摘　要

动物习语在英汉两种语言中都有广泛的应用。但是由于各民族的地理环境，生活习性，风俗习惯，文化背景，宗教信仰等差异，同一动物所承载的喻义也会出现差异。一方面，指称意义相同的动物形象，其喻义，即其在原语中的语用含义可能相去甚远，甚至完全相悖。另一方面，有些动物形象，在原语中含有丰富的语用意义，而在译语中缺丢失，因此在译语中不能产生等值的意象联想。 因此，在翻译动物习语时，不能望文生义。本文通过英汉动物习语的翻译比较，来探讨英汉动物习语翻译的几种方法。这对英汉两种语言之间的理解, 沟通以及民族文化融合具有重要意义。

关键词：动物习语；文化差异；翻译方法
 
Abstract

Animal idioms are widely used in both Chinese and English languages. However, due to the similarities and differences of national geographic environment, habits, customs, cultural background, religious beliefs, etc. the same animal word may be having different significances. On one hand, it meaning ranged or possibly different of the same animal image. On the other hand, some animal images have rich language meanings but no equal image association in target language. Therefore, the key to translate English & Chinese an animal word's hidden meaning exactly is understand cultural connotation. This paper analysis through many similarities and differences of the animal words appears in the Chinese culture and English culture. Thus draws a conclusion that there exist countless ties between cultures though they distinguish between each other. And then relevant research has been done on the translation skills of these kinds of words, such as literal translation, domestication and liberal translation. The choice of appropriate translation method can make the reader to read to the original flavor translation, what’s more, it would improve the communication between different cultures and make it much easy to absorb other cultures.

Key words:  Animal words；Cultural connotation；Translation skills

1.    Introduction
Language and culture are closely related. In the long advancement of human history development, animals continuously keep close contact with humanity’s survival, and have profound influence on the development of the humanity. Gradually animals have become part of people’s life. Along with the development and progress of human society, many animals have become people’s pets and friends. Languages of all nations contain a lot of words denoting animal, and so do Chinese and English. An animal word cannot be always translated from the source language into the target language because its idiomatic meaning cannot be understood by literally defining its component parts. ‘Translation consists in reproducing in receptor language in the way the author intended the text.’(Eugene Nida, 1969) As the development of the world, translation becomes a more important role to promote the communication of natives. There have both commons and differences between Chinese culture and England culture with a same animal. The cause of it is that the English people and the Chinese people are different in religion, history, geographical environment and customs and so on.