaking, the phenomenon of “second language synonymy” is inevitable in English translation. For example, in the sentence “here is an old friend for me”, the expression “here” means “my friend lives here” while here it means “my husband lives here”. In the sentence “no matter what kind of man’s door is”, the man referred to in the sentence is not a man but a woman, and this is another difficulty involved in “polysemy”. Therefore, when conducting English translation work, translators need to combine the different meanings expressed between different languages to handle them.

(3) “Three language synonyms” and “four language synonyms” in English translation

In English translation, in addition to understanding the meaning of words contained in English, it is also necessary to pay attention to the words used in translation. If translators fail to grasp the meaning of these words when translating in English, it is easy to have a lack of consistency between words and sentences, which affects people’s understanding of the meaning expressed in English. Therefore, when conducting English translation work, it is necessary to pay attention to the specific analysis of “three language synonymy” and “four language synonymy”, so as to enable people to better understand the meaning of English words. “Three language synonyms” refers to the fact that the same word can express three different meanings. For example, the word “busy” may be translated as “busy working” during translation, while it can be translated as “busy earning money” during translation. In English translation, there is also the phenomenon of “four language synonymy”, in which a single word can express four different meanings. For example, living and live are both adjectives with the same meaning, but living is a pre-restrictive word and live is a post-restrictive one. Sleeping and asleep also have similarities and differences. It can try to compare:

1) He is the only living leader after the war.

2) He is the only leader alive after the war.

3) Take care not to wake up the sleeping boy.

4) Take care not to wake up the boy asleep.

These four words are synonyms, but they express different meanings in these four sentences.

Over time, various languages have developed their own cultures. As a translator, one must have a deep understanding of the cultural differences between the source language and English, and abide by the principles of cultural compatibility in translation, in order to make the translation more acceptable to readers. However, on the premise of adhering to the “people-oriented” translation philosophy, it is necessary to conduct a reasonable and scientific analysis of readers’ acceptance. Readers are not entirely consistent. The readership is a hierarchical structure. In the context of deepening cross-cultural communication, in the process of translation, traditional culture should not be mechanically copied, but should be appropriately and flexibly applied, that is, appropriately introducing different cultures into the translation rather than blindly pursuing cultural equivalence. With the society’s development and the deepening of cultural exchanges, these inevitably promote the integration of cultures.

Conclusions

In summary, English translation plays an increasingly important role in current social life. When conducting English translation, people not only need to master certain translation skills and methods, but also need to integrate philosophical and cultural thoughts from the English language itself. There are differences between different languages, which contain rich philosophical and cultural thoughts. Philosophical and cultural thoughts are also important driving forces for promoting language communication, and these philosophical and cultural thoughts help people better understand English. From a philosophical and cultural perspective, literal translation and free translation are the two translation methods that best reflect the charm and characteristics of language. (Fielitz, 2009, p. 72). Through the study of philosophical and cultural thoughts, people can better grasp the essence of literal translation and free one, thereby achieving better results in English translation. Of course, in order to give full play to the advantages of literal translation and free one, it is necessary to conduct more in-depth research on them. At the same time, when conducting English translation work, people should also conduct in-depth analysis from different perspectives, such as society, politics, economy and history, in order to better improve their translation skills.

In short, the issue of cultural differences is rich in content and extremely complex. In order to convert accurate translate between Chinese and English, translators not only need to understand the two countries’ languages, but also have a deep cultural foundation and a deep understanding of the differences between the two cultures. In order to better promote China’s cultural values and showcase the charm of Chinese culture, Chinese to English translation work cannot blindly cater to the language and cultural values of English. Instead, it is necessary to effectively showcase the cultural connotations reflected in Chinese works during the translation process. In Chinese English translation work, the most taboo is to forcibly transform China’s cultural values into works that conform to the European and American countries’ values and cultures in order to attract readers. Therefore, in the translation work from Chinese to English, it is extremely important to showcase the values of Chinese culture, so that more people around the world can understand Chinese culture, which is crucial for the prosperity of China’s traditional culture.

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Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  22 Apr 2024
• Date of issue
  2024

History

• Received
  28 Aug 2023
• Accepted
  20 Oct 2023
• Published
  20 Mar 2024