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Abstract：Numbers has played an important role in the whole course of human being's historical civilization. As a special part in the science of linguistics, numbers are originally used to express quantity or sequence. Numbers serve the same calculating function in both Chinese and English. But they are endowed with abundant cultural connotations and associations because of the cultural diversities in the national psychology, religious belief and mythology. Being the representatives of oriental and occidental cultures, English and Chinese respectively reflect their own characteristics. The essay aims at figuring out the cultural resource with analysis of the similarities and differences of number “two” and “three” in these two languages. The author also probes?into?the?methods?of?translation?of?numbers.
Key Words：numbers; Chinese; English; comparison; translation.
摘 要：在整个人类历史文化的进展中，数字扮演着极其重要的角色。在汉英两种语言中，数字作为功能的意义是一致的。但由于受民族心理、宗教信仰、神话传说等文化差异的影响，数字被赋予了丰富的文化内涵。英语和汉语作为东西方两种文化的代表，各自反映着其承载文化的特点。本文将对数字“二”“三”进行对比，并且探讨了数词的翻译方法。
关键词： 数字；汉语; 英语；对比；翻译
1 Introduction
Language shares close relationship with culture. The use of language cannot be separated from human. Neither?can?human?from?specific?culture.?In?the?cross-cultural activity, participants?should?not?only?be?familiar?with?language?and?culture?of?their own but also understand those of one another’s, especially on the differences, to develop communication well Number exists with the existence and development of human civilization. As a special language symbol, number has been endowed with rich cultural denotation. This article explores the differences between numerical culture in the East and the West so as to erase understanding barrier in communication mainly from different traditional opinion of number, different denotation of number in Chinese and English, and translation of number in literature and life and so on.
Chapter 1 The Comparative Study of English and Chinese Numbers
1.1 “Two” Shows Different Cultural Connotations
The Chinese numeral “二” is the counterpart of the English numeral “two”. As Lao-tse said, “一” breeds “二”, which means a whole is divided into two parts: heaven and earth. “一” represents “heaven”, and “二” represents “earth”. In the mean time, “一” refers to unity, while “二” refers to contradictions. From the written form, we see “二” is formed by adding one “一” to “一”, so it implies contradiction. Such conflicting concepts as “yin” and “yang”, “circle” and “square”, “up” and “down”, “even” and “odd”, “day” and “night” are among the examples of “二” which brings changes. It is changes that underlie the diversity of the world. ShaoYong, a mathematician in the Song Dynasty, thought of “二” as the beginning of changes. The Han people hold “二” in regard and believe “二” highly auspicious. Everything in the universe is competing and interdependent, such as heaven and earth, life and death, male and female. “二” is considered to symbolize harmonious coexistence and carry better luck than a single item. For example, 囍(double happiness) is attached to almost anything for blessing on one’s wedding day. And Chinese people like to send gifts in pair.
While in the eyes of ancient Romans, “two” was an unlucky number, so they decided to hold a memorial ceremony for Pluto, god of the underworld, in the second month of the year. And the second of February was the day for the soul of a deceased person. Also, it is considered bad luck in many European cultures to present an even number of flowers. There is luck in odd number. Therefore, they always present an odd number with the exception of the number “13”. Traditionally, “13”became an unlucky omen in the west due to Jesus Christ’s unfortunate death. Hence, the number 13 has been considered to be an unlucky number and avoided as taboo.
1.2“Three” Shows Different Cultural Connotations
The Chinese character “三” not only denotes a number but also has some other meanings, such as “ending” and “several times”. “三” is a sacred and mystic number in ancient times. Its mystery originates from the times when the sum never went beyond “三”.“一” represents “heaven”, “二” represents “earth”, and then naturally “三” represents “ humanity”. Seen from the written form, “三” contains “一” and “二”. With “一”(heaven) and “二”(earth) and “三” (humanity), “三” breeds everything. This is what Lao-tse claimed “三生万物”. This is why “三” has been used to express infinitude or multitude as is implied in Chinese characters. For example, “三思而后行” ( think twice before you act), and “五日三省吾身” (I examine myself many times a day)( Li Ming, Lu Hongmei,2006:231).
“三” is trinity: heaven, earth and humanity in Chinese culture. As Dong Zhongshu, a sage in the Han Dynasty, said , if a monarch could orchestrate heaven, earth, humanity, he was in power as “王”; if not, he was doomed to fall out of power, that is, “亡”. The ancient monarch “王” was defied to hold power over his subjects’ life and property. So ancient people held “三” and “王” in high reverence. According to Confucian ethics, a woman should act in obedience to her father before marriage, to her husband after marriage and to her son after her husband’s death. In the feudal society, the official system was established by “三” and its multiples: three Gongs (三公, the first rank that is similar to duke), nine Qings (九卿，high court official and chief minister), twenty-seven Dafus (大夫，grand master, below a minister and higher than a councilor), eighty-one Yuanshi (元士). Three religious (三教，Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism); tripitaka in Buddhism(佛教三藏); three armed services(上中下或左中右三军)；the three administrative organs：Zhongshu(中书省)for making policies, Menxia(门下省) for review and Shangshu (尚书省) for execution, and Six Ministries were under Shangshu(尚书省). The numeral “ three” that corresponds to Chinese character “三” is also regarded as a lucky number and a symbol of deity, honor and fortune in western culture. 3(trinity)=1(unity)+2(diversity)(Zhong Shukong,1996:25),which indicates beginning, middle and ending. In Christian religion trinity refers to the union of three persons, father, son and holy spirit in one god. In the Christian teachings there are three virtues: faith, hope and charity. “The world is threefolded (earth, sea and air)”(Zhong Shukong,1996:36); “Man is threefolded (body, soul and spirit)”(Zhong Shukong,1996:36).
Chapter2 The Methods of Number’s Translation
2.1The Criteria and Strategies of Translation
Any translation may follow the three criteria by Yan Fu: faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance. And it is perfect to be faithful, expressive and elegant, which is an elusive goal, especially for the translation of culture-specific idioms. This part covers the main strategies for the translation of Chinese numerical idioms into English.
2.1.1 Literal Translation of the Numeral
Both Chinese language and English language have a tremendous number of idioms, some of which are similar to each other in form and implication. We can translate the numeral an idiom literally if there is a ready equivalent in English. It is the easiest way. The following are some examples:
古稀之年 three score(years) and ten
三三两两 in twos and threes
一箭双雕 kill two birds with one stone
Some typical Chinese numerical idioms have no match in the target language. In this case, we can also translate them literally and spread our unique culture. Here is a case in point:
俗话又说：“女大十八变”。况且有本事的，未免有些调歪……。《红楼梦》(曹雪芹，1998:158)
As the saying goes, “a girl changes eighteen times before reaching womanhood.” And the smarter the girl, the more out of hand she will get…(Zhang Wenying, Dai Weiping,2010:262).
2.1.2 Free Translation of the Numeral
Since cultures and languages vary greatly, there is no one-to-one correspondence in most cases. For different physical environment, cultural background and social customs in different countries, the connotation that an idiom carries varies from country. For example,
“普及工作若是永远停留在一个水平上……那么教育和被教育者岂不是半斤八两？”(毛泽东,1987:20)
If popularization remains at the same level forever……will not the educator and those being educated be six of one and half a dozen of the other? (Zhong Shukong,1996:422)
The difference between “six of one and half a dozen of the other” in English and “半斤八两” in Chinese does not lie in their respective propositional meanings; both items basically mean “there is very little difference between the one and the other”. It lies in their expressive meanings. “six of one and half a dozen of the other” is neutral in English: in has no inherent evaluative meaning or connotation. “半斤八两”, on the other hand, is potentially evaluative and can be readily used in some contexts in a derogatory way. This expressive meaning is often lost in translation because it is not always possible to find exactly the same expression with the same meaning in the target language(Xu Lisheng,2008:155). 2.1.3 Omission or Fusion
Some numerical idioms contain two pairs of words that simply duplicate the sense each other even though they are totally different words. This sort of duplication is apparently acceptable or necessary recapitulation—to avoid ambiguity, to reinforce meaning, to provide balance and symmetry, or just to satisfy the ear. But the presence of two pairs of words in Chinese is never in itself a sufficient justification for using two pairs of words in an English translation. English has no ready mechanism for producing such forms and so they are often replaced by appropriate deletion or fusion.
For example, in the idiom “一干二净”, “一干” and “二净” are close in meaning, so in this context the best way to deal with this type of idioms is simply to delete one of the twins. “一干二净” is “neat” or “tidy”. It is not necessary to translate the idiom into “neat and tidy’. The temptation is to remain both pairs, on the grounds that they do not mean exactly the same thing. But no two words in English ever do mean exactly the same thing. It is neither possible nor desirable to reproduce every aspect of meaning for every word in the source text. Likewise, “五颜六色” means of “various colors”. If it is translated into “five colors and six colors”, it will confuse the reader. A word “colorful” is enough to express the meaning.
Conclusion
Language is an essential part of our daily life and we are developed in the world of words. And it is a fact that numerals play an important role in the development of human history. They are an important and organic part of a language and typical of a nation’s culture. Due to the differences in cultures, every nation endows numbers with certain unique flavors of associations.
Translation of numbers between English and Chinese is not an easy task since the two languages belong to two totally different language systems. In essence, it is the cultural element embedded that is a nut hard to crack. To deal with this problem, the approaches of domestication and foreignization are proposed and explored(Zhong Shukong, 1996:202).
Bibliography
[1] Li Ming, Lu Hongmei.语言与翻译[M].湖北:武汉大学出版社,2006.
[2] Zhong Shukong.翻译手册[M].世界知识出版社，1996.
[3] 曹雪芹.红楼梦[M].湖北:武汉大学出版社,1998.
[4] Zhang Wenying,Dai Weiping.词汇·翻译·文化[M].吉林：吉林大学出版社，2010.
[5] 毛泽东.在延安文艺座谈会上的讲话[M].湖北:武汉大学出版社,1987.
[6] Xu Lisheng. Intercultural Communication. Shanghai: Shanghai
Foreign Language Education Press, 2008.
Key Words：numbers; Chinese; English; comparison; translation.
摘 要：在整个人类历史文化的进展中，数字扮演着极其重要的角色。在汉英两种语言中，数字作为功能的意义是一致的。但由于受民族心理、宗教信仰、神话传说等文化差异的影响，数字被赋予了丰富的文化内涵。英语和汉语作为东西方两种文化的代表，各自反映着其承载文化的特点。本文将对数字“二”“三”进行对比，并且探讨了数词的翻译方法。
关键词： 数字；汉语; 英语；对比；翻译
1 Introduction
Language shares close relationship with culture. The use of language cannot be separated from human. Neither?can?human?from?specific?culture.?In?the?cross-cultural activity, participants?should?not?only?be?familiar?with?language?and?culture?of?their own but also understand those of one another’s, especially on the differences, to develop communication well Number exists with the existence and development of human civilization. As a special language symbol, number has been endowed with rich cultural denotation. This article explores the differences between numerical culture in the East and the West so as to erase understanding barrier in communication mainly from different traditional opinion of number, different denotation of number in Chinese and English, and translation of number in literature and life and so on.
Chapter 1 The Comparative Study of English and Chinese Numbers
1.1 “Two” Shows Different Cultural Connotations
The Chinese numeral “二” is the counterpart of the English numeral “two”. As Lao-tse said, “一” breeds “二”, which means a whole is divided into two parts: heaven and earth. “一” represents “heaven”, and “二” represents “earth”. In the mean time, “一” refers to unity, while “二” refers to contradictions. From the written form, we see “二” is formed by adding one “一” to “一”, so it implies contradiction. Such conflicting concepts as “yin” and “yang”, “circle” and “square”, “up” and “down”, “even” and “odd”, “day” and “night” are among the examples of “二” which brings changes. It is changes that underlie the diversity of the world. ShaoYong, a mathematician in the Song Dynasty, thought of “二” as the beginning of changes. The Han people hold “二” in regard and believe “二” highly auspicious. Everything in the universe is competing and interdependent, such as heaven and earth, life and death, male and female. “二” is considered to symbolize harmonious coexistence and carry better luck than a single item. For example, 囍(double happiness) is attached to almost anything for blessing on one’s wedding day. And Chinese people like to send gifts in pair.
While in the eyes of ancient Romans, “two” was an unlucky number, so they decided to hold a memorial ceremony for Pluto, god of the underworld, in the second month of the year. And the second of February was the day for the soul of a deceased person. Also, it is considered bad luck in many European cultures to present an even number of flowers. There is luck in odd number. Therefore, they always present an odd number with the exception of the number “13”. Traditionally, “13”became an unlucky omen in the west due to Jesus Christ’s unfortunate death. Hence, the number 13 has been considered to be an unlucky number and avoided as taboo.
1.2“Three” Shows Different Cultural Connotations
The Chinese character “三” not only denotes a number but also has some other meanings, such as “ending” and “several times”. “三” is a sacred and mystic number in ancient times. Its mystery originates from the times when the sum never went beyond “三”.“一” represents “heaven”, “二” represents “earth”, and then naturally “三” represents “ humanity”. Seen from the written form, “三” contains “一” and “二”. With “一”(heaven) and “二”(earth) and “三” (humanity), “三” breeds everything. This is what Lao-tse claimed “三生万物”. This is why “三” has been used to express infinitude or multitude as is implied in Chinese characters. For example, “三思而后行” ( think twice before you act), and “五日三省吾身” (I examine myself many times a day)( Li Ming, Lu Hongmei,2006:231).
“三” is trinity: heaven, earth and humanity in Chinese culture. As Dong Zhongshu, a sage in the Han Dynasty, said , if a monarch could orchestrate heaven, earth, humanity, he was in power as “王”; if not, he was doomed to fall out of power, that is, “亡”. The ancient monarch “王” was defied to hold power over his subjects’ life and property. So ancient people held “三” and “王” in high reverence. According to Confucian ethics, a woman should act in obedience to her father before marriage, to her husband after marriage and to her son after her husband’s death. In the feudal society, the official system was established by “三” and its multiples: three Gongs (三公, the first rank that is similar to duke), nine Qings (九卿，high court official and chief minister), twenty-seven Dafus (大夫，grand master, below a minister and higher than a councilor), eighty-one Yuanshi (元士). Three religious (三教，Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism); tripitaka in Buddhism(佛教三藏); three armed services(上中下或左中右三军)；the three administrative organs：Zhongshu(中书省)for making policies, Menxia(门下省) for review and Shangshu (尚书省) for execution, and Six Ministries were under Shangshu(尚书省). The numeral “ three” that corresponds to Chinese character “三” is also regarded as a lucky number and a symbol of deity, honor and fortune in western culture. 3(trinity)=1(unity)+2(diversity)(Zhong Shukong,1996:25),which indicates beginning, middle and ending. In Christian religion trinity refers to the union of three persons, father, son and holy spirit in one god. In the Christian teachings there are three virtues: faith, hope and charity. “The world is threefolded (earth, sea and air)”(Zhong Shukong,1996:36); “Man is threefolded (body, soul and spirit)”(Zhong Shukong,1996:36).
Chapter2 The Methods of Number’s Translation
2.1The Criteria and Strategies of Translation
Any translation may follow the three criteria by Yan Fu: faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance. And it is perfect to be faithful, expressive and elegant, which is an elusive goal, especially for the translation of culture-specific idioms. This part covers the main strategies for the translation of Chinese numerical idioms into English.
2.1.1 Literal Translation of the Numeral
Both Chinese language and English language have a tremendous number of idioms, some of which are similar to each other in form and implication. We can translate the numeral an idiom literally if there is a ready equivalent in English. It is the easiest way. The following are some examples:
古稀之年 three score(years) and ten
三三两两 in twos and threes
一箭双雕 kill two birds with one stone
Some typical Chinese numerical idioms have no match in the target language. In this case, we can also translate them literally and spread our unique culture. Here is a case in point:
俗话又说：“女大十八变”。况且有本事的，未免有些调歪……。《红楼梦》(曹雪芹，1998:158)
As the saying goes, “a girl changes eighteen times before reaching womanhood.” And the smarter the girl, the more out of hand she will get…(Zhang Wenying, Dai Weiping,2010:262).
2.1.2 Free Translation of the Numeral
Since cultures and languages vary greatly, there is no one-to-one correspondence in most cases. For different physical environment, cultural background and social customs in different countries, the connotation that an idiom carries varies from country. For example,
“普及工作若是永远停留在一个水平上……那么教育和被教育者岂不是半斤八两？”(毛泽东,1987:20)
If popularization remains at the same level forever……will not the educator and those being educated be six of one and half a dozen of the other? (Zhong Shukong,1996:422)
The difference between “six of one and half a dozen of the other” in English and “半斤八两” in Chinese does not lie in their respective propositional meanings; both items basically mean “there is very little difference between the one and the other”. It lies in their expressive meanings. “six of one and half a dozen of the other” is neutral in English: in has no inherent evaluative meaning or connotation. “半斤八两”, on the other hand, is potentially evaluative and can be readily used in some contexts in a derogatory way. This expressive meaning is often lost in translation because it is not always possible to find exactly the same expression with the same meaning in the target language(Xu Lisheng,2008:155). 2.1.3 Omission or Fusion
Some numerical idioms contain two pairs of words that simply duplicate the sense each other even though they are totally different words. This sort of duplication is apparently acceptable or necessary recapitulation—to avoid ambiguity, to reinforce meaning, to provide balance and symmetry, or just to satisfy the ear. But the presence of two pairs of words in Chinese is never in itself a sufficient justification for using two pairs of words in an English translation. English has no ready mechanism for producing such forms and so they are often replaced by appropriate deletion or fusion.
For example, in the idiom “一干二净”, “一干” and “二净” are close in meaning, so in this context the best way to deal with this type of idioms is simply to delete one of the twins. “一干二净” is “neat” or “tidy”. It is not necessary to translate the idiom into “neat and tidy’. The temptation is to remain both pairs, on the grounds that they do not mean exactly the same thing. But no two words in English ever do mean exactly the same thing. It is neither possible nor desirable to reproduce every aspect of meaning for every word in the source text. Likewise, “五颜六色” means of “various colors”. If it is translated into “five colors and six colors”, it will confuse the reader. A word “colorful” is enough to express the meaning.
Conclusion
Language is an essential part of our daily life and we are developed in the world of words. And it is a fact that numerals play an important role in the development of human history. They are an important and organic part of a language and typical of a nation’s culture. Due to the differences in cultures, every nation endows numbers with certain unique flavors of associations.
Translation of numbers between English and Chinese is not an easy task since the two languages belong to two totally different language systems. In essence, it is the cultural element embedded that is a nut hard to crack. To deal with this problem, the approaches of domestication and foreignization are proposed and explored(Zhong Shukong, 1996:202).
Bibliography
[1] Li Ming, Lu Hongmei.语言与翻译[M].湖北:武汉大学出版社,2006.
[2] Zhong Shukong.翻译手册[M].世界知识出版社，1996.
[3] 曹雪芹.红楼梦[M].湖北:武汉大学出版社,1998.
[4] Zhang Wenying,Dai Weiping.词汇·翻译·文化[M].吉林：吉林大学出版社，2010.
[5] 毛泽东.在延安文艺座谈会上的讲话[M].湖北:武汉大学出版社,1987.
[6] Xu Lisheng. Intercultural Communication. Shanghai: Shanghai
Foreign Language Education Press, 2008.